Some 17,500 fatbikes imported from China have been held by Dutch authorities over concerns about speed manipulation and safety risks.
Some 17,500 fatbikes imported from China have been held by Dutch authorities over concerns about speed manipulation and safety risks.
Yeah the Netherlands has basically a dedicated bicycle infrastructure meant for pedal cycles. There is a whole bunch of context for this story that is easy to miss if you don’t live there.
It’s not about cars vs e-bikes - it’s about not being allowed to bring an ultra powered bike that’s unsafe for other riders. It’s more akin to how your car has to follow regulations to be allowed on the road.
That shit about noise is just old people being old people. It’s the potential safety issues that got these bikes held up in customs.
Yeah, we’re talking about Netherlands here, the cycling haven of Earth, if they think these super pedelec is an issue on bike lane you better take note of it if you want a safe cycling city. These thing have the max speed of 30 to 40mph(48/64kmph) after unlocked and it would get really ugly if it hit someone, as people there tend to not wear helmet when riding bicycle because it’s unnecessary and super safe to do so.
If you ever had a car/moped/motorcycle that zoom by you in 50kmph while riding on the road you know how scarry that is.
I’ll be candid, I was expecting faster. 30mph is pretty regularly doable on a road bike (obviously not a fatbike, but just talking sharing a lane here), not sustained unless you’re riding in the TDF, but as a sprint? Yeah, definitely doable.
Just to be clear I’m not saying it wouldn’t be a problem at 30-40mph for these fatbikes, because you’re talking about anyone being able to do those speeds, fully sustained for long periods, just that I was expecting even higher from the way it was being described.
At the same time I want one to try out…
30mph is i think the low end one, some can go 40mph and higher. Check out this youtube channel, he reviewed some high speed one.
I do wanna try one out too, but i wouldn’t buy one, it make more sense to get a moped. Because it’s basically moped disguised as a pedelec. Kinda defeating the purpose of a bicycle if you ask me.
I can see where there could be use… I live in the kind of area where the only path available at certain points is major roads, where going 30mph in a car would be so slow its dangerous.
Being able to hit a higher speed like 50 for a short period, then get off and go back to biking… That I could see as an appropriate use.
Personally I like the idea of electric, I have a crappy knee so if it hurts randomly (which happens), I basically turn around use one leg to actually pedal. As a result, I’m not doing the rides I used to do, from a 100 mile weekend bit of fun down to around a 10 mile super quick bit of fun. Electric would make me feel comfortable going for longer. Of course, I’m not looking to go 60mph on a bicycle anyway.