when bicycles turn into SUVs

It’s a sound that cyclists have learned to pick out amid the urban chaos. A “zzzz” coupled with the scrape of tires on the ground sparks concern on bicycle paths. Before they’ve fully turned their heads or checked their mirrors, the vehicle is already beside them, before speeding away. With its motocross-like appearance, huge knobbly tires and bulky frame, the electric fatbike is stirring up trouble in the world of sustainable mobility.

“They’ve got no place here!” This is the complaint often heard in city bike lanes, where in recent months, bulky electric mountain bikes, often with derestricted motors, have begun to appear. They join the zigzagging ranks of oversized electric scooters, also derestricted, driven like racing bikes by full-helmeted riders. “Monster scooters piloted by Darth Vaders,” said Cyril Vermeulen, an entrepreneur in his 50s who covers 2,000 kilometers a year in the capital and its inner suburbs on his electric bike.

“Over the past two years,” he continued, visibly annoyed and now equipped with a rear-view mirror, “I’ve encountered a swarm of new, derestricted vehicles driven by men, mostly young, speeding at over 40 kilometers per hour – twice my speed! They’re banned from public roads, which means they aren’t insured.” He knows that in France, the law prohibits tampering with the speed-limiting mechanism on these vehicles. Offenders are restricted to using them on private property. “A few checks on the bike lanes at the outset, with vehicle confiscations, would have been enough to curb the phenomenon. Now, the authorities are overwhelmed,” said Vermeulen. “I am very angry with them. People are going to get hurt.”

Alexandre Jannot-Caeillete, 30, experienced it a year ago: “An electric fatbike overtook me on the right at a crossroads, crashed into my side, scraped my entire forearm, and then shouted at me. I wasn’t going fast enough!” Every day, he commutes from Villejuif, south of Paris, to the Parisian district of Alésia in the 14^th arrondissement, where he works as a communications officer and now shares this apprehension. “It’s anxiety-inducing, you have to be constantly on the lookout. You can’t hear these bikes coming, and they’re always on your left or in the middle. They feel invincible, with their big tires. These days, cycling feels like driving on the ring road with motorbikes weaving between lanes.”

Laurent Piétri made a similar comparison with road traffic. Having ridden his touring bike for 12 years in the southern suburbs of Paris, he’s noticed the “SUV-ification of cycling, just like what happened with cars.”

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