Recently became interested in e-bikes and did some online searching and came to this forum. Seems like a good place to hang out.
Have been lurking for some time but now have lots of Q's, but I'll limit it to one at a time.
First of all, I have been thinking of the Wilderness BL36 front hub with a 36V 10ah battery. I am wondering how good this will be for a hill climb. I have about 2kms of straight uphill to do on my commute to work, but only a half a km is at 7% slope, and the rest is less than that. I plan on pedalling as well, but not as much. My commute is about 6.5 kms and I can normally do that in just over 16 mins. on a regular bike. This is about 24kph on average, but I usually am all sweaty and hot when I arrive at work, or when I come back home.
I note that the max speed of the BL36 is 32kph, but how would this fair on a 7% hill climb. Obviously not 32kph, but will it normally be faster than pedalling? I tried a BL36 on a 20" rim at GWEV here in Vancouver, and it was super slow. I could run faster than the bike. The bike nearly died to a walking pace going up a slight hill. Am I going to be expecting something this slow if I am used to going 24+ kph on human power alone? BTW, I weigh 165lbs and the bike (mountain bike) is about 30lbs or so, not including the kit.
I am not averse to speed on a bike. I have gone over 50kph on human power alone on my road bike, plus I also ride a motorcyle, but those commuting days may be numbered as I will have to pay for motorcycle parking soon, hence going back to cycling.
Distance on the batt. is not what I really need as the round trip is 13km. With this distance and pedal assistance, I figure I can charge every second day to save on the battery life. I would like to do a commute faster than the 16mins I can do right now. In fact, earlier this year, I passed a ebiker on my road bike on a relatively flat portion of my commute. I figure he wasn't going at full throttle. :?
Have been lurking for some time but now have lots of Q's, but I'll limit it to one at a time.
First of all, I have been thinking of the Wilderness BL36 front hub with a 36V 10ah battery. I am wondering how good this will be for a hill climb. I have about 2kms of straight uphill to do on my commute to work, but only a half a km is at 7% slope, and the rest is less than that. I plan on pedalling as well, but not as much. My commute is about 6.5 kms and I can normally do that in just over 16 mins. on a regular bike. This is about 24kph on average, but I usually am all sweaty and hot when I arrive at work, or when I come back home.
I note that the max speed of the BL36 is 32kph, but how would this fair on a 7% hill climb. Obviously not 32kph, but will it normally be faster than pedalling? I tried a BL36 on a 20" rim at GWEV here in Vancouver, and it was super slow. I could run faster than the bike. The bike nearly died to a walking pace going up a slight hill. Am I going to be expecting something this slow if I am used to going 24+ kph on human power alone? BTW, I weigh 165lbs and the bike (mountain bike) is about 30lbs or so, not including the kit.
I am not averse to speed on a bike. I have gone over 50kph on human power alone on my road bike, plus I also ride a motorcyle, but those commuting days may be numbered as I will have to pay for motorcycle parking soon, hence going back to cycling.
Distance on the batt. is not what I really need as the round trip is 13km. With this distance and pedal assistance, I figure I can charge every second day to save on the battery life. I would like to do a commute faster than the 16mins I can do right now. In fact, earlier this year, I passed a ebiker on my road bike on a relatively flat portion of my commute. I figure he wasn't going at full throttle. :?