I have no financial affiliation with any e-bike company. I have a personal interest as I've ridden a home-made one to/from work every so often for years now.

Electrifying a bike obviously makes it heavier, sure. The difference between my electric bike and the non-electric version is exactly 18lbs at last measurement - I know because I made it myself. If I gain 18lbs in body weight am I banned from the bike path?

On my non-electrified, ancient, comparatively heavy road bike I can reach 30mph for a brief time on flat ground without a Herculean amount of effort, and easily more on a downhill, if I don't control myself and maintain the speed limit. Am I banned because I can ride a road bike above the speed limit?

Frankly I suspect you see a lot of idiots on the trails every day if you use them, and I doubt you see a cyclist who *hasn't* met or exceeded 15mph (that's the actual speed limit, by the way) on their trip. Some of them might be riding electric bikes. Most of them probably aren't.

You probably also see a lot of people using trails responsibly to go about their daily lives. Some of them are probably riding electric bikes (even though it's illegal! the horror!!!) and you don't even know it. I think we can agree that this time would be better spent on something beneficial, like ensuring the 5+ light-free invisible riders I see every evening end up with lights somehow.

I'm sorry about your friend! My roommate last year broke his ankle on the Bear Creek Path due to an underpass accident - bike paths can be dangerous! With that being said, why do you think electric bikes (which are already limited to 750W and 20mph on electric power by state and federal law) will be more dangerous than existing trail users? There are plenty of much heavier (tandem baby strollers, big cruiser bikes, tandems, alleycat/pull-behinds, trailers, reclining bikes, etc), faster (good riders on road bikes), and more obnoxious (wannabe racers) riders out there already.

Why?

By Federal law (HR 727) and Colorado state law electric bikes are limited to 750W and 20mph under electric power. They're hardly faster than a good rider, especially a good rider on a 18-20lb road bike (as opposed to a 40-50lb cruiser, recumbent, or electric bike).

I do agree that mixed-use paths require a lot of attention and concern on the part of their users, but I don't see how electric bikes provide an appreciable speed difference versus those that already exist when it comes to overtaking pedestrians or other bike users.

Sadly this company is illegal: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-video-industr... .

The FAA rules that allow R/C aircraft to operate specifically prohibit using them to provide any kind of commercial service.

I was going to start a multirotor photography/instrumentation company last year but sadly the FAA are not going to create a regulatory framework to allow Americans to do so until 2014, even though they've already legalized autonomous aerial vehicles for police forces.