Originally Posted by
Biker395
I would dispute the notion of equating adding a motor with gearing, as they are not an "assist" in the same sense of the word. Regardless of gearing, it takes the same amount of work to pull a weight a vertical distance uphill. That is not true with an added motor, as it does some of that work for you.
I never said it was "the same", What I said is (tried to say) was that BOTH end up helping, (the overall "effect"... of the mechanical advantage or an E Motor) both are actually assisting, allowing a person that
could not, or
would not make it up a particular hill,
to make it up that particular hill... NOW, how much assistance is
too much assistance and still keep an E-Assist bike a bicycle still ...??? IMO as long as the motor cannot make it up the hill without your pedaling input, (working up some sweat) ,
it is assisting you, once you do not need to pedal and the motor takes you up that hill, (and you are no longer working up a sweat)... You are
now riding a moped, IMO...
EDIT; and... Yes, to most people on here, ANY kind of motor assistance makes the bicycle a motorized bike, (technically 100% true) ...
