“Fat Bikes” could soon become flat bikes, as NSW Police are given power to seize and destroy

NSW Police will be able to confiscate and crush illegal e-bikes under new laws proposed by Premier Chris Minns.

The announcement follows an incident last Tuesday involving about 40 people who rode e-bikes across the main traffic lanes of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Cyclists are not permitted to use the main traffic lanes of the bridge.

“Illegal bikes will end up as a twisted wreck so they can’t rejoin the road”, Minister for Transport, John Graham said.

Money money money: E-bikes can retail for up to about $5,000.  The Lorikeet reported in December last year that the bikes have become an issue around the northern suburbs of Sydney, with multiple major police crackdowns occurring in the Manly area.

A what bike? The moniker of “fat bikes” has been associated with illegal e-bikes by the NSW Government — referring to the broad tires of many e-bikes — though the size of tires is unrelated to the legality of an e-bike.

• Under NSW law, an e-bike is deemed non-compliant if its power output is beyond the legal maximum (currently 500 watts, soon to be 250 watts), if its 25kph speed limiter has been removed, or if it uses a throttle to power the bike.

 Opposition speaks out: Shadow Minister for Transport Natalie Ward said the Minns government had taken too long to act and been soft on “untouchable e-bike gangs”. She is continuing to push for a licensing scheme for e-bikes.

How do cyclists feel? Last December, Bicycle NSW CEO Peter McLean told the Lorikeet a licensing scheme would be burdensome for the government and cyclists and “would cost tens of millions of dollars”.

He said the onus was on the federal government to return to pre-2021 laws that restricted the import of e-bikes into Australia to those that were legal to ride on a road.

“We want [a situation] where the importers … and the bike shops are being regulated,” McLean said.