special lube?

[Legomutton]

The ebiker's cadence will typically be lower, although increasingly there are roadie-style ebikes which will attract roadies used to a higher cadence.

As a flat bar plodder, my cadence is probably about 60rpm, less on steep climbs.

Would a 90rpm+ cadence for the same speed significantly reduce the stress on a drivetrain?

Going from 60 to 90 at the same total work rate (rider effort plus motor) would reduce torque by 1/3. The difference sounds more impressive if you say dropping your cadence from 90 to 60 increases torque requirement by 50%

There will be a small proportion (I'm guessing) who habitually use very low cadence and whack the bike into Turbo for hills, which is probably the worst case but I agree it's a bit theoretical and a much more important predictor is probably whether the chain is lubricated (with anything) or not.

Isn't there is a school of thought that believes the factory grease is very good and no further lubrication is necessary?

 

[Mike_P]

The only specific ebike bike shed thing required is a suitable water free cleaner such as that provided by Finish Line for cleaning around the electric bits.

 

[gzoom]

I can outclimb ebikes with little difficulty.

Are you seriously claiming you can climb faster than the current UK hill climbing champion, whom was able to take 30 seconds off a 2 mintue 30 climb when given an eBike.

Do you have any acutal figures to support your claims?

View: https://youtu.be/L8BgAbisp_I

 

[Salty seadog]

I know little about ebikes, don't have one (yet), but I was intrigued by this which popped up from an ebay seller I use for leg powered stuff sometimes.

View attachment 592090


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144025021559?hash=item21888f6c77:g:Vg4AAOSwGAJgjAbh

so do you really need special lube for ebikes?

No.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Why would higher crank torque require different chain lubrication. What’s the engineering think behind that?

 

[gbb]

Formerly discussed in this forum was the differences between rear hub drive and crank drive...it seems generally accepted that crank drive will wear a chain quicker primarily because its pulling the chain which is under tension. Not sure that's actually torque but anyway...
I assume this lube is perhaps aimed at mitigating the extra wear an ebike chain can encounter.

Whether it does actually work or not is entirely debatable...

 

[Bobario]

At first glance I thought it was Marmite e-Lube. No wonder it's divided opinions on here.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I would think that ebike lube would not really make much difference to the wear based on the power through the chain

Based on my extensive knowledge of the subject (i.e. I have watched lots of Wheeler Dealer episodes) I thin heat is the main problem for lube rather than power

I would imagine that a 'better' chain would be a better answer
Although nothing special - just something that a good pro would use
I am pretty sure that me (60+ old fat etc etc etc) plus a 250W motor puts a damn site less load on a chain that a good pro does
so the technology is out there

My chain wore out (according to the LBS) after about 3000 miles - the LBS said they replaced it with a 'better quality one' - which was not expensive
I shall see if it lasts any longer!

 

[gbb]

I would think that ebike lube would not really make much difference to the wear based on the power through the chain

Based on my extensive knowledge of the subject (i.e. I have watched lots of Wheeler Dealer episodes) I thin heat is the main problem for lube rather than power

I would imagine that a 'better' chain would be a better answer
Although nothing special - just something that a good pro would use
I am pretty sure that me (60+ old fat etc etc etc) plus a 250W motor puts a damn site less load on a chain that a good pro does
so the technology is out there

My chain wore out (according to the LBS) after about 3000 miles - the LBS said they replaced it with a 'better quality one' - which was not expensive
I shall see if it lasts any longer!

'Better quality' chain is difficult to quantify, .
On my 10 speed roadie (no longer used) i went through Shimano, Campag, SRam and KMC chains on it, didnt matter which i fitted, i always got between 1200 and 1600 miles before the wear indicator suggested a new one was in order. Price ranges in those chains were all moderate, neither expensive nor cheap.
I only ever fitted one 'very cheap' chain to a bike and it fared very poorly.

TBF, i'd take 3000 miles on any bike, road, MTB or ebike, i never achieved it on anything i owned. Even my ebike (rear hub drive) is on its second chain at 3300 miles.