It’s a bit like that Yellowstone park ranger who once summed up the difficulty of creating effective bear-proof garbage cans, noting the significant overlap between the reasoning ability of the most intelligent bears and the least intelligent humans.
I’m going to be thinking about this the rest of the week.
I don’t think it’s really an e-bike once you put a throttle on it. Then it becomes an e-moped, which is a fine thing to exist, but fundamentally a different kind of vehicle
That is incorrect: If there’s a throttle on it, it can absolutely be a class 2 e-bike (at least in many if not most places), as long as it as functional pedals and does not exceed ~20 mph on the throttle.
If it goes faster than that, then yep, it’s an e-moped or some other variant depending on the design.
I get where you’re coming from, but the fact of the matter is, a throttle does not necessarily make something not an e-bike.
I don’t think the person is necessarily disagreeing with the technical designation, but highlighting that they believe that is a bad classification scheme. I have to say that I generally agree.
Depends on where you live. Significantly flat area? Totally unnecessary. We have some 21% grade hills, and when you are behind five cars at a red light, you can’t even push off to get started because it’s so steep when hauling groceries or kids.
The throttle is the only way you can get the first stroke in to engage the motor as you also use your legs. Ebikes/escooters make up a huge portion of our micromobility culture.
It’s also part of the reason why bike culture never really took off here until electric bikes/scooters/onewheels became affordable.
Thats only a minor engineering problem. Non cheap e bikes use torque sensors instead of rotation sensor to engage the motor.
I think the only things that should matter for regulation/classification are size, weight, and speed. How the bike is powered doesn’t really matter. If someone has joint issues they may want to use the throttle, rather than pedaling.
Not even allowed them here
manufacturers discovered that riders have an uncanny ability to accidentally twist a throttle at exactly the wrong moment.
Long time bicycle rider (I’m Dutch) but never rode an eBike… Don’t these things have an on / off button somewhere? All motorized bikes have this because obviously it’s necessary to start the engine, but I want to imagine that eBikes too have an on / off switch. With that, how do you get accidents like that?
I think maybe what they are trying to describe is when the throttle gets brushed or otherwise accidentally activated, there is a tendency to just grab on as hard as you can, which will likely result in either continuing to go that fast or accelerating even faster. IMO, it’s pretty easy to avoid if you get yourself used to throttles (especially half twists).
You can also disable throttle entirely or dial it back on many models.
Oh I get that part, I just wonder why there isn’t an “off” button that would just disable the electric motor entirely, making the entire point moot
Edit: Oooohhh Its my cake day!
There almost always is, but that doesn’t mean they’ll have the presence of mind to use it when they’re already freaking out not realizing all they have to do to slow down is stop twisting the throttle and use the brakes (which also usually have a motor cutoff).
Also, happy cake day!
The viewpoint that the left throttle helps with balancing the bike controls across both sides of the handlebars is intriguing to me, but it’s precisely because I don’t do that and intentionally arrange my primary ebike controls to only require my right hand.
For context, I mostly ride my Class 3 ebike at 45 kph (28 MPH) on paved bike lanes, on long, uninterrupted stretches of arterial roads going between suburbs. So the primary obstacles to a smooth cruise are: 1) slowing and downshifting on approach to traffic lights, and 2) dodging obstacles or incompetent motorists.
To that end, it is valuable to peak behind and to my left, to check for cars passing from behind. And that’s a lot easier if I can remove my left hand from the bars, while keeping my right hand covering the brake, the shifter, and the horn. On the left-side are the headlights and assist-level buttons, which aren’t critical to dodge a car or trash bin. Oh, and I’m one of those people who has their brakes set up in moto-style, so the important front brake is controlled by my right hand.
Given my use-case, I don’t really have much of a need for a throttle of any style, and I just let my legs turn the pedals to instruct the motor.
I have bikes with both and overall, I think I’d prefer a quality half twist throttle over the thumb throttle but it’s not necessarily a deal breaker. Plus, it’s easier to find grips I like with the thumb throttle. On a related note, I also appreciate it when there’s a cruise control function (I don’t always use it, but it’s nice to have sometimes).
