Originally Posted by
steve0257
Are we talking e-bikes or e-assist bikes? They are two different animals with different laws. I'm not sure, but it looks like in Minnesota if it is not an e-assist it is considered a motorized bicycle and you're supposed to have a license. But an e-assist is considered a bicycle.
Some people
don't care, if it's an E-Assist or an E-Bike... They both have motors, and thus are
NOT bicycles... In their opinion ,
Thus the "problem"... They don't seem to
understand that assistance is assistance, and a moped that you don't actually need to pedal IS different, It's main power is the motor, BUT, in reality... E-Assist works different. Whether it's a motor that assists/meaning you
have to pedal or you get nowhere, and you get some extra torque added to your effort from the motor, or a 3 speed or a 27 speed... It's still "assistance" Unless you are riding a bicycle with a 1; to 1; ratio, pedaling effort, you "are" being "assisted" to get up that hill, the only "real" difference, is whether it's a
mechanical type of assistance, or a
motor type of assistance...
BOTH types "are"
assisting you to get up that hill... It's the way things work.
and OK, technically, mechanical assistance IS different than motor assistance, but they both have the same "effect" they get you up the hill easier, than without...