ray wrote:

Rex wrote:
Hello all,

Some questions on electric assistance.

My wife has never done much riding. She wants to ride the bikes downtown to
do our shopping (petrol saver). We tow a trailer which the child rides in.
The trailer add a lot of weight, which makes the uphill heavy going.

Wondering how the electric assist motors go? Anyone use one? Have seen the
Avanti Electra front wheel for sale - anyone use one or have any tips?

We really want electric assistance only - pretty much for when we use the
trailer. Want the bike to be easily rideable for fitness the rest of the
time.


I've ridden one recently. As a general rule, you get what you pay for.
The lighter lithium-ion units have better performance but cost more.
The lead-acid type I checked out could manage an unassisted 12 k/mh up
my hill, which is a 1 in 10 grade.

Gees, 1 in 10 is a steep hill, and you get 12kph?

If your weight and bike weight = 90kG, the power is about 200 watts.


With 30 kg of trailer and shopping on
board, however, you'd need every bit of power, both motor and pedal, you
could get.
Weight is certainly an issue, the EV weighs about as much as my touring
bike with a load on board. With the motor assist, this is no problem.
Without the motor it would vary from good work-out to impossible
depending on the gradient.
I enjoyed riding the EV, but I'm probably still about 10-15 years away
from the point where I'd actually want and/or need one.
Cheers,
Ray

But if you yourself produced 150 watts, you'd have 350 watts at your
disposal,
and that's enough to go dangerously fast and keep up
with the local senior clubmen on sunday "recovery rides" as they like to
call them.

I reckon you might get spotted trying to lead the bunch.....

Patrick Turner.