posted 2 years ago
My previous eBike motor was about 200 watts. It was enough to help up hills. The battery wasn't enough to help with my entire 30 kilometer commute. I used it only for going up hills, and for getting up to speed, if wind was bad, or to sprint through a badly congested area. It had an uncomfortable throttle. The nice thing about it, is that it was super light-weight. I replaced the front hub with the motor, and tied the battery to the handlebars. No other modifications necessary. I can easily ride the bike with a dead battery.
My current eBike came as an integrated unit. It is super-nice. Every part of it is fine tuned to work well with every other part of the bike. It has engine cut-offs attached to the brakes, making it harder to accidentally wreck by unexpected acceleration due to inadvertent pressing of the throttle. It has pedal assist, so that the motor starts when I start peddling. It has 5 speed settings. If I peddle faster than the speed setting, then it automatically uses no battery. I ride it hard, pedaling hard enough that the battery is mostly idle. Headlight and taillight are integrated into the bike. It offers 500 watts, enough for any hill, or wind storm. It is a heavy bike. Did I mention how heavy it is? Yup. Heavy. It has to be built heavy to carry the heavy battery. It also has built in cargo racks and front basket. It's geared so that I would be able to get it home, albeit painfully slow, if the battery died. I have ridden it 60 kilometers on one charge, which is essentially double my normally expected distance. I rode it 1600 kilometers this summer, and had a grand time. I ride it as a bicycle, providing most of the power, and not as a motor-cycle where I'm only a passenger. The one feature it doesn't have, that I wish for is a "regenerative downhill" charging mode. I would gladly go slow down hills, if I could regain some of the energy lost by going up them.
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) conversion experience.
