Lugging a Motor, Why it's Bad

[PedalUma]

Well it happened again. I tell people to downshift in anticipation of slowing, to pedal lightly and quickly, like swimming with fins. Then they don't downshift, lug the motor in high gear at low speeds while clodhopping side to side. Then they destroy their drivetrains and motors. If you took your brother-in-law's manual shift Corvette and left it in high gear when launching from stops, you will kill his nice motor and transmission. Please be kind to your bike. It is your pet and your good friend. Also, the highest power level, like with a Corvette, is reserved for very short bursts. In a few moments I need to tell a guy that he killed his motor and how and why. Then I have another this afternoon at a house call to a cargo mom who forgets to downshift.

 

[PedalUma]

As just mentioned in another post, before I knew better, I thought more was better and so I put a 58-tooth chainring on a bike. That was a total disaster.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The main flaw in your reasoning Uma is the analogy of putting a Corvette in the high gear and leaving it so. Any manual gearbox driver puts the stick in the neutral position post and pre-ride, and starts driving from the 1st gear.

Almost no type of e-bike (except Pinion, Rohloff and perhaps Enviolo) can downshift on the stationary. Your remarks are correct. It is so sad many riders do not know the basic rules of applying the bike drivetrain.

 

[PedalUma]

The main flaw in your reasoning Uma is the analogy of putting a Corvette in the high gear and leaving it so. Any manual gearbox driver puts the stick in the neutral position post and pre-ride, and starts driving from the 1st gear.

Almost no type of e-bike (except Pinion, Rohloff and perhaps Enviolo) can downshift on the stationary. Your remarks are correct. It is so sad many riders do not know the basic rules of applying the bike drivetrain.

Many people in North America are used to driving things such a large diesel trucks with automatic transmissions. They have an expectation that an electric bike will behave the same way. If it is a good one, than it is still a bicycle. But with some supplemental assistance. Nexus and Alfine hubs can also be shifted through all gears while coasting or stopped. A good practice is to downshift while applying the brakes. Some bikes such as the Vado have a green indicator that comes on when cadence is over 70.