# can a ebike with no pedals on the road in georgia usa



## windy7777 (15 Mar 2021)

looking to get a ebike with no pedals


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## CanucksTraveller (15 Mar 2021)

This is mainly a UK / Europe focussed cycling forum albeit with a few beloved American (and other) members, so knowledge of GA's scooter law might be thin on the ground. Googling will turn up better results I feel. 
Spending seemingly half my life in Atlanta it does appear from widespread scooter use there that the laws are far, far more permissive, that's regarding sidewalk and road use. We can't use e bikes without pedals here in the UK for instance, that would be classed as a moped which would require licence, insurance, helmet etc. 
Best to ask your local DMV or City police I'd think.


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## windy7777 (15 Mar 2021)

thats where i was conffused i wasnt sure if it even is a bike. sadly its the only one in my budget which is 500 bucks my longest round trip is 10 miles with hills .


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## HMS_Dave (15 Mar 2021)

Does it have crank arms? Thinking you could just jam some sticks in the threads and pretend they're peddles...


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## windy7777 (16 Mar 2021)

no crank arms sadly. i found another bike i can afford a ugly swagtron. but i will only use it 100 miles a month


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## CanucksTraveller (16 Mar 2021)

Can you post a link to the e-bike you're thinking of? I'm having trouble picturing an e-bike with no pedals. 

I seem to remember you were looking for a bike for shopping last year and that you're in a hilly area. Is it perhaps an e-bike with a hand throttle that _has pedals_ but doesn't necessarily require you to pedal? If so it sounds like a class 2 e-bike under US law, and is allowed to be ridden on roads in Georgia: 
https://evelo.com/blogs/ebike-laws/...kes are allowed to,electric bikes may be used.


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## windy7777 (16 Mar 2021)

lol its even more ugly today but here it is .i just want something to get food 
View: https://www.amazon.com/Jetson-Folding-Throttle-Electric-Bicycle/dp/B0812MP2T5


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## Phaeton (16 Mar 2021)

I thought you guys could do anything you wanted in Georgia, although I suppose it depends where exactly you are in the State, I loved Savannah when we visited it.


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## windy7777 (16 Mar 2021)

i think it depends if you was born here lol. i was not a few months ago i was walking acroos bridge to go to grocery store. i was stoped and asked why i was on the bridge. she then told me im not allowed there lol


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## CanucksTraveller (16 Mar 2021)

Well from my limited research it looks like those are indeed class 2 e-bikes and you can use them on the road in your state, though I'd check locally. 
Not good for shopping though, and they have a very limited range. And I'm not sure they'll take on steep hills with no pedal assistance.


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## windy7777 (17 Mar 2021)

my budget is super low the next ine with decent reviews is dang near 500 bucks. but i bet your right i should have peddles. it would be nice to have one that can do 5 miles round trip which can get me to walmart grocery store and publix .there still is no sidewalks here. when i walk im in kudzu and uncut grass . but ar least tgey cut it once. it was waist height. i truly was worried id pass out and no one would see me. but now im feeling better since they got my thyroid in check


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## windy7777 (17 Mar 2021)

what do you all think of this? its a bit out of my budget ill need it for like 50 miles per month


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## Drago (17 Mar 2021)

Is there an ebike power limit in the US/your state? Here its 250W, and that isnt really sufficient to do the job on its own - all but the most unfit, injured or disabled rider could outpace that without breaking into a sweat. Great for a bit of assistance, but unsuiable for providing the sole means of motive power.


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## windy7777 (17 Mar 2021)

ty everyone i went with the swagtron e5 im kind of excited no more walking .this one has peddles . i lost the abilty to ride up hills with no help so im hoping it will help get my self up hills


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## CXRAndy (17 Mar 2021)

Drago said:


> Is there an ebike power limit in the US/your state? Here its 250W, and that isnt really sufficient to do the job on its own - all but the most unfit, injured or disabled rider could outpace that without breaking into a sweat. Great for a bit of assistance, but unsuiable for providing the sole means of motive power.



Most states are a sensible 750W and some are 1000W


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## windy7777 (17 Mar 2021)

i figure long as i stay about walking speedim happy. a course if my budget was better id want more power


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## Drago (17 Mar 2021)

That'd makemp it viable then.


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## ColinJ (17 Mar 2021)

windy7777 said:


> i think it depends if you was born here lol. i was not a few months ago i was walking acroos bridge to go to grocery store. i was stoped and asked why i was on the bridge. she then told me im not allowed there lol


That kind of thing happens everywhere! Here's a local example of mine...


ColinJ said:


> Years ago I had ridden down the bridleway to the Blue Pig and stopped to drink some water on the little bridge that you have to cross to get to the entrance to Hardcastle Crags. A grumpy woman came out of the cottage next to the bridge and told me that I was trespassing. I told her that it was a public right of way, that I had come down the bridleway and ... She interrupted me and told me that it was illegal to come down the 'footpath' on a bike. I pointed out the bridleway sign and said that it was therefore open to walkers, equestrians and cyclists. As for the bridge ...we were standing on a road. She grudgingly accepted that I had a right of passage over it but she then told me that I "_didn't have the right to stop_"!






Drago said:


> Here its 250W, and that isnt really sufficient to do the job on its own - all but the most unfit, injured or disabled rider could outpace that without breaking into a sweat. Great for a bit of assistance, but unsuiable for providing the sole means of motive power.


Wow - it is unusual for you to be so wrong... I can guarantee you that most non-competitive cyclists cannot sustain 250 W! The reason that most cyclists in the UK can outpace a 250 W ebike is not because the bikes are underpowered, it is because they have 25 kph/15.5 mph speed limiters on them. Point a 250 W** ebike at a decent hill and THEN try to keep up it!

** Assume that the motor characteristics/gearing allow it to give full power up the climb. (Some _don't_.)


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## Drago (17 Mar 2021)

I think youre confusing 250 electrical watts with 250 watts mechanical output - the translation is never the same due to various losses and inefficiencies that apply to electricity, heat, friction, temperature and battery chemistry, none of which apply to human legs.

And yes, im a fit bloke in my 50s and can easily better my ebikes times up any hill on one of my regular bikes. I ride each daily, so know exactly what they can and can't do. On top of that, a quick glance at Strava shows gazillions of lightweight racing snakes putting in climb times that thrash ebikes. These tales you here of people boasting about how they were out on their ebike and blitzed Team Ineos on a training ride are utter bull. 

Prior to 2016 throttle controls were legal so there are older bikes about where it is possible to ride them up to 15.5mph on just the motor alone. Indeed, my Daughters fellas Mum has one and I service it for her. Trust me, they very slowly trundle up to speed, and it doesn't take much of an incline at all to crop that back to 12 or 10 mph when ridden on _on just the motor alone._

I say it again, because I know the truth of it first hand. Any rider who isn't injured, very elderly, or disabled, will have little difficulty outpacing an ebike with only 250 watts (maximum continuously rated output) being ridden _on battery power alone. _


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## windy7777 (17 Mar 2021)

went with this so i can bring in to stores . as a kid i had my bike stolen and i never got over it. but my family onky had bikes no cars https://swagtron.com/product/swagtron-swagcycle-eb-5-lightweight-aluminum-folding-ebike/


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## ColinJ (17 Mar 2021)

windy7777 said:


> went with this so i can bring in to stores . as a kid i had my bike stolen and i never got over it. but my family onky had bikes no cars https://swagtron.com/product/swagtron-swagcycle-eb-5-lightweight-aluminum-folding-ebike/


I had my bike stolen from school when I was a kid. I didn't get another one for 20 years! Definitely NOT a nice experience...

I recommend that you keep a closer eye on your ebike than the young woman in the video did - I think somebody would steal it pretty quickly if she kept turning her back on it or leaving it unlocked outside shops like that. 



Oh, and make sure your saddle height is right - she had it _way _too low.


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## windy7777 (18 Mar 2021)

im pretty excited i have not been able to walk to store due to knees and thr high grasss .soi spent extra money to have amazon bring my food. and some days i wait all day to get my food so i can eat and they never bring it. luckly i found some mwc n chesese boxes but had ni milk lol ps water dont work lol


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## houblon (18 Mar 2021)

Drago said:


> I think youre confusing 250 electrical watts with 250 watts mechanical output - the translation is never the same due to various losses and inefficiencies that apply to electricity, heat, friction, temperature and battery chemistry, none of which apply to human legs.
> 
> And yes, im a fit bloke in my 50s and can easily better my ebikes times up any hill on one of my regular bikes. I ride each daily, so know exactly what they can and can't do. On top of that, a quick glance at Strava shows gazillions of lightweight racing snakes putting in climb times that thrash ebikes. These tales you here of people boasting about how they were out on their ebike and blitzed Team Ineos on a training ride are utter bull.
> 
> ...



That's interesting, I'd have thought that 250 electrical watts into a hub motor would be pretty efficient, what would you estimate efficiency at? 250 human watts into the pedals is quite a useful amount of power for me (fit bloke in my 60s)


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## CXRAndy (18 Mar 2021)

ebikes whether limited to 15mph or higher can destroy an average cyclist and embarrass a pro rider up a decent climb. 

Put an average rider who can hold 200W add 250W and will muller a non ebike up inclines.

GPLama well known on YouTube, gets owned by his partner


View: https://youtu.be/4U_y75o_zDc


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## houblon (18 Mar 2021)

CXRAndy said:


> ebikes whether limited to 15mph or higher can destroy an average cyclist and embarrass a pro rider up a decent climb.
> 
> Put an average rider who can hold 200W add 250W and will muller a non ebike up inclines.
> 
> ...




According to Drago, that 250 electrical watts doesn't appear as 250W at the wheel, and the extra weight would hold it back on a steeper climb. I'm curious to know how efficient it really is.

So if it's, say 80% efficient that's 200W. Add the 200W from the rider and you have 400W so yeah that'd destroy me but I don't think a pro would be much troubled.


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## windy7777 (19 Mar 2021)

im feeling as excited as i was as a kid when i got this huffy bike it was so fun i forget its name but it had a sign with a 57 on it and a long seat kindbof shaped like a loaf of bread


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## gzoom (19 Mar 2021)

houblon said:


> So if it's, say 80% efficient that's 200W. Add the 200W from the rider and you have 400W so yeah that'd destroy me but I don't think a pro would be much troubled.



Strava does power reading 'estimates', here are figures for me up a 6% average incline, you can see which ride is on an eBike - 250watts poweroutput on the motor .







What's interesting is when you look at the power meter figures my eBike reports. I haven't done a proper FTP but its going to be around 200watts, firmly in the 'amateur' region. This is a segment on my eBike along a flatish route, despite putting out 250watts+ of unassited power my speed is much slower than on my road bike purely down to aero + drivetrain loss of cheap Halfords frameset (eBike) versus 105/Ultegra + Trek carbon frame.

So an eBike pushing out 250watts with zero human power, in a flat bar hybrid frameset will be 4mph+ slower (20% slower) than an unassisted rider doing the same power but on a road bike on the flat.






This isn't however most eBikes are used, mine is used to get me to work without sweating like a pig. This is the power figures of my eBike assisted commute into work, you can see the speed is bang on the 15.5mph cut off, the actual total power output with me pedaling + motor is sub 200watts. So to travel at a legal 15.5mph assisted speed 250watts of motor power alone is more than enough. 

The power graph suggests I was probably doing proper 'work' interms of adding significant amount of power from my legs for less than 30 seconds out of a 20 minute+ commute.

For my commute into work I arrive with barely raised heart rate, which is perfect for commuting.






But there is no denying 200watts+ of extra power when COMBINED with your legs does crazy things when the road rises - this time gets me into the top 5 of the Strava segment if I didn't mark the ride as electric assisted.

Am almost 1 mintue quicker up a 8% gradient (14% max ramp) which normally takes me just under 3 minutes on my eBike. 






If you removed the speed limit on these eBikes, put in the effort on a decent frameset, even without 1000watt motors they absolutely can turn amateurs with FTPs sub 400watts into Tour winners (and by a massive margin). 


View: https://youtu.be/cjcsla7U6GM

If you want to be lazy and sit at 15.5mph with no effort any legal eBike is fine with 250watt output. 

If you want to go fast everywhere on an eBike you need to put the effort in (or go illegal). 

Lazy or not, any eBike will make hills much easier, which is what puts lots of people off cycling in the first place.


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## gzoom (19 Mar 2021)

Drago said:


> And yes, im a fit bloke in my 50s and can easily better my ebikes times up any hill on one of my regular bikes.



You are either putting zero effort in on the eBike attempts or you have an FTP figure of close to 400watts - in which case you are 100% not a normal cyclists.

Do you have any Strava segment times to share?

As posted above my best 'assisted' time up the steepest hill in Leicestershire is 1:43, that's within striking distance of the KOM, and am very 'average' as a cyclist interms of power out put!! 

Most of us simply cannot achieve the power figures you are hitting to better legal eBike assisted attempts on hills with a non assisted bike.


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## windy7777 (19 Mar 2021)

well i love it so far it is even not bad when i turn ot off and peddle only


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## windy7777 (20 Mar 2021)

rode to dr office no peddling it got me all the way and back. a course i forgot my mask lol. other then cars being jerks it was a fun ride. ps i know most of you all are on the other side of the pond are car drivers nicer there?


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