A9 #BikeNite@ascentale@InkySchwartz
I refer to bikes as "acoustic" if I need to distinguish them from electric-assisted bikes, since the "ordinary" bike was the one with a big front wheel which predated the safety bicycle, and a "normal" bike would obviously dump the rider when ridden crossways on a hill. 🤓📐
@ascentale@InkySchwartz usually, "bikes", sometimes not-e, sometimes acoustic. Bad ideas include "meat-bike" and "me-bike". I sort of like meat-bike, but somehow it hasn't caught on, can't imagine why not.
@ascentale@InkySchwartz A9. #BikeNite - maybe not an answer, but I am wondering where the line between "e-bike" and "motorcycle/scooter" is. I have noticed -- on the streets, at least -- around here the "e-bikes" are now mostly non-pedaling folks using them like motorcycles/scooters, and very few e-bike folks. There are plenty e-bikes on the MTB trails, but street-wise, there are mostly road bike folks (non-ebike), MTB folks (non e-bike), and bicycle commuters on either (non e-bike).
@sam@ai6yr@ascentale I agree. While I don't mind folks who don't pedal much on actual e-assist cycles, I loathe the Vespa-like scooters with non-functional "pedals" that local businesses here have unleashed on our cycle paths. The students who buy them and the delivery drivers who ride them are really abusing things, IMO. And the business that sells them and the restaurants who deploy them are just taking advantage of ambiguity to keep from having to get licenses like motor scooters
@meganL@sam@ai6yr@ascentale I consider any devices categorized as "e-bikes" in the US (i.e. Class 1, 2 and 3) to be legitimate e-bikes that should be allowed on bike paths and MUPs. Class 3 e-bikes, which are allowed the assistedtop speed of 28 MPH, are often not allowed on cycling infrastructure, but I don't necessarily agree with that stance.
Class-2 e-bikes can be driven solely using the throttle, as long as their maximum speed is limited to 20 MPH. Scooter-looking e-bikes, like those from Bird, are most probably Class 2. I personally don't care for them, but again, as long as they're driven in a safe manner, I'm fine with that.
@daihard@ai6yr@ascentale@sam Restauranteurs who have already broken laws will continue to break them. These vehicles are going well above 20 mph. They dust me. And they're using MUPs and they do threaten people.
And because their whole point was for these businesses not to shoulder the true costs of their businesses, they were chosen to be unlicensed, don't have any ID on them, and you can only tell they're from restaurants by following them back. #BikeNite#CorporateCrimes
@daihard@ai6yr@ascentale@sam I think there is a place for faster (than cykes) & smaller electric vehicles than electric cars, but we do not currently have good infrastructure for pedestrian & cyclist safety. Adding cheating brick'n'mortar business owners' libertarianism to the mix is not healthy.
We need to hash out what the infrastructure should be, what the regulations should be for safety before letting them smash around on the cycle or mixed used paths. #BikeNite#CorporateCrimes
Their website says "drive the change" and highlights that no registration or insurance is needed. Who do you think they're marketing to? Do you think that's who you want on paths meant to provide more safety to vulnerable pedestrians, wheelchair users, and cycle riders?
@ai6yr@daihard@ascentale@sam And marketing to that market - which attracts reckless speeding cheats to paths meant to be harbors of safety.
It actually puts legit e-cycle riders at risk of losing what little we have. When these choads injure someone, actual legit e-cycle riders will be punished. #BikeNite
@daihard@ai6yr@ascentale@sam@meganL The consumer product safety commission limits e-bikes to 750W but I'm not sure how many state laws limit power at all (Oregon was 1000W but they removed that in the class I/II/III revision?) in their definition of "electric-assisted bicycle", which is problematic for reckless riding but the flip side is limiting power so much that electric cargo bikes can't go up hills. IMO it should be power/weight ratio and/or acceleration limited. Also widen the infra
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