Anybody else use throttle only?
- Thread starter Revbikes
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dogman dan
1 PW
Hub motors, but when I was sick I could not pedal more than around the block. For about a year I kept my sanity by getting out on the bike for short rides, but never pedaling. Eventually I could pedal some, but still only for a short ride.
Now I pedal most of the time, but I do have bikes that can go faster than the gears can take the bike. Sometimes, maybe in a hurry, maybe it's just damn hot out, I'll just twist and zoom. But most of the time, I do ride slow enough to keep pedaling, for my health, for keeping my ass from going numb.
My dirt bikes get ridden a bit differently. I have two. One is high power, and almost literally never gets pedaled. I rarely use the seat, I stand on the pedals and ride it trials style. The trails are quite tricky to ride, built stupidly twisty on purpose. It's all you can do to steer and balance at the speed I ride them.
The low power bike is legal to ride on the trails built by the local MTB club. That bike gets pedaled a lot, using the saddle, but again on the most tricky spots I just stand the pedals and hang on.
Now I pedal most of the time, but I do have bikes that can go faster than the gears can take the bike. Sometimes, maybe in a hurry, maybe it's just damn hot out, I'll just twist and zoom. But most of the time, I do ride slow enough to keep pedaling, for my health, for keeping my ass from going numb.
My dirt bikes get ridden a bit differently. I have two. One is high power, and almost literally never gets pedaled. I rarely use the seat, I stand on the pedals and ride it trials style. The trails are quite tricky to ride, built stupidly twisty on purpose. It's all you can do to steer and balance at the speed I ride them.
The low power bike is legal to ride on the trails built by the local MTB club. That bike gets pedaled a lot, using the saddle, but again on the most tricky spots I just stand the pedals and hang on.
USAEBIKECO
10 kW
I try and do both during my commute. I try and get at least some exercise.
With the higher voltage battery on my bike, I can't spin my legs fast enough to keep up at full speed. I still 'ghost pedal' anyway so it looks like a regular bike to observers. I also find that ghost pedaling keeps my butt from going numb on long rides.
USAEBIKECO
10 kW
Ghost pedaling keeps the police from looking closer at your bike and the speed you are going.
AF7JA
100 W
The way I see it, you are asking two different questions. I use throttle only, as opposed to using a PAS. I just never got around to installing the PAS; further, i remember my daughters experience and want the throttle functionality on the bike.
That being said, i always pedal. As the phrase goes, "it never gets any easier, you just go faster."
Now I will say that my commuter only has a 350W motor. I am probably going to put something bigger on my trike soon. At that point my riding habits may change; but frankly, I doubt they will.
That being said, i always pedal. As the phrase goes, "it never gets any easier, you just go faster."
Now I will say that my commuter only has a 350W motor. I am probably going to put something bigger on my trike soon. At that point my riding habits may change; but frankly, I doubt they will.
fesanand
10 W
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2014
- Messages
- 98
Sorry to water the parade, but should be mandatory to answer including cholesterol levels 
I always pedal, I fitted a 60T chainring and a 7 speed cassette, perfect to pedal up to 30mph. the result is cycling faster and sweating less(or nothing in winter) compared with my conventional bike.
In Autum-Winter I only use the electric, my Cholesterol level is 5.4 mmol/L , still above 5(unhealthy)
Longing for spring time, to start the conventional mtb season through the uneven south of UK. Then I'll drop my cholesterol to Healthy levels. And the loop starts again....
I always pedal, I fitted a 60T chainring and a 7 speed cassette, perfect to pedal up to 30mph. the result is cycling faster and sweating less(or nothing in winter) compared with my conventional bike.
In Autum-Winter I only use the electric, my Cholesterol level is 5.4 mmol/L , still above 5(unhealthy)
Longing for spring time, to start the conventional mtb season through the uneven south of UK. Then I'll drop my cholesterol to Healthy levels. And the loop starts again....
I also have a BBS02. Since I commute 16 miles (round trip w/out a recharge) with some large hills to the university everyday, I only use the throttle on the way there to prevent breaking a sweat. On the way home, I use the PAS. I general pedal up hills to help the motor and to get up them a little faster with out stressing/draining my battery pack and motor.
Uilleam Gilvoni
10 mW
markisses said:
One of the main reasons im buying an ebike is just to prevent the sweating on my way to the university too haha
The fingers
10 TW
When I first started riding with the motor, I only pedaled when starting out from a stop, on hills, and if a cop was around. Now I pedal most of the time. The novelty of WOT eventually wore off, tending to run the battery down faster. It's still fun to let 'er rip once in a while, but really stressful for any length of time, especially if you are trying to get somewhere fast to beat the clock. A rat race is still a rat race, whether driving or riding. :wink:
I actually haven't had mine for that long and have about 1300 miles on mine. As long as you're not going up ridiculous hills on your high gears and have a good battery, you're going to have a good commute. I sometimes ride hard and the motor is warm but not hot after a one way trip. Below is my daily commute elevation plot from google maps.
dogman dan
1 PW
The way to go easier on the motor is to pedal, back off the throttle or choose a power level that leaves you feeling some pressure on your feet, yet doesn't make you sweat or huff and puff. This will be about 75-100w less the motor has to do.
The best way to keep that level of your effort and your cadence steady, is constantly adjusting the throttle. So I personally have no use for PAS, but I can see how those that never rode motorcycles could like PAS better. Throttle on a bike? Call an exorcist!
The best way to keep that level of your effort and your cadence steady, is constantly adjusting the throttle. So I personally have no use for PAS, but I can see how those that never rode motorcycles could like PAS better. Throttle on a bike? Call an exorcist!
The motor was design to be used at 750 W. It should be able to handle that power rating continuously. However, riding it at anything lower will extend the life of the motor. I try to keep mine under 500W. I plan to ride mine continuously at 500 W once I build a new pack from some Sanyo 18650GA Cells once Tumich gets them in stock again (hopefully next week). I'm sure someone here has a lot of experience with the BBS02 and has posted something somewhere about the life expectance when used in all sorts of ways.
Chalo
100 TW
Revbikes said:
You don't need a bicycle for that.
999zip999
100 TW
I don't like pas as I reposition the pedal it wil lurch forward dangerous like. So throttle only. Plus 52t 11t hub motor for peddling at 34 mph. You can get big front ring and a 11 tooth rear.
footloose
10 kW
999zip999 said:
That is my biggest beef with PAS on BBS02 system. Makes me avoid an otherwise good PAS option. Don't like unplanned surges at stop lights.
On MAC system... I help with peddling on strong up hills, otherwise throttle essentially 100%.
Net net across both moderate power systems: the pedals don't get much use beyond being footrests and on steep hills. Cardio suffers, but grin prospers.
I don't have pedal assist.
I use the pedals to start from standstill and I lightly pedal along.
I had a especially large gear wheel added so I can pedal at 30 MPH.
Can't remember if it's 52t or 60t.
I feel more stable on my bike when pedaling and I like getting a little exercise.
I use the pedals to start from standstill and I lightly pedal along.
I had a especially large gear wheel added so I can pedal at 30 MPH.
Can't remember if it's 52t or 60t.
I feel more stable on my bike when pedaling and I like getting a little exercise.
tmho
1 kW
I ride ebike just for fun. I use throttle about 95% of the time.
Eskimo
1 kW
PAS is great if it works well. Even more fun than throttle. Much more relaxing, just let the computer throttle. My new PAS works very smoothly.
Badly working PAS is hell. Not fun at all and dangerous. I use both. If i am in a situation where sudden little lurching is not desired, i use throttle a bit.
It"s not PAS vs. throttle, it"s both in unison. Mostly i use throttle when there is a steep hill, still pedaling of course. Throttle gives more amps than PAS.
Throttle for me is like "turbo boost". When you need that extra little kick. PAS gives 16A max, throttle gives 22A. I don"t approach pedaling as an "excercise".
It"s just business as usual, natural part of the riding, not a special manouvere.
Badly working PAS is hell. Not fun at all and dangerous. I use both. If i am in a situation where sudden little lurching is not desired, i use throttle a bit.
It"s not PAS vs. throttle, it"s both in unison. Mostly i use throttle when there is a steep hill, still pedaling of course. Throttle gives more amps than PAS.
Throttle for me is like "turbo boost". When you need that extra little kick. PAS gives 16A max, throttle gives 22A. I don"t approach pedaling as an "excercise".
It"s just business as usual, natural part of the riding, not a special manouvere.
ccmdr
100 W
Arriving at work coated in sweat had been the initial problem with 100% pedalling. Now after going electric, it's just fine tuning the chainset setup for a comfortable cadence at near maximum throttle. Run 3 miles 'comfortably' in sub 20/21mins 6 days a week so I don't use 'cycling' as a form of productive excercise. Runners high is fairly easy to attain (when pushing PB), but cycling just doesn't do that unless your hooning offroad. More of an A2B without costing the earth and having a nice little on-going project 
.
However you do get used to the cruise speed, so hitting a hill and the motor slowing means my puny 100W contribution gets put into effect. Realistically it feels like I'm making a difference, but I've checked it makes 1 Mph difference if that :lol:...
.However you do get used to the cruise speed, so hitting a hill and the motor slowing means my puny 100W contribution gets put into effect. Realistically it feels like I'm making a difference, but I've checked it makes 1 Mph difference if that :lol:...
dogman dan
1 PW
Yep. if already cruising at 20 mph, 100w of pedaling gets you to about 21 mph.
RE the PAS lurch, that's why PAS bikes need those brake cut off levers, which I typically omit on a throttle only bike.
I finally rode good PAS at interbike, It was the bosch mid drive on a Scott MTB. I don't think it was torque based, just well tuned. Many of the other bikes I rode with mid drives had lurchy PAS, at least if you had the power level high they did. The way I like to ride, I want that lurch when I start up from a stop sign. I want to stay in the highest gear the whole ride. But I want a throttle to control when that lurch happens. That's what I did with those crappy PAS bikes I test rode at interbike. Most had throttle and PAS, so I just hit the throttle, then once going started pedaling, then continued in PAS mode. That works good! 8) But I did learn fast, to keep those brakes on till I wanted to go.
Throttle and go IS fun. That's why one of my dirt bikes, and one of my cargo bikes are 2000w, and quite capable of a motorcycle or moped like ride. Fast and fun. But both can still be ridden pedal style, pick a gear, hit a comfy cadence in that gear, then throttle till your effort leaves you sweat free but still feeling pressure on the pedals.
RE the PAS lurch, that's why PAS bikes need those brake cut off levers, which I typically omit on a throttle only bike.
I finally rode good PAS at interbike, It was the bosch mid drive on a Scott MTB. I don't think it was torque based, just well tuned. Many of the other bikes I rode with mid drives had lurchy PAS, at least if you had the power level high they did. The way I like to ride, I want that lurch when I start up from a stop sign. I want to stay in the highest gear the whole ride. But I want a throttle to control when that lurch happens. That's what I did with those crappy PAS bikes I test rode at interbike. Most had throttle and PAS, so I just hit the throttle, then once going started pedaling, then continued in PAS mode. That works good! 8) But I did learn fast, to keep those brakes on till I wanted to go.
Throttle and go IS fun. That's why one of my dirt bikes, and one of my cargo bikes are 2000w, and quite capable of a motorcycle or moped like ride. Fast and fun. But both can still be ridden pedal style, pick a gear, hit a comfy cadence in that gear, then throttle till your effort leaves you sweat free but still feeling pressure on the pedals.
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