I am looking for an e-bike or conversion that tops out at 5 MPH

[klopter]

Here's the deal: i want to do almost all of my own work. But, I am getting older and can't climb hills like I used to. I would like an e-bike that will get me up a hill at 5 MPH, hey even 3 or 4 MPH would work for me. But, if I want to go faster than that, I have to do the pedaling.

Thoughts?

 

[klopter]

250W I think is minimum standard to considered an ebike.
Good luck! man

That is good information. What would you call a bike with a 100W motor? Is there such a thing as an e-assist bike? Seriously I don't care if it is called an e-bike. I just want something that will make it possible to include hills on my longer rides. I also wonder if any speed throttles out there can be set to top out at 5 MPH. Thanks again.

 

[Member 4888]

Here's the deal: i want to do almost all of my own work. But, I am getting older and can't climb hills like I used to. I would like an e-bike that will get me up a hill at 5 MPH, hey even 3 or 4 MPH would work for me. But, if I want to go faster than that, I have to do the pedaling.

Thoughts?

1st of all it's almost impossible to ride and 5 mph or under, you're talking about the average person walking speed. If you own a bike and are happy with it add a BaFang mid-drive, battery, and input control. The motors come in 250W, 500W, 750W, and 1000W. If you live in America I suggest the 750W since it will still be a Class-1 ebikes and able to ride anywhere bicycles are allowed. The motor doesn't dictate the possible top speed as much as the bikes gearing. Mount the motor and see what you think.

 

[ozzie21]

How can this be a serious thread? It should be quite simple. If someone is physically impaired just get a basic eBike and the speed and power should be able to be easily controlled. Although for getting the most out of any eBike I would suggest getting more (as in power and battery) and you should be able to easily get into the settings and program how much power you want to give yourself.

 

[PeteCress]

Here's the deal: i want to do almost all of my own work. But, I am getting older and can't climb hills like I used to. I would like an e-bike that will get me up a hill at 5 MPH, hey even 3 or 4 MPH would work for me. But, if I want to go faster than that, I have to do the pedaling.

My use case seems tb similar to yours except that I can't ride a bike and have to use a trike.

I am about 195# and the trike is another hundred. If I can make it to July, I will be 81 years old.. and not in particularly good health.

My experience over the past year is that an extra 350 watts will get me and the trike up any hill in the area at 3 mph - that's with me pedaling reasonably hard, but not killing myself.

My steepest hill is about 8 degrees at it's steepest and 1.5 miles long. 8 degrees is *really< steep... Not San Francisco steep, but a normal, healthy, fit person will be breathing hard just walking up it.

I have a geared hub and my lowest gear is something ridiculous like less than 26 inches. In my highest gear, I start getting spun out over about 18 mph. Spun out for me is somewhere in the high eighties cadence-wise.

Generally, hardware-wise, we're talking "Pedelec" mid-drive - where the motor is mounted on the bike's bottom bracket and there is a sensor behind the crank arms that can feel how much I am putting out and a controller in the motor that adds to my effort - more, less, or nothing depending on what assistance level I select by pushing a button on the handle bars.

Specifically, I am using a Tongsheng 52v "TSDZ2" motor and a 14 ah battery. The motor is rated for up to 750 watts, but I have it capped at 400. The way I use it, that combination has 30-45 miles on it with the battery never charged more than 80% or drained to less than 20%. Motor + battery came to a little less than a grand. They can be easily installed on just about any bike in about an hour if one knows what they are doing.

I dial up some assist whenever I find myself grinding up a hill or into a headwind. The rest of the time I ride with zero assist.

There's more....Reliable sources aftermarket firmware... Gearing considerations...Ping me if you are interested and I will tell what I know...

 

[Train Dan]

For the OP, don't overthink it. My Trek hybrid has four power settings; against a hard hill, the highest setting gets me up. But I judge my setting to what gives me a steady cadence without working too hard.
But if you only want minimal boost, turn down, or even turn off, the power. It's under your control.
Dan

 

[ozzie21]

For the OP, don't overthink it. My Trek hybrid has four power settings; against a hard hill, the highest setting gets me up. But I judge my setting to what gives me a steady cadence without working too hard.
But if you only want minimal boost, turn down, or even turn off, the power. It's under your control.
Dan

Eggzakly......in my opinion there doesn't need to be a lot of discussion over this subject......

 

[ozzie21]

Walk @klopter your fat self up the hill. 6mph is your goal.

Be kind now. Some people have physical disabilities you know. Then again it could just be someone trolling the forum with stupid BS. Who can say?

 

[Deleted member 4845]

You can buy an 80 watt ebike motor. Several different types, in fact.

Use a PAS limit, or, a three-speed controller and careful throttle control will do it. Maybe invest $50 in a Magura or Domino throttle.

One of the great benefits of an Ebike, is that the average person can easily build their own, and they can make that ebike into what THEY WANT, not REPEAT not what someone else thinks they should have.

Low-speed setting, less than full throttle, on a 260 or 220RPM motor, in a 26" or smaller wheel, should come real close to desired spec, for this OP.

There are far too many people who insist that THEIR WAY is the ONLY WAY. There is a very good reason Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors. There is no "best".

 

[Train Dan]

All I know, my hybrid has put me back on a bike after a long hiatus (punctuated by an accident), and it's simply great to be able to do a 20 miler. It still gets me some serious, prolonged exercise, and lets me cover some real ground on one of our local rail trails.
I'm not in too bad a shape for a codger, but I'm still a codger. The E bike has pleased me more than anything in a long time.
Dan

 

[hugh]

I'm going to chime in on this one. My latest homemade delta has a 1000 watt capable direct drive hub motor, the Magic Pie from golden motor. In order to enable PAS a Cycle Analyst from Grin tech was wired into it. With that you can set the power level. So far I limit it to 220 watts which provides enough speed for me on this trike, between 17 and 22 kph roughly depending on the slope on the road. It also allows the user to set a speed limit.