New to Forum & New to Ebikes

[JayJay2000]

Hi all, first time poster here and first few weeks of owning an ebike. For my first post I wanted to start with some of the basic questions that keep rolling around in my head after riding the bike for the first time. The bike is a Whyte and has the Gen 5 CX Bosch Performance motor, so onto the newbie questions:

1. When the motor hits the limit it starts to feel like acceleration is not possible yet this is proven to be wrong by the stats from the ride. Does the motor inhibit acceleration to a noticable degree compared to a standard bike on the flats and downs or does it just feel that way as it goes from assisted to non-assisted?
2. Do you ever get used to the feeling described in Q1?
3. In the Flow app you get the option to "Tune" the motor, are there any widely agreed changes to make immediatly in this section of the app or is it more a case of leave well alone as the factory settings are optimal?
4. It has a 12sp cassette yet I haven't been past the middle of the cassette yet. Are the larger chainrings redundant or do you find a place for them as you get used to the bike?

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie get used to this new (to me) way of riding MTB's

 

[johnnystorm]

Hi there, I've had my Levo just over a year so my answers might not be totally applicable but...

1. While there must be *some* more resistance, I think it just feels worse when you haven't got a few hundred watts extra pushing you.

2. Yes, my first few rides I got much less range as I think I was surging on every straight and then having to over brake. My riding *flows* a lot more now.

3. Yeah, having tweak helps. I use very different profiles for here in Suffolk versus riding in Wales!

4. What cadence are you riding with? I try and spin at 80+ rpm but its very easy to just let the power let you turn a big gear with little effort.

 

[Paulquattro]

Welcome to the Forum

 

[Stihldog]

Welcome to the forums.
Cheers.

It can feel like you just threw out an anchor when you pass the speed or assist limit. There is very very little resistance on the motor at this point …so it’s usually in our mind.

Proper cadence is very important for an eMTB (80ish).You could probably start your ride in turbo while in 12th gear …but don’t do that.

I do feel sorry for my EU friends who are limited to 15mph. Ours is 20mph or 32kph. I think the lower assist limit drives the derestricting market.

 

[steve_sordy]

1. The resistance is a myth, it's just a heavy bike with draggy tyres. Some motors switch off the assistance, some ramp it. But I agree it's a shock the first time you notice.
2. You get used to it. I would prefer if the cut off was 20mph not 15.5, but not enough to risk my warranty by chipping the motor.
3. You absolutely must experiment with the settings; who knows how it was left by the factory? I met a guy on here first time out on his brand new Nukeproof. He was disappointed with the bike, thought it would be more responsive. He had the same motor as me, so I showed him how to tune it and set it to the same as mine (which had taken me a few rides out to get it dialled). He was blown away!
4. Yiu don't say anything about the terrain that you ride normally. But you should ride the bike as you would a normal mtb, ie work your way through the gears as and when required. Resist the temptation to stay in one gear and just change the power modes. As an experiment, stay in the lowest power mode setting and do your ride. That should force you to use all the gears. When you come to longer or steeper climbs (or just get tired towards the end of the ride), then you will need the higher modes. I wouldn't say that I use all the gears on every ride, just most of them on most of my rides. But I tend to stay in the middle of three power modes, only switching up or down for particular parts of the trail I'm on.

 

[JayJay2000]

Thank you all for your responses, really useful. I never thought that riding a bike could be so complicated

 

[steve_sordy]

Thank you all for your responses, really useful. I never thought that riding a bike could be so complicated

We haven't even covered shifting while climbing!

 

[JayJay2000]

We haven't even covered shifting while climbing!

Go on then Steve, bring it on!

 

[steve_sordy]

It is always best to look ahead and be in the correct gear just before you really need it. I HATE crunching a gear shift!!! Occasionally a climb will get a bit steeper than you were expecting, or maybe your leg strength starts to run out, whatever it is, you realise that you need to shift to an easier gear NOW! But you are already giving full pressure to your pedals; if you ease off the pressure to make a shift you risk losing momentum and stalling. Who hasn't done that?

The emtb secret is to shift to a higher mode, surge forward a bit, just enough to give you the opportunity to back off the pressure and to make the shift. Once the shift has been made crunch free, then you can drop back down to the previous mode.

I'm sure that you would have thought of this yourself, all I have done is to give you a head start!

 

[JayJay2000]

It is always best to look ahead and be in the correct gear just before you really need it. I HATE crunching a gear shift!!! Occasionally a climb will get a bit steeper than you were expecting, or maybe your leg strength starts to run out, whatever it is, you realise that you need to shift to an easier gear NOW! But you are already giving full pressure to your pedals; if you ease off the pressure to make a shift you risk losing momentum and stalling. Who hasn't done that?

The emtb secret is to shift to a higher mode, surge forward a bit, just enough to give you the opportunity to back off the pressure and to make the shift. Once the shift has been made crunch free, then you can drop back down to the previous mode.

I'm sure that you would have thought of this yourself, all I have done is to give you a head start!

I absolutely would not have thought of that, thank you.