# Low wattage pedal assist?



## FishFright (17 Nov 2018)

Asking for a future me ..

After riding a handful of Ebikes they all seem rather highly powered and I'm wondering if there exists a low watt / small battery set up * either available or in the planning stage.

* for example adding 50 watts (wheel power) to assist a little on the steeper hills .


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## Racing roadkill (17 Nov 2018)

FishFright said:


> Asking for a future me ..
> 
> After riding a handful of Ebikes they all seem rather highly powered and I'm wondering if there exists a low watt / small battery set up * either available or in the planning stage.
> 
> * for example adding 50 watts (wheel power) to assist a little on the steeper hills .


The miriad of non e mountain bikes / e roadies out there typically have gentler assist powers.


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## FishFright (17 Nov 2018)

Racing roadkill said:


> The miriad of non e mountain bikes / e roadies out there typically have gentler assist powers.



I probably didn't explain myself well.

All the ones I've tried have a low power setting but come with a heavy high power motor and even heavier large battery .. What I am thinking about is the combination of a lighter low power motor and a much smaller and lighter battery to suit.

Everything I've had a play with have way too much unwanted (by me) assist even on low and very heavy battery packs.


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## Racing roadkill (17 Nov 2018)

FishFright said:


> I probably didn't explain myself well.
> 
> All the ones I've tried have a low power setting but come with a heavy high power motor and even heavier large battery .. What I am thinking about is the combination of a lighter low power motor and a much smaller and lighter battery to suit.
> 
> Everything I've had a play with have way too much unwanted (by me) assist even on low and very heavy battery packs.


Ah, gotcha. I don’t know where the smaller lighter tech thing is at present, to be fair.


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## jowwy (17 Nov 2018)

FishFright said:


> I probably didn't explain myself well.
> 
> All the ones I've tried have a low power setting but come with a heavy high power motor and even heavier large battery .. What I am thinking about is the combination of a lighter low power motor and a much smaller and lighter battery to suit.
> 
> Everything I've had a play with have way too much unwanted (by me) assist even on low and very heavy battery packs.


Look at the orbea gain or the ribble ebike......both are rear hub drive though, but low torque and light battery too


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## NickWi (26 Nov 2018)

jowwy said:


> Look at the orbea gain or the ribble ebike......both are rear hub drive though, but low torque and light battery too



+1 For the Orbea Gain. 
Admittedly I have a biased view being the owner of one of their fine machines, but back to your point. Via the app you can adjust the power levels of the assist *down*. On mine I’ve adjusted the Low Power Assist by 50% so it’s barely noticeable when you’re riding on the flat or on a rolling terrain, however I’ve left the Middle and High settings at the default levels for the hills & headwinds.

This seems to go against what a lot of ebike riders want, i.e. power, power and more power/speed, but on a lightweight bike like the Gain it makes a lot of sense. They are light enough to be ridden ‘normally’ but you get the reward of lugging that little bit of extra weight when it comes to the hills.


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