Reply to Travel on roads for Canal End to End trip

We are planning to ride the Erie canal trail end to end this summer. I have a couple questions:
1. One of the riders is a young teenager. We are comfortable with him completing the distance, but would like to know more about how much and the conditions for biking on roadway (non trail).
2. We have one rider that would ride a class 1 E bike. I understand they are permitted on the trail, but NY has some unusual Ebike laws that a class 1 ebike can not ride on a road with a speed limit greater than 30 mph. Is the above correct? Will we have an issue?
3. Generally what are the trail conditions. Good for a hybrid bike? are there unimproved rough sections (pot holes, stumps and ?)

Roborider - Your ebike will be fine anywhere on the trail or local streets. No worries there.

The streets you have to ride are for the most part low traffic and somewhat well marked. There was one state highway I recall but it was like 1 mile and had a huge shoulder.

Pretty much any kind of bike or bike tire will do maybe except those super skinny racing ones. The trail is a mix of paved asphalt, hard packed dirt (mule path), and crushed stone dust. If it rains the stone dust can get soupy so proceed with caution but otherwise you’ll see all sorts and styles of bikes along the trail. Hybrid is a perfect bike for the Erie Canal! I rode my Trek Hybrid on my trip and had zero issues handling the bike.

There are some random potholes, tree roots, or the odd rock. Nowhere in particular, you just have to keep your eyes open.

Enjoy your ride!

The only thing I would add to John W's comment is about your concern for road travel. One stretch from Clyde to Weedsport travels along Rt 31 east Savannah where the shoulder is quite narrow on a two-way state highway on it's way into Montezuma. WAIT! I just pulled up the Interactive map and see that the Canalway is re-routed coming out of Clyde -- and I was going to suggest that you search out a more rural route! Looks like a done deal! This is a wonderful change. Look at the map and you will see where it now utilizes Rt 372 coming out (east) of Clyde. However, I believe that the section that re-joins Rt 31 is where the not-too-wide shoulder with guardrails exists. As I have suggested many other times -- from this site's Interactive map you can utilize the Google "Street View" mode and look for yourself. I just took a short tour on the new route and then continued on Rt. 31 to make sure I was remembering correctly. It isn't the widest of shoulders for a rather busy state route. That said, I did feel that cars and trucks gave me as much room as they could. The re-route along the rural road looks great, however, there is no shoulder on the roadway. Your hybrid is great and, as for the E-bike... beg for forgiveness if any issue surfaces. Enjoy your tour.

Thank you both for your input.
Looking forward to the trip