friendly1uk said:
I hope 15.5mph bike users are not being forced to say 15-20 when they themselves would be comfortable going quicker. It is more the users prefeerance I'm interested in, not their bikes competency.
Remember that like I posted above, it's hard to know your preference if you arent' allowed to ride faster than a certain speed--you might prefer it if you try it long enough to get used to it. I can't, here, so I can't know if I'd prefer it or not.
So it isnt' a matter of the bike's competency so much as it is that the law and enforcement doesn't allow for the opportunity to try it long enough term to find out if the bike *is* competent or not.
I can say that it's fun on an isolated kart track where there's no cars to run me over, and the road's not full of holes, ridges, bumps, construction debris, etc. But I can't know what it is like to ride like that regularly on my normal local streets because it's not allowed, so I also cant' know if I'd like it.
I expect there's a fair number of people like that, especially over in the EU and Down Under where it's even more restrictive than most places in the USA.
(At least here in AZ, I don't have a power limit so while I can't go faster I can still get *to* that speed PDQ).
I have spent a long time trying to justify DD motors. They never even come close though. Only serving people that want to go fast. Hence asking how fast people like to go.
DD motors don't only serve speed-demons.
THey also serve those that overheat or break the gears and clutches in geared motors due to heavy cargo loads, frequent complete stops and starts, etc. And those that don't like the noise of the gears and/or the whine of the fast motor inside. People like me.
I thought geared motors would be better for my needs because of all the reasons others had liked them, but for me they don't work becuase they break: Either they get so hot inside the halls stop working (temporarily or permanently), or the gear teeth start pulling out at the roots, or the clutch disc actually cracks thru.
Heck, I've overheated single DD motors too, with some of the neighborhoods that have complete stops pretty much every single intersection--getting a heavy load restarted from a stop every few dozen feet sucks up power real quick. But at least they can shed heat easier (without modification) than the geared ones, becuase there's at least one less layer of stuff between the stator and the air outside.
PReviously I've used other motors thru the bike drivetrain, some with their own gearboxes, and while they've got plenty of pulling power, they break things often, if alignment isn't perfect (and alignment apparently doesn't ever stay perfect, for me, on my bikes).
That's a part of why I have 2WD DD motors now.
I'm also not a fan of the noise of any of the geared systems I've tried so far (thru the drivetrain or otherwise), though I haven't yet tried a DD-hub-powered-thru-the-bike-drivetrain, which would probably fix the noise.