Where we are in 2026

[Mr. Coffee]

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Yeah, that's certainly how many see ebiking now — including most of my older neighbors. Ebike fans they are not.

But all isn't lost. I live in a place (SW SoCal) crawling with kids on ebikes of all kinds. Most are riding reasonably responsibly these days — at least when I see them on public infrastructure — especially the girls.

This is a marked improvement over the riding prevalent just 3 years ago. I credit it mainly to the many local schools that now confiscate ebikes without campus parking permits. And to get a permit, you have to prove that you passed an accredited ebike safety course.

But we still have a small minority of teen and even pre-teen males on illegal Surrons, Super73s and the like. And few seem able to think of others or resist abusing the power in their hands.

Irritates me no end that the future of legal ebiking partly rests in the hands of these yahoos. Glad, though, to see the following encouraging developments:
1. For the most part, our state and local politicians, public safety regulators, and media outlets have finally figured out the difference.
2. The politicians are largely committed to reducing ebike-related injuries while preserving legal ebiking.
3. Local enforcement's now confiscating illegal bikes caught on public infrastructure.
4. New state and local laws, either passed or in the pipeline, are going after illegal ebike suppliers, making enforcement easier, and holding parents responsible for their kids' behavior.

Long overdue, but it's a start.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I liked South Park America!

 

[Gionnirocket]

I just realized what I've been doing wrong...
When on an ebike it's not "on your left" but SMD bitch!

 

[Mr. Coffee]

 

[DaveMatthews]

Matt and Trey are masters at showing us who we really are...

 

[Chargeride]

Surronster.
The first five minutes are interesting.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Surronster.
The first five minutes are interesting.

So the Surronster lives in San Diego, eh? I've been meaning to have my cousins Guido and Vinnie from New Jersey out for a visit. They specialize in knees.
;^}

 

[PedalUma]

What I saw in videos of his house are what look to be the LA hills in the background and really close. By triangulating the peaks from other images Guido and Vinnie could determine the exact address. Then match the images of the home to a real estate site such as Zillow as a second confirmation. And confirm that with satellite images for a third layer of verification for when they arrive in a florists' delivery van. In one film I saw they showed up with a bunch of gardeners who turned on all their power equipment and had a giant tarp full of clippings.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

What I saw in videos of his house are what look to be the LA hills in the background and really close. By triangulating the peaks from other images Guido and Vinnie could determine the exact address. Then match the images of the home to a real estate site such as Zillow as a second confirmation. And confirm that with satellite images for a third layer of verification for when they arrive in a florists' delivery van. In one film I saw they showed up with a bunch of gardeners who turned on all their power equipment and had a giant tarp full of clippings.

Hmmm, sounds like you've done this before. I'll pass that on to Guido and Vinnie. They're very good at what they do and no doubt have their own bag of tricks.

They'll keep the 1st visit to a warning if I insist, but they won't like it, and the Surronster strikes me as a guy who thinks he can get away with anything. You really don't wanna rub these guys the wrong way.

Of course, the problem with having this obvious fantasy out loud is that we'll now be suspects if somebody else gets to him first. We may need alibis.
;^}

 

[PedalUma]

Hmmm, sounds like you've done this before. I'll pass that on to Guido and Vinnie. They're very good at what they do and no doubt have their own bag of tricks.

They'll keep it to a warning visit if I insist, but they won't like it, and the Surronster strikes me as a guy who thinks he can get away with anything. You don't want to rub these guys the wrong way.

Of course, the problem with having this obvious fantasy out loud is that we'll be suspects if somebody else gets to him first.

Obviously any real Guidos and Vinnie's would not post about it as humor/entertainment on a public site; particularly one about bicycles. I have never been suspected of a crime or even been a fight as an adult, so I am not likely to suddenly start in my 60's. I have learned that is best to step back and let Karma and her friends do what they do best as forces of nature. I don't need to do a thing. Somehow it just happens all by itself.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

 

[Mr. Coffee]

 

[DaveMatthews]

Beat me to it...

 

[BEC111]

“

When my neighbors asked my thoughts on this episode, I basically stated the same conclusions as in the video. I love South Park

 

[PedalUma]

I have given up on trying to educate people on Nextdoor.

 

[Chargeride]

There was one 'ebike' in that little posh Welsh town, a guy in his forties pulled up in front of the diners with no helmet.
It was a retro styled Super7, yes you can buy them in the UK.
Throttle, 30mph, he parked it right outside and walked in like he was about to throw the Ferrari keys over his shoulder to the Valet.
No one batted an eyelid cos he was wearing a suit.
Meanwhile people grab their children or dive out the way like victims of a drive by as we ride on actual legal ebikes.

 

[BEC111]

For a rational, not humorous perspective — or is it an interpretation? on this topic see this article from electrek:

E-bikes are giving teenagers something we thought they’d lost

If you’ve spent any time reading local neighborhood social media groups lately – and for your mental health, I hope...

electrek.co

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

For a rational, not humorous perspective — or is it an interpretation? on this topic see this article from electrek:

E-bikes are giving teenagers something we thought they’d lost

If you’ve spent any time reading local neighborhood social media groups lately – and for your mental health, I hope...

electrek.co

The author makes an important point. My buddies and I roamed all over the outer suburbs of Charlotte, NC on our bikes as early teens in the 1960s. The whole area was our "third place", and it was the best part of growing up there.

Glad ebikes have given current teens a third place to grow up in. Now all we need to do is turn them into responsible riders on public infrastructure.

Happy to report that while the disciples of Surronster still cause problems and get all the news, the rest of the zillions of kids on ebikes around here are on average already pretty responsible.

Wouldn't have said that when we moved here in 2022, but the beach towns north of San Diego have made a concerted effort to get them trained up, and it seems to be working.

Public safety officials, police departments, and local schools have all been working together to funnel the kids into official ebike training programs. For one thing, that removes the "Gee officer, I didn't know it was illegal" excuse.

My favorite tactic: Parents are highly motivated to get out of the kid transport business, and kids crave the independence and freedom self-transport brings. We had the bike infrastructure for it, but our many hills made biking to school and activities impractical — till ebikes hit the scene.

Soon, every kid here had an ebike, and the parents just let them loose on the world. Public outcry was immediate and only grew from there. Then the injuries started piling up — to the point that local officials started viewing ebikes as a public health problem.

So police departments set up ebike safety training programs, and the schools funneled the kids into them via campus parking permits. Brilliant!

Parents wanted their kids to bike to school as much as the kids did, but to park an ebike on school grounds, you needed a permit under penalty of costly impoundment or confiscation. And to get the permit, you had to prove that you'd passed an official ebike safety course.

Between that and conspicuous enforcement against yahoos on illegal bikes in the last 2 years, we've seen a noticeable improvement in kids' behavior on ebikes.