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check my working.
I just bought a relatively cheap levo SL. first decent ride out last night and it seems massively overgeared, I don't think I used gears 1-3 even on the steepest climbs.
it has a massive 11-50 12 speed NX cassette that weighs a tonne and a shit NX mech/shifter.
10spd shimano 11-42 cassette and XT shifter/mech is going to be considerably more robust and a decent weight saving
Am I missing anything?
My Orbea Rise is 11-51 and front 32
I probably done use all that all the time but i definitely use them fairly regularly, you need to ride some steeper hills 😉
No joke it’s amazing what steep stuff you can get up
What kind of cadence are you pushing to?
If you're changing the whole drivetrain, then 11sp Linkglide with a 11-45t cassette? (or 10sp with 11-43t or 11-48t).
My ebike came with 10-50 12-sp GX cassette which isn't a complete boat anchor, but even with a 34t chainring I rarely (ever?) use the 50t cog. Might do a similar change when it needs it, even though it'd mean a new freehub body.
On mine I generally only use about 3 gears in the middle. top couple are above the speed limiter, bottom few only for really steep stuff but you can climb walls with it in bottom gear and full power. Unless you are running out of gears at the top then why change?
Where you using full power?
Edit - less wear when the chain is not at extremes?
forgot about the freehub body. that probably rules out 10spd although I'd like to change the rear wheel to 29 so that might sort that.
I'm rarely using full power, I've only just got it so my leg muscles haven't fully atrophied yet...
No, you are not missing anything!
It breaks my head that they come with T-Type which is utterly pointless on one. I probably use 6 gears at most on mine.
I’m just about to ditch it all for some Saint 10spd & run it with an 11-36 cassette (thankfully I run DT Swiss hubs so old HG free hubs are everywhere & cheap).
Its a bucket load lighter, more relevant to an ebike & I lose the fragile T-Type mechs, as the Saint is half the size.
Its even more relevant as ebike power increases, I hardly ever am above the 36T even on disgusting climbs.
have thought that if I were to have one, I would do exactly as Hobnob says. (plus I've got loads of old 10spd stuff).
Less weight on the rear axle, smaller thing to hit, 330% gear range enough if you have no desire to ride above the limiter and will always have the power to climb at above walking pace
I use all my gears.
Don't come crying about broken motors, you need to keep your cadence up, not grind away letting the motor do all the work. I see the turbo boys come sailing past on climbs with their legs hardly spinning. Great - if that's what you want to use it for, but you will decrease the life of the motor. Your choice.
That was a generalisation of a comment and not directed at anyone in particular in this thread btw - I get you might not need a 52t cog, you may not even want it on a normal bike, but the above words still stand if you are using too high gearing
Swap the chainring for something with more teeth then you'll start using the bigger bits of the cassette and spread the wear out a bit instead of the smaller cogs. Stuff should last a bit longer that way.
Like a few others have said, yes I use each and every gear. When I climb and I would change gear on a manual bike, I do exactly the same on my levo sl. Each to their own and all that and I know my husband NEVER uses his largest cog but that’s not how I ride bikes and how I want to ride my e-bike.
Just an observation - the only “speed limiter” on an e bike is your legs!
Only partially true. Your brain is the other one when you hit the 15mph wall and feel like you are riding through treacle. Turns out that's just what riding a bike without a motor feels like, but try telling your brain that 🙂Just an observation - the only “speed limiter” on an e bike is your legs!
As a first time eeb owner I am very keen to do what is right to keep the very expensive motor ticking along. As such, I follow the cadence rules and try to stay above 80 in any gear to stop pressure on motor and drive train. No idea if it actually helps, but I don't want a dead motor.
Just an observation - the only “speed limiter” on an e bike is your legs!
Have you actually tried pedalling a 180mm travel, 55lb bike on DH casing tyres AFTER you've just had a motor helping you out? 🤣 It's horrific
So, you are all lazy!
I use all my gears. I keep assistance relatively low and spin. I love my bike as it compensates for my lack of performance, and let's me still do epic rides in big places. Charging around in turbo isn't for me (yet).
I’ll ride it a bit more before making any significant changes.
I think I need to tinker/understand with the power/ease settings a bit
Ive run a 11-42 on my orbea wild for the past 2 years with the stock 34t chainring. I regularly visit Wales and 'big mountain' rides. But I recently swapped to a 36t ring (I'd worn out the 34) as I had found the gearing was a little high, so I've just put a 11-50 cassette on that I had spare, big I can't see me using 1st gear regularly.
In an ideal world I'd run a 30t ring and 9-40t cassette. The group set manufacturers need to wake up to ebike gearing imo.
After what I wrote above, this thread has spurred me on to pull my finger out of my backside to buy the bits and pull the T-Type off my bike.
Replaced with a Saint 10spd mech, XTR shifter off eBay, new XT 11-36 cassette & a couple of XT chains. All for less than one heavily discounted GX T-Type cassette.
Like @Golfchick, I use all my gears, and I try to change down gear, rather than upping the assistance. So I ride my e-bike like a normal bike, only as if I’m an Olympic athlete, rather than a busted guttie.
Would be really interesting to see people’s cadence info for those who don’t use a full 11-50 cassette etc. I ride roughly 90rpm, just because I’ve always ridden bikes/still have a normal road bike
Comes back to some extent I guess to how people use e-bikes
As has been said cadence is the key especially on a half fat bike and also using the gears to be as sympathetic to the motor .
Would be really interesting to see people’s cadence info for those who don’t use a full 11-50 cassette etc. I ride roughly 90rpm, just because I’ve always ridden bikes/still have a normal road bike
Comes back to some extent I guess to how people use e-bikes
I ride at a fairly high cadence and rarely use all the gears
Use all my gears just like GolfChick, oldfart etc…
Not only that but I’ve even gone down 2T on the chainring size too…
Theres zero point having gears for work much above 20mph on an ebike, especially a UK/EU market restricted one…
Danny McAskill did a video a little while ago and in it he said his main piece of advice to any new eBiker was to ditch the large chainring they tend to come with and fit the smallest one you can get hold of to make the bike more usable…
I guess if you only ever use your eBike for a “power hour” from home and only ever in the highest power settings a 36T smallest cog would suffice. Did a 50km ride with 1700m of climbing weekend before last (as someone who’s still not fully bike fit again after extended illnesses), used all my gears, predominantly Tour+ mode (but a bit of eco and eMTB when required) and finished with 35% of an 800Wh battery left too… Doing similar distance and climbing tomorrow and will also be using all my gears I suspect.
So if you ever plan on riding all day on big terrain, then those gears will be invaluable at some point!
I dont get the need for 12 speed.
I was at an E-MTB rental place in Spain last year and the mechanic told me they switch all their rental bikes to 10speed coz it's more durable and cheaper to maintain.
When the drivetrain on my Haibike Nduro7 wore out I switched to 9 speed. SunRace RDM900 rear derailleur - the only one I could find with a clutch - 11-50t cassette, KMC e9 chain and Deore shifter. Works fine.
I do tend to pedal at a high cadence anyway but I don't mind cranking it up a hill on max power either. Is that bad for the motor? I doubt it. The cause of 90%+ motor failures is water ingress. I'd sooner worry about that.