It is not a bicycle

1Watch

Two riders, one kerb

Same reaction time. Same kind of brakes. Watch where each one is when the film stops.

2The idea

You already know how to ride. That is the problem.

You learned on something that weighs about as much as a big dog and tops out where your legs give up. An e-bike weighs two or three times that, and the motor never gets tired. It feels like a bike. It stops like a small motorbike.

The bike does not feel faster because the motor is doing the work. Your legs are the thing that used to tell you how fast you were going. Now they are lying to you, and you have to know the numbers instead.

3The idea

Stopping is two distances added together

Thinking distance: from the moment you see the problem to the moment your hands squeeze. About a second, and you keep rolling the whole time. Double your speed and this doubles.
Braking distance: from the squeeze to the stop. Double your speed and this goes up four times, because the energy you have to get rid of goes up with the square of the speed.

So it is not a little bit worse at higher speed. It is a lot worse, and the bit that gets worse fastest is the bit you cannot feel until it is too late.

4Worked example

12 mph and 22 mph, on the same dry street

At 12 mph you cover about five metres a second. One second of thinking is five metres. Braking hard on dry tarmac takes about four more. Around nine metres to stop.

At 22 mph you cover nearly ten metres a second. One second of thinking is ten metres. Braking takes about twelve more. Around twenty-two metres to stop. Less than double the speed, more than triple the braking distance. On a wet road, worse again.

5Your turn

Try it on the slider

Try 12. Then 22. Look at where the crossing is each time.

6Decide

The e-bike feels easy at 20 mph. What does that mean for stopping?

7Look

The sticker on the frame

Many places sort e-bikes into classes by how fast the motor helps and whether there is a throttle. Where you can ride and how old you must be often hang off that number. Your local rules decide which; the sticker tells you which one you have.

8Find them

Which of these change how far you need to stop?

Tap the ones that count.

9Say it

The sentence for the top of the hill

You will want this the first time the bike feels effortless and the road tips downhill.

10Do it

Before you leave this page