3 gears and 7 gears?

[Deleted member 4366]

Jeez! You can find forums and discussions for anything, which can be very convincing:

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/

How many gears do you have on your main bike?

 

[Croxden]

What's up D8veh, can't sleep?

It's either 14 or 11, can't make a decision this early in a morning.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That's right. I'm wondering what's going on in the world when all these people with lots of gears on their bikes suddenly start suggesting that anybody but themselves would be better off with three gears.

 

[Croxden]

Of the two I would prefer to have the seven, but some folk I have seen starting to ride a bike again after many years do seem to get confused with having so many gears.

If the high & low ratio are similar, the terrain is not excessively steep, she not in a hurry and has a good size hub motor it might be reasonable to expect a three speed to be satisfactory.

As always, one needs to try some bikes to find out. It took me a long time to decide, if her only question is the gears it will be easy for her.

Otherwise, I agree with you, go for the seven speed.

 

[D C]

All advice will be appreciated. thanks

Well Bella you certainly have unknowingly poked a stick into a hornets nest!
I think in the light of all the conflicting advice on this post you may be best ignoring it all, including my own and if you possibly can, do as Tom suggests in post 24 , one of the most sensible replies you've had.
Dave.

 

[tillson]

With an electric bike a wide range of gear ratios between the lowest and highest is the most important thing. The steps in between each gear can be very course (less gear ratios between lowest and highest) because the motor takes the strain. I have an Alfine 8 speed hub on my electric bike, but I'd be happy with three gear ratios, 1st, 4th and 8th, as long as the differential between 1st and 8th was preserved. If the bike was purely human powered, then more intermediate steps in ratio would be necessary.

 

[flash]

Yeah, everybody has an old three speed in the shed, me too, but nobody uses them. I wonder why?

Bella is trying to decide which bike to spend her hard-earned cash on. Think about the implications of your suggestions. It's not just about scoring points in a forum debate.

Only one three speed in the shed eh. I have 14 of the buggers. Although some are 4 speed. I sort of collect them, they date from 1947 to 1973 and you are right they are awful to ride compared with a modern bike. I have a mountain bike with a 7 speed nexus hub which I converted to an electric bike but never really got on with it. I live in East Cheshire on the edge of the peak district. So if I head of across cheshire it is rolling, definitely not flat, and if I head the other way it is very hilly. I recently decided after a lot of thought to buy a woosh krieger. This has opened up a lot of rides I have not done for many years
(when I was racing). So my advice would be to go for the biggest range of gears you can afford. You don't have to use them all, but if you need them, you have the choice to use them. If you only have 3 you have what you have, if you are riding into a head wind, having a bad day or fancy something a bit more adventurous you may have a problem.

 

[One_Box]

There is no correct answer to this question. So much depends on the terrain and the pedalling style of the individual. I sold my first e-bike with a 3 speed Nexus hub precisely because living in a hilly area I was rarely at a comfortable cadence. I ride my e-bikes the same way as I ride my road bike with a high cadence - my preference. I'm 67 and never had a knee problem on the bike so lots of gears works for me . I do like hub gears on e-bikes though, preferably 8 but can get away with a 5 speed also.