“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’d prefer throttle over max speed.
I don’t have any cycle lanes in my town, so the faster I can get myself and my child out of an intersection, the better. I’m usually pedaling around on the lowest power assist, so the throttle lets me kick it to max without hitting a button up and down 4x per intersection.
Alternatively, just connect the throttle to the pedals/padel assist, and I’d be happy (i.e. throttle behaves as usual, but only while pedal assist is already on).