MadRhino said:
Hehe. I'd love to see the "making of". There are always a few nice crashes in the making of a vid with a pro rider.
This one does show for sure, that you don't need 10Kw to gamble with skin and bones.
Chalo said he can achieve 50mph on a pedal only bike downhill and I believe it's possible for him to reach at least 130-200mph depending greatly on his level of aerodynamic commitment to the run pedal only and the budget for the ramp or volcano cinder dome paving or whatever it would take.
The big difference between <1kW bikes and 5-25kW ebikes is which hills are available to ride and keep up with traffic safely.
I have been a liter bike and Zero rider for over 100k miles of heavy urban traffic riding. So those are the speeds and acceleration rates that have decades of building muscle memory and obstacle tracking and avoidance in my set of life experiences.
It has it's own set of risks all the same as climbing "35mph" steep hills at 5-10mph and having a traffic overtaking you.
It also enables awesome technical downhill trails to become uphill trails that are equally if not more safe and fun, because the collision physics are all greatly more safe in your favor than falling downhill at speed on trails lined with very solid redwoods to clip.
I have been down for the last few weeks with a back injury and haven't been able to walk or ride without crutches until just today being able to get a few hundred feet walked unassisted with no muscle spasms, and finally stopped vomiting anything I ate including clear fluids (strangely usually many hours after drinking it and it had no bile taste) for around 9days. What a nice incidental dieting gift the universe kindly delivered, and Im breathing without pain now typing this. I can ride OK typically even when too injured to walk (spasms being about the only questionable to keep a bike up right time.)
Only so many breaths for each of us. Time and attention are the real currency of our one moment of human experience. I enjoy safe timely travel on ebikes or motorcycles through traffic, and I take the risk path that doesn't require trusting the cars potentially distracted driver to notice me for me survival.
I'm equally fine with people who want to focus on their own kinetic energy as the dominant roadway risk. For perspective a car (3800lbs) at 50mph has a kinetic energy of 435kJoules aka, (kWatt*seconds).
My own 190lbs body at 25mph is 5.5kJ (or 5.5seconds of a theoretical 100% efficient drivetrain delivering 1000W traction effort of mechanical propulsion in a vacuum).
Chalos answer about what he would do if he had to have 250w cap is actually pretty good to say you design a system that gets you 250w of propulsive effort delvered from a speed approaching 0mph, as at some speed near 0mph a 250W propulsive mechanical thrust exceeds even any versions of deathbike and would be cable of safely jumping to evade traffic hazard (cars/trucks)things safely from very low speeds only. Having the bike be 25kW vs 250w means it could also continue to escape unexpected traffic hazards on hills or when traveling at speeds above 5-10mph.
Just like the sport bikes anyone can go take a 20min motorcycle learners permit test and sign for a loan payment with almost nothing down and ride away on a 200hp 200mph sport bike. This doesn't require you ride it or any bike of any power level at speeds above what feels safe and comfortable for conditions. It also does not mean that because that vehicles rider has a valid plate on it and insurance that it's rider will respond to whatever unexpected highway traffic anomalies or the persons skills/risk ratio.
A disproportionately large amount of the best riders and drivers I've known in my life hadn't had a valid driver's license for at least a decade.
Other people are free to focus on their own personal kinetic energy and believe a 3ft traffic law magic force field will protect them. Life is your own choose your own adventure book to include whatever fantasies you're into, cars tires won't be stopped by passing over painted lines, nor does each rearward overtaking driver come equipped with a ceaseless and perfect bicycle lookout awareness in all kinds of conditions, activities and states of mind.
