Yuba Mundo V3.3 - is now Stoke Monkey ready : )

[Warren]

"Wouldn't the pedals always turning tend to lead the rider to selct too high a gear? It would at least give the rider a clue what gear he'd selected at least, but wouldn't really encourage slecting a gear the motor likes."

If your bike is set up so that the most efficient motor rpm matches your most efficient pedaling rpm, you should tend to select the best gear. Choosing a higher gear will make you feel like a useless turd, just along for the ride. Of course, this depends on your world view. Choosing a lower gear makes you feel like you are doing all the work, and wonder why the hell you are hauling around all this extra weight. Choosing the correct gear gets you the most miles, at the highest average speed, that you, and the battery combined, can produce. It doesn't get any better.

 

[Rassy]

One of the chief advantages of Stokemonkey is that because you pedal along with the motor, you automatically shift to keep the motor in its efficient RPM range (if the bike was set up appropriately for your usual cadence). Make it freewheel the pedals, and you lose that advantage, plus the range and performance advantages that you get by contributing work at the pedals.

I know the Stoke Monkey guys tout this as a really good thing, but I don't agree at all. When I first put the mid-drive on my trike I did not put a freewheel crank on and it was a PITA. It may just be because I'm in my 70's, but if I broke my cadence for any reason without getting off the throttle first the motor would jerk the pedals.

On the other side of the issue, I do pedal almost all the time, and as soon as you apply any pedal assist the freewheel crank isn't being used anyway. You can "feel" the motor exactly the same as though you didn't have a freewheel crank.

 

[glend]

Stoked monkey on the yuba does look great but wouldn't it be simpler and cheaper to mount a geared hub directly in front of the crankset on the down tube behind just behind the front wheel. And then chain the motor to the outer chainring.