The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition weighed in with a pointed response, arguing that the state should be making it easier, not harder, to own and use e-bikes. Their senior organizer echoed the sentiment shared by many riders: the real confusion and danger comes from people not being able to tell the difference between a legal e-bike and an electric moped, not from the bikes themselves.
Brett Thurber, co-owner of a San Francisco e-bike shop, raised a practical industry concern about AB 1557. Restricting California’s speed limits below what manufacturers currently build for the U.S. market could push companies to skip California customers entirely, shrinking the supply available to local shops and consumers.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I think that e-bikes should be speed-limited when operating under power. They’re motor vehicles, even if the motor is electric and the vehicle is a bike frame.
Anything going above 20mph has no business being in a bike lane.
I’m used to them being limited to 25 kph (~15.5 mph) the high speed ones are considered mopeds with all their rules
I’ve clocked 40 mph coming down a mountain with just gravity and my leg power.
But that’s why bike lanes don’t make sense. We need space for passing.