Comfortable speed

How fast do you go on your e-bike

  • Between 10 and 15mph

    Votes: 9 7.3%
  • Between 15-20mph

    Votes: 40 32.5%
  • Between 20-25mph

    Votes: 27 22.0%
  • Between 25-30mph

    Votes: 15 12.2%
  • 30mph+ but honestly it's a bicycle.

    Votes: 31 25.2%
  • Under 10mph

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Total voters
    123
friendly1uk said:
Does anyone else think the top two speed groups picked up 3 votes each overnight that don't ring true?
When I saw the new overnight results, my first thought was "I guess the risk takers come out at night".

I hit 30mph on a couple of downhills on my commute. I do it all the time, but it is not "Comfortable". It could be because I don't have suspension or fat tires but at 30mph, I pretty much have to focus on the road ahead of me. I seldom get to check my mirrors (I normally glance about every 3 secs). It's just not comfortable.
 
amberwolf said:
friendly1uk said:
Does anyone else think the top two speed groups picked up 3 votes each overnight

It doesn't look like that to me: The two resuls at the top of the poll are the lowest ones, and one has zero votes and the other only two, so neither could have "picked up 3 votes". So I don't understand that part at all.

Code:
Under 10mph  	0%  	 0%   	[ 0 ]
Between 10 and 15mph 	5% 	 5%  	[ 2 ]
Between 15-20mph 	37% 	 37%  	[ 15 ] 	x
Between 20-25mph 	22% 	 22%  	[ 9 ]
Between 25-30mph 	12% 	 12%  	[ 5 ]
30mph+ but honestly it's a bicycle. 	24% 	 24%  	[ 10 ]



that don't ring true?
? People vote what they vote; if they don't also explain themselves in a post there's no way to know who voted or why; that's perfectly normal too.

When you want to know who and why so you know if it's "true" (as much as anything can be known to be so, especially on the internet), you'd have to use a non-anonymous way of polling, by not using the actual poll function.

This happens a lot. People want their view to matter, so have a few accounts to back themselves up.
If so, they'll be removed when found--duplicate accounts are not allowed. If you can point to specific instances of duplicate account use, they'll be investigated and resolved where possible, and the members warned. (typically both accounts will be merged and posts from one reassigned to the other--but it is a manual process and can take a very long time if there are more than a handful of posts...and polls cant' be fixed as there's no moderator access to the results or votes).


I consider the results to be fudged until a moderator tells me otherwise.
There's no way to know, AFAICT, without actually sitting at the computer every member is logging in from and seeing the screen that comes up on this thread. If the screen shows they've voted, then they have, if not, they haven't. I'm sure the forum software internally tracks which have voted and which have not but the data isn't available to moderators.

An internet poll is just an internet poll, and you couldn't know it's accuracy even under ideal conditions. The best you can do is to not have the results visible until the end of the poll when no more votes are taken.

Given our membership numbers here in total vs the small active number, it would really not be true results even without any deliberate actions, just because hardly anyone ever participates in polls, and even fewer explain themselves (which would be required to satisfy you, AFAICS), based on what I've seen of past polls.


It's too many votes, in too short a time, on a poll that's about ground to a halt, for results that were highly unpopular. It stinks.
You sure are an impatient person, figuring all you will get is the first 3 days of data. Results could trickle in forever on a poll with no close date, especially as others mention the poll in other threads, and people that didn't know it was even there now go find it and vote. (like Eclectic's thread discussing the results of this poll).

It's your poll and you can ignore whatever you like about it, though. ;)

You seem to us misunderstood every word I said. Sorry I was not clearer.

The top two speed groups I referred to are 25-30 and 30+

I think that prospective puts a very different spin on it. However, voting slows over time, and this sped up over night. Do you have history available that would show when? Perhaps with IP numbers?
These groups picked up a few votes over the first few days, then doubled in a few hours. I'm not impatient, I'm observant
 
The fingers said:
MPH vs. KPH, metric confusion? Hits me also sometimes. :?

Yeah, he meant 45 to 48 kph and I meant 49.7 kph, but my fingers and brain are more accustomed to mph, so that's what I typed. Only downhill and motorpaced cycling events see 50mph speeds.
 
friendly1uk said:
You seem to us misunderstood every word I said. Sorry I was not clearer.

The top two speed groups I referred to are 25-30 and 30+
Ah; I would have called that the two "highest speed" groups, because they are not at the top of the list of groups, but at the bottom, and that confused me. :(

(I don't think like most people, so misunderstandings like this are not uncommon with me. I also try to see the alternate possibilities that others might not, especially the "innocent" circumstances that may lead up to something others may thing is a bad deliberate act).




However, voting slows over time, and this sped up over night.

It could just be because of Eclectic's thread discussing this one, that attracted the attention of others where this one did not originally (and they may not be posters but just readers, since polls don't seem to have a way to require a post in order to vote; I wish they did).

It could be because it was orignally posted on a weekday, and many people may only have free time for the forums on the weekends. Maybe it's just more people having that time and reading and voting, and they happen to be people that like faster speeds?

Also, this *is* a worldwide forum, and people are up at all times, somewhere in teh world. Maybe it's just that someone in their "daytime", on the weekend, saw the poll and let others know about it so they could vote, too.

As for why the faster speeds, vs the time, maybe they only ride on weekends when time is free, and aren't commuters, and just do it for fun and prefer the faster speeds for that fun?

There's no way to really know. Maybe it *is* a conspiracy to skew the poll. ;)


Do you have history available that would show when? Perhaps with IP numbers?
I wish we did, but there is nothing associated with the poll itself, only the posts within a thread. :/
 
The question was comfortable speed. for me, 56 and feeling 86, that's definitely 18 mph. I can pedal along at that speed, comfortably.

Had the poll asked what speed I typically ride the most, it would be 25 mph. Or whatever the max speed of that bike is. Comfort not such an issue on the shorter rides, like the 4 mile round trip run to the dollar store, or next door veggie store, for eggs and salad.

The longer run to a full sized grocery is 11 miles, and I tend to ride the trip there slow and comfy, getting some good exercise on the way there, then zip back at 25 mph with the grub.

A REALLY long ride is done at comfort speed, but that's mostly for max range, and if a scenic route, slow enough to enjoy the view rather than just scan for broken glass the whole ride.
 
I usually don't visit these parts, but I saw the other thread and had to vote here too.

I routinely hit speeds not even mentioned in the poll on the downhill part of my commute (that's 5 times a week, folks).
Sometimes, I envy those people who are satisfied with 20mph. Must be nice to always play so safe. But then I come to my senses.
 
This is about the bike, not the speed by itself.
A friend of mine said he's never riding above 40 kmh for safety reasons. As soon as he was on a clear path he hit 60 trying one of my bikes, and didn't even notice. He said "No, I was going at safe speed, only half throttle and very soft ride". :wink:
 
MadRhino said:
This is about the bike, not the speed by itself.
A friend of mine said he's never riding above 40 kmh for safety reasons. As soon as he was on a clear path he hit 60 trying one of my bikes, and didn't even notice. He said "No, I was going at safe speed, only half throttle and very soft ride". :wink:

When something unexpected happens, or when something goes wrong, how cushy your bike rides becomes irrelevant. A cushy suspension bike can't stop any faster or maneuver any better than a rigid bike when the chips are down.
 
'Nother close call on the road today. Again on a busy road near a shopping mall and lots of traffic. Idiot driver makes a left turn right in front of me and another car I was beside. Car slams on his brakes & skids, alerting me, so I slam on my brakes, as the idiot driver accelerates past both his & my blind-spot. Literally inches as I skid on the sand & salt covered road. WTF about idiot drivers? Puts the fear of disaster in me again. I was going slow enough not to loose it on the road, but if I'd been at full throttle, this morning's posts would have been the last you'd have from me. I'm sure you all would mourn my passing. Wouldn't you? Ah, come-on, maybe just a little? An incee-bitty-little-bit?
 
Chalo said:
MadRhino said:
This is about the bike, not the speed by itself.
A friend of mine said he's never riding above 40 kmh for safety reasons. As soon as he was on a clear path he hit 60 trying one of my bikes, and didn't even notice. He said "No, I was going at safe speed, only half throttle and very soft ride". :wink:

When something unexpected happens, or when something goes wrong, how cushy your bike rides becomes irrelevant. A cushy suspension bike can't stop any faster or maneuver any better than a rigid bike when the chips are down.

When i think of how it must hurt crash and slid on pavement @ 30 km/h and that it will hurt 4 times as like this @ 60 km/h makes me want to only ride 60 km/h in the desert alone. :D The law of Joule is hard to swallow. :lol:

Re> full (cushy) suspension not better.
On a bumpy road where the rigid biker have the paralysing effects in his bones from hard bumps while the cushy guy have still full control over his bike.
 
58 votes now...We even got one <10mph. I personally think that 18-23mph is my sweet spot but I voted for 15-20mph. Those moto guys are sure coming on strong.

SpeedPoll02-edit.jpg
 
I find that riding around a lot of traffic I'm better off at bicycle speeds. That on the streets most heavily used for bikes is 10-14MPH here. Riding faster, for me, means more risk. Cages seem to have a hard tome judging speed of bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles as it is. When I run out at 20-23 (max) I find that traffic more often misjudges my speed. So being an old fart and having made it this far I ride slower when traffic is heavier, especially if the if traffic making left turns around. But that's just this old dork. I intend to build a faster bike one day but doubtless will ride with the same idea. I wish there we're a modulating headlight for E Bikes. It made a huge difference in the left turns in front of me. As a matter of fact I was reminded, if I forgot, by traffic to turn the modulator on. These days I run my flashing LED if traffic is especially busy. A modulating brake light would be cool too.
 
I live in the NE US where there are no bike lanes, roads may or may not have shoulders, and shoulder width varies every 100 yards. Many roads are curving hilly deals with all manner of blind spots and surprises (disappearaing shoulders in a corner, etc). Bicycling is more dangerous than skydiving - which is why it's generally not that popular.

Here I like to ride the shoulder like a bicycle, but pull into the lane and ride with the traffic when the road situation gets dangerous (better to ride with the traffic at 30-40mph than be a 15mph obstacle in a lane with no shoulders). Riding the bike trails calls for different speeds - particularly if I'm pedaling more and there are peds. If I'm hauling groceries, I typically ride slower.

That said - I have turn signals and strobing front/rear LED lights (actually DOT truck lights), so visibility isn't really a problem in traffic.

So - how fast do I like to ride?
Kind of how fast I like to drive my car ... it depends (highway, city, countryside).

  • I like to ride with the traffic if there's no shoulder to ride as a bike - and that might be 30-40mph.
    I like to ride 15-20mph on the shoulder.
    I like to ride 10-15mph on bike paths when I pedal more and motor less.
I travel 11 miles to get to the trails and so do this speed mix every ride and I like each part in its own right -- and the bike does each kind comfortably without protest so that doesn't enter into it.

Sometimes the answer isn't simple (and doesn't fit into the survey too well)...
 
teklektik said:
Sometimes the answer isn't simple (and doesn't fit into the survey too well)...

^^^this^^^
 
teklektik said:
I live in the NE US where there are no bike lanes, roads may or may not have shoulders, and shoulder width varies every 100 yards...
Thanks. But depends on where you're at in NE. Being here in Worcester, MA I can say things are improving substantially and continuously. Part of the very active Walk & Bike lobby making our streets pedestrian friendly. Just went to a meeting on the the NPS Park just funded for the Blackstone River Valley between Worcester & Providence, RI, cutting through CT too. And rode some of the newer sections of our now bike friendly streets, and it was awesome! Marked & signed bike lanes, lights, traffic calming. What a difference it makes when your town or city finally wakes up, organizes and funds initiatives to make walkable/bikeable neighborhoods.
 
arkmundi said:
teklektik said:
I live in the NE US where there are no bike lanes, roads may or may not have shoulders, and shoulder width varies every 100 yards...
Thanks. But depends on where you're at in NE. Being here in Worcester, MA I can say things are improving substantially and continuously.
Not in the general case - there are 60,000mi of existing roads in the states you mention:

From American Society of Civil Engineers 2013 Infrastructure Report Card:

  • Connecticut has 21,431 miles of public roads.
    Connecticut has 3,350 miles of major roads, 41% of which are in poor condition.

    Massachusetts has 36,330 miles of public roads.
    Massachusetts has 7,340 miles of major roads, 19% of which are in poor condition.

    Rhode Island has 6,480 miles of public roads.
    Rhode Island has 983 miles of major roads, 41% of which are in poor condition.
There may be small localized improvements afoot - but "substantially" is a fantasy word that has little to do with general useful day-to-day travel requirements (and bicycle safety) in these states.
 
It's not my bike I'm uncomfortable with at 30mph, it's the stopping distance. Logistics suggest that riding at 30mph you need to be looking 30+ meters down the road. Your reaction distance is 10 meters, so anything happening within 10 meters ahead of you is too late. An average push bike brakes in 20 meters, so you need to totally control at least 30 meters ahead of you. Even looking 30 meters ahead, objects only present themselves for 1.3 seconds before it's too late to react at all. 30 meters is your emergency stopping distance. To be comfortable you need to look even further ahead.


I like to be able to react to things within about 5 meters. Even if it's just adopting the best flying pose. 18mph gives that, and 6 meter stopping distances. A combination of 11 meters rather than 30.

That seems about right. I have no safety gear on and I have to watch for the smallest of things using bicycle tyres. I tend to scour between 10 and 50 meters ahead. So I can look away for 5 seconds. Though if I did I would be slowing. Knowing 10 meters is marginally under my braking distance at full speed.

I'm surprised the total braking distance in the 15-20 category is just thinking distance at 30+ mph. 10 meters.
 
I like 15-20 as that was my usual bicycle speed. Scooter handles great and it fast enough for fun but safer too.
 
It depends on the environment, among foot traffic I would say 10-15 MPH is comfortable maneuvering speed. Car traffic should be around 15-20mph, closer to 18-19mph on average. I wouldn't want to go too much faster than 20 MPH on an e-bike, unless I was on a main road and there was little to no traffic. In cases of little to no traffic, I will admit I wish I could go about 35 MPH. However, my current setup tops out at 20 MPH because it's a good compromise between weight and speed, and I carry it up stairs and take it onto public transportation. And to be honest, it's probably safer that way as well. The fastest e-bike I've driven was 55 MPH, and it just felt too heavy for my preference. The instant torque makes it feel like you are sitting on a rocket. It felt significantly more dangerous than a motorcycle, although I suppose the instant torque is something that you could get used to eventually.

With a traditional road bicycle, I feel comfortable going up to 30 MPH, simply because it's harder to be complacent on a regular bike. You have to put in exponentially more effort to reach higher speeds, which I feel also puts you in a better position for crashes. The faster your heart is pumping and the more alert you are. I've crashed at very low speed on e-bikes, and nearly had my day ruined because I was in a relaxed state, and wasn't in a good position to react quickly and catch my fall. I hit the curb which was higher than I expected, causing me to flop forward and slam face first into concrete. Funny enough, I was wearing a brand new helmet with face protection so I walked away only losing a little dignity.

I've had plenty of far worse wipe outs on bikes, including being hit by a motorcycle. However, due to the fact that I was usually in an alert and mobile state helping me to not land on my face, I always walked away. I just feel like in my personal experience, I have a better chance at avoiding a crash and walking away from a wipe-out on a traditional bike.

That may sound like an endorsement of traditional bikes, and yes I do love my road bike, but 99% of the time I prefer to ride electric vehicles. It's way more convenient, faster uphill, and I'll sacrifice a little safety for a lot of comfort like everyone else.
 
The fingers said:
For my bike 20mph is plenty fast, but with the right suspension and frame geometry faster speeds are ok, as long as the cops look the other way. :p

interesting, what kind of geometry is needed for fast speed?
 
For instance, my mountain bike on pavement is a bit twitchy. I have gone fast on hills but it handles better in dirt. The cruzer frame is more laid back and relaxing to ride on the road at speed, but sucks in the loose stuff even with fatter tires. Feels like it is in a rut and less responsive. :wink:
 
Roads are awful where I live, and my suspension is awful, so I wanna say 25-30 mph is the highest I can comfortably travel, sometimes even less if the road has potholes. If the road is smooth for whatever reason though I've noticed 45 mph(my top speed) is fairly comfortable on my bike.
 
Key word Comfortable speed. I think of being relaxed not excited. Voted 15-20 mph, like to peddle and doing that above 20 mph is not relaxed. Have my speed limits set again at 28 mph legal speed, only go above 20 mph when out on the Hwy doing long rides. Relaxed riding in town with other bikers falls in two groups 10-15 mph and the road bikers 15-20 mph. My normal riding is with PAS 75-150 watts and 15-20 mph is easy. 20+ requires 300 watts for me. I like to ride for 2-4 hrs at a time so why do I have 2600w 30+ mph trike. Don't want to grind up hills and/or over heat the motor. Walk softly and carry a big stick.
 
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