Asher
Well-Known Member
I read a little more elsewhere and apparently the very small rear cogs do have a few watts more drivetrain friction - which is enough to sway races, and maybe hard road riding, but it seems well below 5% for a class 3 hub motor e-bike like ours. Given that we are already limited to a 1x drivetrain, the net loss may be negligible, given the smaller steps between gears enabled by a smaller chainrings. Like gravel, we are not riding in optimal conditions (uninterrupted perfect roads, no traffic, peloton, etc)Thanks for that link -- very informative and nicely written. Gravel gearing seems like a good starting point for a 60-pound ebike that you might have to ride home on a dead battery -- especially if you live in a hilly place, run hybrid to fat/knobby tires, and prefer lower PAS levels when you still have juice.
Just one small niggle: Judging from some of the jaw-dropping ocean-view mansions and $500,000+ cars I see around San Diego -- especially in La Jolla and Del Mar -- I think some of these folks could afford to have roads repaved before their rides.
Also the 38t is the lowest you can go without changing the crankset on a juiced, and I'm not sure there's much net benefit to going lower anyway.
![www.velonews.com](https://velo-cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ChainLine.BK_-1080x720.jpeg?width=1200)
Gear Issue: Friction differences between 1X and 2X drivetrains
Lennard Zinn put 1x and 2x drivetrains to the test at CeramicSpeed USA's laboratory to discover which produces more friction.
![www.velonews.com](https://velo-cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Velo-Favicon.png)