I am new here so may have missed something but I wonder if it is possible to have a beginners guide to ebike basics? I have a Cube Acid which has a Bosch Active Line Plus crank drive and I think it is excellent for my needs but I only got to this choice through a lot of discussions and reading. My thoughts are a simple guide to the basics could be useful for new starters. For instance:-
Front hub drive - I can see it would be fine on the road but what happens on muddy trails or on loose grit? Are they a problem or does having a kind of all wheel drive actually help? I expect on very steep trail hills where more weight gets transferred to the back wheel they could loose traction. They would be easier for repairing a puncture (which is usually on the back wheel anyway) than a rear hub drive. What are the pros and cons? In my mind they sound great for road use but probably not great on trails. As the front wheel will not be quick release dropping one into the back of a hatchback could be a problem.
Rear hub versus crank drive - Is one more efficient than the other i.e. are you likely to get more miles from one than the other with the same battery and motor power? Is changing a puncture a pain with a hub drive? Is one type freer running than the other when pedalling without assistance? Can a rear hub motor effectively put charge back into the battery when going down hill? Also are hub motors as good at climbing steep hills as crank motors? I know that electric motors have power over a wide range of RPM but it seems to me that when it comes to really steep hills where speed might by low the geared crank drive might help to make the motor assistance more effective but I don't know. Also how much extra maintenance is required on a crank drive? Clearly with all that extra power going through the chain, cassette and derailleurs there is going to be extra wear. Is that likely to be a major problem? What sort of mileage might you expect before things wear out compared to a hub drive where in theory the strain on these items will be less than a non ebike?
Could I also suggest discussion on motor power? I find the active line plus is fine for my needs. There are a few very steep bits I regularly visit that require 1st gear and full turbo but they are very steep indeed and I get all the assistance I need. On normal wide trails I don't even need to use Turbo on the climbs so there is plenty of power in reserve. It seems the more powerful and also heavier, more battery hungry and harder to pedal manually motors such as the CX are only really worth having if you are into quite hardcore MTBing.
Answers to the above and I dare say many other basic questions might help prospective ebikers to narrow down the rather wide choice of options that are available. Just wondering if there was a general consensus on the above from those who have a wide experience? Only ever having really ridden the one ebike (a short test run on other ebikes doesn't really prove much) I freely admit that I don't know. I am very happy with the one I chose and don't expect to change any time soon.
Front hub drive - I can see it would be fine on the road but what happens on muddy trails or on loose grit? Are they a problem or does having a kind of all wheel drive actually help? I expect on very steep trail hills where more weight gets transferred to the back wheel they could loose traction. They would be easier for repairing a puncture (which is usually on the back wheel anyway) than a rear hub drive. What are the pros and cons? In my mind they sound great for road use but probably not great on trails. As the front wheel will not be quick release dropping one into the back of a hatchback could be a problem.
Rear hub versus crank drive - Is one more efficient than the other i.e. are you likely to get more miles from one than the other with the same battery and motor power? Is changing a puncture a pain with a hub drive? Is one type freer running than the other when pedalling without assistance? Can a rear hub motor effectively put charge back into the battery when going down hill? Also are hub motors as good at climbing steep hills as crank motors? I know that electric motors have power over a wide range of RPM but it seems to me that when it comes to really steep hills where speed might by low the geared crank drive might help to make the motor assistance more effective but I don't know. Also how much extra maintenance is required on a crank drive? Clearly with all that extra power going through the chain, cassette and derailleurs there is going to be extra wear. Is that likely to be a major problem? What sort of mileage might you expect before things wear out compared to a hub drive where in theory the strain on these items will be less than a non ebike?
Could I also suggest discussion on motor power? I find the active line plus is fine for my needs. There are a few very steep bits I regularly visit that require 1st gear and full turbo but they are very steep indeed and I get all the assistance I need. On normal wide trails I don't even need to use Turbo on the climbs so there is plenty of power in reserve. It seems the more powerful and also heavier, more battery hungry and harder to pedal manually motors such as the CX are only really worth having if you are into quite hardcore MTBing.
Answers to the above and I dare say many other basic questions might help prospective ebikers to narrow down the rather wide choice of options that are available. Just wondering if there was a general consensus on the above from those who have a wide experience? Only ever having really ridden the one ebike (a short test run on other ebikes doesn't really prove much) I freely admit that I don't know. I am very happy with the one I chose and don't expect to change any time soon.
