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Was the french one activated by just a hall effect sensor on the crank/BB? Those are the cheapest variety and you see them a lot, they pedal exactly as you describe, it just detects the crank is turning forward and assistance comes in, pretty basic in terms of electronics but useful in some circumstance (moving a lot of weight or just cruising about). The proper mid-drives are a very different experience. ITs worth trying a Shimano STEPS vs a Bosch eco/performance line as they both feel totally different as well.
+1 makes normal bikes feel slow, you quickly get used to the transition between them though.
BrickMan-
Yea I believe it was as you describe. It was effectively a Bafang rear motor drive, with the sketchy throttle on the handlebars. Couldn’t feel the twist under my glove and nearly revved it into the wall when putting it back in the shop. Did not enjoy.
There’s an incredibly small chance I’ll help out the bike shop at events, in which case I’ll try out all the brands and options to help sell to punters.
Just got back from taking the bike up a short relatively steep hill with a small but bulky heavy load on the sidecar. Had to collect a few bits. Rear wheel sounds awful, but once again I was glad for the stupidly low gearing I’ve got at the moment. Spinny. Keen to get it electrified though.
pdlouche
I tried out two electric cargo bikes earlier, for five or ten mins each, along a flat and a local hill, and traffic on junctions.
One is a fancy version of mine, the one that Tern made in conjunction with Xtracycle, with the fold-down handlebars and low back. Bosch motor I believe.
I also tried out the really agricultural basic style one that French Poste use for delivery. Bright yellow, 8Fun rear motor. Headtube mounted front rack, etc.
The Tern was excellent, nice little display with speedo and options for effort, I only used eco and touring, both felt like a good level of aid without going all cray. I should have tried the full assist, but the brakes were like dead-man’s-switches, the tiniest touch and I was skidding the rear and it would have been incredibly easy to endo even with the weight of the bike. As much as I disliked the ergo cockpit, it was otherwise an exceptional machine. Felt quite agile.
The chunky yellow French Poste style bike was a beast, and very different. Firstly it has totally put me off a headtube mounted front rack, or at least one as big as that had. It was distracting even when looking straight ahead. I suppose it is easy to get used to over time, but I already felt a little uncomfortable without any load in it. The super strong front stand was awesome though, I’d love a trolley style stand like that to prop the xtracycle up when stopped. Actual operation of the bike, handling felt good with the larger wheel size and geometry, but it was quite strange that as soon as you put a tiny bit of cadence, the motor really pulled the bike forward. As a result it wasn’t so easy to get a good pace or cadence unless you wanted to just go straight. It was too easy and certainly needed some extra controls to turn down the assistance.
Tl:dr - E-cargo is so so so super easy to ride, but felt a little strange that acceleration was effortless.
Then I had to cycle home on my non e-bike, in the rain, and it felt like shit 😂