In a statement that's sure to stir a bit of conversation among America's cycling community, Friends of Big Bend Ranch State Park wrote "E-bikes may sound like a good idea
Remember the old two stroke pedal mopeds of the 1970s and early 80s? The only reason they had pedals at all was to comply with laws allowing “motorized cycles.” They were absolutely not usable by pedaling alone. Not only were they extremely heavy, the crank arms were waaaaay too short.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if some ebikes were being manufactured in a similar way, complying with regulations by having “functional” pedals (which would allow you to pedal in order to activate or assist the electric drivetrain but not operate the bike on pedal alone), but being low-speed electric motorcycles for all practical purposes.
I know that some most definitely do have pedals simply for compliance, but they are utterly useless to move the bike. Those e-bikes tend to look like vespas or faux motorcycles.
But I wish they mentioned the model here. I’d find it surprising if an e-mountain bike couldn’t be moved through human power alone… but an e-dirt bike or something large that pretends to be an “e-bike”, yeah, you aren’t going to move that using pedals.
Remember the old two stroke pedal mopeds of the 1970s and early 80s? The only reason they had pedals at all was to comply with laws allowing “motorized cycles.” They were absolutely not usable by pedaling alone. Not only were they extremely heavy, the crank arms were waaaaay too short.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if some ebikes were being manufactured in a similar way, complying with regulations by having “functional” pedals (which would allow you to pedal in order to activate or assist the electric drivetrain but not operate the bike on pedal alone), but being low-speed electric motorcycles for all practical purposes.
I know that some most definitely do have pedals simply for compliance, but they are utterly useless to move the bike. Those e-bikes tend to look like vespas or faux motorcycles.
But I wish they mentioned the model here. I’d find it surprising if an e-mountain bike couldn’t be moved through human power alone… but an e-dirt bike or something large that pretends to be an “e-bike”, yeah, you aren’t going to move that using pedals.