Dan W from Minneapolis on 3/21/2025 1:44:40 PM:
Banning Class 3 bikes has become pretty common for recreational trails around the country, and is emerging as a nationwide standard. Banning Class 2 is a bit unusual, because they don't go any faster than Class 1 - and maybe more importantly, because almost no Class 1 bikes are sold in this country! Nearly everything is Class 2 or Class 3. I won't be surprised if the Legislature revisits this AGAIN in another year or two to rectify this.
It will be interesting to see how GFP enforces this and how the rental outfits respond, since the Mickelson sees so many rental e-fatbikes that are probably Class 3. Most should be "downgradeable" to Class 2 via the control panel by setting the max speed to 20 (even my lower-budget Class 2 Aventon e-bike has a menu-adjustable max speed setting). Also, most can become Class 1 by doing this plus simply removing/disabling the throttle: I have actually done this on my own rig, not to comply with any laws but simply because I prefer to pedal and never use the button. But I suspect that very, VERY few bike owners will actually do that.
Whether or not you have a throttle is a fairly meaningless distinction, so I suspect that enforcement will be mostly focused on the Class 3 bikes.