So they say there's a button on the thing itself which is not so much more practical. If they insist on wireless controls, the cost of a waterproof battery-powered button to stick on the handlebars sounds worth it.
The web page tells that the app can be used to switch between eco/normal mode but that seems to be the extent of it.
I was fine, but surprised he so carelessly and thoughtlessly sneaked up on me and tried to pass when I was already going fast downhill off of a bridge over a canal, on my legal eBike with 25 kph maximum assist.
Pedaling makes you pay attention and gives you direct control over the speed, and the assist drops out once you're going >25 kph. The asshole who hit me from behind probably didn't have time to find the throttle with his hand, and was never really in control of his bike or paying much attention up to when he freaked out and hit me.
What to do about fatbikes endangering our safety?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/1knza1c/what_t...
Fatbikes in the Netherlands 2026: What You Actually Need to Know
And if we want to limit cars - you know, the number one thing that actually kills a lot of people directly - then I don't think it helps artificially limiting alternatives like E-Bikes.
The only difference is with enforcing the rules, but there are solutions for that. Police on E-Bikes doing patrolling, mandatory number plates, E-Bike driving licence, .. not that I want all those things, but I much rather have that and not crippled bikes so cars stay the norm.
You can have an electric vehicle that runs at 100kph if you want, but that is not a bike, that is a motorcycle.
The problem here is people having vehicles assimilated as ebikes, but with radically different specs.
I have no problem with these guys driving their vehicles on the car lane, like motorbikes do, but that's not what we're talking about here.
These vehicles are running on the bike lane, drivers are without helmets, they cross pavements, and enjoy all the slow vehicles perks, while being far more dangerous for their surroundings.
I can only drive my E-Bike with my car to the forest (like to many people do), or drive slowly there myself.
While there are a lot of people riding more powerful bikes in Europe illegally, at least some countries are trying to crack down on them. In the US, it seems easier to buy class 2 and 3 e-bikes, and there seems to be a higher proportion of illegal bikes. It's an open secret which "class 1" bikes you can buy and then overclock easily.
So in Europe you mostly have class 1 e-bikes and obviously illegal (as in you can tell just by looking at them), but in the US you have these plus a lot of class 2 and 3 e-bikes, and overclocked class 1 e-bikes. The end result is most mountain bike trails in Europe allow class 1 e-bikes only, but in the US it's impossible to enforce class 1 only, so a lot of regions are trending towards banning all e-bikes from all trails. So be careful about wishing for a more powerful e-bike you can drive in traffic and mountain bike trails.
Feels like an overgeneralization. I have a perfectly slow Ride1Up Roadster V3. It's a PA bike with a throttle, but it's not a hot rod. Max speed with my weight is around 20MPH. I use the throttle to just get moving on inclines or at stops when I forgot to downshift.
That said, there are plenty of idiots around on bikes and cars.
Although in my experience when your bike/cargo is heavily loaded, a throttle is nice to get running, especially when stopped at a red light going uphill. Borrowed one like this and it was really useful. But i agree with your sentiment i see many people with throttled bikes going really fast and careless.