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Old 09-17-2019, 04:28 PM
NHAero NHAero is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 9,596
I'm in favor of pedal-assist ebikes limited to 15 mph as in Europe, as Mark McM already mentioned. A year ago I was almost creamed on the SUP here in the State Forest on Martha's Vineyard by a guy coming around a corner almost out of control at about 25 mph on a electric bike with throttle, no pedaling needed. He was probably pushing 300 pounds and I wouldn't have fared well in that head-on crash.
We're a second home resort location so this is more true than many other places, but many people renting these ebikes haven't ridden a bike since they were 10 years old so their skills are lacking too.
Yesterday I was pushing hard near the end of a 4 hour ride, on the flat, and a fellow on an ebike passed me like I was in reverse. If he was speed-limited to 15 mph he wouldn't have passed me.

IIRC the Bosch unit Firefly is using is only 250W and is made for those speed limited pedal assisted bikes. I'm glad Firefly is working on making these available!
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