eMopeds are taking over the eBike realm, and this is why

[biknut]

I watched hundreds of these eBike videos, and these are some observations. No matter what part of the country they're in, one commonality is Moped style eBikes are predominate by far. Most riders look 30 and younger. Even though they're young and fit, pedals are mainly used as a devise to ride the loophole. No one cares about the eBike class system, not the riders, and not the local authorities. They ride anywhere they want, street, or trails. No one ever seems to get hurt, except the occasional individual rider himself. This video is in NYC which has long been considered to have the most onerous eBike laws in the country, but what I see is exactly like any big group ride in Dallas.

I predict the moped style eBikes with their comfortable seats, and higher power, and I should also mention, higher value, will soon if not already, take over the eBike market.

 

[m@Robertson]

Well I dunno about *that*

But I do think all of the whining and hand-wringing from some about how people don't pedal these things and they are mopeds in disguise and oh-land-sakes-there-ought-to-be-a-law is misguided and totally misses the real point: young people aren't buying cars. This style of congestion-friendly and atmosphere-friendly transportation is what youth aspires to now much more than buying a car. Especially in dense urban areas.

 

[HumanPerson]

I talk to ebike cops every week. They say don't ride like an Idiot, don't push pedestrians out of the way,
mind your speed in certain areas, don't jump off sidewalks and curb hop.

That's all they have told me, just don't be an idiot lol

 

[biknut]

Well I dunno about *that*

But I do think all of the whining and hand-wringing from some about how people don't pedal these things and they are mopeds in disguise and oh-land-sakes-there-ought-to-be-a-law is misguided and totally misses the real point: young people aren't buying cars. This style of congestion-friendly and atmosphere-friendly transportation is what youth aspires to now much more than buying a car. Especially in dense urban areas.

I laugh at the hand wringers lol. I guess they're totally unaware EUC can go over 50 mph, and there's hundreds of them in Dallas alone. In Texas there's no mention of electric unicycles in the statutes so they ride freely on the streets at traffic speed, usually around 35 mph, while my Stealth which is a hundred times safer could be considered illegal riding next to one at the same speed. I made this video on my phone.

 

[m@Robertson]

I've seen a guy eat it at high speed on one of those uniwheel thingies and man it was not pretty. He hit like a pebble or a stick or something in the road and it took him right out. Was just like what happens to a shopping cart that hits a rock except one wheel only means the rider learns to fly.

I would love to get one of those big-wheel, 4wd skateboards with suspension but at age 60 hitting the ground hurts more and for longer than it used to.

 

[HumanPerson]

I've seen a guy eat it at high speed on one of those uniwheel thingies and man it was not pretty. He hit like a pebble or a stick or something in the road and it took him right out. Was just like what happens to a shopping cart that hits a rock except one wheel only means the rider learns to fly.

I would love to get one of those big-wheel, 4wd skateboards with suspension but at age 60 hitting the ground hurts more and for longer than it used to.

Same here, seen a guy in a park bite it at what i believe to be around 20mph...he swerved to miss a small dog and he ran over a stick
that somehow got caught up in his seat/fender thing and off he went

He was scraped up and prolly bruised but he seemed fine while i was speaking to him afterwards...
If he had not had all that protective gear on he'd be road rashed all over, lol he bounced from one side of the road to the other into the grass.

Pure Craziness LOL

 

[biknut]

I talk to ebike cops every week. They say don't ride like an Idiot, don't push pedestrians out of the way,
mind your speed in certain areas, don't jump off sidewalks and curb hop.

That's all they have told me, just don't be an idiot lol

I think that's pretty common thinking around the country. It's that way here in Dallas.

 

[biknut]

Same here, seen a guy in a park bite it at what i believe to be around 20mph...he swerved to miss a small dog and he ran over a stick
that somehow got caught up in his seat/fender thing and off he went

He was scraped up and prolly bruised but he seemed fine while i was speaking to him afterwardsEUV...
If he had not had all that protective gear on he'd be road rashed all over, lol he bounced from one side of the road to the other into the grass.

Pure Craziness LOL

Dallas has a large EUC community. They're a bunch of fun guys, and invite all pev to ride with them, but they usually caution riders that they'll need to be able to ride at 30 mph to keep up. They're nice enough that if a typical eBike comes to a ride, they'll try t slow down enough so it can keep up, but they're not really happy about it. If a 20 mph one wheel shows up that's a real bummer for them LOL.

Remember when they used to call motorcycles, murder cycles? We're never going to have to hear that again as long as EUC are around.

Typical eBike rider on the trail, "any eBike that can go over 20 mph should be illegal." EUC rider, "hold my beer."

 

[Smaug]

Just one more way we are taking care of our overpopulation problem.
Police can't really enforce it well, even if they want to. I think the only practical way to enforce it is to install street cameras EVERYWHERE, so that the violators can be folloed home from one camera to the next.

I think London has this, as well as a headquarters where guys watch the videos. They solve robberies, arrest people fighting in pubs, all kinds of stuff.

Big Brother? Maybe, but fewer and fewer people nowadays have the integrity to do The Right Thing just because it's right any more.

On the other hand, "riding the loophole" gets those people out of cars and onto eBikes, which have a tiny carbon footprint.

 

[munirider]

EUCs are more stable than you would think. I got a chance to ride one for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Being a life long unicycle rider I was able to get right on it and ride. I have lots of protective gear from mountain unicycling so I was pretty well protected. It was a blast, so much fun, I never took it over twenty, but the wheel I was riding was capable of 35mph.

That said I don't think I'll be getting one. I am kind of phasing out sports where you fall down really hard. Last time I crashed hard on my mountain unicycle my right shoulder hurt for the next two years. With physical therapy and lots of time it got better. I still ride but just not on the crazy downhill trails with lots of roots and rocks, and I ride my 36" street wheel the most.

I'm sure I could ride one around at reasonable speeds and never hurt myself, but what's the fun in that!

 

[addertooth]

I ride through a military base gates. I need my eBike to "look like" an eBike, and not a moped.
They don't ask me what class it is, but then, to a non-eBiker, it does not stand out as a speedster/monster.

Sometimes the simple "appearance" of a bad thing, is assumed to be a bad thing.

 

[munirider]

I watched hundreds of these eBike videos, and these are some observations. No matter what part of the country they're in, one commonality is Moped style eBikes are predominate by far. Most riders look 30 and younger. Even though they're young and fit, pedals are mainly used as a devise to ride the loophole. No one cares about the eBike class system, not the riders, and not the local authorities. They ride anywhere they want, street, or trails. No one ever seems to get hurt, except the occasional individual rider himself. This video is in NYC which has long been considered to have the most onerous eBike laws in the country, but what I see is exactly like any big group ride in Dallas.

I predict the moped style eBikes with their comfortable seats, and higher power, and I should also mention, higher value, will soon if not already, take over the eBike market.

Or maybe the people who are attracted to this type of e-bike are the ones making all the YouTube videos. Most of the people riding to and from work and the people using e-bikes for work, collage students or other utility purposes aren't making videos of them selves and posting it on YouTube.

A much better indicator of the e-bike market would be to look at the sales figures. Most of the e-bikes that I see while out and about are commuter style, just plain old e-bikes.

 

[ezl]

Just one more way we are taking care of our overpopulation problem.
Police can't really enforce it well, even if they want to. I think the only practical way to enforce it is to install street cameras EVERYWHERE, so that the violators can be folloed home from one camera to the next.

I think London has this, as well as a headquarters where guys watch the videos. They solve robberies, arrest people fighting in pubs, all kinds of stuff.

Big Brother? Maybe, but fewer and fewer people nowadays have the integrity to do The Right Thing just because it's right any more.

On the other hand, "riding the loophole" gets those people out of cars and onto eBikes, which have a tiny carbon footprint.

What is the only problem with the LoopHole Culture group is pulling wheelies on the street even with oncoming traffic and if a motorcyclist
did that and a cop seen it he would get a ticket. Riding the trails at high speed is another bad habit it could get someone killed. That happened
several years ago when a bicyclist running fast on a walking/bicycle trail hit a person when it was getting dark out and it killed the person.
The biggest problem nowadays is the lack of "Common-Sense" it's always dangerous around pedestrians, cars and running fast.

 

[Smaug]

What is the only problem with the LoopHole Culture group is pulling wheelies on the street even with oncoming traffic and if a motorcyclist
did that and a cop seen it he would get a ticket. Riding the trails at high speed is another bad habit it could get someone killed. That happened
several years ago when a bicyclist running fast on a walking/bicycle trail hit a person when it was getting dark out and it killed the person.
The biggest problem nowadays is the lack of "Common-Sense" it's always dangerous around pedestrians, cars and running fast.

You are right of course, and as you spend more time here, you'll see that we're more or less in agreement on this point.

Some folks here believe in no limits, but apply common sense. Like don't go fast on a crowded multi-use path (MUP), but if it's abandoned, why not?

Others say to strictly follow the laws. Others think speed limits should be strictly enforced.

↑ These are the "less" part of "more or less agree".

---

...but I think we all agree that taking too much advantage of the fact that enforcement is currently lax is going to be bad for all of us in the long run. This is the "more" part.

 

[biknut]

The Loop Hole Culture crowd aren't the wheelieholes. The whole thing about the LHC is they have pedals, that's the loop hole, supposedly. The ones doing 99% of the ill advised wheelies are almost exclusively riding one brand that doesn't have pedals.

 

[ezl]

What is the only problem with the LoopHole Culture group is pulling wheelies on the street even with oncoming traffic and if a motorcyclist
did that and a cop seen it he would get a ticket. Riding the trails at high speed is another bad habit it could get someone killed. That happened
several years ago when a bicyclist running fast on a walking/bicycle trail hit a person when it was getting dark out and it killed the person.
The biggest problem nowadays is the lack of "Common-Sense" it's always dangerous around pedestrians, cars and running fast.

Several of the fellas are running SurRon Ebikes and a fella can order a pedal assembly for them. The Talaria doesn't have them available
for their Ebikes yet. These guys pulling wheelies in traffic think they are safe since they are running in a mob of Ebikes and don't
realize that they will stiffen legislation against that and new laws.

 

[addertooth]

Several of the fellas are running SurRon Ebikes and a fella can order a pedal assembly for them. The Talaria doesn't have them available
for their Ebikes yet. These guys pulling wheelies in traffic think they are safe since they are running in a mob of Ebikes and don't
realize that they will stiffen legislation against that and new laws.

Agreed, those who skirt loopholes invite someone to call their congressman. Keep in mind where you see most of the wheelie crowd (in packs) are also in major cities which have major problems with drugs, homelessness and theft. In those cities, even written laws are frequently ignored. Those laws are frequently very weakly enforced.

In my small town, we don't have any of the wheelie crowd, even on motorcycles. We had ONE night of some kids trying to "take over the streets/intersections". They ALL went to jail and had a very unfavorable day in court. We do fine with limited regulations here, as those who do stupid stuff face vigorous regulation by the local police.

Most of the young here are either in the military, or have a military dad, who lines them out rather nicely.

 

[Pinhead]

I hope they stay in where they are, we have enough morons in the UK without those things

 

[ezl]

Agreed, those who skirt loopholes invite someone to call their congressman. Keep in mind where you see most of the wheelie crowd (in packs) are also in major cities which have major problems with drugs, homelessness and theft. In those cities, even written laws are frequently ignored. Those laws are frequently very weakly enforced.

In my small town, we don't have any of the wheelie crowd, even on motorcycles. We had ONE night of some kids trying to "take over the streets/intersections". They ALL went to jail and had a very unfavorable day in court. We do fine with limited regulations here, as those who do stupid stuff face vigorous regulation by the local police.

Most of the young here are either in the military, or have a military dad, who lines them out rather nicely.

A fella even with a outlaw size gasbike can get by without showing off such power as long as the fella obeys traffic laws and doesn't
ram around town speeding or raising heck. Granted, a police officer will leave you along even on that type of bike if you respect the
laws and act civil with them.

 

[Smaug]

Thinking about this topic over time and thinking about the thread title, I think there are two distinct markets:

1) eBikes. Think US Class 1 and Class 2. These are more attractive to older folks who want to ride a bike, but are either not strong enough or have some disability that prevents them from riding an mBike. Or, people who love riding bikes, but headwinds and hills take all the fun out of it for them.

2) eMopeds. These are more attractive to the younger crowd. They want the speed of a moped or 125cc scooter or motorcycle, but the convenience, low maintenance and lack of government intervention* of electric.

US Class 3 eBikes remain in this niche gray zone for now. In bike shops, they're prohibitively expensive and in the shadier online marketplaces, they exceed Class 3 because they can use throttle past 20 mph.