Originally Posted by
punkinevil
I compare it to giving a 12 year old the keys to a minivan and saying, "Have at it." I have had the same experience. Generally when I rider can hit 15-18 mph, they have been riding long enough to gain experience and know how to handle a bike at that speed. A lot of these riders have no clue how fast they are going or what that means.
While I agree in principle (and often wonder if there should be firmware acceleration limits), I think it's more that people only tend to
sustain 15+ mph when they've built up some athletic capability that hopefully brought experience, too.
In terms of raw numbers I'm pretty sure my little nephew regularly hits 15 mph on his little 20" bike, and citibikes being
pedaled under 12 mph on a flat are kind of rare. But what is likely game changing is going fast
all the time and getting back up to speed quickly, rather than only where the expenditure of energy seems worthwhile.