Toshi
10 kW
Over the years I've noticed that there seem to be two camps of e-bike riders, separated by whether they care about pedaling.
One camp wants the most suspension, the most tire, the most power, and its denizens don't seem to care about pedaling except perhaps a few strokes at the start and if the battery craps out mid-ride. This is perhaps exemplified by the Stealth series of bikes:
Even with a two speed crankset as equipped, pedaling is purely superfluous on a bike like that. Many builds seem to try to emulate (or exceed) this bike's performance for less money. I can relate to that, but these are essentially slow motorcycles with pedals at a high price, IMO.
The other camp wants an assisted bike that's first and foremost a bike. This implies gearing sufficient to pedal along even at full tilt. This task is easier with lower assist power and resultant speed, of course, and that's the easy route that most of the factory/compliant 250W/350W models take. It's possible to gear bikes high enough that pedaling with a reasonable cadence at 30 or even 35 mph is possible, however, as I've sketched out in the latter pages of my old build thread. (CN: 48 x 11 on 700c will work for 30 mph or so, and a ginormous 60t ring will do it for 35 mph.)
Here's my old build. Note 48 x 16t gearing, driving a Nexus 7 hub. This setup led to a comfortable pedaling cadence around 25 mph.
I see the merits of both camps, but so far in my build(s--built in 2008, redone once in 2010 as depicted above before parting out last year, and now planning once again) I've come down in favor of the bike-as-a-bike. After all, if I'm not going to pedal why don't I take the car and buy a few carbon credits, after all? (or drive the EV and obviate the carbon credits.)
Thoughts from the peanut gallery?
One camp wants the most suspension, the most tire, the most power, and its denizens don't seem to care about pedaling except perhaps a few strokes at the start and if the battery craps out mid-ride. This is perhaps exemplified by the Stealth series of bikes:
Even with a two speed crankset as equipped, pedaling is purely superfluous on a bike like that. Many builds seem to try to emulate (or exceed) this bike's performance for less money. I can relate to that, but these are essentially slow motorcycles with pedals at a high price, IMO.
The other camp wants an assisted bike that's first and foremost a bike. This implies gearing sufficient to pedal along even at full tilt. This task is easier with lower assist power and resultant speed, of course, and that's the easy route that most of the factory/compliant 250W/350W models take. It's possible to gear bikes high enough that pedaling with a reasonable cadence at 30 or even 35 mph is possible, however, as I've sketched out in the latter pages of my old build thread. (CN: 48 x 11 on 700c will work for 30 mph or so, and a ginormous 60t ring will do it for 35 mph.)
Here's my old build. Note 48 x 16t gearing, driving a Nexus 7 hub. This setup led to a comfortable pedaling cadence around 25 mph.
I see the merits of both camps, but so far in my build(s--built in 2008, redone once in 2010 as depicted above before parting out last year, and now planning once again) I've come down in favor of the bike-as-a-bike. After all, if I'm not going to pedal why don't I take the car and buy a few carbon credits, after all? (or drive the EV and obviate the carbon credits.)
Thoughts from the peanut gallery?