Seeking advice

[1morenobody]

I'm in my mid 60's and live in a hilly in a small coastal town. I purchased a fatbike when I moved here several years ago as I wanted to ride on the beach at low tide. Problem was that between home and the beach are some very steep hills. I've only ever seen younger riders on road bikes who are able to ride up these hills, most cyclists just walk, and thats what I had to do as well. Een though the fatbike was alloy and had 18sp gearing I could at best only get halfway up before dismounting. The bike weighed about 15kgs from memory, but then I started to see e-bikes around and went to the local shops to investigate and settled on a bosch mid-drive mtb. After a couple of years of riding it I heard about a device (speedbox) that would override the speed limiter and fitted one.
I'm a very careful and courteous rider and rarely ride shared paths but when I do I'm extra careful and I do not speed. I got the device because the speed limit system on the bosch would cut out in places where I wanted to maintain a bit more speed so on flat ground I wanted to ride at around 25-35kph, the device worked extremely well and still does.

Recently my bike would not start so I loaded it into a vehicle and drove to where I purchased it. Discussing the issue with a staff member it was decided to book it in for a service. I mentioned the bike had a speedbox fitted and it was like I said I had the virus. I was told it was illegal for the shop to service the bike and even if I removed the speedbox and returned with the bike the dealer would not touch my bike.

Strangely the bike started working again, but I have had to walk home once so I would like to get my bike checked. I've been told there is a software update that could resolve the issue, but the dealer cannot plug his computer into my bike as the bike O/S will record and report that it has been modified. Is this for real? I've had another look at how the speedbox is wired into the bike and it is easily removed without a trace, would the bike software be able to record and report that a device to override the speed limit even if it is not fitted anymore?

Is the shop being unreasonable and OTT in their policing of the laws?

I find the laws are poorly thought out, and as usual apply a dumbed-down ruling to all riders even though I have held a MV license for 47yrs. My bike is pedelec only and I can easily achieve 50kph riding down these 2 bastard hills with the motor off and without pedalling so I fail to see the purpose of the law. Fit younger riders can easily achieve these speeds on flat shared bike paths and I've seen them do it too!

Maybe I just need to find a new bike shop?

[skyblot]

The law is written to differentiate between an electric assist bicycle, and a motor cycle (however powered). 200/250 watt and 25kmh has been chosen as the limit, it's safe to say if higher limits were selected there would be a similar number of people wanting still more.

The bike shop's reluctance to touch your bike will be because of insurance, liability, and probably agreements with the OEM and distributor. Another bike shop might have more "risk tolerance" regarding their liabilities. Or they might not.

The software on at least the current generation of commercial e-bikes is well capable of recording any tampering, indeed the latest version of the approval directive (EN15194) requires this function.

[Janice]

It is legal to ride at a higher speed off road. It is a pity the bike is speed limited.

[skyblot]

It is legal to ride at a higher speed off road. It is a pity the bike is speed limited.

You can ride your bike as fast as you like, but it is not legal to be electrically assisted above 25kmh unless it's being ridden on "private property not accessible to the general public" (Qld road rules wording - other states are similar...). Off road is not necessarily private property

[outnabike]

Hi 1morenobody,and welcome.
If the bike started again it is not a big fault and might be a simple connection or depending on the motor the brushes might have not seated due to a bit of rough ground.
It is understandable that a bike store doesn't want to have cops on their door in case you tell em' "that's the bloke wot fixed it up".

There might be a possibility that the bike shop sees a lot of work might be required, and it may exceed the value of your bike too.

But I get your drift, and I reckon most would understand the situation. Hope you sort it out.
Please query the search pages, as there are some really good reports about electric bikes on this very forum.

[1morenobody]

Thanks for your replies and advice. The bike shop owner will not service either of my bikes, and one is a completely stock standard e-bike bought as a kit and fitted to a new bike all supplied by his business.
I've been in retail business for 40 years and would never treat a customer like this so its time for me to find a new bike shop.
I was recently in Sydney and had a couple of meals in the city and I was amazed at the number of e-bike uber eats and couriers, many of which of modified.
The laws are ill conceived and in time will be modified for sure as they already have been.
Meanwhile my bike has come good and has not stopped working for several rides now and my confidence in it has returned, I suspect as someone suggested that it was a dry terminal or poor connection somewhere.

[Thoglette]

Glad to see it’s running again.

.
The laws are ill conceived and in time will be modified for sure as they already have been.

As outonabike said, all of this has already been discussed several times. In summary: the current rules are particularly well thought out and designed for a purpose.

If you want an e-scooter, get it registered as such.

[1morenobody]

Glad to see it’s running again.

.
The laws are ill conceived and in time will be modified for sure as they already have been.

As outonabike said, all of this has already been discussed several times. In summary: the current rules are particularly well thought out and designed for a purpose.

If you want an e-scooter, get it registered as such.

Yep thanks, its still going fine too, several days in a row now, but I have found an alternative place to get my bikes serviced and I will not shop with old mate again.

Try living in a hilly area and you will see how poorly thought out these rules are. I was passed on a slight downhill grade today by a roadbike and a fatbike both doing in excess of 30kph, if I am restricted to 25kph, why aren't all bikes on shared bike paths?
Speed restriction signage would be more sensible.

There are an abundance of bike paths, flat wide beaches and bush tracks in my area and I have no wish to ride an electric scooter on the roads, I have a car for transport and have held a driving license for over 4 decades and know how to behave with respect to all other bike path users.

[ironhanglider]

You seem to be under the misconception that you are not allowed to exceed 25km/h on your bike. That is absolutely not the case. It is only the assistance that cuts out at 25. You are allowed to ride "in excess of 30km/h" just as much as those others are. On a slight downhill as described the extra weight of the battery and motor would not be holding you back. If you feel like your gearing is insufficient, and can't pedal fast enough to ride at that speed, then that is a different matter and is easily addressed by your new LBS.

I live amongst hills and my ebike has exceeded 70km/h without being an unregistered motorbike. In contrast to your experience the only time that I am slower than I'd like to be is on the flat.

I'm happy enough with the rules as they are.


Cheers,

Cameron

[zebee]

I feel I could do with a bit more go on the trike sometimes. I don't want the speed at the top end I want the grunt at the bottom end for getting up hills. I drop it into the low granny and spin (because it prefers 80rpm alas) which is OK up Melville St with just the panniers but if I'm taking the trailer it runs out of torque. As do I...

I'm happy with 25kmh cutout but I'd really like more than 250W for hills.