The_Aleman
Well-Known Member
With the motor you'll find you really don't need a ton of speeds because the motor takes up a range of pedal speed therefore you will be pedaling and it will do nothing.
thing about multi speeds, if your engine has a pretty broad range of torque, multi speeds will not gain much in acceleration bcs of the downtime req'd for shifting.
I disagree with this. Using my 7-speed Shimano MegaRange with an HT66 and 34T as an example, here was my method for max acceleration:
From a stop, pedal off the line in 2nd gear, shift to 4th gear. Let out clutch, give gas, pedal until shift to 7th gear, give gas and pedal harder. This gave me very good acceleration from 0-35MPH, much much moreso than without pedaling at all, and a bike shift is under 1 second. Having a wide range of pedal ratios will help acceleration significantly - especially against the wind or uphill. In a headwind I'd shift to 6th gear instead of 7th. My 6th gear was 46-14, my 7th gear was 46-11.
Pedal power greatly adds to the overall torque in one's drivetrain if you're geared for it. A multispeed-pedaled CG bike will have much more overall acceleration than a singlespeed-pedaled CG bike if engines are equal.
ex. a v12 viper has like the broadest torque band of anything ever made lol and 1st + 2nd gear will get you to any desired speed up to over 120mph quickly
Vipers have a V10, and modern turbo engines have a much broader torque band thanks to electronic wizardry. A VW/Audi 1.8T makes max torque from 1800-5000 for example, many turbo engines are similar. Also a Viper can't hit 120MPH even in 3rd gear unless it has a diff numerically lower than 3.00:1. A 3.07:1-equipped Viper (numerically lowest available diff from factory) will hit 114MPH in 3rd gear at redline. Sorry, don't mean to sidetrack here, I'm just a huge fan of the Viper, and having driven one once, the immense torque it has might get one thinking it can do more than it actually can. They can start out of 3rd gear without touching the throttle!
If you're looking for a multi speed shifter bike with a jack shaft I recommend the Nuvinci hub.
I wouldn't recommend a NuVinci for anything but pedal power or very mild electric assist. The original N171 (discontinued in 2010) can handle engine assist, but the later ones can't. The N360 (250W limit) and N380 (350W limit) will grenade with even a mild HT48. Gas engines produce torque spikes that those hubs don't like. They also take very expensive fluid that they love to seep out when hot.
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Anyway, I'm pretty sure OP is just asking which bike to start out with for a typical starter build. We might be confusing him a little