Noob question about pedaling

big-o

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Lynchburg, TN.
I have never had a motorized bicycle before. If you choose not to use the motor can one still pedal without a lot of drag. I still want to use the bike for fitness. I want the motor to help me out on hills and when I get tired. I have congestive heart failure and bike riding is really good for cardio.
 
Yes you can still pedal w/o the engine but there is major chain drag so it is a lot harder to pedal.... The best way to describe pedaling a motor bike is like pedaling a heavy mtn bike in a high gear, you can do it but it's just extra exercise and most people that put motors on bicycles try to AVOID pedaling lol:p
 
Yes you can still pedal w/o the engine but there is major chain drag so it is a lot harder to pedal.... The best way to describe pedaling a motor bike is like pedaling a heavy mtn bike in a high gear, you can do it but it's just extra exercise and most people that put motors on bicycles try to AVOID pedaling lol:p

Thats what I thought. I was only wanting the engine as a backup. I have congestive heart failure and the bike riding is great exercise. i guess I'll not be motorizing my bike after all. Thats a real bummer.
 
Umm. Here is another perspective and something a lot of e-bikers do. They keep the engine on low assist or in your case near idle rpm/speed and then use more power on hills and such. The idle rpm will overcome the engine resist and possibly give you a little assist; you can adjust the idle speed such that it is very near equilibrium with motor resist. Then on hills you would just use more power or turn the throttle. Also, the e-bikers where previously without the ebike would go say 10 miles now they will go 30 miles for the same effect (monitoring heartrate/calories). You get to see more for the same workout.

Long story short: this has been tackled by e-bikers and in your case, I would get a motor and set the idle speed/power as close to motor resist as possible. It wont use much gas and then just use the motor when you need to go up the hill. You can also set the idle rpm higher and then lower it as you gain more strength in your legs or endurance. I also recommend getting a friction drive in case you want to lift the motor off the wheel for no resist and no engine.
 
Umm. Here is another perspective and something a lot of e-bikers do. They keep the engine on low assist or in your case near idle rpm/speed and then use more power on hills and such. The idle rpm will overcome the engine resist and possibly give you a little assist; you can adjust the idle speed such that it is very near equilibrium with motor resist. Then on hills you would just use more power or turn the throttle. Also, the e-bikers where previously without the ebike would go say 10 miles now they will go 30 miles for the same effect (monitoring heartrate/calories). You get to see more for the same workout.

Long story short: this has been tackled by e-bikers and in your case, I would get a motor and set the idle speed/power as close to motor resist as possible. It wont use much gas and then just use the motor when you need to go up the hill. You can also set the idle rpm higher and then lower it as you gain more strength in your legs or endurance. I also recommend getting a friction drive in case you want to lift the motor off the wheel for no resist and no engine.

Thats good to hear. Would this bike be a good candidate for the motorized conversion? I know I will have to make some changes to the bike itself, such as changing the shifters out, maybe the neck for the handlebars. At some point add disk brakes. These are things that can be done in steps.
 

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That looks like a 29" bike. It might require some more work to ease the pineapple ragjoint sprocket in if you are going with an in-frame engine. If you are going with a friction drive, just make sure the tires do not have too many tire knobs in the middle of the tire as friction drives don't work too well with very knobby tires. I know there are tires where the middle is less knobby or flat and the sides are more knobby.

Also, double check if a 29" frame/tire will take a friction drive. I feel like it should since you can move it up and down the locking bars, but double check.
 
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Why not disconnect engine side chain by removing its master link and removing chain from cprocket and not from gear of engine . and holding/griping the (now open chain) with cycle body.
Free to go to bicycle ;)
And when want engine on , simply put chain over sprocket and connect masterlink.

What say??
 
Disconnect the master link in the chain? He is joking, right. That will never be convenient and you should not keep disconnecting the master link unless required since you could bend the connecting pin. Also, you will have a dragging chain, be difficult to reconnect on the road (chain tension), and your hands will be super grimy all the time. He is joking.
 
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