Thoughts on E-Bikes

I attended a test ride event last week in Palo Alto, at the ALSO HQ. Visit my blog post for my thoughts on it.

Spotted: The new ALSO TM-B e-bike. Sadly, it was going the opposite direction I was, so I didn’t get a picture of it. It was also sad because I saw it on a local trail at Waterdog in Belmont, CA. That’s notable because Belmont doesn’t allow Class III e-bikes like the TM-B on trails. 😞

The idea that the very expensive e-bike I bought would require an ongoing subscription, in addition to the potential premature obsolescence that could be brought on by the collapse—or just change of plans—of the company, are serious concerns I’d have when considering one.

This article thoughtfully articulates the current backlash against e-motos, the conflation with legal e-bikes, and the danger to the latter. We need to be able to embrace e-bikes as true micro-mobility vehicles while getting control of kids riding e-motos dangerously.

The laws are coming for “e-bikes”, but it’s not vanilla e-bikes that are even the thing that strike me as the most dangerous: it’s the e-motos (very fast electric dirt bikes) and e-scooters that have really made me take notice. And there are so many form factors that regulating what can use the bike lanes is going to be difficult.

I agree with this article, which basically says that CA Assembly Bill 1557, which tries to limit the legal amount of power an e-bike can be rated for to a certain wattage number, is well meaning, but misguided. I’m all for clear classification and regulation of e-bikes, but this isn’t it.

There really does need to be a more clear separation between true e-bikes and e-motos. E-bikes get enough controversy on their own; they don’t need the extra ire that e-motos draw.

Wow, how disappointing. Given how popular this program was, it’s sad to see its demise. And the money going instead to a car-centric program is insult to injury.

This thing looks really good. But, just as I feared, this video has them riding on trails where Class 3 e-bikes are illegal. We have a hard enough time trying to get trail access for Class 1 e-bikes, and people doing 28 MPH on these things is going to get all e-bikes banned from trails.

This is one of the things I wondered about as I was posting earlier: the weight of the bike. At the better part of 100 pounds, no one can reasonably expect to ride anywhere they’d have to carry it, especially up stairs.

Wow, there are some really neat ideas here. I love the idea of micro-mobility devices like these! I am a bit concerned about the marketing photos that suggest this Class 3 e-bike is suitable for trails, when most trails do not allow above Class 1.