Pale Rider
Legendary Member
You can try my 2017 Bosch bike next time we meet.
I'm sure you will get that treacle feeling.
Although as I said, there is next to no resistance from the latest Bosch motors.
I want an Electric Bike...
- Thread starter vanmoofy
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
You can try my 2017 Bosch bike next time we meet.
I'm sure you will get that treacle feeling.
Although as I said, there is next to no resistance from the latest Bosch motors.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Hmm, I don't like the sound of 'that treacle feeling'!
I'd always assumed that if an ebike's battery went flat it would just feel like one was pedalling a very heavy conventional bike i.e. hard work uphill, but fine on the flat.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
Motors vary in their resistance when not under power.
Fairly simple to check with a hub motor - lift the motor wheel and spin it.
The few I've tried spin pretty much as I'd expect a regular bike wheel to spin, so little or no resistance there.
Crank drives are harder to assess, the only reliable way being to ride them.
As you say, even with a no resistance set-up, you could be pedalling 20kg+ so it will be harder.
I'm no weight weenie, but an extra 10kg+ over an ordinary bike does make a difference, particularly on gradients.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Indeed!
I've just been to Lidl and was coming home with about 10 kg of shopping in my rucksack. On the way home I called in at Todmorden railway station to pick up a copy of the Metro and that involved ascending a short ramp at about 10% (the well-named Rise Lane) which was bloody hard work on my singlespeed shopping bike carrying that extra weight.
Salad Dodger
Guru
- Location
- Kent Coast
My ebike also gives a "treacle feeling" if you pedal with the motor switched off. Of course, it is heavy compared to an average non powered bike, but there is more resistance than just the weight of the bike and battery.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
I think Rise Lane is where you, and possibly @Littgull, decided to extend one of our rides by doing an extra loop.
Happily, I was allowed to carry straight on, having had enough by them.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
No, I think that was a 'proper' hill, and one that I would NOT get up on singlespeed. I reckon it was Heptonstall Rd out of Hebden Bridge? You would have gone back to Todmorden on the A646 while we did it the hard but scenic way.
can I also ask, if you buy a bike which has , lets say 11 gears in comparison to a road bike which has 7-8-9 gears, would riding the 11 gear bike be much harder? I think right now im looking at all my options to see if i want to get a lower gear bike so that I have ease of riding - but well see
It depends on the ratios(teeth on gears).
Example. a bike with the same size front chainring. One bike is 8 speed with 11-32t rear gears. The other bike has 11-32t 11 speed. There is no benefit in overall gearing, only smaller steps between each gear.
Do you known what gears are in your bike? I and others could suggest your options
Im a bit bored so looked up in the thread. Is this your bike
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/road-eplus-2-pro-electric-bike
If it is, it has 50/34 chainrings and 11-32 11 speed cass.
The chain ring has 5 bolts mounting.
Sram do an 11-36 cass. or you could change the front rings to something like 46/30t- subject to fitting the bolt spider pcd
Example. a bike with the same size front chainring. One bike is 8 speed with 11-32t rear gears. The other bike has 11-32t 11 speed. There is no benefit in overall gearing, only smaller steps between each gear.
Do you known what gears are in your bike? I and others could suggest your options
Im a bit bored so looked up in the thread. Is this your bike
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/road-eplus-2-pro-electric-bike
If it is, it has 50/34 chainrings and 11-32 11 speed cass.
The chain ring has 5 bolts mounting.
Sram do an 11-36 cass. or you could change the front rings to something like 46/30t- subject to fitting the bolt spider pcd
Last edited:
thats exactly my bike -
i was even looking at single speed bikes.... as i am literally just looking to cycle for fitness to be honest and none of this shifting and changing gears and struggling to pedal.
What are your thoughts on single speed bikes? are these the easiest to ride? or do I need something with gears to it?
i was even looking at single speed bikes.... as i am literally just looking to cycle for fitness to be honest and none of this shifting and changing gears and struggling to pedal.
What are your thoughts on single speed bikes? are these the easiest to ride? or do I need something with gears to it?
youngoldbloke
The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
A single speed bike is going to have a gear equivalent or close to one of the gears on your bike, so will not be easier or harder to pedal than your bike in a similar gear. It may be lighter of course, but if an ebike probably not much lighter. I recommend you stick with the Giant. Ride it as much as you can, as often as you can. Get used to riding a bike. If it feels hard to pedal, change to an easier gear. If you have to be in the easiest gear all the time it sounds as if your fitness is the issue not the bike, especially if you are getting assistance from the motor. The fitness will come, but it might be a bit painful to begin with!
If you're struggling with an ebike, then a single speed bike will feel like cycling up a mountain on anything that isnt flat road.
Fitness comes from riding regularly. However if you are just starting out as a beginner or a long layoff from cycling, build up distance and how many rides per week.
Here is my own personal current position. Until a year ago I was a very regular rider. I could ride 100 miles and cycle literally up mountains. Ive been busy and also lost a fair bit of enthusiasm this year. I will start riding with short rides of 15-30mins and build up after several weeks. I will probably ride 3-4 times a week. Over the course of this spring summer, I will be able to ride 40-60miles relatively easy. Come autumn winter, I will taper my outdoor and resume my winter turbo riding, Im in my mid 50s and fair bit overweight right now
Are you actually finding cycling the Giant hard?
Gears really isn't that hard to understand, seriously though if you are struggling with the Giant which has a pretty beefy motor maybe get a moped or motorbike?
in relation to cycling without the motor off
cycling with the motor on is completely fine thats not the issue im talking about now in here. When I posted about my plight in here a few weeks ago, I actually didnt realise that I could cycle on an ebike (as normal). I thought you always had to turn on the motor to cycle. So now that I have 'tried' to cycle without the motor on, that was where my issues came from:
(am i cycling on the wrong gears/what is the best gearing/why does it feel so stiff and the resistance is so strong/im trying to change the right shifter, the left shifter, the small shifters to get the right balance, but it didnt feel like any improvement or i was just completely doing it wrong)
Only when I realised all this was when an ebike isnt actually good for my fitness and now that I am thinking about all of this in one, id rather get a 'normal road bike' so that I can just cycle with ease for cardio/fitness purposes
Ok I now understand.
Simply put - If you have an eBike, don't waste your time cycling it with the motor off unless you like hard work and going slowly.
I recently did an 'all out' ride on my eBike which weighs less than the Giant, and managed a pretty slow 14.4mph average speed. This was me going as hard as I could, and there wasn't even that much wind!!
I went out again a few days later on my non electric road bike, less effort, much longer ride, more head wind, much more climbing, and ended up 2mph quicker.
If you put your eBike into minimal assistance mode that will help with building fitness, but if you want to just ride a bike (without the motor), get a normal bike. As much as I enjoy using my eBike as a commuter tool, my non assisted road bike is much much nicer to ride.
So basically buy another bike or otherwise known as 'number of bike needed = n+1'
