Faster Than a Bike, Fewer Rules Than a Motorbike: Is Your Child Ready for E-Bikes?

A teenager doing wheelies in The Canopy… look, we get it. Kids have always shown off on bikes, and honestly, good on them for getting outside. But when the bike is heavy, fast and being ridden through a busy pedestrian precinct full of families, elderly residents and people with mobility needs, it stops being a rite of passage and starts being a genuine safety risk.

Kids have always found ways to push boundaries on wheels. If you grew up in the seventies, eighties or nineties, chances are you spent your afternoons tearing around the neighbourhood on your bike. No helmet. No mobile phone. No Find My iPhone. No way for your parents to track you down. You were expected to get home by dark and behave yourself along the way. Mostly you did. Debatable for some of you.

That freedom was good and it still is. Getting kids outdoors, active and independent is something worth protecting. Nobody wants to wrap young people in cotton wool or stop them enjoying the independence that comes with wheels, friends and a bit of fresh air.

But here is the thing. The bikes many of us grew up on were powered by our legs. The devices showing up on Lane Cove footpaths and around The Canopy today are a genuinely different proposition. They are heavier, faster and in some cases not behaving like bicycles at all. Some can reach speeds well above 25km/h with no pedalling required. In some cases, these bikes can be heavy enough to be difficult for younger riders to control. And when something goes wrong at those speeds in a busy pedestrian area, the consequences are not the same as coming off a Malvern Star on a quiet suburban street.

This is not a piece about complaining for the sake of it. Nobody wants to be that neighbour. But there are genuine safety concerns here and they fall into two clear categories: the risk to the young people riding these devices, and the risk to pedestrians, elderly residents, people with mobility issues and families sharing our public spaces with them. Both matter.

With the NSW Government announcing and progressing significant e-bike reforms this year, we thought it was a good time to bring it all together in one place for parents considering buying an e-bike, for parents who already have, and for anyone in our community trying to make sense of what is actually allowed and what is not.

What Our Community Is Saying

The concerns in Lane Cove Chat by ITC are not new, and they keep coming.

One resident described nearly being knocked over by a food delivery e-bike, and watching a woman in Greenwich have to jump out of the path of a full-speed rider. An elderly resident said she now waves her walking stick or asks riders to dismount just to move safely through the mall, and warned that if she were injured, her first call would be to Council.

We want to be clear: this is not about demonising every teenager on an e-bike. Plenty of young people ride responsibly. But the volume of complaints has reached a point where the information needs to be out there clearly.

What The Canopy Rules Actually Say

The Canopy is a pedestrian area. This is not a grey area. The Canopy’s own visitor information states that for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, bikes cannot be ridden through The Canopy. Riders are asked to use the Shared Zone or walk their bike to and from the end-of-trip facilities. E-bikes, legal or not, should not be ridden through it.

What Is Legal and What Is Not

We have covered this topic before. Both articles below are worth revisiting if you have not read them:

• Is an Electric Bike Right For You? Things to Consider Before You Buy (ITC, August 2024)
• How Do You Know Your Child Is Riding a Legal E-bike? (ITC, March 2026)

The short version under NSW road rules: a legal e-bike must be primarily propelled by the rider, with the motor providing assistance only. The motor must cut out completely at 25km/h. No power assistance is provided after 6km/h if the rider is not pedalling. Riders must wear an approved helmet. On shared paths and footpaths, riders must give way to pedestrians.

Some of the chunky-tyred, throttle-operated bikes seen around Sydney are the type of device the NSW Government says it is targeting, particularly where they operate more like electric motorbikes than bicycles.

In 2026, the NSW Government announced expanded powers for NSW Police and Transport for NSW to seize illegal e-bikes. The Government is also investing in portable “dyno” units to help test whether an e-bike’s motor continues to provide power beyond 25km/h. If a bike is found to be non-compliant, it may be seized and destroyed.

What Has Changed in NSW This Year

In February 2026, the NSW Government announced a minimum riding age will be introduced. A review led by Transport for NSW is working through recommendations for a legal minimum age of between 12 and 16. The review is also examining whether young riders should be permitted to carry passengers, something our community has raised repeatedly given how common it is to see multiple kids piled onto a single bike. Findings are due in June, with the Government to make a final decision after that.

NSW is moving to adopt the European safety and performance standard, EN15194. Under that standard, e-bikes must have a maximum continuous rated power of 250W, power assistance must cut out at 25km/h and no power assistance is delivered after 6km/h if the rider is not pedalling. The NSW Government says a three-year transition period applies for e-bikes that were legally purchased under the previous 500W rules. From 1 March 2029, e-bikes used on NSW roads will need to comply with EN15194.

For families with a compliant bike already, Bicycle NSW notes that the majority of quality e-bikes sold in NSW are already rated at 250W and most models manufactured for the Australian market already meet this standard. Check with your retailer or look for a compliance sticker on the frame. Lane Cove Council also has a useful e-bike information page worth bookmarking.

A Note to Parents

The NSW Government has specifically asked parents to double-check before buying an e-bike for their child. If it has a throttle that works without pedalling above 6km/h, if it can exceed 25km/h under motor power, or if it looks and feels more like a motorbike than a bicycle, it may be illegal and could be seized and destroyed, regardless of what you paid for it.

Kids are going to be kids. We all know that. You can tell them the rules, set expectations and hope for the best. But making sure the device itself is legal, and that they understand where they can and cannot ride it, is the part that falls to parents. Shared spaces are not stunt tracks.

How to Report Unsafe Riding

Lane Cove Council supports cycling, active transport and food delivery, but is clear that riders must operate safely and lawfully, particularly in high-pedestrian activity areas. Council is working with delivery companies, riders and NSW Police to improve safety through education, signage and enforcement.

Have you had an experience with unsafe e-bike riding in Lane Cove? We would love to hear from the community, including from riders who do the right thing. Share it in Lane Cove Chat by ITC or email us.