News I tried to ride Trek’s new ebike up the steepest hill in Seattle — and it didn’t go as planned

[admin]

Is Trek’s latest commuter-friendly electric bike a match for the steepest climb in town?

I tried to ride Trek’s new ebike up the steepest hill in Seattle — and it didn’t go as planned : Read more

 

[dhdallas]

"Packing a fairly powerful 250W rear hub motor, with three levels of e-assist, users can reach speeds up to 20-plus MPH" A 250w motor is nowhere near "fairly powerful". It is better than nothing (but not much). When you consider this ebike weighs over 43 pounds compared to a regular bike weighing only half that, a big chunk of the motors power is needed just to match the rider's effort on a non-ebike. If you live in a flat state like Florida where I live during winter, 250w is the bare minimum & will work (just), but when I come back to Pennsylvania, I need my 750w with 9 PAS levels to get up our hills. Trek ebikes are overpriced and under-powered. You can get a way better ebike from Ride1Up, Rad Power Bikes, Lectric, Aventon, and more with larger motors, more PAS levels AND for less money!

BTW: Yes, I have ridden Trek ebikes. I own 4 ebikes and have also ridden ebikes from the companies listed above.

 

[yoooooooo]

"reach speeds up to 20-plus MPH fairly easily (that’s 9,743 Kilometers per hour for my non-US readers). "
That's 6054.02 miles per hour- now that's an e bike!

 

[cvr20]

250W seems extremely weak, even sub $1000 you would get 500w peak and 1310W of peak with the $2000 Lectric ONE eBike

 

[ThreeDots]

A 250 W hub motor is the least power ebike and the worst match for Seattle hills you could pick, tbf, besides a single speed.

A 250 W mid-drive (or 500+ W mid from Evelo or some of the custom built brands) that can work with the gears to amplify the power from the motor is one thing or a 750 W hub that can just straight push with you would be much different experience. It's still hard and if you only have pedal assist, there's still that moment of "Oh, crap!" as your pedaling slows if you didn't pick a good gear and can't down-shift quickly enough to keep the motor engaged, but it's a totally different matter than doing*maybe* 100ish W on your own plus the mechanical advantage of the gears plus the 250 W vs >350 W with the mechanical advantage of the gears or just the straight 750 W plus your 100 ish W own pedaling.