Hello from Long Island, New York

[dmango]

Hi all,
New to the forums and really looking to consider an ebike for commuting. I've been an avid cyclist and commuter for years with my old steel Schwinn touring bike. However, I recently had to drop off the kids to school before work and trying to make it to work has me in a bind to use a car (I'm not that fast if I chose the bike!) Anyway, looking forward to commuting again for the summer, and started looking closely in an ebike as my job does NOT have a shower available. Now I'm looking for an ebike option but not sure what Class bike would be good for around here....

Any Long Island, NY ebikers out there? Has there been any trouble with your particular class of bike? Any advice would be gold. Thanks in advance!

 

[Dewey]

Well done on considering commuting to work on an ebike. Currently, New York State's Vehicle and Traffic Laws do not address the legal status of electric assisted bicycles, but there is a bill going through the state assembly A06189 sponsored by assistant speaker Félix Ortiz (D, 51st District, Brooklyn) that would define street-legal ebikes in New York state vehicle and traffic law. The proposed law establishes a power limit of 750w and speed limit of 20mph but while it makes no mention of the word "throttle" neither does the definition appear to rule out the use of one, it just says it must "have a maximum speed of less than twenty miles per hour on a paved level surface when powered solely by such a motor while ridden by an operator who weighs one hundred seventy pounds; and be incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power is used to propel the device at or more than twenty miles per hour", that would appear to legalize both Class 1 (pedelec) and Class 2 (throttle) ebikes. I am not a lawyer but if you don't want to wait for the state to establish a definition you might want to consider an ebike that can be ridden either with or without a throttle fitted, for example while I don't live in New York I rode my BBS01 kit motor for a year and a half without a throttle but fitted it after upgrading the gearing to an IGH, some Raleigh and iZip ebikes have an optional boost button throttle, or any ebike using Bafang motors.

 

[dmango]

Well done on considering commuting to work on an ebike. Currently, New York State's Vehicle and Traffic Laws do not address the legal status of electric assisted bicycles, but there is a bill going through the state assembly A06189 sponsored by assistant speaker Félix Ortiz (D, 51st District, Brooklyn) that would define street-legal ebikes in New York state vehicle and traffic law. The proposed law establishes a power limit of 750w and speed limit of 20mph but while it makes no mention of the word "throttle" neither does the definition appear to rule out the use of one, it just says it must "have a maximum speed of less than twenty miles per hour on a paved level surface when powered solely by such a motor while ridden by an operator who weighs one hundred seventy pounds; and be incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power is used to propel the device at or more than twenty miles per hour", that would appear to legalize both Class 1 (pedelec) and Class 2 (throttle) ebikes. I am not a lawyer but if you don't want to wait for the state to establish a definition you might want to consider an ebike that can be ridden either with or without a throttle fitted, for example while I don't live in New York I rode my BBS01 kit motor for a year and a half without a throttle but fitted it after upgrading the gearing to an IGH, some Raleigh and iZip ebikes have an optional boost button throttle, or any ebike using Bafang motors.

Thanks for the all the comprehensive info Dewey!! So I should be shopping for an ebike with max top speed 20 mph and no throttle?

 

[Dewey]

I should be shopping for an ebike with max top speed 20 mph and no throttle?

Probably if you ride in New York City to avoid getting caught in any targetted enforcement trawl.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Every year that law comes up and every year it goes nowhere. I wish these freaking people would get their act together. No one has ever bothered me in 8500 miles of ebiking in NYS, but it would be nice to clear up the status once and for all. Even if they made my Class 3 illegal, I'd accept that just to make that whole gray area thing go away. Even NYC finally acknowledged that bikes are here to stay and went from being the most hostile legal environment to one you can deal with. Interesting also since the city is within the state, and the VTL applies everywhere, but that's another story, I suppose.

 

[dmango]

Every year that law comes up and every year it goes nowhere. I wish these freaking people would get their act together. No one has ever bothered me in 8500 miles of ebiking in NYS, but it would be nice to clear up the status once and for all. Even if they made my Class 3 illegal, I'd accept that just to make that whole gray area thing go away. Even NYC finally acknowledged that bikes are here to stay and went from being the most hostile legal environment to one you can deal with. Interesting also since the city is within the state, and the VTL applies everywhere, but that's another story, I suppose.

Interesting. I’m outside of NYC in the ‘burbs so I wonder if I could get away with a Class 3 and throttle.