pdf

Across the pond Here is my view from "across the pond" (just joined by the way). Power is not the issue, it is speed for the intended use. I ride a bike that is driven through the cranks. I have a device that can be programmed to limit the current and/or speed. I have it programmed to limit the current to 15 amps, which corresponds to around 550W. It came speed limited to 32 kph, but as I rarely exceed this anyway, I disabled this. I ride to work every day and half the trip is on a "greenway" (a paved trail about 4 feed wide that frequently goes through wooded areas in a medium sized city. Usually used by joggers, bikers, and walkers). When I am on the trail I am frequently passed by "sport riders" on road bikes. While I could ride at their speed, I don't for two reasons: 1) I am a bike commuter and getting home without jostling my kidneys into peanut butter is more important than getting there 2 minutes earlier (the trail is fairly bumpy), and 2) the bike trail is heavily used by pedestrians. It is not power that is a problem on the trail but speed. There are rude sport bikers that pass pedestrians in a fairly dangerous manner and there are some that do not. On the open road, it will not do better than about 32 kph on a flat road because the rider position is fairly upright. Going downhill, I will hit maybe 42 kph. I use the power to get up hills. Actually, if it weren't for hills, the motor would not be nearly as useful. As it is, the route is hilly enough that few people ride bikes for commuting, even those in very good shape. On the open road, doing 32-48 kph (20-30 mph) would not be a problem in most places in my area, but it would depend on how you were riding and the road conditions. I don't subscribe the to idea that an ebike shouldn't allow a rider, disabled or not, fit or not, to go as fast or faster than a sport bike rider. It probably annoys the sport bike rider who feels he/she is somehow "earning it" and the ebiker is "cheating". However, the ebike rider is probably a commuter and where I live, the sport bike rider is probably riding his bike in a loop back to where he/she parked the car. For me, my ebike is transportation first and exercise second. The speed of it is more about safety than fairness. I don't see any point in limiting power. If the speed were limited to 32 kph, it would not change my ride time by more than a few minutes, but limiting the power would stop my use of the bike as an alternate to driving a car to work. Great forum here. I also read endless-sphere.com which is more Australian/US-centric.