Originally Posted by
klevin
I would not be going fast on a bike path, especially since my spouse would be riding a conventional bike. Where I live, rail trails are really snow mobile trails, not great for biking, and there are no bike trails, but we might travel to places where they do have these luxuries. What we do have is lots of rural roads, paved and dirt, with little traffic, so we have great riding opportunities.
I'm looking at the Trek Allants. The 8s has some attractive upgrade features beyond the faster motor, like a bigger battery, which might matter for a low energy guy like me in a hilly area. The faster motor may be overkill, since I have no reason to ride that fast, but I don't see a downside. Do you? Some posts elsewhere said the Bosch Performance Speed is the same motor as the CX but with different software. Certainly in this year's model it has the same torque, so it's hard for me to see a disadvantage, other than a larger chainring on the bike.
There is no real downside. Bigger batteries are essential for faster speeds. My range drops sharply with speeds above 15 mph. By 25 mph you need 750 watts. I have 52 volts @ 49 amp hours. My power usage per mile has crept up over the last 4 years. My bike has gotten heavier and the distances I travel. longer. I find that for short distances under 30 miles my power usage is not high per mile. When I exceed 30 miles I am asking more and more out of the bike because its not realistically in me. By 80-100 miles the bike is doing most of the work. The amount of power you put in from yourself, has a big affect on your range. Especially in the speed ranges just past what you can do with no power on.