“I have done a lot of regular peddle biking in my life; I used to do fairly routinely 50 mile rides when I lived down in Phoenix,” McCarthy said. “I have to say that the e-bike felt more like a motorbike than it did a bicycle to me.”

“As far as going 20 miles an hour on the FUTS trails, that’s inappropriate,” McCarthy added.

Because e-bikes can reach such speeds, McCarthy and much of Council said the devices could be dangerous for pedestrians using the urban trail system.

And Evans pointed out that there have been deaths in other parts of the world where e-bikes are popular, when pedestrians have been struck by e-bike riders.

Anthony Quintile, the manager of Absolute Bikes and a board member of Flagstaff Biking Organization, said he was disappointed with the council’s decision, having told the council he regularly reaches speeds faster than those of an e-bike when riding on his traditional bicycles.

Quintile added that the majority of people who buy e-bikes at Absolute are older and just looking for a way to keep riding as they age.