Any half-fit cyclist can do way more than 25kmh sustained on flats. From 30 up it becomes way harder. I'd put it at least at 30.

>>Any half-fit cyclist

So like, almost no one who cycles/commutes from time to time then? Don't get me wrong, 25km/h isn't particularily fast, but I'd struggle going at that speed for more than few minutes, and my wife definitely wouldn't keep up. I used to cycle loads when I was younger, on a proper road bike that kind of speed is nothing. But on a hardtail or a city bike? It's actually quite hard! We own an e-bike and I think the 25km/h assist limit is spot on.

I do effortless(=no transpiration) 30 to 35km/m on flat grounds with no headwind sustained. Where 'sustained' means something like 10 to 15 minutes max, since after that I either arrived at my location, or on longer tours I have to slow down many times for other traffic, pedestrians, traffic lights, etc.

On a three speed 28" from ca. 1985 btw., weighing 12kg with side dynamo, lights, mudguards, rack, and a wirebasket fixed with a bunch of cable ties on top of that(for my back pack).

Good for you if you only intend to use bike paths. If you want to get on roads you need to sustain 50-60km/h, peak 70 in most cities.

I'd much rather do that on a proper ebike and not on a escooter. I've got drivers licence already, bureaucracy shouldn't be in the way of registering ebikes as appropriate.

>> If you want to get on roads you need to sustain 50-60km/h

I'm sorry, but that's just not true - again, I used to cycle absolute loads(several thousand km a year) and "sustaining"(doing it for a long period of time without getting absolutely destroyed) 50km/h is extremely hard, you need to be a pretty good cyclist and on a good road bike.

And no, you don't need to be keeping up with traffic, in cities or otherwise. Don't see why you think you should.

Context is ebike, not by foot.

I had bike that could do 50km/h and it was just a bit too slow. You wanna be comfortable overtaking cars, not just be squished in-between.

That's an electric motorbike. Get it registered and with road rated hydraulic disc brakes, wheels, and suspension and wear road rated safety gear. It doesn't belong on separated bikeways with children and mixed use paths with babies and dogs.

An ebike is for the same roles as a human powered bikes, and no human can consistently move at speeds that are comfortable for overtaking cars on the flat or uphill.

Escooters, if anything, should be even slower as their geometry makes emergency braking impossible, but a 25km/h, 250W limit for everything is an acceptable compromise to reduce regulatory burden.

If you want a stand up scooter that produces kilowatts and does 90, then it's also an electric motorbike (or motor scooter/moped where that's a category) and should be held to the same safety standards.

I think you missed my og post. These bikes are capable doing such speeds, but no one sells them because regulation

I'd also be pro 32, but 25 is fine. I tend to do 25-28 on my electric (weird geometry so it's unstable at higher speeds without a load) and 15-35 on my acoustic.

Sustaining over 30 is actually a fair bit of work on an upright though. The vast majority of people do under 25 on flats or uphills most of the time.

For any half fit cyclist, the 25kmh ebike limit is the minimum speed. That is the speed you go uphill. Downhill and flats, you can go a lot faster, because you didn't spend your energy accelerating to 25.

But then you're on your own with a bike that weights at least 10 kg more than it should. I was in a group of friends. One of us had an ebike. He was good on our way to the hills and of course uphill. We had to stop and wait him a lot of times on the way back, because we were doing at least 30 and he was struggling to keep the pace without the help from the engine. I suggest not to mix bikes and ebikes unless you are out for a slow Sunday afternoon trip.

In a large enough group the body weight differences easily outweigh (heh) the bike weight differences. And of course the fitness differences are a whole other story.

and I trust a half fit cyclist more. If you can pedal 40km/h on the flats, then you know enough bike handling to do it compared to giving any random person who can normally only do 20km/h the power to go 40km/h.

Put a speed limit on a bike path then, not on device. Same on pedestrian paths - going over 10km/h on any vehicle or even running is unsafe.

I agree 25km/h is probably reasonable for a bike path - most city traffic averages around that speed anyway, so if your vehicle is capable - go mix with the cars instead.

> Put a speed limit on a bike path then, not on device.

No. Speed limits require enforcement which is costly and socially harmful, adds massive overhead to owning a bike, and does not work. Just look at cars. Then you need safety features on the road, ppe, and vehicle for dealing with people that are moving faster anyway.

Then there's a slippery slope towards mandated tracking and anti repair garbage that we're already sliding down. Yamaha and Bosch are already lobbying for geofencing.

If you want a powered vehicle for mixing with cars at car speeds, we already have a category for that -- it's called a motorbike.

If you want a powered vehicle for doing 50km/h we have a category for that -- microcars and mopeds. Lobby for more 40 and 50 zones that are only for those (and for bicycles and pedestrians to share at their own judgement as they do roads).

Ebikes are already excessively large and heavy due to improper testing methodology on power limits. We don't need giant, overpowered machines and importing the arms race on size and mandatory safety regulations from roads.