3 ms·

Speed (or better, momentum) is important. But pedal assistance is definitely material to me. Switching from pedal-assist to throttle-controlled changes the prop

Speed (or better, momentum) is important. But pedal assistance is definitely material to me. Switching from pedal-assist to throttle-controlled changes the proportionality between impulse and real-world results. As a kid my first response to pretty much anything with a dial was to turn it up all the way and see what happened. That's a behavior I saw quite a bit during the brief plague of VC-funded scooters: novices at 100% motor output rocketing down sidewalks, etc. That's much less likely to happen it they have to pedal hard to get the top speed.

dncornholio 5y ago
E bikes also have a dial, all it does is it limits the speed when it stops accelerating. You can dial the bike all the way up, peddle but not apply any force and still accelerate to top speed.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Where I live that would be illegal for an e-bike, that vehicle would be classified as an e-scooter.
  - dncornholio 5y ago
    Doesn't any Batavus E-Bike does this? That's were I got my (limited) experience from.
    - jacquesm 5y ago
      That depends on what you mean by 'dial it up', do you mean a throttle? If so then that's illegal. If it is just a 25 kph bike then you can feather the pedals and it will go up to 15 or so and above that you'll have to work for it.
      - dncornholio 5y ago
        25 kph bike, has a setting for power that has 4 stages and an 5th stage called boost. Would go all the way to 25 with just feathering
        jacquesm 5y ago
        Neat, I'll have to try that and see what happens, we have one ordinary e-bike here with a Bosch system as well.
- wpietri 5y ago
  Interesting. So you're saying that they have to keep pedaling, just not very hard? My only experience is with the Lyft e-bikes, where high speed required actual work for me.
  - dncornholio 5y ago
    yes, as long as i kept rotating the crank with my pedals, it would power me forward, regardless of rotation speed
    - wpietri 5y ago
      Interesting! Thanks.

dncornholio 5y ago

E bikes also have a dial, all it does is it limits the speed when it stops accelerating. You can dial the bike all the way up, peddle but not apply any force and still accelerate to top speed.

jacquesm 5y ago
Where I live that would be illegal for an e-bike, that vehicle would be classified as an e-scooter.
- dncornholio 5y ago
  Doesn't any Batavus E-Bike does this? That's were I got my (limited) experience from.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    That depends on what you mean by 'dial it up', do you mean a throttle? If so then that's illegal. If it is just a 25 kph bike then you can feather the pedals and it will go up to 15 or so and above that you'll have to work for it.
    - dncornholio 5y ago
      25 kph bike, has a setting for power that has 4 stages and an 5th stage called boost. Would go all the way to 25 with just feathering
      - jacquesm 5y ago
        Neat, I'll have to try that and see what happens, we have one ordinary e-bike here with a Bosch system as well.
wpietri 5y ago
Interesting. So you're saying that they have to keep pedaling, just not very hard? My only experience is with the Lyft e-bikes, where high speed required actual work for me.
- dncornholio 5y ago
  yes, as long as i kept rotating the crank with my pedals, it would power me forward, regardless of rotation speed
  - wpietri 5y ago
    Interesting! Thanks.