Anybody else use throttle only?

[Eskimo]

My PAS does not lurch very easily, it"s actually bit too un-sensitive. It takes over half crank revolution to wake it up. That"s why i start with throttle quite often.
It stops immediately, which is what my old PAS did not do. I rode over 10 000km with throttle only, it works well too but it"s just relaxing to let that computer throttle.
You just pedal and it delivers a right amount of power. Look ma, no hands! :wink:
Now in 2016 throttle-only bikes are legal here first time, so throttle may become more popular.
Throttle is not a big deal really. For lycras and others it"s "oh!, you are a moped!", but it is really not a big deal. Just a device to help you out.
I don"t like this idea that pedaling is "excercise". It"s not exceptional. It"s just part of the game. You do get excercise while doing it, but it is more fun if you don"t underline it or make it sound like it"s something un-normal. Psychological trickery you see :wink: If you make something sound exceptional, it becomes more hard to do. Just do it as part of your life and don"t make a noise about it. It harms you.
Of course you can approach e-bike as a 5kw throttle only moped, which is fine too. It"s just not my cup of tea.

 

[RLD70]

Depends on the situation at hand whether I use the throttle only or pedal, mainly throttle only though.

 

[craneplaneguy]

When I let someone ride my bike/bikes, I start them out using PAS 1, making sure they have a wide open area. Then when they come back smiling, I bump it up to max PAS, and turn them loose again. I also instruct them to not shift gears! Then.... I set 0 PAS , and let them use throttle, explaining throughout the tradeoffs in range v. fun. For newbies, PAS is pretty magical. I rarely use it myself, less and less, ones, do like dogman says. A little throttle (or a lot) and then a little "exercise", until I feel some resistance, and/or threaten to perspire ( heaven forbid)!
I tend to not pedal at all when various types of people are around: those who I for whatever reason think need to be turned on to E-bikes. I want them to hopefully pick up on the fact that I'm NOT pedaling. I guess I feel a need to share (whether they're interested or not!?). Like riding the chairlift yesterday, an hour after my initial test ride of my E-fattie build. You have 12 minutes to BS on the ride up, often with total strangers ( on a busy day, you don't let an empty seat go by, part of the fun meeting new people), so.... several people (a captive audience) got to hear all about the coolness of E-bikes, especially fat tired ones.

 

[spinningmagnets]

I like using throttle-only when a light turns green, then I pedal along for exercise and battery range-extension...I like having PAS as an option, too.

 

[charlied63]

I use throttle only, I don't have the pas installed nor do I have brake cutouts. I pedal only on starts, to get up to speed and if I have try to make it home before losing battery.

 

[beng]

I pedal rarely when I want exercise but mostly its throttle only for me. I get most of my exercise in other ways, my ebike is for getting around!

 

[dogman dan]

I'd want a switch to turn on or off pas, as described above. Possible the bikes I rode at interbike did have it, but I was just sent off with pas on 5. Then most of the bikes would do a half turn of the pedals, then whammo. I did not like that much.

The pas I liked had a soft start. So it was still on full power, but kicked in more gradual.

FWIW, I had never ridden PAS before. If it was in the kit, I never put it on the bike. I'm an old motorcycle rider, so I just love a throttle. I develop easy ways to grip the throttle on a long ride, just as I did with motorcycles. So hand fatigue never gets me bothered.

On a bike geared for pedaling very fast, I throttle away from a stop, then start pedaling at about 10 mph. And continue to pedal. A bike geared lower I will just pedal away as I throttle off. I like the full control a throttle gives you.

 

[SteveAndBelle]

Interesting discussion & opinions and here's my 2c...

I bolted a BBS02 to an old Commuter about 4 weeks ago to make the relatively short & flat journey to work faster and more enjoyable. I went into it wanting/expecting to use it 'throttle only' to avoid arriving at work all sweaty and needing a shower however after riding it that way for a day or two something amazing happened... I started pedalling to assist! Not sure which way around the pedal assist is working for me (ie. am I assisting the motor or is the motor assisting me?) but I'm absolutely loving it. On the journey in to work the motor cruises along and takes the edge off those seemingly never-ending slight inclines however I add a lot of leg power on a couple of short yet steep uphills but not enough to get too sweaty. On the journey home I'm finding that I'm sprinting along at about 50/50 motor & leg power in places because I'm not too bothered if I get a bit sweaty for the return trip home.

I find the PAS on the BBS02 great and although I understand the concerns about the 'surging' it really doesn't bother me as I ended up installing the brake cut-off sensors since I started to pedal more. While sitting at lights I always have a brake on so there's no risk of surging, simple. When the light turns green I usually use the throttle and pedal to get off to a quick start but that's honestly the only time I use the throttle now and that's only on one intersection too as the rest of the trip is on the footpath and/or bike paths.

So yeah, although I was only ever expecting to use the throttle I've found that I'm now pedalling far more than I ever thought I would be. Now that Summer is over I think I'll start pedalling even more too.

 

[dogman dan]

I'd love a pas setup, if it required me to throttle for 5 seconds from a stop, then kicked in. That's what I was doing on the test rides at interbike. I'd test just pas, decide it lurched, then I'd just throttle to get going and then start pedaling at 5 mph and release the throttle.

I pretty much always pedal now, since my illness has gotten better. But anybody can tweak a knee, or just get tired because the flu kicked in while you were at work.

I just can't understand a bike with no throttle. Sometime, you'll wish like hell you had one.

 

[RLD70]

When I first got into ebikes I bought an iZip from Amazon I believe and it had pedal assist. I was able to PA on it over 40 miles on a new 24V 10AH SLA battery. So I imagine that the way these motor kits are today that the PAS is better than it was back then.

 

[puregsr]

My 12 pole PAS along with the S12S sine wave controller is soooo smooth and responsive, it's much better than the throttle.

 

[dogman dan]

For you maybe, but during the worst part of my illness, I was unable to pedal much farther than a block. I'm talking too sick to faux pedal a block.

Where would I have been then, with no throttle? Others have too much arthritis to grip a throttle very long. One size does not fit all.

But my bias is definitely to throttle, I rode motorcycles too many years for using a throttle to bother me. But that does not mean I won't give a thumbs up for a good PAS. I just did not like the bikes with no throttle. They made me downshift to get going, or have to pound out the first 5 feet to get the pas going. No big deal on a flat start, but a big deal if stopped on a hill.

good PAS, plus a throttle there if you want it seems to be the best thing for a ready to ride e bike. With a conversion kit you are selling, keeping it more simple and easy to install is the goal. Just a throttle for that.

 

[rockwalk]

I ain't peddling shit, period..peddling if for suckas and when I pass some dorky road biker in his stupid outfit like he's standing still, I often reiterate my position.

; )

 

[Chalo]

Weak and cowardly

 

[veloman]

I have yet to use pas on my ebikes, always just throttle. But the pedaling part is a different story. It depends on whether I want some exercise,.want to go faster,.want to look like a.bike, want to get better range,.want to get warm, and so on. It really can vary between no pedaling at all, or 100% pedaling.
With that said, the most common method is pedal from 0 to 22mph, while applying about 800watts with throttle. Then coast while cruising. Pedal moderately on most inclines. I enjoy the full control of a throttle and only use wot in rare occasions when really needing the 2kw. I also very rarely travel at top speed of 38mph.

I am interested in adding a pas as an option for when I don't want to think about throttle use.