Noob question, is Shifting Gears Required on Ebike?

[tomtom123]

i don't have an ebike...yet....

so i was wondering if your running an ebike without pedaling at all, exclusively using the motor, do you need to shift gears at all? i mean the gears are only meant for the a human to control the power exerted via pedaling to the rear wheel right? so with a motor, you're getting power directly from the wheel so you don't need to shift gears at all correct? or am i wrong? Or do you still need to shift gears like in a motorcycle?

 

[maurtis]

It depends on your setup. If you are talking about a hub motor, then no, the gears are only used by the rider when pedaling. Some mid-drive setups allow you to use the gears to shift, though, allowing for a wider spread of power.

 

[tomtom123]

It depends on your setup. If you are talking about a hub motor, then no, the gears are only used by the rider when pedaling. Some mid-drive setups allow you to use the gears to shift, though, allowing for a wider spread of power.

yea that would make sense

 

[DAND214]

i don't have an ebike...yet....

so i was wondering if your running an ebike without pedaling at all, exclusively using the motor, do you need to shift gears at all? i mean the gears are only meant for the a human to control the power exerted via pedaling to the rear wheel right? so with a motor, you're getting power directly from the wheel so you don't need to shift gears at all correct? or am i wrong? Or do you still need to shift gears like in a motorcycle?

No and Yes.
You don't have to pedal or shirt if you don't want to BUT,
seeing that you live in NY it would be advised since Ebikes are illegal in NY.

Also shifting does help range and how well you accelerate. Climbing hills might need assistance specialy if you are running Mid Drive.

The best way to stay under the radar is to pedal at the proper cadence to the speed you are traveling.

So the answer still is Yes and No. It's kinda up to you.

Dan

 

[mlt34]

My ebikes spend nearly their entire lives in highest gear. This is because I usually only pedal when I am going up a steep enough hill to bog down the motor. "Slow" for an ebike is still in the mid to upper range of bicycle gearing on most bikes.

When I pass a cop, I "mime" pedal so it doesn't look too suspicious.

 

[dogman dan]

I use the shifters on my Ebikes in two situations.

One is off road trail riding. Either I want to pedal with assist the whole way but at speeds that vary with the grade, or I want to ride without pedaling and only pedal when the motor is suffering from climbing a hill that is insanely steep. Either way, you want to be in the correct gear at the moment.

The other situation I have not been in for years. My first hubmotors were of the faster winding type. This made taking off from the many stop signs when riding in the city center use a lot of power. So I had to practice pedaling hard to get going each stop or run my battery dead before getting home. I would shift down two gears, get going, then back to the highest gear at about 15 mph. This sort of mirrored the way I rode when young, I never shifted down very far then.

You may have noticed that I get on a high horse about this fast motor thing. It sucked having to shift constantly, but if your ride is short, you may not have the problem I did with a long ride home. The main bike I use on the street nowdays has a middle speed winding rather than a fast one. With plenty of power at hand, I never downshift that bike, ever. It just stays in 48-14, and if I ride it faster than 20 mph I just stop pedaling.

You'll see that approach preached a lot here, more power, and who cares anymore about gearing or pedaling? But it's not for everybody. When people are not interested in speeds above 20 mph, I push them to get slower motors, but run them at 48v. This gets them their cake and eating it too. They never have to pedal, even on very steep hills, but they can always pedal if they wish to. Only if they want to go less than 20 mph would they shift down. But the main thing is they never get forced to shift gears by the motor not performing good enough.

You do want to be able to somehow shift down, if you break down or run a battery dry. A front derailur can be removed, but the chain can be put on a smaller gear with your hand when stopped.

 

[friendly1uk]

I have a hub motor, which was nice when the chain snapped. I do pedal though. Right to my top speed of ~28mph. This meant using 52/12 gearing. I will drop it down a couple to help it on hills, but use even the lowest gears when my battery dies.