Disregarding UK pedelec laws

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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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my bike cuts out at 35.5mpho_O if it was locked at 15mph id throw it in the canel ;)
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,213
30,613
What was the reason for the concession to allow ebikes to operate without bureaucracy?
was it to encourage cycle usage?
It varies according to where, but primarily trying to encourage any form of cycling came first, e-bikes just tacking on so allowed to be just considered just bikes, subject to some restrictions.

In Britain where we'd long had assist petrol motors they were treated as motorcycles in every respect. Pass a m/c driving test with your bicycle and 25cc engine in the rear wheel, then throw away the L plates and jump onto a 125 mph Vincent Black Shadow, a bit silly of course.

Then in the early 1980s a couple of e-bikes were made here, both somewhat weak and one using a truck wiper motor with two 12 volt lead acids to give the 24 volts. The makers protested that the need to be classed as a motorcycle was ridiculous so the first EAPC law was introduced by the DfT. Obviously cautious at first, the assist limit was 12 mph and the power limit a strict 200 watts, measured according to BS 1727. T here was no pedelec insistence so throttles could be used Later there were two speed changes (15 mph, 15.5 mph) to conform more closely to the EU regulation.

In Japan they created a pedelec (no throttle) regulation very similar to today's EU one but with the power gradation more strictly controlled, maximum power only appearing up to 15 kph (just under 10 mph) and then phasing down to zero at 25 kph (15.5 mph) which was their assist limit. The reason for that is that pavement cycling is encouraged there and even enforced by law in many urban areas to separate bikes from cars. But the maximum cycling speed allowed on the pavements there is about 8 mph and most Japanese cycling is very slow, even slower than the Dutch.

The EU adopted the Japanese regulation but without the strict early phase down of power, and that has now become a de facto world standard followed by nearly all countries.
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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But on occasion I'm still able to cycle at approaching 20mph anyway under leg-power alone. As I keep pointing out the 15.5mph assistance cut off has nothing to do with maximum speed. Are you calling for a general speed limit for all cyclists? That would seem to be the logical outcome of many of these posts.
I disagree to some extent, since there is a direct connection between the rider input and therefore control in unpowered cycling. That isn't always true under all conditions with assisted cycling.

If cycling was being invented now there probably would be a speed limit, indeed there is in places even in Britain. However cycling crept up on the authorities and before they'd woken up we had cycle road racing and bikes flying down hills at whatever speed they could reach. Added to that such a law is unenforceable, they've decided to leave that form of suicide legal.
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youngoldbloke

Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2018
69
25
77
South West
I disagree to some extent, since there is a direct connection between the rider input and therefore control in unpowered cycling. That isn't always true under all conditions with assisted cycling.

If cycling was being invented now there probably would be a speed limit, indeed there is in places even in Britain. However cycling crept up on the authorities and before they'd woken up we had cycle road racing and bikes flying down hills at whatever speed they could reach. Added to that such a law is unenforceable, they've decided to leave that form of suicide legal.
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I hardly think cycling 'crept up' on the authorities! Took them a long time to wake up too - it wasn't until the 1940s that we had massed start road racing.
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_League_of_Racing_Cyclists
 

DBye

Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2016
166
78
- shouldn't we therefore restrict the older, heavier cyclist on a non-assisted bike? Or impose a speed limit on heavily loaded touring bikes? I'm 60kg, I'm fitter than most my age, why should I be penalised?
How would you implement that? Cycling tests for everyone? It would be a barrier to cycling. Much more sensible would be restrict all e-bikes when manufactured and then have some kind of higher bar that those who wanted the superior performance of an unrestricted machine could meet. Why should I be penalised because you want assistance above 15mph?
 

youngoldbloke

Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2018
69
25
77
South West
How would you implement that? Cycling tests for everyone? It would be a barrier to cycling. Much more sensible would be restrict all e-bikes when manufactured and then have some kind of higher bar that those who wanted the superior performance of an unrestricted machine could meet. Why should I be penalised because you want assistance above 15mph?
I'm not suggesting you should - just trying to reply to the earlier post referring to 'older heavier riders'
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,213
30,613
I hardly think cycling 'crept up' on the authorities! Took them a long time to wake up too - it wasn't until the 1940s that we had massed start road racing.
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_League_of_Racing_Cyclists
Cycling doesn't only happen in Britain! Indeed it hardly happens at all here compared with some other countries. Road racing was happening long before the 1940s, the Tour de France in 1903 for example, and the the 1930s UCI ban on recumbents in races.

Britain has long been backwards in cycling, the ban on road racing you mention being but one example. The collapse in cycling in the 1960s and '70s and the way it's never properly recovered since being others.
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Wicky

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2014
2,823
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Colchester, Essex
www.jhepburn.co.uk
As has repeatedy been pointed out to folk wanting assistance above 15.5mph to 28mph there are already Speed Pedelecs, or the dubious Soundwave way of simply ignoring the law & bypassing to suit their wants.

Yes S-pedelecs don't have dropped handlebars (when there's really no need) - they then best petition the manufactures to address this omission, or mod it themselves if it is so essential for style over function.


Problem solved & everybody happy.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,919
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Are you sure that's wise posting your mug & set up on a public forum ...
nope it is long gone anyway it moves about ;)
 
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sjpt

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2018
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youngoldbloke

Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2018
69
25
77
South West
Cycling doesn't only happen in Britain! Indeed it hardly happens at all here compared with some other countries. Road racing was happening long before the 1940s, the Tour de France in 1903 for example, and the the 1930s UCI ban on recumbents in races.

Britain has long been backwards in cycling, the ban on road racing you mention being but one example. The collapse in cycling in the 1960s and '70s and the way it's never properly recovered since being others.
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I know that - I should have said 'it wasn't until the 1940s that we had massed start road racing in the UK'. You could of course argue that in recent years GB track and road riders have been more successful and better known by the general public than they ever have been.
 
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trevor brooker

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 11, 2018
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maidstone
It varies according to where, but primarily trying to encourage any form of cycling came first, e-bikes just tacking on so allowed to be just considered just bikes, subject to some restrictions.
So if we agree that assisted bicycles encourage more cycling, do we also agree that Environmental considerations are higher now, than in the 1980s - Air pollution caused by the massive increase in car usage, congestion etc.

Also that with the spreading on the 20mph limit for urban areas it makes sense to consider altering the assist limit so that its the same as the urban speed limit - purely to encourage as many car drivers to switch, as its the same top speed, but total urban journey time likely to be shorter (cycle lanes etc), daily moderate exercise to fight the obesity crisis, reduced costs for the journey, reduced wear & tear on roads, reduced total energy production required (how many hundred ebikes can be powered by one Tesla?) etc
 

Wicky

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2014
2,823
4,011
Colchester, Essex
www.jhepburn.co.uk
So if we agree that assisted bicycles encourage more cycling, do we also agree that Environmental considerations are higher now, than in the 1980s - Air pollution caused by the massive increase in car usage, congestion etc.

Also that with the spreading on the 20mph limit for urban areas it makes sense to consider altering the assist limit so that its the same as the urban speed limit - purely to encourage as many car drivers to switch, as its the same top speed, but total urban journey time likely to be shorter (cycle lanes etc), daily moderate exercise to fight the obesity crisis, reduced costs for the journey, reduced wear & tear on roads, reduced total energy production required (how many hundred ebikes can be powered by one Tesla?) etc
Speed of a pedelec is still way above average city traffic speeds

 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,919
6,516
Faster over hill & dale and more tuneable than any pedelec, and it comes with pedals! Appreciating in value as a bonus.

Get a '75 un and it'll be Tax and Mot Excempt....

race class ebikes can go 75kph if you got 16k spare change ;) wonder when these will come out pmsl.
32387
 
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Deleted member 25121

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Following the (il)logic of some on here I've come to the conclusion that the motorway speed limit should be set at 150mph because my car can do that speed and I'm an expert at driving at that speed. The 70mph limit was set in the times when cars and drivers were struggling at that speed and technology has moved on since then.
 
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