Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[Eldron]

 

Is it time to regulate e-bikes more like motorbikes?

 

Interesting video!

 

45kph commuting on an ebike is always going to be dangerous in "half a helmet" in my opinion.

 

Personally I reckon ~27kph is the right top speed for commuters. That way ebikers and normal bikers do about the same speed on the road (or in my case the cycle path) so pedal traffic can flow smoothly. It is also the speed car drivers are used to.

 

45kph is fine in the right hands with the right brakes but for the most part ecommuters are not experienced riders and the brakes I've seen on most (even R150,000 ebikes) are woefully inadequate of stopping a 80kg person and 30kg bike.

[GhostSixFour]

Think he concludes well, no, but understand the risks.

 

Is it time that people start driving cars with more care, yes.

True. It was e-bikes that got me into motorbikes - for all the points raised here. Well, and at that point the e-bikes were about the same costs as a decent second hand motorbike.

[Pure Savage]

Interesting video!

 

45kph commuting on an ebike is always going to be dangerous in "half a helmet" in my opinion.

 

Personally I reckon ~27kph is the right top speed for commuters. That way ebikers and normal bikers do about the same speed on the road (or in my case the cycle path) so pedal traffic can flow smoothly. It is also the speed car drivers are used to.

 

45kph is fine in the right hands with the right brakes but for the most part ecommuters are not experienced riders and the brakes I've seen on most (even R150,000 ebikes) are woefully inadequate of stopping a 80kg person and 30kg bike.

I found the limit of 25km/h on my wife's one just makes it a little slow riding the 12km to work. 33km/h would be perfect as more time on the bike gets you a little more sweaty. Would love to remove the limiter on my wife's bike. 

 

I am pretty sure the motor itself would limit it to around 33km/h. Its an Avalanche Dutch style eBike with 250w motor which my wife loves taking to shops etc.

[Pure Savage]

True. It was e-bikes that got me into motorbikes - for all the points raised here. Well, and at that point the e-bikes were about the same costs as a decent second hand motorbike.

Agreed, Fortnine is a great youtube channel I have watched for ages. His takes are rather well thought out and unlike me, uses actual facts.

[Hairy]

I found the limit of 25km/h on my wife's one just makes it a little slow riding the 12km to work. 33km/h would be perfect as more time on the bike gets you a little more sweaty. Would love to remove the limiter on my wife's bike. 

 

I am pretty sure the motor itself would limit it to around 33km/h. Its an Avalanche Dutch style eBike with 250w motor which my wife loves taking to shops etc.

From your description of the bike, and your wife's usage thereof, it sounds like a perfect match.

[Hairy]

Agreed, Fortnine is a great youtube channel I have watched for ages. His takes are rather well thought out and unlike me, uses actual facts.

Don't be too hard on yourself, you are just using "alternative facts"

[Beer4Recovery]

[ChrisF]

I found the limit of 25km/h on my wife's one just makes it a little slow riding the 12km to work. 33km/h would be perfect as more time on the bike gets you a little more sweaty. Would love to remove the limiter on my wife's bike. 

 

I am pretty sure the motor itself would limit it to around 33km/h. Its an Avalanche Dutch style eBike with 250w motor which my wife loves taking to shops etc.

 

And this is exactly why the European rules limit "ebikes" to 25km/h.  "slow and safe" ....  uhm ja ....

 

 

The 32km/h limit on the American bikes IS a lot "nicer" .... but also requires a more experienced rider to stay safe on the roads ..... okay, staying safe on the SA roads is a whole different debate ....

 

 

BUT ..... most of us have done 60+km/h on our bikes at one time or another .... traffic and road dependent with different levels of risk attached to this.  To be clear - these speeds are regularly (mostly) done without the assistance an ebike.  Most ebikes spin out at 40km/h.  Even on a "standard bike", a newbie can get in serious trouble on a downhill ....

 

 

O-well, very loaded topic, and each will take what they want from it ....

[Eldron]

 

BUT ..... most of us have done 60+km/h on our bikes at one time or another .... traffic and road dependent with different levels of risk attached to this.  To be clear - these speeds are regularly (mostly) done without the assistance an ebike.  Most ebikes spin out at 40km/h.  Even on a "standard bike", a newbie can get in serious trouble on a downhill ....

 

 

O-well, very loaded topic, and each will take what they want from it ....

 

To be fair the discussion was centred around commuting. In my 24 months of commuting to my store and back daily I have not seen a single person doing 60kph. Maybe a handful doing ~45kph on their modded ebikes (and that was ridiculously dangerous).

 

Smashing 60kph on a Spesh duallie on an isolated road is a very different story. The only real risk is to the rider.

 

Bottom line is that nobody wants restrictions and theoretically they shouldn't be needed but to save the majority from stupid minority we need rules.

[DuncanDoughnuts]

My Saturday afternoon group rides includes a mandatory beer stop at the round house ..... 

 

But since Corona its at the club house

 

 

Oh come one guys, the guy made a video. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Absolutely nothing wrong with a beer on a ride either - the guy is in no way promoting getting hammered on a ride. We do a beer ride on a Friday to celebrate all the bg things - birthdays, birth of the kiddos, etc. Stick the bottle of beer in the hydration pack with lots of ice, pop it open with at the top of the mountain with a view of Blouberg, Table mountain and all the way around to Gordon's Bay, and enjoy. Then take a chilled ride down the mountain. Not many things in life better than that.

[DuncanDoughnuts]

Ok... my apologies guys, I was wrong.

 

I got defensive and I can now see  from the perspective of a brand like Cannondale, they would not be promoting the us of alcohol in their videos. 

 

 

Before you judge too harshly, my side...

I had no budget for this video and no one asked me to make it.

 

It was a very spur of the moment thing, we were already on the way to the farm for the weekend when I got news that we can take the bikes along.  We had to stop back home to pack helmets and whatever other cycling gear I could dig out quickly.

 

My partner is not a cyclist at all and I could not get any shots of her bombing down anything, which left me to try and film myself doing some faster stuff.  Not easy filming yourself on a bike... with a drone that has no tracking capabilities or a "co-pilot" that has never flown a drone.

(She enjoyed the e-bike tremendously and this might be a fantastic way to get her into cycling... and get me back into cycling )

 

The aim wasnt to promote a lifestyle, just thought I would get some cool shots whilst having a jol.

 

Unfortunately the footage and terrain is what I have and where we were, cant change that but hopefully the next one will be better...

 

How is this then?

 

No click-bait this time!

 

Great video ... Don't pay attention to the haters .

 

And as for the beer stop mid ride (even though it was not) ... Heck on my first Wines2Wales race we had a Wine bar on top of that horrible last climb, and was really good wine. 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

To be fair the discussion was centred around commuting. In my 24 months of commuting to my store and back daily I have not seen a single person doing 60kph. Maybe a handful doing ~45kph on their modded ebikes (and that was ridiculously dangerous).

 

Smashing 60kph on a Spesh duallie on an isolated road is a very different story. The only real risk is to the rider.

 

Bottom line is that nobody wants restrictions and theoretically they shouldn't be needed but to save the majority from stupid minority we need rules.

I am faster on my Normal bike than my ebike (Downhill and flat that is) after 25km/h on my ebike its like peddling in thick mud.  I can even show my strava times in tokai, downhills my Mojo HD3 is faster than my Levo. 

[Hairy]

I am faster on my Normal bike than my ebike (Downhill and flat that is) after 25km/h on my ebike its like peddling in thick mud.  I can even show my strava times in tokai, downhills my Mojo HD3 is faster than my Levo. 

that is very interesting ... do you think it is more core fatigue due to handling the heavier e-bike?

[Eldron]

I am faster on my Normal bike than my ebike (Downhill and flat that is) after 25km/h on my ebike its like peddling in thick mud.  I can even show my strava times in tokai, downhills my Mojo HD3 is faster than my Levo. 

 

Of course you can - nobody is disputing that but we're talking commuting. 

 

Can you? Sure. Should you? Hell no.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Eldron

[Headshot]

Then again, some Brit mtb mag found the ebike was faster on the downs, something to do with the weight and gravity :-) 

[Pure Savage]

We had a laugh this weekend, while waiting at the top of Constania Nek. A couple of older gentleman started to congregate for their start of their ride with their e-Bikes, the strange part was they all had their wives drop them off at the top of the climb. I thought that was the whole point of the e-Bike?

 

Or do the wives not trust the hubby's that they are actually going to go ride so they drive to the top, drop them off and go back to constania village?