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Comment by moonka | Hacker News Reader

Interesting. In Seattle we now have 3 dockless bike shares (Spin, Lime and Ofo). I think Lime is about to roll out electric bikes, but so far none are. It makes riding up hills pretty rough, especially since they aren't geared very well.

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https://www.geekwire.com/2018/limebike-rolling-electric-bicy...

Limit of 14.5 MPH feels a little slow to me.

It's a bit on the slower side, but when riding in the city I rarely end up hitting above 15 mph unless I'm going downhill, in which case the electric assist limit wouldn't kick in.

14.5 MPH is not slow in a city. Anything faster starts to feel a little unsafe IMHO.

I have an electric bike that goes 20mph. It only feels fast for the first week or so until you get used to it.

That's sort of exactly the point. These are generally being ridden by people with poor bike handling skills. I don't want some dumbass flying by at 20 on one of these things when they only bike a few times a year.

The article is misleading. It's not a speed limit for the bike. 14.5mph is the point at which you no longer receive motorised assist. If you can already go up hills at that speed, you may not need an electric bike.

  I'd imagine they will need to classify them as "motor vehicles" which will require users to provide proof of a  driver's license with motorcycle endorsement to use them.

  Not really ideal for most casual users.

EDIT: http://www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/docs/equipmt/elect_bicycle.pd...

It appears by staying under 20 MPH they can avoid this.

I was under the impression that pedals negated the need for that classification. Wasn’t that the reason for existence of mopeds?

I think by limiting the speed they get around this.

E-bikes in Canada don't require a license and are not classified as "motor vehicles". Only real requirement for the rider is to be 16+. More info over here:

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/driver/electric-bicycles.sh...

The rider must also wear a helmet.

Well, yeah. You should always wear a helmet, though!

That type of attitude may actually endanger cyclists more than helping them.

http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k94/rr-2

In California at least, a pedal-assisted electric bike that can reach 28 MPH (a type 3 bike) doesn't require a license.

But type 3s can’t use cycling infrastructure.

In general, this is not true.

I rode a Jump a few hours ago. The electric part of the ride is minimal.

It's there to help with hills and similarly harder parts of a ride, but they won't enable you to ride faster than an experienced rider on a light road bike.

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