350htrr

Just curious...

Dunbar

It depends on if I want a workout or if I want to go fast on my Cross Current . If I feel like a workout I'll dial it down to assist level 4/5, cruise in the low 20's, and pedal maybe 150 watts which is probably 30-40% of the total power. If I dial it up to 5/5 and go 25-30mph I end up soft pedaling or coasting probably half the time to avoid crashing into stuff.

speedy25

Hey, its still a bicycle and you pedal it!

-SP

chas58

I get a harder workout on my electric bike than a normal bike in longer rides (~1hour). Kinda odd, but I like going fast. I think for me, the e-bike speeds remind me of racing or riding in a fast pack, so I put out a fair amount of effort (200-300 watts steady, peaks of ~600 watts, or slightly more than my motor does).

NoPhart

Always pedaling (99% of the time), but never really think about the percentage of effort I put in and I use the throttle WHILE pedaling for added boost.

Necco2001

Hmm, almost always pedalling to some extent. Old habits die hard.

lionbass

I'm very happy with The TECHNOLOGY add kit for bicycle , It was help me to ride with any speed for workout ..help me ride more times for workout...With me electric bicycle is not for RACING ( don't ride fast.. It is NOT FOR SAFE ) , It is for FUN ...for HELP...It is for all of AGES LOVE TO RIDE BICYCLE ...Very important ...Get it with full progaram ...LCD display and program it.....if not and with me not useful and fun....take time to learn and you will enjoy it....I'm like normal set 1/2 pedal and 1/2 motor....Thanks to everyone who was design and make it..

Robert C

I made an interesting observation, supported by data from my heart rate monitor. I do not have a bottom bracket strain gauge and I do not deny that such a device would give better data; but the HRM is what I have.

First, I clearly get the most exercise while riding my Bacchetta recumbent with no assist. However, i ride that for the purpose of pushing myself.

Next in line is my trike with a 750W motor. Possibly I am carrying my "recumbent. . . must push hard" think to it; but no matter what the reasoning, it is the second best exercise.

Oddly enough, I get about the same level of exercise on the third step down. It does not matter if I am riding my Dahon folder, or my Novara Gotham, I am getting about the same level of exercise on both of them; I just go a bit faster on the 350W assisted Novara than the unassisted Dahon.

Summary
Most exercise

• Unassisted Bacchetta
• Assisted trike 750W (PAS)
• Unassisted Dahon, Novara Gotham (350W hubmotor w/ throttle)

Least exercise

ollo_ollo

Since my Schwinn Tailwind is a Pedal Assist E-Bike, I pedal nearly all the time, seldom coast, so could have checked 90% or more if available:

The assist only occurs if pedaling, cuts out when you coast or brake, so you tend to pedal more than on a regular bike so your speed is maintained. I usually ride in the low or middle assist position and got this bike to get back in shape so I could ride all my other bikes more. The Schwinn got me back in shape with 6 weeks of regular use. Now I ride my other bikes much more & mostly us the E-bike to run local errands when I'm in a hurry. Don

Doc_Wui

According to my wattmeters, I use between 70 and 100 Watt-hour total for a one hour powered ride. They say a biker puts out about 100 watts. Since I am an old guy, maybe I put out only 70 watts of human power. That suggests me and the motor share 50% at best, and often the motor does more than me.

The only way to make sure is to turn off the motor, which I often do on my 12 mile normal ride. Then I know it's 100% pedal. Hills that used to kill me 18 months ago,are not that hard these days, so I am getting better, at this.




.

350htrr

ollo ollo, I'm asking about effort, how much effort do you think you are actually contributing % wise to keeping the bike moving compared to the motors effort...

I also pedal going down hills to use my systems re-charge capability where as I normally would not be pedaling going down hills, I also ride my E-Bike without any assistance lots of times on the flats, using 100% my effort to keep the bike going, thus I estimate that for my part I put in 75% of the total effort required to keep the bike moving...

EDIT; I also suspect if didn't ride my bike under 100% my own power sometimes, I would probably be only in the 40%+ range for my input compared to the motors input even tho I use the lowest level of assist 99% of the time...

InTheRain

For me, I'd say around 40 percent. In comparison to my carbon fiber road bike, my ebike is heavy. Road bike = 17 lbs, Ebike = 50 lbs + 20 lbs of gear when I commute. At the lowest level of assist my ebike takes more effort on my part than riding my road bike. At level 2 of assist they seem fairly equal. On level ground, I ride at levels 2 & 3 of assist. On a longer hill or incline, I go ahead and use level 4 (the highest) of assist.

I use the ebike to commute. I added the Bionx kit to my touring bike to make the commute easier. There is a balance that I try to strike with the ebike on my commute - effort, comfort, utility, enjoyment of cycling, and exercise. If the main reason I'm riding a bicycle is for exercise, then I ride the road bike... but, since I'm commuting, I'm not riding for exercise.

zze86

over 60% easy. At 1/4 assist it barely makes up for the added heft of the ebike and gear. At 2/4 assist, the assist, speed limiter and my cadence preference (slower, more deliberate pedaling)is such that I'm often in a low gear where I'm actually doing a lot of pushing. 3/4 assist and 4/4 assist...I hardly ever go there unless I'm feeling sick. The assist speed limiter kicks in and the gearing is such that I can't get a comfortable cadence going. So I usually put it in 2/4 assist and forget about, just shift gears as necessary, even going up hills.

Biking at 1/4 assist does make for a nice training bike though. I rode half of the summer with 1/4 assist and when I went to my road bike I was FLYING! Technical I'm faster on the road bike, but I can sustain higher speeds for longer periods on the ebike.

350htrr

Bump to let newer people vote.

BobG

I've only ridden my BionX equipped bike (added last Nov) a few times so far between snow storms. I've found that its torque sensor rewards me more the harder I pedal thus I'll put in more effort of my own to reap the benefit.

In the past I'd twiddle up the 2 mile hill up to my mountainside NH house at 5 mph in fairly low gear, 32x34 or 22x34 on a bad day. If I worked over twice as hard in a slightly higher gear I'd be going maybe 8mph. No return for the effort so I'd go back to the 5 mph and arrive home without even breathing hard. With the electric assist I can ride 10-15-20mph (if I'm feeling spunky) up the same hill in the big chain ring, 44x13 or 15, and arrive home winded and exhilarated. That reward is like a carrot out in front that makes me work harder with the assist than without. Thus I've checked the 60% box above.

This is at the fairly high "mountain mode" assist level on the hill. Normally I use the 1 or 2 assist levels (out of 4) in more moderate terrain.

350htrr

Exactly the way I see it.

PatrickGSR94

I always pedal, always, except when I need a slight boost to get going because my gearing isn't the best for starting from a stop. Part of that is due to chain line, and I'm hoping a different chain ring will let me use my 2 lowest gears without fear of breaking something.

This is on a BBS02 system with 5 PAS levels. I'm on 2 most of the time, 1 or 0 if it's a big downhill, or 3 for uphills. I haven't even gone to levels 4 or 5 yet. On Friday I was cruising on PAS 3 in my highest 44x11 gear at 30 MPH.

Robert C

Similar, I use the PAS on my BBS02; however, I keep it set on position 1. Of course, I am trying to stay at a point where my solar panels are matching what I am pulling out of the battery.

350htrr

Here are some of my numbers with E-Assist (BionX) and without, in post 1 and what others get with their systems. https://www.bikeforums.net/electric-b...r-numbers.html

1oldpedaler

Always pedal, use throttle for starting, speeding up, and any hills. MY A2B IS THE ONLY WAY THIS 80 YEAR PEDALER KEEPS ON THE ROAD.

PatrickGSR94

Pretty sure everyone here understands that already.

dabac

According to my HRM, I hit the same max, and the same average on an ebike. Only difference is duration. Under winter conditions, the ebike boosts average speed and cut travel time with 10-20 %, so overall calorie count drops accordingly.

Radomaniac

I've put 510 miles on my RadRover in 2 months. And, I've lost 20 lbs. I must be pedaling.

BBassett

2016 I rode 2500 miles using a 750w BaFang center drive on a HEAVY full suspension tour bike and I lost no weight... firmed up a fair amount but lost nothing. 10 to 50 mile rides several times a week to daily. 60 yr old white male.

tegnamo

If I'm running in Turbo mode on the Bosch system, I'm usually pedaling quite hard because I'm likely in a hurry and want to ensure I stay at/near 28mph.

Otherwise, it's kind of middle of the road pedaling that would probably net me around 14mph if I was unassisted. At that point I'm not out to go super fast or tire myself out but I know I can do around 60% effort for a long period of time.