True, soon as the EV bike becomes significantly more powerful than a conventional bike, registration with DVLA should be mandatory. This is why acceleration should be curtailed, not so much outright power, because that affects range.

 

Power and gearing equate to acceleration. e-Bikes aren't necessarily any quicker off the line and up to their max speed of 15.5mph than a "normal" pedal cycle, so scrub that. Once at 15.5mph, then it is considerably harder to get to 20mph than the equivalent un-assisted cycle. I was suggesting that the max speed should be raised to 20mph in order to provide a buffer in stop/start traffic where maxing out at 15.5mph can be dangerous in certain situations.

Not everyone who has an e-bike actually goes v-max anyway, neither do people on normal pedal bikes. I would suggest that it would be mandatory for anyone on the (other than pedestrians) have 3rd party insurance but a nightmare to enforce. eBikes upto 20mph are no more a hazard than the equivalent cycle, so again licensing etc hardly worth it. Bear in mind that a reasonable rider on a road bike can easily cruise at 22/24mph and hit 30mph+ on the flat. I would suggest making cycles subject to the speed limit though.

 

lol, i bet if Boris said the earth was flat you would buy it hook line and sinker

[Trump mode on] So Sad[trump mode off]

 

I dont think youll find that many road bikers can cruise at 22/24 solo !

 

You'd be surprised

 

strava uk average , male

16mph

 

22+ is motoring along, especially solo. You need to be a top end cyclist to sustain that pace in comfort. Im a big rider, but can push decent watts and find holding 22+ on a flat road solo hard work at threshold. 16-18mph is more a cruising speed.

 

That's average including ups, downs, traffic and what speed people want to go. I commute most every day 7.5 miles through SE London to the City/back and I regularly do16-18mph moving average over the distance, so that includes stop/starts, filtering, traffic, Tower Bridge and so on. On the flat and clear roads, I am aiming at 22mph, which is a nice cadence/load on my bike. I'm certainly not the fittest and by no means the fastest, though probably above average.

What I am saying is that, in my experience, an eBike running out of assistance at 15mph is too low and it should be a bit higher, though not massively. I found it a challenge and in some instances more dangerous as I didn't have the speed manoeuvrability or additional acceleration to get out of trouble that I might have had on my road bike.

 

Ive no argument against having 20mph for an ebike. You will find the leap to 22+ massive, air drag increases square to increase in speed. It needs a massive leap in Watts to go from 18 to 20mph and an even bigger leap to from 20 to 22+mph. You have to get alot more aero or ride in a pack to share the work on the front.

I did the Tour of Cambridge this year, my first time. It was a blast fest, first 10 miles averaged over 25mph on a normal bike, 23mph for 40 miles. I then stopped for a break and on my return to the road, I was alone for quite a while and struggled to hold 21+ solo. Soon as a pack arrived, my pace increased back over 22mph. I ended up 21+mph average for the whole 80 miles.

 

Kudos

 

I guess the thing in my favour is that its rare to get more than 2 miles that's traffic free and free from traffic lights on my commute, so its more like sprints between lights...

 

I reckon i could keep that speed , for a couple miles !

 

 

 

Does anyone here own pedelec that needs to be registered ie over 15mph

How much is insurance > only seen one figure of 200 quid fully comp !

i wouldnt even bother thinking about it