They often stop there because they're speed capped by law.

20mph in the US. Slightly lower in most of the EU.

I have a pedal assist wheel, and it will bring me to 20 fairly quickly on flat ground, but all assist cuts out there and the rest is up to me. Usually I hover around 25, but it depends on how I'm feeling that day. You're not really going to pass me at 25 though... Even if you do think it's a problem, it just means we need better bike lanes and bike planning. Speeds vary all the time.

That said... I bike to work pretty much all the time now because of the electric bike.

The end result is dramatically and unquestionably good.

The article can be summed up by their own quote:

>And yet, for all our shared sense that something was wrong

>with electric bikes, we agreed that, by any rational

>measure, they are a force for good.

This nostalgia fluff piece is fluff. It's basically attempting to explain a soft form of gatekeeping around people who do or don't qualify as cyclists.

If you're hovering around 25mph, then you're not causing trouble for anyone. It's good to know the ebikes don't somehow limit you once you're up to speed.

I guess the problem I see is inexperienced cyclists stuck at 20mph. Presumably that problem will fix itself after they log a few hundred miles and get a bit faster.

This is how electrical motors operate: they accelerate very fast from a stop due to having high torque at low speeds, then as they catch on to speed they're operated at constant power until they reach nominal rpm. In order to achieve greater speeds, you need to operate them in the flux weakening region. E-bikes normally have engine cutoff at 25 kph so you're basically on your own legs over that threshold. No need to operate an e-bike drive with flux weakening.

Same problem with scooters in cities where they cut the lane to go up to the traffic light and then they accelerate up to 30mph and the cars soon have to pass them.