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Parents Are Accidentally Buying Their Kids Electric Motorcycles Instead Of E-Bikes
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this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2025
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micromobility - Bikes, scooters, boards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility
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"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.
micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"
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I agree, and think that's probably the solution to speed demons on ebikes. Modulate the power output on some curve to assist more at lower speeds (not doubling the riders efforts or anything like that) and level off at whatever point is deemed 'fast enough'. If the rider wants to go faster, no problem, but have it be muscle power, not battery power.
Cargo bikes are certainly a different power curve. Sometimes I get so loaded up on mine it takes halfway to the next light before I can get it out of granny gear. I understand your use case for the throttle here, either getting to a cruising speed, or even just enough so you're balanced and not wobbling. I'm sure this could be resolved with higher sensitivity on a torque sensor or having a great-granny gear, so to speak.
I had the pleasure of riding a fancy front bucket style ebike for a few hours last year and it had no trouble getting going from a full stop. Damn thing cost more than my car though haha.
What you describe with your old ebike reminds me of the Reevo. It was designed so poorly if you were walking it, the pedals could still turn and activate the power assist and produce a feedback loop that saw the bike take off away from you and into the sunset.
Kinda, but you'd still have trouble if you forgot to downshift or were trying to start uphill. And since we're talking about a heavy vehicle used for utility cycling (often carrying kids), you might be in traffic where you need to be able to get moving right now and can't just pick it up and carrry it to the curb to get out of the way. In that sort of situation, a throttle is a safety feature. It just needs to be designed not to facilitate misuse.
I knew what video that was gonna be before I clicked it, LOL.
For the record, the bikes in question are the first and second-generation Lectric Xpedition. (Mine unfortunately had a problem that caused it to be replaced under warranty, and they gave me the new version.) The second-gen definitely has some important improvements (notably the torque sensor and a much better kickstand), but the first-gen was still a good bike — nowhere near as bad as a Reevo!
(I'm a big fan of my Lectrics, but damn I wish they'd make an affordable bakfiets.)