I had no idea that exoskeleton assist rigs were a thing. I was picturing a giant beetle riding a bike.
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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"There's no rule that says a beetle can't ride a bike!"
I was about to tell OP that this would only work if they use a real exoskeleton and have a bike wheel on each hand/foot like a rolling bug.
Legally, yes. The drive train on bikes has something else to say.
You can go faster, the engine just cuts out. You can zoom down a hill at 35 kph no problem.
As someone who has built several eBikes, you can easily bypass the pedal assist limiter simply by not installing it. Connect the control box to the throttle and nothing else (except the battery and motor, of course). Now it'll behave just like a motorcycle. Press the throttle to go, let go and hit the brakes to stop. Nothing will prevent the throttle from cutting out other than your own hand.
Using a 1000w motor, I am able to build an eBike that will hit 45km/h (28 MPH) on flat ground. You could add a second motor and easily hit 75 (47) but that's just suicidal so I dare not build one myself (plus you'd drain your already low battery range twice as fast).
It's not speed so much as torque. Class 3 ebikes are already pushing the limit. You have to be careful with part selection, and tolerances on derailier adjustment is tighter.
And brakes. Then it is a matter of speed. You just need bigger parts to take more heat so you don't get brake fade. It's why anything more than a class 3 needs scooter/motorcycle parts. If they don't, run away.
Probably the legs of the user as well.
The limits on e-bikes are intended to protect the rider from a catastrophic failure of the bike.
Bike frames just aren't designed to be strong enough to withstand the forces endured by heavier vehicles like motorbikes.
It's trivial to put an unlimited e-bike kit on a regular bike and zip around at 60km/h but there's a real can / should question that needs to be ignored.
If you want to go faster than an e-bike get a proper vehicle.
This was quite obviously not intended as a real-life project considering that an exoskeletton strong enough to actually be of help would be way more expensive than a faster vehicle.
Of course you can put an unlimited e-bike kit on there but that would be illegal. Putting the motors onto your legs would be legal. That was the whole joke.
Only... the speed limit of an e-bike is lower than the speed a normal bike can go when, for example, the wind is at your back, so that's bollocks.
It's more the power that can be applied. Most people capable of getting a pedal bike up to those speeds also know how to read the road for safety. Even then, bikes can basically disintegrate in a (initially) minor accident.
A powered bike is capable of destroying itself if misused.
If you think a bike frame is as strong as a motorbike frame then I cant help you.
Laws are created by humans. What a surprise that there isn't already a law forbidding something that human common sense tells you not to do.
That being said, I would love to see a video of somebody wearing an exosceleton pedalling away like crazy on a normal bycicle.
Watched a video that people using it, it fare worst than ebike in terms of how long you can ride it. It getting toasty quickly. I'd say if you have a mid drive and a good gear range you will likely have no issue with climbing. As for the speed limit, just get a motorcycle, no need none of those fancy thing.
In Amsterdam, and perhaps throughout the Netherlands, you can ride gas-powered scooters in the bike lanes. Bikes and scooters also have right-of-way against pedestrians.
Same thing in Denmark, though we have two classes of scooters depending on legal topspeed, 30 and 45km/h, where it’s only the slower ones allowed on cyclepaths. Though we don’t differentiate between fuels.
Just buy an electric trail bike.
!micromobility@lemmy.world will flip out about the new exo-bike!
Jokes aside, the limit would be how much force you could apply before something fails, but they could also make specialized reinforced bikes for the frame to hook into if this ever caught on.
Probably the first thing to give out would be the legs, especially of an untrained users.