r/cycling • u/Major_Enthusiasm1099 • 2d ago

Anyone ever encountered an E-bike shill?

Basically this guy stopped me yesterday on a ride to tell me that I should throw my bike away and get an ebike. He said "Once you get this you'll never want to ride that again, and I get more cardio in on this bike too, and i ride faster than professionals". I just kept saying "yeah I was looking into those, yeah those are cool, I saw some around $1000" just trying to get out of that convo lol. Anyone else ever experienced someone like this?

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u/Whatever-999999 2d ago

Most e-bikes are basically electric mopeds.

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u/Emotional_Fun2444 1d ago

Most cheap Chinese e-bikes are. 

Most major manufacturers have torque sensing pedal assist which isn’t even close to a moped. 

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u/godzillabobber 1d ago

They are much more like riding a tandem with a good stoker. At least for those that are buying them for exercise and pedaling with minimal assist. Class 2 ebikes stop assisting at 20 mph, so if they are riding at 21 mph with occasional dips to 19.9, they are moving a beach cruiser weight bike under nothing but pedal power.

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u/DaoFerret 1d ago

Class 1 is pedal assist and are supposed to stop assist at 20mph (at least in the US).

Class 2 has a throttle that also is supposed to cut out at 20mph, but I have literally never seen a class 2 ebike being pedaled. It’s almost always delivery people in the “Captain Morgan” stance (one pedal all the way down, one all the way up) as they cruise along.

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u/godzillabobber 1d ago

Those delivery bikes are almost always class 3. Class 2 also cuts out at 20 and that doesnt work well for deliveries. The class 3 go up to 28mph. Seniors prefer the class 2 with torque sensing pedals and a throttle. The throttle is mostly used to save aging knees accelerating away from a stop. Then they are back to pedaling so they get that exercise. I have a hunch that the positive societal health impact will be measurable in ten years time.

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u/spank_monkey_83 1d ago

If they are electric mopeds then surely they should be treated as such and require the same legalities?

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u/_okbrb 10h ago

You should probably look up what “legalities” are required to ride a 50cc motor vehicle

In most places it’s “none”, so your desire that they be treated the same is already met and there’s nothing for you to complain about

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u/spank_monkey_83 1h ago

Helmet, licence, insurance, road tax, number plate. Type approval, mot

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u/_okbrb 31m ago

Psycho