Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! While I really like my e-bikes, they have one big problem: steep inclines. With my asthma and not great shape I’m in, I can’t always make it up the steepest hills. And 500-750 watts ... [continued]
  • lnxtx (xe/xem/xyr)English
    21•2 months ago

    While I really like my e-bikes, they have one big problem: steep inclines. With my asthma and not great shape I’m in, I can’t always make it up the steepest hills. And 500-750 watts of assist? That’s not going to help much on steep inclines.

    Hold my 250 W European e-bike.
    How steep is the “steep”?

    • @friend_of_satan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5•2 months ago

      There are hills in SF my gas powered 125 cvt could not start on. Some had a stop sign right at the top. I would have to turn sideways across the lane, throttle and turn to start up the hill.

      But that was starting from a stand still. I’m not sure how a 750w bike would handle it without having to stop. I could see them struggling though.

      • @alteredEnvoy@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        2•2 months ago

        Well a motor can provide instant torque at stand still, but an engine would have way lower power at low RPM and the transmission is inefficient when starting

        • @friend_of_satan@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4•2 months ago

          True, but a hub drive motor doesn’t have a transmission and may be geared for fast speeds vs low speed climbing. Also without a transmission there’s no clutch friction zone which could help an engine start up the hill. I’d be really interest to see a comparison video about this.

          Edit: on second thought, my cvt didn’t even have a clutch. Now I’m even more interested to see a video comparing electric motor, cvt, and manual clutch transmission.

    • @scoobford@lemmy.zipEnglish
      5•2 months ago

      It varies wildly by locale, this person may live somewhere extremely hilly like San Francisco, or they may live in Kansas (scientifically proven to be literally flatter than a pancake). I can’t be bothered to check.

      I’ll say I’m confident this person is just being a big baby about having to pedal, and basically just wants an electric motorcycle.

    • @Wahots@pawb.socialEnglish
      4•2 months ago

      We have 20-21% grade hills in our city, which is pretty damn steep, especially with cargo. Definitely not the sort of thing you wanna be clipped in for if a light turns red, lol.

      My ebike can do the steepest streets, but it maxes out at 1,300w at 14km/h while pedaling (unloaded, no cargo).