The term ‘pedelec’ already implies pedalling. The motor may only provide assistance if the pedals are being turned on an ebike. This is one of the fundamental requirements for the legal equivalence of a pedelec with a regular bicycle. But what if the pedals do not complete a full circular movement and the motor is still running? Does such a pedelec still comply with traffic regulations? A court in the Netherlands has now ruled on this case.
1. Travelling suspiciously fast
2. Defendant demands return of ebike
3. Police report proves to be incorrect
4. Ebike motor does not require a full pedal rotation
5. A question of sensor technology
6. Simple up-and-down movement of the pedals permitted
7. What do the regulations in Germany say?
1. Travelling suspiciously fast
Some things seem so self-evident that we hardly give them a second thought. Take pedalling on a pedelec, for example. We move our feet in a circle on the pedals. The motor assistance kicks in. The ebike starts moving. And we keep pedalling away. It doesn’t matter who we are, where we’re riding or what sort of ebike we’re on. So far, so good.
But what if this pattern is suddenly broken? That’s exactly what happened in June 2025 in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn. There, police officers observed a person on an ebike. They were clearly riding quite fast, at around 30 kilometres per hour. What was particularly striking was that the person was moving the pedals up and down in rapid succession in a central position, rather than pedalling in the usual way with a full 360-degree rotation. Suspecting a modified ebike, the officers stopped the person and confiscated the ebike.
2. Defendant demands return of ebike
As reported by Bike Europe, a magazine based in Zeist, the Netherlands, the police’s suspicions are subsequently substantiated. A test on their own roller dynamometer reveals that the motor assistance does not cut out at the prescribed 25 kilometres per hour. Furthermore, the minimal movement of the pedals already observed is sufficient to set the ebike motor in motion. In addition, the person had already received a fine for the same offence in April 2024. At the time, it was requested that the ebike be ‘brought into compliance’. Otherwise, it would be seized.
Case closed. Next, please. Or is it? At this point, however, the accused took issue and challenged the now-implemented seizure in court. In their opinion, they had been riding a legally compliant ebike. Consequently, the case ended up before a criminal division at the Gelderland Court in Arnhem. To facilitate a better assessment, the court commissioned an expert opinion. The expert was tasked with clarifying two points:
- Is the confiscated ebike a standard pedelec that complies with local regulations?
- Does Dutch law cover the unusual movement of the pedals as a permitted mode of operation for the pedelec?
3. Police report proves to be incorrect
After a lengthy search, the court appointed Rutger Oldenhuis as the expert witness for this case. As the owner, Oldenhuis heads RecallDesk B.V., a consultancy firm in Deventer specialising in product compliance and safety. In his assessment, the seized Phatfour FLB+ falls within the provisions of Article 1(ea) of the Dutch Road Traffic Act of 1994. The Bafang rear-wheel motor delivers the standard continuous rated power of a maximum of 250 watts and cuts the drive off as soon as either a speed of 25 kilometres per hour is reached or the pedalling motion stops. To this end, Oldenhuis conducted his own test rides on the road, which he analysed using a smartwatch, and subjected the model to his own test on a roller dynamometer.
The manufacturer, Phatfour, is based in the Netherlands. The FLB+ is one of the fat bikes that are currently in high demand among younger people in the Netherlands. On its website, Phatfour actively distinguishes itself from cheaper suppliers from other parts of the world and presents itself as compliant with regulations. According to the company, the ebikes are designed in the Netherlands, hand-built and comply with all EU standards.
4. Ebike motor does not require a full pedal rotation
But what is the deal with pedalling? First of all, Rutger Oldenhuis himself tried to ride the ebike in the way the officials had observed. In doing so, he found, on the one hand, that the described limited up-and-down movement of the pedals is sufficient to activate the motor assistance. This does not require a 360-degree rotation of the pedals. On the other hand, with this style of pedalling, he remained consistently below a speed of 25 kilometres per hour.
What Oldenhuis has observed here, and what the police in Apeldoorn witnessed, will sound familiar to many of you. Bosch deliberately uses this principle as ‘Extended Boost’ in the Performance Line CX and Performance Line CX-R motors. This involves the motor responding briefly to an active pedal stroke. The motor then continues to run for a short while, giving you a boost for a few moments even though you are not actively pedalling.
5. A question of sensor technology
For this to work, an ebike motor needs a cadence sensor. This ensures that the motor provides assistance even before a full pedal revolution has been completed. The sensor simply needs to be sensitive enough to detect the impulse. This depends, for example, on how many magnets the motor’s rotor contains. According to the expert’s report, the Phatfour FLB+ is fitted with such a cadence sensor. The amount of force applied to the pedals is irrelevant. If the Phatfour model were equipped solely with a torque sensor, the situation would be quite different.
6. Simple up-and-down movement of the pedals permitted
In addition to the technical aspect, Oldenhuis also commented on the definition of pedalling. He stated that he had found no evidence in relevant Dutch and European legislation, nor in the relevant legislative history, standards, case law or literature, to suggest that pedal assistance must be activated exclusively by a complete 360° rotation of the pedals. Nowhere was the process specifically defined by a particular minimum pedal stroke, angle of rotation or a full rotation. The only common requirement is the stipulation that the pedelec rider must be pedalling and that the motor assistance must cease as soon as this movement ends.
Consequently, the expert certified that the pedelec, in its current condition, complies with the Dutch requirements for road approval. Limited up-and-down movement or a full 360-degree rotation – in his opinion, this makes no legal difference. After all, one could move in the same way on a bicycle without electric assistance – albeit less effectively and only on a bicycle with a freewheel.
7. What do the regulations in Germany say?
Presumably, an expert would come to the same conclusion in a similar case in Germany. This is suggested, for example, by paragraph 2 of Section 63a of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO). It states literally: “A vehicle within the meaning of paragraph 1 shall also be deemed a bicycle which is equipped with an electric pedal assist system featuring an electric motor with a maximum continuous rated power of 0.25 kW, the assistance from which decreases progressively as the vehicle’s speed increases and is interrupted when a speed of 25 km/h is reached or when the rider stops pedalling or turning the cranks. The requirements of the first sentence are also met if the bicycle has an auxiliary drive within the meaning of the first sentence which enables the vehicle to accelerate to a speed of up to 6 km/h, even without the rider simultaneously pedalling or turning the cranks (start-up or walk assist).’ We were unable to determine whether the German legal text contains an explanation of ‘pedalling’ and ‘cranking’. The fact that two seemingly synonymous terms appear here could be an indication that, here in Germany, both forms of pedalling mentioned in this article may even be considered legally compliant from the outset.
You can ponder the difference between pedalling and cranking during one of your next ebike rides. If you like, you’re welcome to try out the different ways of pedalling for yourself. If you happen to pass through Apeldoorn and see someone on a Phatfour FLB+, it might just be the person from this post. They got their ebike back following a court ruling in April 2026.
Pictures: Phatfour B.V.; RecallDesk B.V.; Giant Deutschland GmbH