“If you asked most owners of these e-bikes about which they’d give up if they had to, they’d probably tell you “take my 21-28 mph speed but leave me my throttle”.”
This seems like a bad take. Do most people really only ride on the throttle?
I’ll keep my higher speed and lose the throttle, thanks. How about a non-stupid firmware update that locks to 20 if a throttle is connected, and unlocks to 28 if there isn’t one?
I think people realise that highspeed is far more dangerous for everyone than throttle, and throttle have far more use case than higher speed, which i kinda agree.
For instance, i can kick-start my momentum easily if i forgot to switch it down to lower gear, or when i need to start moving uphill from a slope, or when i have a lot of grocery at the back and need to push it back to my garage, or when i have a flat and have to push the bike for a distance. I’m sure there’s more that i haven’t encounter.