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I personally think the class definitions are pretty good in the US. I have a class 1 emtb and a class 3 egravel and think the cutoffs make sense for the use to which I put them. If anything they are on the generous side; 20mph is pretty fast on trails, and 28mph is actually bordering on...

Ebikes have gone from niche to mainstream. Most people don't want to deal with the hassle and headache of sourcing and building their own, troubleshooting, etc, they just want to pay someone money and get a bike to ride that works. Also, as ebikes have become more popular, the options...

Why not? :p Everyone has to have a hobby. Obviously if you just want something to ride, buying two FS bikes and glomping them together into some sort of frankenstein monster makes zero sense, but sometimes building something ridiculous is just fun.

I mean, if you just want a unique project, go for it. I think the main issue you'll have is two completely independent drivetrains that were not designed to work together is going to take some doing to actually make them give power at identical rates. Otherwise you'll have some weird torque...

As Mr Coffee already said, roadies riding too fast on MUPs is an issue but not as much as you'd think. It just takes a lot of experience and fitness to ride anything resembling ebike speeds over distance, and by the time you get there riders are generally knowledgeable enough to not be too...

I'm definitely not "anti-ebikers". To the contrary, I want to see access expanded as far as possible. I'm just realistic about the fact the limitations on what is considered an ebike is key to that happening. As Mr. Coffee said, if the general public can't distinguish between a legit class 2...

In most locales in the US you are probably fine to ride anything vaguely ebike-shaped most anywhere as long as you aren't riding like an idiot. Depends on the locals and how heavily used things are. Ebikes are common enough now that even if your Bafang Ultra isn't technically compliant, you...

The problem with this "regulate behavior and ignore power/limits!" mindset is that ebikers want access to a bunch of infrastructure that is not setup for car-style behavior regulation/enforcement because it has never been needed. MUPs/bike paths/MTB trails/etc have been around for decades and...

JR is totally right in that pretty much none of that nice non-road infra and recreational trail was built by ebikers. It was all advocated for (and in may cases built by) groups associated with traditional cycling advocacy. And it was built specifically because those groups didn't want to...

I commented earlier in the thread that its probably mainly a bludgeon to use against the worst manufacturers (head off any argument about "software can be set to 20mph therefor its a class 2" from people selling several thousand watt emotos). I would be extremely surprised if any enforcement...

The solution I'd like to see is to just force companies to lock down the bikes more. Bosch/Yamaha/Shimano/Etc all manage it fine. None of this "its sold with a legal limit but 20 seconds in a menu turns all that off" crap. If the bike is easily changed to ride outside class 1/2/3, company is...

The thing is, ebikes may be increasingly popular for alternative transportation (i.e. everything that isn't a motor vehicle) but that entire category is small potatoes compared to the general population of commuters. If the plan to battle this is a groundswell of regular voters, I think you'll...

Mr Coffee nailed it. The problem is that for every grandma who wants a big power bike to carry groceries better, theres 1000 people who want the big power bike to ride 30+mph in bike lanes and on sidewalks. Sucks, but the reality is that the legal landscape is going to focus on the latter and...

Those are certainly words.

Yeah, I see a lot of those. The best part is when they get confronted for their dickishness they instantly fall back on "its an ebike, its legal, you can't tell me I can't ride it here neener neener". And once out of earshot they laugh about how they know they aren't but get away with it...

I kinda doubt anyone intends on going after people riding bosch mid-drives and the like. The problem is that lots of companies straight up ignore any and all power limits, and you get companies selling bikes with thousands of watts of potential power and then wink-wink-nudge-nudge pretending...

Power to climb hills is largely a question of how fast you expect to go. A 250 pound rider can get up a 20% grade with <150w if they are willing to go 4mph (and have proper gearing to spin that slowly). I climb 10-15% hills all the time on my non-electric, and I'm neither lightweight or super...

Dunno man, 30mph is extremely fast unassisted without a downhill or massive tailwind. Its doable, for short distances, by very fit cyclists, but absolutely nobody is sustaining that for long. We don't need to resort to online calculators to figure out whats normal for humans, we can just look...

The charitable explanation is they wanted a bludgeon to wield against the most problematic manufacturers thats harder to wiggle out of. The uncharitable (and more likely) explanation is they didn't really know what they were doing. Its frustrating as an ebike rider, but we (collectively)...