I'm considering upgrading from my gtech to something with gears. Riding after the cut off point is not particularly noticeable except for my legs spinning too fast. I presume having gears would stop this but would the extra weight have a negative effect. I have read of people feeling like they are riding through treakle when they hit the cut off point.
Riding over 15mph
- Thread starter boyabouttown
- Start date
Thats definitely how it makes me feel and I find it very annoying.
I think part of the problem is that I work my way up the gears to the higher speed, then when the motor cuts out I feel the resistance from the motor and I'm in too high a gear. So I drop down a few gears to help me with the resistance, but then my speed drops below the cut off speed and the motor starts assisting me again, and suddenly I'm in too low a gear. Very frustrating, and is making me seriously consider buying a dongle.
I don't really want to be going much above 20mph but if a dongle can just keep the assistance going up to 20mph then that would be perfect for me. I appreciate the legalities of this, but thats just how I feel.
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There is no noticeable resistance from a geared hub motor. The 'treacle' feeling is simply the experience of no longer being assisted. You'll feel it at any speed if you just turn the power off. However, at 15/16 mph you have a significant amount of wind resistance to add to the bike weight.
Added to this some motors cut off suddenly others ramp down the power.
I have a Panda kit on a hybrid that assists to about 17/18mph. I can hear it cut off but don't feel it much 'cos it eases the power off.
To the OP. You could try a bigger chain ring on the front, but would have to fit a longer chain. Personally I wouldn't consider a gearless bike, but then I live in West Wales
Added to this some motors cut off suddenly others ramp down the power.
I have a Panda kit on a hybrid that assists to about 17/18mph. I can hear it cut off but don't feel it much 'cos it eases the power off.
To the OP. You could try a bigger chain ring on the front, but would have to fit a longer chain. Personally I wouldn't consider a gearless bike, but then I live in West Wales
It all depends on the motor,some are very free wheeling some are a pain to use without assistance,even some geared hub motors offer very noticable resistance,some do improve after a long running in period.There is no noticeable resistance from a geared hub motor. The 'treacle' feeling is simply the experience of no longer being assisted. You'll feel it at any speed if you just turn the power off. However, at 15/16 mph you have a significant amount of wind resistance to add to the bike weight.
Added to this some motors cut off suddenly others ramp down the power.
I have a Panda kit on a hybrid that assists to about 17/18mph. I can hear it cut off but don't feel it much 'cos it eases the power off.
To the OP. You could try a bigger chain ring on the front, but would have to fit a longer chain. Personally I wouldn't consider a gearless bike, but then I live in West Wales
When cycling along level ground with no headwind at about 15 mph, it takes about 90 Watts of power to sustain that speed. Say for example that the motor is contributing 1/2 of the power, your legs will be contributing 45 Watts and the effort will feel light.
Under the same conditions as above, you continue to increase speed through the15 mph cutoff point to 16 mph. Now you need about 100 Watts to sustain 16 mph, but the motor has cut out, so your legs are providing the full 100 Watts. The sensation you feel is the step in demand on your legs from 45 Watts at 15 mph to 100 Watts at 16 mph. It will be even more pronounced if there is a headwind or an incline.
If you raise the cutoff to 20 mph, once the motor cuts out, you are suddenly left with at least 180 Watts of leg power to provide, 300+ Watts at 25 mph and so on. This is a considerable effort and unsustainable for many, so hence the speed drops back into the assist zone and you continue to “bounce” above and back into it.
You can end up chasing this forever, complaining about the treacle at whichever point you set the cutoff. Stick with 15 mph and plod along at a utility pace, which is where Ebikes should remain. If you want to go faster, buy a road bike. If you can’t pedal beyond 15 mph unassisted, then god made it so
It's easy really. You either cycle along at just below the cutoff speed and enjoy it or, if you are able to sustain above the cutoff speed without assistance, just drop to whatever gear is best for you at the speed you want to do.
The problem really is when that speed you can sustain is just on or very slightly over the cutoff which I guess isn't actually the case for most of us, trouble is when that motor is still providing us a bit of assist as it ramps down above the cutoff we all feel we are supermen and can do more
. Personally I aim to either bimble around at 15ish or do 16.5++ if I'm not tired or have some hill assist.
the treacle affect is a curious one, on my commute I now tend to potter on a gentle ride at 15.7mph (when my bike cuts out) or "go for it" for a bit of a workout and let the motor help as it wishes - when I first started riding it was quite annoying but you get used to it
The idea of a single speed e-bike strikes me as very curious, but GTech went down the belt route so presumably it brings advantages - Despite the 9 speeds on my loan machine I only really use 3 to 8, for hilly road commuting. The really low gears are not needed (unless I one day run out of battery) and 9 is pretty darn high (high 20's to 30+ mph) so only gets used on long down hills - definitely would not be without gears though, but its pretty hilly round here
The idea of a single speed e-bike strikes me as very curious, but GTech went down the belt route so presumably it brings advantages - Despite the 9 speeds on my loan machine I only really use 3 to 8, for hilly road commuting. The really low gears are not needed (unless I one day run out of battery) and 9 is pretty darn high (high 20's to 30+ mph) so only gets used on long down hills - definitely would not be without gears though, but its pretty hilly round here
D
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The problem with the Gtech is that when you slow down going up hills, the gearing is too high, so you're trying to operate way outside of your own powerband. That means that you can't give enough pedal power to help it. The result is that both yourself and the motor stall out. depending on your weight and power, hills up to about 5% are OK, but a 10% one will mean that you have to get off and push.
Riding on the flat is the slightly annoying part, going above the cut off does not feel like treakle, maybe because of the momentum gained and the relative lightness of the bike but the leg spinning is where changing up would come in handy. Just not sure if forking out on a heavier bike with gears would end up with a different kind annoying as the bear points out. I can just about manage the sheffield hills so a bigger front ring would see me pushing it up half way up. Should have gone for the cube suv race with the nuvinci hub which i wanted but couldn't justify the cost.
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