Hybrid, commuter and cargo ebikes are going to continue to boom over the next few years. I am far less convinced about the trajectory of e-road and e-MTB bikes.

Using Canyon as an example their entry point for ebikes of all types is £3k and this is for bikes that are effectively limited to 15 mph and range from 15kg hybrids to 25+kg MTBs. For a city/commuting bike that can partially or totally replace public transport that is a pretty convincing value prospect. I do it get it for MTB but £3k already puts you well above the entry market and so a niche market. On the road I would say its even more of a niche market for someone looking to spend £3k on a bike with a 15 mph speed limit. You might as well get a hybrid which can double as a pub bike.

As a side note I have always felt e-bike assistance should be restricted on a pure wattage basis rather than predominantly by speed. The current wattage criteria is already dynamic in that it represents a 20min average power meaning you can drastically reduce the stated criteria while still allowing for brief period of much higher outputs to accelerate bikes from a standstill. This provides a means of having a system which still accelerates well at low speed and then lets aerodynamics cap the max speeds. I suspect the nuances of power vs speed are totally lost on most law makers however and removing the speed limit represents a political red line.

With some of the regional speed limits, e-road seems pointless.

We recently bought a cargo e-bike with the Bosch motor system (Urban Arrow) and practically the system feels pretty similar to what you describe. The US cap is 20mph/32kmph which is pretty speedy on a 100lb bike (+cargo). Bosch's performance line motor can do a 280% of power applied boost at it's highest setting, which is plenty to get you off the line quickly (I usually ride in their eco or tour modes which do 50/100% boost respectively and are enough for most around the city riding). There's also a HS version that moves the cap to 28mph which would be very fast on a bike of this size (UA doesn't offer it but R&M does).

I don't know what criteria the law makers used, but speed does seem to be the most critical safety parameter.

Sure, if you only ride flat ground with constant over 25km/h it may be pointless. Or are able to fly up climbs at that speed (as you are a pro caliber tour rider).
I have ridden e-Road bikes in hilly to mountainous terrain, and 25 is a lot more than I (or most others) could average with a road bike.
Plus even on flats it increases your riding range.
Biggest downside for me in the past was that they felt sluggish, heavy with dumb electronics.
So having a lighter nimbler bike, with a motor/transmission optimized for higher cadence sure sounds more fun.

I hated e-road bikes when they passed me on the local rides (cheaters!), but can see now that they can make sense and even be beneficial if you know how to use them correctly in your training.

And lastly, you can ‘mod’ these bikes to go to 45km/h, in which case you’d just buy moped insurance for it, to be on the legal side (US side loopholes).

I neither work for Canyon nor have other financial interests in posting this.

Maybe a good choice for inner cities where drivers are used to bikes. I live in Houston, TX and most people aren’t bike friendly.

I have some very steep climbs in the area. Not sure why it would be better to go up them at 25km/h vs 15km/h if for the rest of the ride (flats and down hill) I am stuck on a 30-40 lbs road bike.

Speaking of flats, it only increases your range if you are someone who averages less than 25km/h. For someone who averages 25 km/h on flats I can see it being nice, but that doesn't sound like the kind of person who rides road bikes vs hybrids or cruisers. Just sounds like a small target overlap with benefits primarily at the hills and only if you can't make it up otherwise.

If you can mod them legally to 45km/h then that changes things. Wasn't aware that's allowed.

Not sure about the legality, but the speed limiters are usually based off of a wheel magnet sensor, so there are third party boxes that go in between that and the computer and cut the reported speed in half. https://www.tindie.com/...-bike-speed-doubler/ for example (haven't used this - first result from google)

I, too, think e road-bike market will continue to be pretty niche (Not really a surprise that the only road bikes my local Specialized store can currently get from the warehouse are various iterations of the Turbo Creo). E-Mountain Bikes, though? Lots of potential, IMHO. The MTB market these days seems to be less about covering ground off-road, and more about bombing downhill runs. To go downhill, you gotta get uphill first. A lot of people see the going up part as more of a chore than an enjoyable part of the experience, and E-MTBs play right into that.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

No place to E-Mountain bike in AZ. They're effectively illegal. And I'm here for that!

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

https://www.azleg.gov/viewdocument/?docName=https://www.azleg.gov/ars/28/00819.htm

Interesting, looked that up. Apparently you're correct in the change. https://e-bikerumor.com/...s-for-e-bike-riders/


Guess I need to start lobbying my local law maker, most people around here are not fans. In fact if you ride an e-mountain bike you're liable to run into Harsh Criticism. I honestly wish they didn't exist.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I agree with you. My opinion has shifted though with the introduction of new electric scooter legislation. As it stands the speed limits of electric scooters are the same as e-bikes.

I am by no means no expert on scooter safety but if I think the politically/legally safe speed limit for e-bike should be higher than scooters. It feels like at any given speed the safety risk to the rider and pedestrians from a scooter is far higher than for an e-bike.

Part of me thinks the solution is to set a very low speed limit for e-scooters like 5 mph. But I am aware if we start legislating all systems on speed normal bikes will quickly come in the cross hair and we will see bike speed limits set relative to car speed limits. Honestly I don’t think this would be a problem other than it would encourage more harassment of cyclist. Ultimately I am hoping for a more dynamic solution whereby you control safety and speed without lumping bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, hover boards etc into one unhappy family.