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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 15:26:25 GMT
I would have thought any cardio vascular exercise that gets your blood flowing is better than none? With the ebikes a thought that comes to mind is they must go through chains and chain sets quicker than a pedal only bike? They do. Best with a cheapo bike therefore. Some of the modern chainsets can be £300 a pop. I think using a 500watt or 1000 watt motor is like driving the bike as hard as a good athlete would drive it, so there is likely to be some increased wear on the chains and gears etc, especially if you do longer distances and big daily commutes. If you want/need an ebike badly enough then its a price worth paying, in a nutshell. I haven't looked, but if it is a thing, the pedelec forums will doubtless have some discussion of it.
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Post by Jim on Oct 3, 2020 16:12:06 GMT
Re drive choice, front wheel can spin out on gravel etc, rear wheel has better grip, neither are good with steep hills, that's where a mid drive comes in because it uses the rear block. Then there are two types of assist, cadence sensor and torque sensor. Cadence senses any movement and gives you power, torque adds / multiplies any power you put in, so you have to put some effort in. Ideally the motor is kept spinning fast or it can overheat. They don't like straining in a high gear.
Shop bought ebikes can't have a throttle, kit motors can.
I think expecting to maintain 20mph up a steep hill is unrealistic. Using top assist level up a 2mile x 200m rise I didn't drop much below 10mph, way quicker than I could have achieved by my own efforts. More than averaged out by hitting 30mph freewheeling down the other side.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 16:44:04 GMT
Re drive choice, front wheel can spin out on gravel etc, rear wheel has better grip, neither are good with steep hills, that's where a mid drive comes in because it uses the rear block. Then there are two types of assist, cadence sensor and torque sensor. Cadence senses any movement and gives you power, torque adds / multiplies any power you put in, so you have to put some effort in. Ideally the motor is kept spinning fast or it can overheat. They don't like straining in a high gear. Shop bought ebikes can't have a throttle, kit motors can. I think expecting to maintain 20mph up a steep hill is unrealistic. Using top assist level up a 2mile x 200m rise I didn't drop much below 10mph, way quicker than I could have achieved by my own efforts. More than averaged out by hitting 30mph freewheeling down the other side. Ideally I would prefer to install the mid drive 1000 watt Bafang BBSHD into a half decent MTB- that would make a superb bike. Only things are: 1. The kit is about £700, and I can get an assembled 1000 watt bike for maybe £1200, and avoid all the hassle and labour of installing it myself. That motor is very tempting though, It really is 2. Its really obvious to anyone observing from the roadside that it's got a motor (I did consider whether I could paint the protruding bit of the motor in a reflective chrome style paint to make it less immediately obvious) I should explain I'm not expecting to do 20mph up a steep hill, just a moderate one like you describe above.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 17:10:16 GMT
I would have thought any cardio vascular exercise that gets your blood flowing is better than none? With the ebikes a thought that comes to mind is they must go through chains and chain sets quicker than a pedal only bike? They do. Best with a cheapo bike therefore. Some of the modern chainsets can be £300 a pop. Also the fewer cogs the better. 7 or more at the back requires a thinner chain. And the current trend in MTBs is only one at the front.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 17:12:56 GMT
Shop bought ebikes can't have a throttle, kit motors can. But they are illegal
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 17:17:46 GMT
Re drive choice, front wheel can spin out on gravel etc, rear wheel has better grip, neither are good with steep hills, that's where a mid drive comes in because it uses the rear block. Then there are two types of assist, cadence sensor and torque sensor. Cadence senses any movement and gives you power, torque adds / multiplies any power you put in, so you have to put some effort in. Ideally the motor is kept spinning fast or it can overheat. They don't like straining in a high gear. Shop bought ebikes can't have a throttle, kit motors can. I think expecting to maintain 20mph up a steep hill is unrealistic. Using top assist level up a 2mile x 200m rise I didn't drop much below 10mph, way quicker than I could have achieved by my own efforts. More than averaged out by hitting 30mph freewheeling down the other side. 2. Its really obvious to anyone observing from the roadside that it's got a motor (I did consider whether I could paint the protruding bit of the motor in a reflective chrome style paint to make it less immediately obvious) Which is why rear drive is betterer. Also looks neater and easier to fit and replace. Personally I think best used with a cadence sensor. If its too slow buy a Cub.
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Post by Jim on Oct 3, 2020 17:43:52 GMT
Shop bought ebikes can't have a throttle, kit motors can. But they are illegal It's disputed, a bit of a grey area. @tonyc It took me 2 hours to fit the kit. It cost me about £800 including some of the tools I had to buy, bottom bracket bearing socket and bafang ring spanner. I also got a ring nut kit to add an extra fixing for the big battery. I got a lot of advice and knowledge from the pedelecs forum. www.pedelecs.co.uk/
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 18:10:02 GMT
2. Its really obvious to anyone observing from the roadside that it's got a motor (I did consider whether I could paint the protruding bit of the motor in a reflective chrome style paint to make it less immediately obvious) Which is why rear drive is betterer. Also looks neater and easier to fit and replace. Personally I think best used with a cadence sensor. If its too slow buy a Cub. The one I have now is rear hub motor and cadence sensor and it works well, apart from I'd like more power. Its still visible though, and from what I can see, the 1000 watt hub motors are significantly larger- so some sort of effort will still be needed to make the motor less obvious- again, I'm wondering if chrome-style paint would 'do a job' in this respect. The other niggle I have with rear hub motors is they add to the weight on the rear wheel- which is already carrying the bulk of my weight and most of the frame, plus the battery in my current case. These are heavy bikes, and I'm a heavy person, and that poor rear tyre is bearing a big load. With a mid-drive motor it seems like the weight might be a little more evenly spread out, although that said, the motor is only about 7kg....
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 18:15:27 GMT
It's disputed, a bit of a grey area. @tonyc It took me 2 hours to fit the kit. It cost me about £800 including some of the tools I had to buy, bottom bracket bearing socket and bafang ring spanner. I also got a ring nut kit to add an extra fixing for the big battery. I got a lot of advice and knowledge from the pedelecs forum. www.pedelecs.co.uk/Thanks Jim, there are also a number of youtube videos that show the Bafang motor install, but when it comes to DIY I never underestimate my ability to mess things up. That said, I think if I cant find a ready-made bike that suits me in March for under £1500, then I'll go for a kit, and probably the Bafang BBSHD or BBS02 (the 750watt version). I'll might put a 250 watt sticker on it to try to fool the plod, or maybe paint it chrome. I do still like the small motorcycle option as transport, but when I consider the urgent need to improve my health, being forced to ride a bike several times a week could be the sensible thing to do, and of course it makes storage aboard simpler.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 18:21:26 GMT
It's disputed, a bit of a grey area. Be honest this whole pedelec thing is just 'Last of the Summer Wine' on wheels.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 18:38:47 GMT
It's disputed, a bit of a grey area. Be honest this whole pedelec thing is just 'Last of the Summer Wine' on wheels. I'm more of a 'Howard' character, get a road bike get out of the way and enjoy yourself.....
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 18:44:35 GMT
Which is why rear drive is betterer. Also looks neater and easier to fit and replace. Personally I think best used with a cadence sensor. If its too slow buy a Cub. The one I have now is rear hub motor and cadence sensor and it works well, apart from I'd like more power. Its still visible though, and from what I can see, the 1000 watt hub motors are significantly larger- so some sort of effort will still be needed to make the motor less obvious- again, I'm wondering if chrome-style paint would 'do a job' in this respect. PanniersThe other niggle I have with rear hub motors is they add to the weight on the rear wheel- which is already carrying the bulk of my weight and most of the frame, plus the battery in my current case. These are heavy bikes, and I'm a heavy person, and that poor rear tyre is bearing a big load. 36-spoke (or more) wheel. Double wall rim. Disc brake - no wear on the rim. It may make some sort of sense to have a wheel custom-built - its not so expensive its out of the question. Schwalbe Marathon tyre. Forget tubeless.
www.cyclingabout.com/the-best-rims-for-bicycle-touring/
With a mid-drive motor it seems like the weight might be a little more evenly spread out, although that said, the motor is only about 7kg.... This is a valid plus-point.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 18:48:31 GMT
It's disputed, a bit of a grey area. Be honest this whole pedelec thing is just 'Last of the Summer Wine' on wheels. On the contrary my dear fellow, ebikes are the new Black Our children will have no choice but to use electric bikes and small cars for most of their short journeys anyway (unless they get cheap nuclear energy sorted out quickly), so us older folks on ebikes are riding the crest of a developing fashion, in much the same way that Lada drivers were riding the crest of motoring fashion in Russia, about 60 years ago.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 18:56:50 GMT
Be honest this whole pedelec thing is just 'Last of the Summer Wine' on wheels. On the contrary my dear fellow, ebikes are the new Black Our children will have no choice but to use electric bikes and small cars for most of their short journeys anyway (unless they get cheap nuclear energy sorted out quickly), so us older folks on ebikes are riding the crest of a developing fashion, in much the same way that Lada drivers were riding the crest of motoring fashion in Russia, about 60 years ago. N o, Lada drivers were just blinkered idiots who thought they were better than Trabant drivers until they discovered the price of spare parts.
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Post by Jim on Oct 3, 2020 19:01:37 GMT
It's disputed, a bit of a grey area. Be honest this whole pedelec thing is just 'Last of the Summer Wine' on wheels. I wouldn't deny it, though I do see a lot of 40+ on the canals round here. Just to reassure you I am Compo Smentis. 😊
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