Two bills moving through the California legislature this year could change how e-bikes are bought, ridden, and regulated across the state. One would require
That is the maximum speed they can go which is like saying people drive cars at the top speed consistently when most people ride an e-bike at 15-20mph. Frankly I think these bills are eroding solidarity in the bike community…
I don’t believe most people who actually have a driving licence have ever driven a car at its top speed (or if they have, maybe only once or twice on a long, straight stretch of rural motorway with no traffic).
However, my personal observation, at least in my city, is that given the opportunity, people will ride their bikes as fast as their equipment will allow. On straight sections of the bike path which I mentioned in the previous post, bicycle riders will kick their bikes into seventh gear and e-bike riders go full throttle. That path has no legal speed limit, and even if it did, there is no way to enforce it.
That is the maximum speed they can go which is like saying people drive cars at the top speed consistently when most people ride an e-bike at 15-20mph. Frankly I think these bills are eroding solidarity in the bike community…
I don’t believe most people who actually have a driving licence have ever driven a car at its top speed (or if they have, maybe only once or twice on a long, straight stretch of rural motorway with no traffic).
However, my personal observation, at least in my city, is that given the opportunity, people will ride their bikes as fast as their equipment will allow. On straight sections of the bike path which I mentioned in the previous post, bicycle riders will kick their bikes into seventh gear and e-bike riders go full throttle. That path has no legal speed limit, and even if it did, there is no way to enforce it.