Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Citibike rolls out new fleet of illegal ebikes


NY Daily News

Citi Bike riders are about to get a boost.


The bike-sharing company will roll out a new line of e-bikes Wednesday, 10 months after its entire fleet of electric two-wheelers was pulled from service after a braking issue catapulted several riders over the handlebars and sent them to the hospital.


The new e-bikes, which give riders a little extra pickup when they pedal, were designed specifically for New York City, said Citi Bike spokesman Cory Epstein. Unlike the old models, they have a motor on the back wheel, instead of the front, and have drum brakes that do not lock up.

Citi Bike’s old e-bikes had “roller brakes” that did not have power modulators, skirting the brake manufacturer’s specifications.

 The new rides appear to be safer. During a test ride Tuesday, a Daily News reporter slammed an e-bike’s front brake at top speed. The bike came to a comfortable stop instead of throwing its rider to kingdom come.

As I documented for at least a year on social media with #EbikesAreMotorcycles, the safety issue isn't just with these bikes but the people that use them 

5 comments:

JQ LLC said...

Admin note re hashtag link:

There should be a lot more results than that.

Anonymous said...

NYC is an Aquapolis. I want to see boatsharing, so I can go aqround by boat!

Anonymous said...

Looks like they are riding in the wrong direction at least as the arrow is pointing. Should be a law against that don't you think?

Anonymous said...

These Electric "Bikes" are not safe !
60-year-old woman dies after being hit by e-scooter in Harlem
https://nypost.com/2020/02/20/60-year-old-woman-dies-after-being-hit-by-e-scooter-in-harlem/

JQ LLC said...

Last anon:

That was not an e-bike, it was a vespa like mini scooter. They are more like toys than vehicles, and they are illegal.

Citbike's allowed to run their e-bikes because of a glaring loophole that they are pedal-assist instead of throttle bikes like the ones delivery guys use. I think a lot of lobbying was involved by Lyft and Motivate (the partners behind citibike) to state officials to permit these things on the streets.