easy-rolling ebikes when unpowered (what brands)

[retiredNH]

Probably wise to narrow down your search on lightweight / hybrid bikes as any bike >20 kg will due to their weight not be much fun to ride without engine assitance, even if the engine does decouple. I own a Vado SL 4.0 EQ ( a bit below 17 KG ) and as described previously, the motor decouples pretty well . However even there it feels a bit more cumbersome to ride it. Had recently at a long trip the battery gone empty and the last 4 km against the wind (seaside) felt really heavy, more than with a conventional bike without motor. Not really drag but the weight of the bike. In a few days I'll get a racing e-bike, Scott Addict e-Ride 20, which weights just 11,8 kg and has a hub motor that also decouples. For racing bikes this is expected to happen more often as you quickly reach up beyond 25 km/h. Let's see how this goes. Looking forward to venture into the world of race biking.

But the weight of the bike only matters significantly if you're going uphill. On flats, not a big deal. Consider that the total weight of a typical adult male rider and 50 pound ebike is about 250 pounds. Take 10 pounds off the total for a lighter bike, and you've saved 4 percent of the weight, a trivial amount!
Tires, OTOH, are a big deal and make a huge difference in rolling resistance. Interestingly, from what I've read, with modern tires, inflation pressure isn't as big a deal as it used to be!
YMMV?

 

[Rexlion]

As far as the gearing is concerned, that's something that can often be set up according to your priorities. If the bike isn't geared low enough for you, a smaller chain ring (front gear) can be installed pretty easily. Issue there being you may not be able to keep up with the pedals at higher speeds. Like a lot of things, there's a compromise.

Then, there's the freewheel (rear gear cluster). If the derailleur is working properly, allowing the chain up onto the biggest gear, having a tough time understanding how you might need to go much lower than that to pedal home under a no power scenario. Any bike I've been on you have to pedal like mad to go anywhere in that gear. That should be PLENTY low enough?

I shall elucidate. The LMTD has a 44T chainring, 11-32T cassette, 27.5x2.4 tires. Bikecalc only has 27" tire selection, close enough... it shows a range in gear inches from roughly 41 to 118.

Compare that to my Trek Pure Sport 21-speed with 28-38-48 chain rings, 14-34T cassette, 26x1.95 tires which yields a range from 21 to 89 gear inches. That low gear (21) versus the LMTD (41) is huge. To get comparable, I'd have to mount a 24T chainring on the LMTD which would give me a range of 22-64 gear inches, and that's totally ridiculous on the high end.

 

[PSm]

But the weight of the bike only matters significantly if you're going uphill. On flats, not a big deal. Consider that the total weight of a typical adult male rider and 50 pound ebike is about 250 pounds. Take 10 pounds off the total for a lighter bike, and you've saved 4 percent of the weight, a trivial amount!
Tires, OTOH, are a big deal and make a huge difference in rolling resistance. Interestingly, from what I've read, with modern tires, inflation pressure isn't as big a deal as it used to be!
YMMV?

+1
Changing to Continental Grand Prix 5000 tires (for road use) made a huge difference for me in reducing rolling resistance and easier unpowered riding. Using 30mm tires at 80+ psi seems to work well for me.

For my Ride1Up Roadster (single speed belt drive) did a 25 mile ride on mostly flat or minor hills, and was unpowered for 99% of it. For one hill, used lowest assist level, but intentionally turned off motor for all the rest.

For hills, especially about 4% grade or more, difficult to climb without at least some pedal assist, since I only have one gear. If going slow and for distance, I try to keep the climbing assistance down to 20 to 100 watts wherever possible. If going for speed and attempting Strava PRs/KOMs, I crank motor up to 350 to 500 watts peak

 

[AHicks]

I shall elucidate. The LMTD has a 44T chainring, 11-32T cassette, 27.5x2.4 tires. Bikecalc only has 27" tire selection, close enough... it shows a range in gear inches from roughly 41 to 118.

Compare that to my Trek Pure Sport 21-speed with 28-38-48 chain rings, 14-34T cassette, 26x1.95 tires which yields a range from 21 to 89 gear inches. That low gear (21) versus the LMTD (41) is huge. To get comparable, I'd have to mount a 24T chainring on the LMTD which would give me a range of 22-64 gear inches, and that's totally ridiculous on the high end.

So, your solution to the issue that has your gearing so far off that you would have to walk the bike home if you lost power would be what?

 

[kevinmccune]

I don't know why/how it might be different on an Ultra Powered bike, but I went from a 44t to a 49t. The 44t when on the 11t rear would run MAYBE 20mph with me pedaling pretty hard (not an athlete by any shape of the imagination). I switched to the 49t not to go faster, but to avoid use of the 11t rear.

Mans got to know His limitations, my bikes are now stuck in the highest gear,I just grunt a little more on the hills, can pedal better sitting than standing, One of them( the FT) gets left in PAS 1, the other one I just use the no 2 PAS( OUT OF 5) except when I am turning up the rock littered entrance to the trail bike and jeep road, the backtire is going away fast.
What I have realized is this- the faster you try to go on the pulls the harder you pedal and use more juice, the 15 ah battery on the narrow tired bike still shows five bars after the 16 mile loop for what its worth.

 

[Rexlion]

So, your solution to the issue that has your gearing so far off that you would have to walk the bike home if you lost power would be what?

Who said I had a solution? Basically I am resigned to the situation. And hoping I never lose power.

I suppose if the LMTD had dual crank gears I could manage the hills without electric assist. I have no idea if that's practical or if I want to get into it, though. Adding another shifter and all that. Seems like modding an existing 21-speed bike to electric might make more sense, if I were truly worried about losing power.

All I was trying to say with my earlier posts was, my ebike is not what I would call "easy rolling when unpowered" whenever there's an incline to climb, and some measure or other of hill climbing is almost inevitable where I ride.

 

[Nico]

My Yamaha Wabash RT rolls well without power. It's somewhere around 40 to 45 lbs and is easy to ride on flat or downhills with no power assist. Uphill not so much but still doable.
On downhills riding with other bikes, electric or not, my bike will roll faster and pass all other bikes I'm riding with. It is pretty impressive.

 

[PSm]

Regarding rolling resistance, been doing some research into what a difference tires might make. If I’m reading the information correctly, FYI if I did this correctly this is what I came up with for some different Conti road tires, when used front and rear.

Doesn’t translate into a big difference when going over 13 mph, since aerodynamics play a much larger role, but main difference is for climbing and at lower speeds.