A quick question about the 15.5mph assisted legal limit

[soundwave]

i had one of those blast past me on the road going about 50mph im only geared to 35 @120rpm at the cranks

 

[guerney]

i had one of those blast past me on the road going about 50mph im only geared to 35 @120rpm at the cranks

At least those self-balancing motorised unicycles have toeclips? Or some other way of keeping the rider on it when going over bumps, unlike e-scooters where any little bump in the road could easily knock the rider off balance and off the e-scooter.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

The same would apply to a car. How would a Policeman be able to determine its legality ? Very unlikley that they could, in detail, so it would go to 'experts' for checking.

The likley scenario is that the rider\driver has to do something worthy of a stop, speeding for instance, and a Policeman may then be inclined to investigate further.

Even the experts would need guidelines how to assess a bike and whether it complies with the pre 2016 rules etc. I think most laws make sense but the European ebike laws don't make a lot of sense to me. I feel now that we are out of the EU should split from their legislation and come up with our own that is much easier to understand and enforce and more practical. Also by making our legislation unique we can provide more opportunities for specific UK models so perhaps bring back more assembly to the UK creating more jobs.

 

[flecc]

the European ebike laws don't make a lot of sense to me.

They aren't just European, they are the same around much of the world:

The whole of the EU, all the EEC countries, The UK, Turkey, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and even China has changed to them and is phasing them in. So they make sense to all of those countries and most of their cyclists see nothing wrong in them.

It's just here in Britain that there's so much protest about this law. And all because they want to have a moped without the bother of getting a driving licence etc., while pretending to cycle.
.

 

[StuartsProjects]

The whole of the EU, all the EEC countries, The UK, Turkey, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and even China has changed to them and is phasing them in. So they make sense to all of those countries and most of their cyclists see nothing wrong in them.

A 'universally' adopted standard does make sense, to me at least.

If it is so you can expect it to be easier (cheaper?) for UK eBike manufacturers to import parts that would be compatible for UK use. Same applies to those doing DIY eBike conversions.

The power limits do intially seem a bit of a kludge. The controller on my eBike does report 500watt+ when on assist 5 on hills if I ease back on the pedal thing, but if the controller limits the speed to 15.5mph as it should, I dont see that this in itself is any problem at all. Wheelies away from the traffic lights, which could be a problem with 'instantanious' excessive power do seem unlikley.

 

[matthewslack]

In the beginning of my ebike miles, I did think that 25km/h might prove to be a bit slow. But in my use case, of long distance multiday touring rides, it soon became clear that to get good range, whether by minimising time spent charging in cafes and pubs, or living within the generating capacity of a solar trailer, I cannot afford the energy expenditure to go any faster.

The aerodynamic forces in a comfortable, upright riding position begin to build up quite significantly above 20km/h, and with them, energy consumption.

So I am now quite happy with the status quo on both speed and max continuous power.

 

[soundwave]

under 15.5 mph the bike can pull as much power as the motor can give so with my bosch bike under the 15mph can pull 8-900w from the motor.

i have a dongle to remove the speed limit but the faster i go i get less assistance from the motor and at about 32mph its not much at all and why using a dongle will half the range of the batt like a non stop hill climb.

eddie pj managed to nuke a 500w batt in just ten miles with no dongle on holiday.