A BBC Panorama episode aired this week has caused an uproar with the UK's Bicycle Association, they claim the program “unjustifiably damaged” legal e-bike industry.

I watched the program with interest, it showed cyclists and eBikes in UK cities, their attitude / behaviour and pedestrians who were expressing their frustration to the way things are changing. A similar report was on RTE's Prime Time program a few weeks ago highlighting similar issues in Ireland .

As a converted eBike user myself I find eBikes brilliant. Now, I like cycling, so I'm quite happy with the legal restrictions on eBikes and recommend them to other cyclists as they can make life a lot easier without going into the red. You can still get a good training spin in, 'that is a good workout' using an eBike, you don't have to worry about hills or headwinds. If your feeling good reduce the assistance power level or if feeling not so good turn up the assistance. It gets you out on the bike more often.

I have an eBike for road and gravel tracks and I also have a eMTB mountain bike, which is amazing for getting up the hills. So I'm fully converted. (I'll put a short video below of an eBike spin below)

Getting back to the BBC program and seeing the reaction from the UK's cycle trade, I do understand that there are two sides to this. As a lot of the focus is towards eBikes I feel the bikes are great and they are good for good responsible people. As regards the Law for eBikes, Ireland is similar to the UK. They're are 3 main requirements, 1. the Motor must not exceed 250 watts, 2. they must be pedal assist (No Throttle) and 3. the motor must not assist you faster than 25 KPH (15MPH). If an eBike is outside these limitations, it comes under the motorised legislation and the user would require a licence, tax and insurance. (see www.rsi.ie for for information) I recommend watching the BBC program, YouTube link below.

From www.road.cc

The UK's Bicycle Association formally complains to BBC over Adrian Chiles’ e-bike Panorama “misrepresentation”, claiming episode “unjustifiably damaged” legal e-bike industry

The cycle industry organisation said the programme conflated e-bikes with “illegal e-motorbikes”, lacked balance, and “failed to properly inform the public”
By Ryan Mallon

The Bicycle Association, the UK's national body representing the cycling industry, has lodged a formal complaint with the BBC about its recent Panorama episode on e-bikes, arguing that the controversial programme inaccurately and repeatedly conflated the “safety and social issues” surrounding the use of "illegal e-motorbikes" with road-legal e-bikes, claiming that this “misrepresentation” has “unjustifiably damaged” the e-bike sector.

As part of its complaint, the group called for the term ‘e-bike’ to be removed from the programme’s title to better reflect its apparent focus on e-motorbikes - as the Bicycle Association (BA) refers to them - and claimed the episode failed to provide “fair balance or representation from the reputable e-bike sector”. The BA claims this was a breach of the BBC’s editorial guidelines, while also failing to properly inform the public about the current laws and regulations around electric bikes.

On Monday, the BBC aired its latest Panorama episode, hosted by Adrian Chiles, titled ‘E-Bikes: The Battle For Our Streets’, which saw the former One Show host ask whether electric bikes are “a new menace in need of tighter regulation”.



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E-BIKE TOUR OF WICKLOW

And finally here's an example of one of my eBike spins around Wicklow a couple of months ago. Maybe this will sell the eBike idea to some couch surfers...