Herzlos

I'd assume most issues are with people not paying attention, and a small amount by people going faster than they expect. These supposed bad riders would almost certainly be just as bad on a pedal bike. How many dangerous riders are we talking about here?

That said, here the e-bikes seem to fall into 2 categories - the really high end MTB stuff with generally older riders (because lets face it, if you want the speed and not the exercise, they are great) and the Deliveroo drivers who are looking for a cheap but fast mode of transport. The latter can be a nightmare but they equally nightmarish on pedal bikes.

rsbob 

43 MPH e-bike making wild passes of vehicles on the right shoulder..

You Tube

msu2001la

40mph+ e-bikes are not common and equating them with what someone typically sees on their local MUP is silly.

fooferdoggie 

the problem is most of the cheap e bikes are not really practical for real peddling. the gearing is poor the sides are too big they are fully upright to fit anyone. with a good mid drive you have to petal to go no throttle but those bikes are over 2500 and just go up from there. my commuter bike is a mid drive and our tandem. on the tandem we cruise right at where the motor cuts off 18.5mph or so so the motor is doing only a little bit. we passed this guy after he used a throttle to pass us he was putting in all he could and we passed him at 23mph all on our own. I use the e bike to go faster then I can normally but not crazy fast its pointless after the first few thousand miles. it would be boring after awhile just using a throttle all the time.

Koyote

That's an assumption, not a fact.

Some people are using the trails to commute to restaurants etc. Good for them.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Then I'm sure you can handle yourself around less-experienced cyclists. The question is whether you can do it graciously...So far, the answer looks like "no."

msu2001la

I bet somewhere out there, there's a kayaking or SUP forum with a thread complaining about electric surfboards.

Jax Rhapsody

I wanted to build one a few years ago, since I worked about twenty miles from where I lived, and was sick of catching the bus, until I could get another car. Now I'm thinking about taking this standup scooter I designed as a kid, and make it electric- not a huge fan of electric, but it makes more sense, than the original idea of a 12hp engine that takes up more room than batteries and a hub motor, despite the loss of petentially having gears to use.

prj71

Pretty safe assumption.

You don't understand this trail system. It's recreational in use only. People don't use this trail for commuting purposes. There are multiple parking lots along the 52 mile trail (20 of them to be exact) where people drive to with their cars and then they unload their bikes and go ride out and back. Then when they get done riding they load their bikes back onto their bike racks then drive to the local restaurants, taverns etc. Which is the same thing we did. When we got to the restaurant around 6:30 more than half the place was packed with cars carrying bikes. Nobody rode their bike there.
​​​​​​​​​​​​​
It's not me I'm concerned with.

prj71

I will have to agree with you on this. Majority are class 1 e-bikes.

wolfchild

Is there an entry fee to use this trail system ?...Is there a law which forbids cyclists to use this particular trail for commuting purposes ?

Koyote

I've never known people to ***** so hard on behalf of other people.

jadmt

it is all about me........lol......don't like the way I drive....stay the heck off my trails.....

Milton Keynes

No e-bikes for me. I want all the miles I log to be only under my own power.

t2p

the responses to the OP's original post are worse than the OP's original comments

much worse

Koyote

You may not be aware of the OP's history. He has lost any potential goodwill.

rsbob 

where a motor would come in really handy on a tandem is on long or steep hill climbs. I have ridden regular tandems for 20 years and there are many a hill (1.5 miles 8% is the one I always had to ride to get home) would have been fantastic.

rsbob 

My apologies the post was not “on topic”. Thought it was interesting in itself. My bad. I have been summarily reprimanded.

big john

Some of the e-bike are easily modified to defeat the speed limiter. A friend modified his and it will power over 40mph and I have seen videos and articles on how to do it.

The notion that young people don't ride e is as silly as anything else in this thread. There is a large number of young men who ride certain trails near here on long travel e-mountain bikes. I've seen them and even chatted with a couple. They wear body armor and full-face helmets and I've been warned to stay off the trails they use.

I use a local mup sometimes where there can be a lot of e-bikes. It's normally those huge ones with 4 inch wide tires and I haven't really had any problem with them.

I ride with a couple who has the high-end drop bar e-bikes. They're both experienced racers and great bike handlers but he had a heart issue so he needs the help.

I agree with the thoughts about e-riders having the potential to go faster and climb more than they could on a regular bike without any experience or training. There have been some deaths in the L.A. area and some people are demanding the city "do something" about it. The most recent one was a girl, I think around 12, who climbed a steep hill and when she turned around the speed was overwhelming and she crashed.

This sort of thing can happen on a human powered bike and we've seen runners and super fit people join road rides and climb well but have horrible crashes because they lack the skill that takes time to develop.

rsbob 

I live right in the middle of a very popular mtb area with highly technical trails - double and triple black diamonds. Lots of miles of single track and lots of climbing on steep ascents to get to the tops of the runs. There has been a gradual acceptance by the MTB crowd of e-MTBs for faster and easier climbing which can be super draining. Faster climbs more power for technical descents and more runs. It’s no wonder they are catching on.

DMC707 

In a lot of states you can get a license to ride up to a 250cc motorcycle at age 14 that will hit 100mph

Putting a suggested age of 21+ on an e-bike is akin to ATV manufacturers putting "Must be 16 or older to operate" stickers on their goods. You do what you can to limit your liability exposure as a manufacturer, but people are gonna be people

Reflector Guy

If it's the trail system I think it is, yes, there is a fee.

prj71

No entry fee.

No law that forbids commuting but the area where the trail is located is a tourist destination which connects a few little tourist trap towns with a population as low as 200 up to 2000. These aren't towns where people use the trail to commute to work.

downtube42

I think the MUP concept is already a stretch. Casual cyclists tooling along at 10 mph can get along with pedestrians and dog walkers, as long as everyone plays nice. Add in a commuter in a hurry to the office or home and you have potential trouble. Throw in a recreational roadie wanting to hit some average speed and things get worse. Then the occasional segment chaser on top of everything is a frickin' disaster.

E-bikes just increase the sheer number of people capable of going faster than conditions allow.

I've been a county BIke & Ped committee member in the past. And it's in the past due to frustration on how extremely excruciatingly painfully awfully unbelievably slowly things happen. Heck, a schoolkid is killed in a crosswalk and it might take 3 years to fix an obviously badly designed intersection. It's super clear powered personal transport is here to stay, and growing explosively. It will take decades for reasonable legislation and good infrastructure to catch up.

dedhed

Most likely it's one of our state rail trails like the Sparta-Elroy which requires a state trail pass. These typically are going town to town not an urban MUP, although some like Military Ridge will have a terminus in a major city.

My own observations. Since retiring and no longer commuting I've been riding the local major city suburban MUPs. I'm seeing many more ebikes but mostly ridden by older riders. My observations may be skewed by mostly riding on weekday mid mornings. I see mostly retirees, stay at home moms with strollers etc, walker, and dog walkers.

I'll also say I recently rode a guys Specialized turbo levo e mt.bike.It was really sweet and I could see one in my future, but that one was $5K+ and probably more than I would spend.

Kai Winters

For some it is the precursor to the "Floaty Chair"...