E-Scooter discussion after fatal collision

Soldato
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Why would anyone think its safe to take these things on the road, especially in London. They are banned for a reason.
 
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Soldato
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Why would anyone think its safe to take these things on the road, especially in London. They are banned for a reason.

Granted Bristol isn't as busy as London but I ride my EUC on a mix of roads, pavements and cycle paths no issue to and from work daily and part of my journey takes me past a police station. I sometimes wonder if the people having these accidents have any road experience from cars/motorcycles or even a standard bicycle.
 
Soldato
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In 1970 I was eighteen and was able to own and ride a 250cc six speed Japanese motorcycle capable of 90mph. On a provisional licence without even a helmet. My friends and me had many fallings off, some crashes, a few injuries and two lads died from within my particular circle.
This did not dissuade me from riding but with age and experience comes reason. Eventually as always, the legislators catch up with the technology.
i remember these times (pre cbt no training up to 250cc) ,i went ap50 then gp 125 new for 500 quid ,my mate got the yammy rd 250 .think that bike brought afew laws in.
looking at getting an ebike and there seems to be a massive trend atm to go beyond the paltry 250 watt limit ,some you just have to sign a disclaimer and turn on 1000 watt plus mode ,other people are buying dongles for bikes with certain motors like bosch ,others moving the speed limiter magnet ect ect ,also ebay 1500 watt ekits to convert your old bike
trouble is the brakes ect are not going to be up to 30 mph cruising ,having said that i would redistrict mine as i live on camel trail
 
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Caporegime
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Only legal on off-roads though.
I had a 1000 watt and also felt 30 mph on the throttle was too fast for the bike/brakes so went back to a 250 watt that does 18mph on the throttle.

Any decent bike should be able to handle 30mph, it's not uncommon for people to reach that speed pedalling or freewheeling down a hill. My old 250W ebike did about 22mph on the throttle, and going downhill I'd say somewhere between 35-40mph was the point where it was pushing it on the frame, 250W is painful for going up 20% inclines though.
 
Soldato
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LOL - the old axiom -speed kills - unless you have a special set of skills, an 'organic'? cyclist, is not doing an average of 30mph, and those that could are aware of handling of a bike.
If you let ev's roll at that speed you would need the insurance/mot's/tests, to ensure those people were not a liability to humanity.
I suspect, trials would rapidly show their liability to themselves/others/theNHS/tax payer would be intolerable.
 
Soldato
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a lot of the ebikes (slight topic drift but relevant) are 25kg and over ,thats a lot of kinetic energy hurtling along with a big guy attached ,thats why i think its a little like the non cbt motorcycle days ,things are getting out of hand or will get out of hand ,dont think anyone has ever been prosecuted for running above the limits ,i mean would you have the will power not to use that 1500w mode?


https://www.cyclotricity.com/uk/ele...s/full-suspension-electric-mountain-bike.html
 

NVP

NVP

Soldato
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I'm researching which escooter to buy atm, little 300w ones aren't going to move someone my size much at all, so looking at more powerful ones you have 1000w to 3200w - some 60mph speed scooters. I'm after a 40mph one so I can at least hit 25-30.
 
Soldato
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- have you practiced/tried emergency braking from even 20mph on bicycle tyres ... . co-ordination of front/back brakes. .... let alone a damp road ..
 
Soldato
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Why would anyone think its safe to take these things on the road, especially in London. They are banned for a reason.

Any decent bike should be able to handle 30mph, it's not uncommon for people to reach that speed pedalling or freewheeling down a hill. My old 250W ebike did about 22mph on the throttle, and going downhill I'd say somewhere between 35-40mph was the point where it was pushing it on the frame, 250W is painful for going up 20% inclines though.


The problem isn't the going as such, it is the stopping.

In urban areas one needs to be able to come to a full stop within 2-3 seconds since that is your safety event horizon.

This is why you do not want to be traveling at more than 30 in a car (And in many cases not even that fast)

There is no way you could brake a pedal cycle from 30 to a complete halt in 2 seconds. (Well, not in my experience anyway. Feel free to prove me wrong)

And I doubt if you could bring a stand on scooter to a halt in that time at anything much over jogging speed (If that).
 

NVP

NVP

Soldato
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- have you practiced/tried emergency braking from even 20mph on bicycle tyres ... . co-ordination of front/back brakes. .... let alone a damp road ..

I assure you I am a fully grown adult, but thanks for the concern dad.

I can see a nice knee jerk blanket ban for EBikes on the horizon as it’s only a matter of time before some throbber riding one at speed wipes out a child.
:-°
 
Soldato
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The problem isn't the going as such, it is the stopping.

In urban areas one needs to be able to come to a full stop within 2-3 seconds since that is your safety event horizon.

This is why you do not want to be traveling at more than 30 in a car (And in many cases not even that fast)

There is no way you could brake a pedal cycle from 30 to a complete halt in 2 seconds. (Well, not in my experience anyway. Feel free to prove me wrong)

And I doubt if you could bring a stand on scooter to a halt in that time at anything much over jogging speed (If that).

No cycle will stop that quick from 30 afaik. I suspect the brakes on something like an Escooter will also fade very quickly. Cars are heavy but have massive braking force.
 
Man of Honour
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Any decent bike should be able to handle 30mph, it's not uncommon for people to reach that speed pedalling or freewheeling down a hill. My old 250W ebike did about 22mph on the throttle, and going downhill I'd say somewhere between 35-40mph was the point where it was pushing it on the frame, 250W is painful for going up 20% inclines though.

I hear what you're saying and yes on my 250 watt I can easily hit 35mph in a couple of places but when I did that with a 1000 watt much heavier motor on an MTB it just felt very unsafe.
As soon as I put the 250 watt back on I felt OK.
I only have a couple of small steep inclines on my commute which the 250 watt handles easily.
 
Man of Honour
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a lot of the ebikes (slight topic drift but relevant) are 25kg and over ,thats a lot of kinetic energy hurtling along with a big guy attached ,thats why i think its a little like the non cbt motorcycle days ,things are getting out of hand or will get out of hand ,dont think anyone has ever been prosecuted for running above the limits ,i mean would you have the will power not to use that 1500w mode?


https://www.cyclotricity.com/uk/ele...s/full-suspension-electric-mountain-bike.html

Mine was the 1000 watt version and like I said above I felt very unsafe on it.
I still use Cyclotricity electrics on both my bikes but I had so much trouble with the Cyclotricity Stealth bike mechanics that in the end the boss and chief mechanic traveled 140 miles to come to my house to fix all my problems.
About 2 months later I buggered the bike off and put all the electrics on a Trek 4300 which I still use.
 
Soldato
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you're right - now looking at the link, kg22bike+3 bat, they don't say how much the motor weighs, but 15-17kg more than most road bikes,
have never had a weight on front tube, batteries there would change the handling moment, but, they would be higher I guess, if at the rear.
Don't think my commuting/shopping rear panier would weigh more than 5kg loaded.

Do you have to take batteries off, going to non secure location, to avoid theft ?
 
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