[Dewey]

Vienna/Tysons location has a few Breezer bikes left that are priced to sell eg Breezer Uptown (26”) and Downtown (700c) step through’s with Nexus IGH for under $200 and two Breezer Greenway ebikes with the Shimano Steps motor for $1100

[Dewey]

Maybe wired to some sort of voice activated digital signboard, sort of a 21st century bumper sticker to share your thoughts while riding, what could go wrong.

[Dewey]

The WashCycle blog points out most home/renters insurance won’t cover riding an electric bicycle, so riders ought to take out some sort of coverage. Velosurance/Markel offer a liability policy and Balance an injury policy to riders of electric bicycles that meet the federal CPSC regulations or that fall into the Class 1 and Class 2 e-bike categories under the People for Bikes state e-bike legislation. But insurers won’t pay out if the rider is riding somewhere they technically shouldn’t, the trouble is that includes commuting arteries like the Potomac bridge side paths and connecting sections of trails a rider needs to use to safely cross the river to get to the streets on either side. The problem is the confusing overlapping jurisdictions with electric bicycle and scooter prohibitions, it will not encourage riders to take out personal liability insurance that is invalidated on connector sections of trail where pedestrian/bicycle collisions might occur. Also the DC 2015 Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act should be amended to include legal electric bicycle and scooters – it is inequitable to deny the protections that law provides to e-bike/scooter riders when that law covers riders of electric powered segways. The current mess of overlapping conflicting jurisdictions obliges e-bike commuting residents to break a DC or Arlington County Municipal Regulation every time they need to cross a bridge to ride to work. With the Capital Bikeshare Plus trial now underway DC and Arlington County are funding fleets of e-bikes as a public transportation utility so they own this problem. There is a growing need to provide a safe legal insurable way for riders of low speed limited electric bikes (and scooters) to commute to and from DC.

[Dewey]

@Steve O 183664 wrote:

As I was accelerating down K Street to go under Washington Circle from the west, I was struck on the left arm by an object from above. The only thing I can think of is that someone threw something at me from on top of the bridge. I was not hurt, thankfully. I was in no position to stop and investigate, either the object or whether it was in fact thrown at me or was just something that had fallen from above. It seemed about the size of a baseball (but not round–more like a piece of asphalt maybe?), although it all happened pretty fast. I’m not sure what to make of this.

Strewth Steve, glad you were not hurt, would you like to request from HSEMA a copy of DDOT surveillance footage from camera # CCTV-132 at 24th St and Washington Circle using a foia? The website mentions it gets deleted after 10 days. Trouble is it appears to cover a point before you were struck so unsure how useful it might be.

[Dewey]

Ohio passes PeopleForBikes ebike law making 11 states, New Jersey next. The article indicates they’re hoping to persuade legislators to introduce the legislation in Maryland and Virginia next year.

[Dewey]

@dbehrend 183517 wrote:

While the anger and disappointment in the opinion piece was clear, I don’t know the industry well enough to fully understand how much blame the entities mentioned in the article should really bear.

Yep, I thought this comment on an ebike forum was interesting, calling for a return to a focus on getting dealers to sign pre-orders to enable manufacturers to plan their production schedules, and blaming “the cost of attending union hall shows” for why Trek and Specialized pulled out – though I’d argue the tariffs surely have more to do with why business might be down.

[Dewey]

The answer probably is somewhere in the mega thread http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?9519-ELF-pedal-electric-car-on-W-amp-OD.

[Dewey]

@buschwacker 183228 wrote:

max 1000W (1 hp)

POI I understand 750w is 1hp source: https://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/93295/low.pdf
Regulating power/current is an issue as newer manufactured ebike controllers use higher quality mosfets for lower operating temperatures/greater reliability at peak power but an unintended consequence of raising the rated controller amperage higher is that it pushes a system outside the 750w CPSC limit which is also the power limit for Class 1 and 2 ebikes under the People for Bikes model ebike legislation. For example, Grin Tech’s Infineon controllers start at 20a which would enable a legal build provided you stick to a 36v battery (36×20=720w), but generally they bundle 25a controllers with their direct drive motors (36×25=900w). This would still meet Virginia’s current 1,000w limit for a power assisted electric bicycle, though that limit would drop to 750w if/when Virginia adopt the People for Bikes 3-class ebike legislation for the purpose of permitting Class 1 and 2 ebikes to ride on trails. AIUI this is why a speed limit which is software programmable, rather than a power limit below 1,000w which is a hardware issue, is preferable. Maybe future legislation in VA, MD, DC might include something like New York City are proposing with a 1-year credit for riders on low incomes to be able to take their ebike into the shop to replace or reprogram the controller as necessary to meet the regulated power/speed limits?

[Dewey]

@TwoWheelsDC 183199 wrote:

“how would you like me to commute from DC to Virginia on my e-bike and NOT violate the law?” I can either a)take the lane on Key Bridge, then take the lane out on Lee Hwy and add like 7 miles to my commute, or b)ride out Canal Road and take the lane on Chain Bridge. Yeah, sorry no.

I agree, it’s inequitous, but now the local governments provide ebikeshare as a transportation utility (the fleet of CaBi+ Class 1 Pedelecs) it should support arguments for changing the various anti ebike laws and municipal regulations.

[Dewey]

Lyft fund massive expansion of New York’s Citi Bikeshare program, $100million to triple the number of bikes hopefully this will bring operating costs down for their other systems eg Motivate group buy discount on ebikes to expand DC’s fleet https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/576-18/mayor-de-blasio-dramatic-expansion-citi-bike#/0

[Dewey]

@lordofthemark 183249 wrote:

(the bike ped/bridge will presumably be owned by NPS?)

Please no, if that happens NPS would extend their trail ban on ebikes from using it, bad enough the DCMR still need revising to permit ebikes using the bridge sidewalk paths on any of the Potomac river crossings.

[Dewey]

I expect this would need the Virginia cycling federation and WABA to advocate for changing state law before Arlington will change the County Code.

[Dewey]

Comment on Shatner’s rumored investment in America’s largest ebike franchise …”he has a new enterprise”.

In the ArlNow comments Arlington DES disinvited ebike riders (and scooters) from participating in the opening this Friday of the Washington Blvd trail. That’s just rude as there is no way residents are not going to use a new safe bike route alongside a busy arterial north-south road, and the County now funds ebikeshare through CaBi Plus.

[Dewey]

Shatner speaks! In reply to Arlington DES tweet mentioning the County’s ebike trail prohibition: “How barbaric” …tweeted the legendary actor, musician, and rumored investor in America’s largest ebike franchise.

[Dewey]

A week ago, ArlNow reported NPS have approved “replacement of the bridges’ 12-foot wide decks and railing to provide a smoother riding surface, also providing additional structure reinforcement to eliminate deck deflection” for the section near Roosevelt Island, identified as Bridges 31 and 32. An advertisement for bids is up on the USDOT Office of Federal Lands website with an anticipated project end date of Fall 2020.

[Author]

Replies