You NEVER want to see this on a group ride!

[JRA]

Class 3 eBike. Or you could say it was a moped since they don’t need to be registered in CT under a certain hp.

It does seem that CT does have an odd interpretation of the PFB Class laws in that they make no distinction of throttle use being an issue for Class 3 although their Class 1 and 2 wording is the same. So it does seem that in fact speeds of up to 28mph are legal with any eBike in CT and the 1 and 2 laws don't really have any meaning as I understand it.

There is a mandatory helmet law for all bikes in CT however that wasn't being followed by a few of the members of that ride and although I have never seen one of those scooter type deals up close I would wonder if some don't have seat heights of less than 26"es which is another law requirement that they be more than. As well a 750w limit is in effect also.

 

[PDoz]

The rider there went down cause they don't know about airing down in loose dirt conditions.....

That person went down because they were a passenger. Sorry for any offense to passengers who possess some bike control skills.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

That person went down because they were a passenger. Sorry for any offense to passengers who possess some bike control skills.

The lack of riding discipline in that group; with riders weaving in and out, it's a wonder they didn't take themselves all out earlier in the video.

 

[arcom]

Why was he riding with his feet off to the side?

No foot pegs?

 

[tomjasz]

CT

(31) "Electric bicycle" means a bicycle equipped with operable foot pedals and an electric motor of fewer than seven hundred fifty watts of power that is either a class 1, class 2 or class 3 bicycle. "Electric bicycle" does not include a dirt bike or an all-terrain vehicle;

 

[tomjasz]

Wow! Helmet law too!

(f) No person shall ride or sit as a passenger on a class 3 electric bicycle, as defined in section 14-1 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, unless such person is wearing protective headgear that conforms to the minimum specifications established for bicycle helmets by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission or the American Society for Testing and Materials.

 

[ElevenAD]

A bunch of those bikes would have to be licensed and insured here. They are scooters.
Pseudo-ebikes with pedals that are for all intent, decoration, are occasionally nabbed here for being just that.
They rarely enforce helmet laws here so I'm not surprised they rarely bother with scooters posing as e-bikes.
They're all over the place. CN

Those are E-bikes not scooters and they are perfectly legal by US law, they are 750 or under and all have functional pedals! This issue here is not the Scramblers its the goofball riders! Why are these guys riding with their legs just hanging to the side!? I see a lot of guys riding like this lately, no helmet, feet hanging to the side, super lame.

 

[ruffruff]

I fallen worse than that walking down my icy driveway!

 

[harryS]

Beats watching a bunch of geezers like me in a line of bikes. I think this is what ebiking looks like for the younger crowd. There's a Chicago community on facebook that is similar. They're riding almost every weekend, even now.

 

[tomjasz]

E-bikes

So we think these are eBikes? NOT!

 

[TomD]

Blurry pic, what makes them not ebikes?

 

[tomjasz]

Blurry pic, what makes them not ebikes?

Do we think anyone ever pedals these scooters?

 

[tomjasz]

Not an eBike.

 

[TomD]

Why not? Dual hub motor? Seems to have operable pedals

 

[TomD]

Do we think anyone ever pedals these scooters?

Yeah, I actually saw someone pedaling a similar bike. They passed me going up a very steep hill. Was quite impressed. Didn't seem like he was putting in a lot of effort but he was pedaling.

 

[harryS]

It's an ebike, just not what the lawmakers had in mind, It's what the urban riders like, along with full face helmets. They can hold the middle of the lane on a 30 mph street in Chicago and not get doored, And the Super 73 is still small enough to bring onto the train.

 

[m@Robertson]

WOW! Just a couple of eBikes and mostly motorcycle/scooters with pedals.

Thats pretty much the rule around here. Tourists galore riding ebikes - mostly Rad fat bikes - and nary a one is pedaling.

I'll never understand fat knobby tires on pavement. Sounds like a military convoy.

I absolutely love it. When you are on a shared-use path and barely-conscious walkers are weaving around on foot, they hear the hum of the tires and stay the hell out of the way. Those that aren't wearing earbuds that is. Our bike paths have specific areas where bikes are supposed to be and pedestrians are supposed to be, which matters not a whit to the pedestrians who think nothing of walking 4 or 5 wide right across the path. So the singing tires clear them without having to yell "Hey idiot GTF over to your side of the path!"

Don't Class 3 ebikes have to have pedals, that have to be functional? Several of those in the video didn't even appear to have pedals at all. They ARE mopeds, which are NOT ebikes.

They all had pedals. Those are scrambler-style ebikes that suck for pedaling and are patterned after the lawnmower-engine-powered minibikes of the 1970's in the USA. Very popular with urban last-mile riders who have zero interest in cycling and just use them for urban mobility.

 

[m@Robertson]

It's an ebike, just not what the lawmakers had in mind, It's what the urban riders like, along with full face helmets. They can hold the middle of the lane on a 30 mph street in Chicago and not get doored, And the Super 73 is still small enough to bring onto the train.

Yeah those bikes are not for me but I don't get the grumpiness over them. Its either let people use that or have another car on the road. Or a Satan-spawned scooter. Scrambler ebikes are a part of 21st century urban mobility that reduces auto use. Smile and say thank you when you see one.

 

[PedalUma]

Just for clarification with the three classes of bikes only the even numbered ones have throttles and those are limited to under 20MPH. Class 1) No throttle, 20MPH. Class 2) Throttle, 20MPH. Class 3, No Throttle, 28MPH.

 

[tomjasz]

I don't get the grumpiness over them.

We’ll get it when the powers that be add tougher restrictions in reaction to these sorta eBikes. Maybe not in my last decade or less but like OSHA laws come into play when Darwin knocks off a few idiots.