I have yet to meet anyone that can beat me on an electric bike, now I am sure there are some electric bikes that
can/may, but really... A person in good shape with un-assisted bike can usually keep ahead of an assisted rider. :)

I built an electric bike that would go 20mph on the flats without pedaling. The novelty wore off and I realized I was actually getting places quicker on a regular bike albeit with more sweat. Now, if mine were as fast as this Specialized I'd probably still be using it. I have encountered electric bikes on very few occasions, and, of course, there was the ensuing speed contest which left them disappointed. But, the people riding them were not experienced riders. I still think there is an electric bike in my future, though.

Exactly, But... If you can go faster than 20 MPH normally, the assist WILL help you get over the top against headwind and hills, thus I have never yet been beaten by a non-assisted bike rider, But again, like I said, I'm sure there are people out there that could easyly beat me but not around here, atleast not yet anyways... :twitchy:

Yep, that's the beauty of an electric bike, it can be ridden where bikes are ridden. Motor scooters have to be ridden among the motor vehicles which is very dangerous. I owned motor scooters from 1985 to 2006 but no more. I got hit in 2006 and I'm sure distracted driving was a factor. There weren't many cell phones in 1985. It cost the driver's insurance company more than $100,000.

That's what I hoping for but it just didn't work out that way for me. It bogged down on hills and it did not handle as sweetly or brake or ride as well as my pedal bikes.

Well that's strange... Even if it only gave you 10 ft lbs of torque it would still be 10 ft lbs more than you can produce by yourself, thus should always be easier pedaling for same speed, or faster with same effort, At least that is how it works with my bike. My average speed probably went up 5MPH with the E-Assist bike as compared to without (same bike)...

I figured by adding an electric motor that I was roughly doubling my power while only fractionally increasing my weight. It didn't work out anywhere near to what the numbers imply.

That is real strange, as my experiance is positive in every way... http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...e-your-numbers I guess it depends on ones set up...

People with health issues have used assisted bikes for ages (look for solex for example) and thats great but al least 75% of people on electric bikes i see over here in the Netherlands are young and healty people who are too lazy to pedal a bike. The remaining 25% consist of 24% elderly people and 1% people with health issues. And mind you: i see a LOT of electric bikes around here, at least halve of the bikes i see while commuting are e-bikes nowadays so it would be a bad thing if they all had health issues dont you think? ;)
That being said i still prefer people to be on an assisted bike than driving their cars..


Rules clearly differ from where you are and here. Here you have to pedal to get the assist and it only may assist up tot 25km/h. Anything else and its considerd a moped which requires insurance, helmet etc.

Interesting. I have strongly mixed feelings about these things, for just the reasons you lay out in your first sentence. They seem like an enabler of some of the worst aspects of our culture, but at the same time, they allow people who are physically unable to ride well due to old age or handicaps to get out and enjoy a bicycle.... and importantly, not be in a car. As I now find old age approaching with startling rapidity, I might want one of these myself in the not so distant future.

I'm in the USA, and I've only seen one e-bike so far. It was being pushed at walking pace through a crowd of people so I was unable to tell anything about its performance. The pusher appeared to be a 20-something, fit looking, non-overweight woman.

I'm not sure what the laws about them are here - if there are any - but I find myself wondering where the trend goes. Will I soon have e-bikers whizzing by me in the bike lane at 50 KPH as I claw my way into a stiff headwind struggling to maintain 20 kph? Some e-bikes are capable of those speeds already, and market pressures may raise their limits over time. Then again, the difference between a 30 year old racing cyclist and a 70 year old peddling along barely over walking speed may already be 30 kph.