Why is the UK at war with e-Bikes?
Discussion
heebeegeetee said:
Indeed, I think Germany has done a great job, including he east, as has France and has has much of the bits of Spain and Italy where we've been too. Germany is definitely the levels we should aspire to imo, we're never going to be a Netherlands or Denmark.
At the risk of getting philosophical it's more of a journey than a destination; our roads are mostly designed for the benefit of car users and that needs to change, the disjointed way cycle provision is done by individual councils, prodding from sustrans and other lobby groups and no coherent direction from govt changing with either elections or cabinet reshuffles needs to stop. I think the dutch have a style guide for roads, the germans and french may do also, the UK could do worse than adopt them.98elise said:
I've spent the last few days sorting out some low spots on my drive. I've been amazed at the number of kids on electric motorbike zooming past. Over two days I saw about 7 groups.
Full bingo card of illegal bikes, no helmets, 2 up etc
Are you sorting out 'low spots in your drive' to trap them? :-)Full bingo card of illegal bikes, no helmets, 2 up etc
RustyNissanPrairie said:
Fit ebiker here - I was doing 3 to 4k hilly commuting miles per year on conventional high end road and gravel bikes and had done for a number of years. But it was starting to fatigue me as I got older (and we also got a dog with the associated 10mile daily walks).
I used to have a high average speed and would be doing 25+mph keeping up with traffic on many sections of my commute.
I bought a standard first generation Trek ebike with mudguards and built in lights. Perfect for commuting...... except it was very difficult to push above the 15.5mph cut off due to its weight.
I hacked/chipped it to get a higher 20+ mph cut off and it became useful again.
However! After awhile it dawned on me that I could take the hillier scenic route well away from traffic instead. I'd not really thought about this when I bought the bike as I was too blinkered with the original quick/short route and using the ebike as a direct replacement.
I've since returned it back to standard 15.5mph cut off and have a nicer more laid back traffic free route.
When bikes and traffic are segregated then a standard ebike is the perfect commuting device.
The lack of segregation and the culture wars anti cycling rhetoric is the issue to widespread ebike uptake.
The problem is 15.5mph, all assistance is withdrawn. So 15.6 feels like a brick wall resistance. Weight is immaterial on the flat. Perhaps rotating mass of motor is a factor and the related bearing.I used to have a high average speed and would be doing 25+mph keeping up with traffic on many sections of my commute.
I bought a standard first generation Trek ebike with mudguards and built in lights. Perfect for commuting...... except it was very difficult to push above the 15.5mph cut off due to its weight.
I hacked/chipped it to get a higher 20+ mph cut off and it became useful again.
However! After awhile it dawned on me that I could take the hillier scenic route well away from traffic instead. I'd not really thought about this when I bought the bike as I was too blinkered with the original quick/short route and using the ebike as a direct replacement.
I've since returned it back to standard 15.5mph cut off and have a nicer more laid back traffic free route.
When bikes and traffic are segregated then a standard ebike is the perfect commuting device.
The lack of segregation and the culture wars anti cycling rhetoric is the issue to widespread ebike uptake.
Try switching off assistance on the flat and see what your real capability is.
Davie said:
Pit Pony said:
E bikes are for slightly unfit people who want to go a bit further and a bit quicker than pushing
There's probably quite a few fit eBike riders who would contest that viewpoint... OutInTheShed said:
hidetheelephants said:
It's entirely road/town planning; I've an acquaintance who commutes 3 miles to work in Leicestershire, but because the road system between him and his workplace involves dual carriageways/junctions etc and has not been designed to accommodate cyclists at all he cannot cycle without feeling like he is risking death just commuting to work. He drives instead and will probably end up with an EV but he would prefer to cycle for fitness reasons, but it's not an option. In the Netherlands and in some other EU states road and town planning would have given him the option.
They don't spend a huge amount more on roads, they just spend it differently. Even if the UK decided to go the Netherlands route it wouldn't be a rapid change, it's taken 40+ years for the dutch to get their road network to where it is and it's still a work in progress. No one can visit the Netherlands and say they punish or disadvantage motorists, road tax levels aside, they just make sure cycling is at least as attractive an option; the UK should just get on with it and reap the same rewards in time.
I think some of the town planning is 'chicken and egg' though.They don't spend a huge amount more on roads, they just spend it differently. Even if the UK decided to go the Netherlands route it wouldn't be a rapid change, it's taken 40+ years for the dutch to get their road network to where it is and it's still a work in progress. No one can visit the Netherlands and say they punish or disadvantage motorists, road tax levels aside, they just make sure cycling is at least as attractive an option; the UK should just get on with it and reap the same rewards in time.
UK planners don't design for bicycles because few people use bicycles.
30/40 years ago life was different UK vs 'continent'.
People in the UK generally didn't want to live close to their work, more people commuted longer distances, people changed employers more?
Netherlands is not a great comparison, I reckon most Dutch people I know would view cycling differently if they were moved to Bath or Bristol.
Personally I think the UK needs to think about making towns better for pedestrians as much as for cyclists.
That said where I am now 4 people retired yesterday.
3 of them had been there 40 plus years and 2 of them lived within 3 miles. Neither of them had ever cycled to work.
The electric motorbike has now become a sort of badge of honour for scrotes, they arent legal, are quite fast and are ridden generally pretty badly.
They know the Police generally cant chase them if they arent wearing a helmet, and even if they do these things are light, fast and manoeuvrable, its become a movement, a culture "Bike Life" which encompasses most f
kwittery you can achieve on two wheels.
Blasting down pavements at 40 mph
Spraying mud over Police cars whilst wearing a balaclava and a little handbag.
Wheelying, always wheelying, for hours and hours, often falling off.
Doing a really camp version of "Riverdance" on the seat/pegs.
Riding at cars on the back wheel and swerving away at the last moment.
Riding in huge packs on quads, dirt bikes and electric bikes.
Tearing up sports pitches and parks.
You get the "its just kids having fun", which I get but I used to manage to have fun as a kid on a normal bike, typically weighing 15 kilos doing maybe 20 mph with a following wind, not 60 plus mph with lighting fast acceleration weighing 40 kilos, also used to have some semblance of respect for the road and not pissing people off.
Its the sneering, preening attitude that come forth, the "we will do whatever we want", as long as they are havng fun they dont give a toss about anyone else, it seems almost that they want to cause annoyance and be as far away from legal as possible. I think if folk rode normally the Police would probably ignore it a bit more and not be quite as hell bent on tackling it.
I had some knob on a fast scooter overtake me in traffic, I was letting a car come out of a side road but in his devil may care mindset he just assumed I was going slow, he just about managed to squeeze between my bonnet and the car coming out, then looked back like it was our fault.
The Police dont want the agro and dont have the time, but they are working on using drones to gather evidence and identify where illegal bikes are being stored, quick raid, confiscated and thats that.
They are ruining this electric tech, nobody really used to rid Moto X bikes like this as they were noisy and hard to evade Police on as you give yourself away, an electric motorbike is a great solution if used properly but they arent and you get a legal one, likely it will get nicked from your garage or you will be mugged by scrotes for it.
Its like certain fast cars, they get ruined by the lowest common denominator as they just cant behave when they get their hands on one.
I know someone in the ambulance service and he says that the number of mangled teenagers is growing, they have been out to a lot more of late and A and E is seeing a big uptick in riders coming a cropper as well.
They know the Police generally cant chase them if they arent wearing a helmet, and even if they do these things are light, fast and manoeuvrable, its become a movement, a culture "Bike Life" which encompasses most f
kwittery you can achieve on two wheels.Blasting down pavements at 40 mph
Spraying mud over Police cars whilst wearing a balaclava and a little handbag.
Wheelying, always wheelying, for hours and hours, often falling off.
Doing a really camp version of "Riverdance" on the seat/pegs.
Riding at cars on the back wheel and swerving away at the last moment.
Riding in huge packs on quads, dirt bikes and electric bikes.
Tearing up sports pitches and parks.
You get the "its just kids having fun", which I get but I used to manage to have fun as a kid on a normal bike, typically weighing 15 kilos doing maybe 20 mph with a following wind, not 60 plus mph with lighting fast acceleration weighing 40 kilos, also used to have some semblance of respect for the road and not pissing people off.
Its the sneering, preening attitude that come forth, the "we will do whatever we want", as long as they are havng fun they dont give a toss about anyone else, it seems almost that they want to cause annoyance and be as far away from legal as possible. I think if folk rode normally the Police would probably ignore it a bit more and not be quite as hell bent on tackling it.
I had some knob on a fast scooter overtake me in traffic, I was letting a car come out of a side road but in his devil may care mindset he just assumed I was going slow, he just about managed to squeeze between my bonnet and the car coming out, then looked back like it was our fault.
The Police dont want the agro and dont have the time, but they are working on using drones to gather evidence and identify where illegal bikes are being stored, quick raid, confiscated and thats that.
They are ruining this electric tech, nobody really used to rid Moto X bikes like this as they were noisy and hard to evade Police on as you give yourself away, an electric motorbike is a great solution if used properly but they arent and you get a legal one, likely it will get nicked from your garage or you will be mugged by scrotes for it.
Its like certain fast cars, they get ruined by the lowest common denominator as they just cant behave when they get their hands on one.
I know someone in the ambulance service and he says that the number of mangled teenagers is growing, they have been out to a lot more of late and A and E is seeing a big uptick in riders coming a cropper as well.
Loving my Suron. I ride mine on the road and keep a pocket full of broken pieces of sparkplug to throw at the windscreen of any mouth breather who dares toot their horn at me. Literally costs me pennies to and from work and I get home faster than I ever would in my car due to all the congestion. Took about an hour to assemble after taking delivery from Aliexpress. Worth every penny
J4CKO said:
I know someone in the ambulance service and he says that the number of mangled teenagers is growing, they have been out to a lot more of late and A and E is seeing a big uptick in riders coming a cropper as well.
Darwin in action, like gravity it's not the flying through the air that's the problem it's the rapid deceleration at the end point.There has also been a healthy uptake of E-Bikes here in Switzerland with the usual mix of on-street rental companies and private ownership. We have a two-tier approach whereby pedal assist up to 25kmh is as simple as get on and ride, then the next tier allows up to 45kmh but a registration plate is needed (with corresponding license category and insurance).
It works very well to be honest, the main problems recently have come from modified e-scooters that will do in excess of 50kmh.
It works very well to be honest, the main problems recently have come from modified e-scooters that will do in excess of 50kmh.
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