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Real talk on electric bikes in Australia. Nick Willis — Electric Bikes Brisbane founder since 2013, Bosch accredited service centre — covers eBike legislation, technology, trails, and gear every Tuesday. No fluff, no sponsored takes.
Nick Willis (00:01)
My name is Nick Willis, and welcome to the first episode of Torque Talk. Now, this episode was going to be about the new e-bike laws. And it's now day three, and I recorded a podcast in detail yesterday. and then when I got home, got onto social media, had a look, and was just so annoyed at the bullshit that was on there. There was so much political grandstanding.
Talking about tough laws, strong laws, etc. And I just thought, hang on a minute, let's step back here. When did the most efficient form of transport become a political weapon? Like, why has it come to this? I I just don't understand it. And I'm sure hopefully people who are listening agree that we we've ended up in this ridiculous situation where we've created a storm in a teacup. So
You know, bicycles have been around since the eighteen hundreds. It is well known that they are an amazing form of transport. Now, I'm not into politics at all. I am probably agnostic at best, disinterested. I think a lot of it is just bullshit, honestly. slogans, story-led policy, no substance, no fact, changing stories to suit, you know, whatever the news cycle is.
And I think, you know, I'm tired of it. I know a lot of people I know are tired of it. So I thought, well, let's just step back from that and just get back to the basics of bicycles are great. That's it. End of story. If you don't think a bicycle is great, well, clearly this is not the the the right channel for you. But just there's no argument against it. They are a fantastic form of transport. They have been around since the 1800s. Then, wow.
Yeah, with innovation in the early nineties, you've got the launch of a pedal assist electric bicycle. So let's cut this sort of media bullshit, e bikes, death traps, all this bullshit. That is total bullshit. And there's another thing around the media, they have to change their tune. I think we're putting laws on you know, e bikes. Well, hang on a minute. What about misrepresentation? What about that?
You know, you can't keep misrepresenting an innocent form of transport and calling it a death trap when clearly what we're talking about is an electric motorcycle with no registration. That is not an electric bicycle. You might call the slang e-bike, but that's just not what it is. So let's just cut that. That is total bullshit. That needs to stop. It's good to see now that people on social media have caught on. The mass media hasn't.
I'm not sure why they keep doing it, clickbait, whatever it may be. I don't know the rationale for it. I'm sure they have a reason. So look, an efficient form of transport, 1990s, a pedal assist electric bicycle. Amazing. So again, you've just took the most efficient form of transport in the world and turned it to an even more efficient form of transport. So you add a small electric motor with a pedal assist and a battery, and suddenly
You, as the human engine, supported by your electric engine, become even more efficient. So, look, I'm gonna cut to the chase. I think it's total bullshit. Anyone that doesn't have active transport, regardless of which side of politics or or whether you're grandstanding using e-bikes to bash the other side, using it to talk about
misdirect youth crime, whatever it is you're doing, I'm not gonna get involved in that. I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. I believe in it so much. So look, the reason I'm even here is I first saw a pedal assist electric bicycle over over 13 years ago. I was on my road bike doing a climb. I've told this story before and I thought, wow, what a great concept. Suddenly you don't need to be an elite athlete.
You don't need to be super fit. You just need to want to have some light exercise and get around not bothering anybody, minding your own business. And that's what is fantastic about electric bicycles. So, what I've decided is I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. So I'm putting up a thousand dollars of my own money. This is my cash in my hand. So we're gonna call it the talk talk 10k challenge. So
Details will follow, but we'll pick a commuter route from somewhere. We'll start off, we'll we'll do western suburbs to start with. We'll add routes later. So $1,000. You travel 10 kilometers in peak hour, and we will monitor. You can enter any mode of transport, street legal, public transport, whichever you want to do. Has to follow all the road rules. If you can find
And demonstrate a more efficient in both time and energy consumption form of transport than a street legal electric bicycle for the designated route, with evidence there will be $1,000 up for grab. So that's the first one. And because I'm so confident that nobody's going to beat that benchmark for a pedal assist electric bicycle, there will be further prizes for.
the most efficient electric bicycle. So what we can do is show not only is that the most efficient, time efficient, energy efficient form of transport within that category, we'll have separate prize for the most efficient electric bicycle. So look, I'm putting my money where the mouth is $1,000 details will to will come. it'll be announced over the coming weeks, but just to sow the seed that
I am so confident I'm willing to do that. It is open to anybody, whichever your political persuasion, favourite mode of transport, whatever it is. If you don't want the cash, then I will make a donation to your nominated charity. We'll do a big check, whatever you need to do if that's your thing. but yeah, it's a real promise and we will make that happen.
So the route, yeah, just for a little bit of a test, it will be to a CBD location, which will be the George Street, a coffee shop near George Street. So western suburbs, ten kilometers, any mode of street legal transport which you choose. I think the electric bicycle is a hands down, it's basically a lay down miser, but I'm willing to be proven wrong. Thousand dollars, there we go. So the podcast was going to be about the new laws and
I will try and do my best to make this as simple as possible.
We had a nine month inquiry and it was an inquiry into e mobility. a couple of things there. First of all, an electric scooter is not an electric bicycle. They are very, very different machines. So be absolutely clear here. I think what one of in my opinion, this has been mudded the waters quite quite a lot, to be honest. So we've lumped in
all of these different genres into one bucket and we didn't identify and say, well look, hang on a minute. The simple thing here is there is a bicycle, it's been around since 1800. We now have a bicycle that you pedal that gives you a bit more help. It is limited to 25 kilometers an hour, which is not crazy fast. What do we need to change? On the other hand, we have these new things which are you know a newer phenomenon, micro mobility, etc. A scooter,
Very, very different. So I'm not going to talk too much about scooters. It's not my thing. I'm not involved in it. We might bring somebody in later on to talk about scooter design, etc. But fundamentally, scooters have tiny wheels, a short wheel base, a steep head angle. They are harder to control. They are controlled by a throttle. So they do not pedal. So they are in sort of we're looking at classifying.
They are closer to a motor vehicle in terms of you twist a throttle, they go. That's it. A bicycle, you pedal, we've been doing it for hundreds of years. Twist and go is closer to a motorcycle. So it's a very different thing. So if people are using them to get back from a nightclub, having a few beers, whatever they're doing, doubling on them, running their helmets, all those things, and ending up in A and E, well, that that's sad that's happening.
That's not necessarily the fault of the scooter, that's the behavior. So again, it's behavioral, not device. So I'm not going to dwell on that, but there needs to be that distinction that an e-scooter with a throttle is nothing like a bicycle with proper brakes, proper wheels, has been around since you know the 1800s. That design has been innovated, it is amazing, it is efficient, it is just a brilliant device. So
Getting on to the law, I'm not going to go into the detail. It's all over the news. You can go to any website, you can look up the changes, you can go to Department of Transport. But if you are listening to this because you're interested in the category of electric bicycles, then and you are o already owning an electric bicycle, then this is really, for the majority of people, just a storm in a teacup. It just is
I I don't understand why it took so long to come to what was, you know, a very muddled, let's be fair, at best, outcome. So if you went to bed on 30 June, you woke up 1st of July, you are an adult. You purchased an electric bicycle, pedal assist from a reputable retailer. There is a 99
Or higher, I would say, in my in my experience of 13 years in the industry, thousands of thousands of bikes. If you did those things, your bike will already be compliant. So no change. So, really, what are we doing? You're waking up as an adult, you're going about your business, you're riding your electric bicycle on shared pathway, on a bicycle lane, on the street. Nothing changes except one.
thing which is again shows I think a little bit in my opinion again overreach. From my perspective as a lifelong cyclist, when you're in a shared situation, a busy cycle way, pathway, shared pathway, if you do venture onto a footpath 'cause you need to, whatever it is, just don't be a dick. I don't understand why we had to have a law that says basically, do not be a dick.
There doesn't we don't need laws for that. That's just common sense. We seem to be in a situation where for some reason it feels that people just cannot exercise dom common decency, common sense. It's just basic. You know, you basically have a bell, you slow down, you give room, just be polite. I mean, that's just for life. Is that just on a mantra? Just don't be a dick about it. Whether you're in a car, on a bike, whatever. We don't need laws for that. The laws already existed. There is common law.
You owe a duty of care. If you ram into somebody and you're negligent, then there is common law for that. You know that would I'm not a lawyer, but maybe we can get a lawyer on. But there didn't need to have a very specific overreaching procedure telling you how to overtake a pedestrian on a shared footpath. It's just I don't understand it. So not necessary. So if you are an adult, you have a driver's license, you had a legal e-bike.
You can just go about your business. No change. They changed the speed limit on footpaths. Again, don't know why. Just don't be a dick. Not needed in my opinion. Red tape, unnecessary. And look, if we get to the root cause of it.
The media blew this up because you know, e-bikes are now being used as a political weapon. That that's my opinion. It is just unfortunate they are caught in the friendly fire. My my view, they're just political weapons now. It is a symptom of sadly the environment we live in. Everybody's talking about, you know, social media, the restrictions on social media. There have been great documentaries.
Yeah, the manosphere with Louis Threw, all all sorts of case studies. So the polarisation of society and you know, politics and again plays on this in my opinion, where they're just looking to play one side off the other. So you're either pro car, you're pro bike, if you're pro car, the bike crowd bash you other way around. The reality is the majority of people are all of those things. You know, I have a four wheel drive.
You know, I don't I don't use it often, but I have one because if I want to go out into the remote countryside and explore Australia, that is the best vehicle to do that in at the moment. If you want to cross the Simpson Desert, that is a great vehicle for that. So, you know, there are many people that do all of these things. They maybe do have a four-wheel drive, they maybe do ride a pedal assist mo e-bike, they maybe do, like me, also ride a motorcycle. There's lots of people that do lots of different things.
It's not just I'm in the bucket of I'm in this forum, I'm gonna bash cyclists, I'm gonna go in the full drive forum, I'm gonna bash people because they've got a nisson, then I'm gonna go across to the e-bike forum and start bashing people for cheating. I mean, that's just sadly a function of society. But look, that's a whole different topic. I'll end there. but look, we need to stop using one of the most efficient and progressive forms of transport.
As a political weapon. And this is on all sides. Step back from my perspective: what is policy? I I don't care about politics. I just care about good common sense policy, which doesn't overreach, which is thinks beyond the next election cycle, doesn't worry too much about is this a good media opportunity? Can I get good engagement on socials? You know.
Is this gonna how's this gonna go with my my voting constituency? I am not a politician. I have seen in the thick of it, that's one a great show, and I've also seen 2012, which I guess from a comedy perspective quite poignant with the Brisbane Olympics coming up in 2032. Again, it just shows, and this is obviously in jest, but a lot of the great comedy does come from, you know, being based on and being quite close to the truth. So, you know, I think what do we want for me?
A clear vision, a clear policy. We don't want to just be jumping on a bandwagon. We certainly don't want to be weaponizing one of the most efficient forms of transport on the planet. That just does not make sense to me. Why would you do that? Only for potentially, you know, short-term gain. There needs to be a change. So in summary, we will do a follow-on. I did sit down with Matthew Burke for a very, very in-depth conversation.
about the new e-bike legislation. And what we've agreed is we are going to let the dust settle. So we will come back and I will come back in a hundred days' time. And let's just see is it still the hot topic that it has been? Or has the news cycle moved on? Have the laws made any change? You know, we will engage with real people who are just getting to work, minding their own business.
riding on a rail trail, taking their kids to school on, you know, an electric cargo bike. So they're all doing the right things. And that is that the the majority of people, it's they're doing the right thing. They were doing the right thing before. Really what we're talking about is if you are in the minority, you're doing wheelies on an unregistered electric motorbike. That is a very small portion of the population. It makes great news, it makes great stories.
You can talk about it, how tough you're gonna be, how you're gonna crush them. And wow, amazing. So you've taken something which on paper is still an efficient light electric vehicle. And because, you know, it's gonna go with you know g gonna resonate well with a certain constituent, then wow, we're gonna crush those and we put it on social media. Well, hang on, w why? Why would you do that? I mean I get it, take it off the streets, but
There's a bigger thing in here, isn't it? Is that sensible? You've taken something which has taken resources, has been built, has a purpose, it's just being misused and miscategorized. But we're just going to destroy that and the all of the battery technology, the raw materials, etc., just throw that in the bin because it suits an agenda. That doesn't make sense. We could have thought it through. I'm sure with the the processing power available to us, we could have come up with something a little bit more progressive. So
I didn't want to make this political. It's about policy, not politics. Like I said, I don't care about politics. It annoys me. I don't engage in it. However, this has been I guess the final straw where suddenly an amazing and I say this, you know, I've had so many fantastic experiences through cycling and then more recently thirteen years in the electric bicycle industry.
I didn't go into that industry to become, you know, the next billionaire, tech billionaire. I went into that industry because I genuinely believed in the product. I left high-paying, corporate consulting, you know, different world behind to go into something that I truly believed in. And I still do believe in it. And what has happened now is for whatever reason it's just become a clickbait, a meme, and
a political weapon. And I think that this that that needs to stop. We need to step back. And the general public, whether you I mean if you hate bikes, sorry, that's your that's your choice. I would never I don't understand why you would. You know, if you're in your four wheel drive that weighs three tons and you're driving along, why do you hate a bike? You're totally safe in your metal cage with your ten airbags, all of your anti collision systems, whatever you have these days, you are absolutely safe.
The o the vulnerable people are the pedestrians and the cyclists. So, you know, if it's about safety and the road to zero, sorry I call bullshit on that, because we're not on the road to zero. We're actually on the road to going up when you look at the data. So another thing is, you know, evidence please. Let's use evidence and facts and let's make sure that the evidence and the data is being collected correctly, not misclassified, that we are looking at the underlying reasons.
We are actually diving into are we recording this correctly? You know, where is this happening? And I'm not gonna get into the details, but the facts are and I'm willing to always publish a correction. So if anybody from any of the agencies has up-to-date data and says to me that sorry, that is not the fact, that road tolls are not increasing, I will just contact me.
via the the contact page and I will publish an updated I'd be happy to do that if the road toll is going down. But the facts are the road toll is not going down, it is going up. We are not on the road to zero. Despite all of these changes, all the legislative update, it is not working. It is broken. So again, let's not try and kid people. There is transparency. the submissions for
The against, and they say, you know, they we engaged, look, the submissions, there were five thousand submissions that were not just the one-liners. We're talking proper, well thought through, reasoned arguments from all sides, general public, the riding public, peak bodies, small business owners, individuals, IBDs, everybody. And they were other than
supporting the European standard, nothing else. So it's totally against the the overreach. So look, let's get get back to an evidence-based approach, an appeal to stop using weaponising one of the most efficient forms of transport on the planet today. And in a world where costs are increasing, obesity is increasing,
Fuel crisis, geopolitical challenges, this is the solution to many, many, many of the problems in the world. In Brisbane, in Australia, it doesn't matter, it works. It's a great job. So again, just to remind you, cut through the bullshit. I will be putting up a thousand dollars of my own money. If you can find a more efficient form of transport for a ten K challenge, then
Yeah, I look forward to seeing the results. So thank you for listening. the other episodes I I think hopefully will be of a lighter note. It just this has been just painful to watch. the feedback I'm getting is a lot of people have found it the same. Just wanted to cut through, try and make it simple for people. one appeal I would make is if you are going to ask about compliance, like I said, you bought
street legal electric bicycle from a reputable retailer, ninety-nine percent certain you will be compliant. If you are unsure where your EN15194 compliance plate is, step one, Google it. Please don't call your local bike shop. That a local bike shop is already you know, it's a hard business to be in. They don't need to be inundated with extra phone calls and extra work generated by red tape.
For an ill thought ill thought-through piece of legislation. So please use Google. In summary, it's going to be on the frame somewhere. You just got to look for it. So you can look at the manual, you can look online for Google. There's only about four or five: head tube, down tube, seat tube, underneath, behind the battery, chainstay. Look them up. It's not that hard. It may not be the biggest in the world. You know, we're talking about, you know, maybe 20 mils, but it'll be there. Get a torch out, use Google.
And if you really still can't find it, do your local bike shop a favor and book your bike in for a service and ask them to find it. I'm sure they'll know where it is. But at least your bike will get a tune-up, it'll run better, you'll know where it is, and you'll be safe. So thank you so much for listening. And I look forward to catching up with you soon. Take care.