Ill admit, when I first started to ride and review ebikes, I thought much the same.
More power for the money always seemed like a good idea.
How else was I going to get up that one nasty hill?
They tell you even less about how much you might actuallyenjoyriding and living with a bike.
If youve already tried out several ebikes, chances are you know what you want.
Im not here to judge you.
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This isnt always the case.
Yet most of the ebikes sold in Europe are limited to 250W.
Does that mean that European ebikes are all weaksauce?
(For a more technical explanation of how this is possible,ebikeschool.comhas a good writeuphere.)
Sure, the 750W hub motors Ive riddengenerallyfeel faster than the 250W hub motors (not always!
This all gets further muddled by the lack of global standards around how ebike watts and torque are measured.
Any manufacturer can claim 200 Nm of torque, but there isnt an easy way to verify it.
On some bikes, these curves are even customizable.
A bikes geometry and drivetrain can affect the feeling of assistance as well.
There are advantages to less powerful ebikes
But lets imagine that specifications werent so unreliable.
Do you actuallywantall that power?
If youre new to ebikes, you might not know how much power you actually need.
Maybe you want an ebike purely to get you from point A to B as quickly as possible.
Perhaps you rely on your bike for your job.
Or maybe youre just a speed demon.
But if that doesnt quite sound like you, you shouldnt just dismiss low-power ebikes out of hand.
They can have many advantages of their own.
While notallebikes with weaker motors are light, theyre certainly more likely to be.
Some potential advantages of these types of ebikes include:
How much power do you really need?
If youre altogether new to cycling, you might overestimate how much power you really need or even want.
Sure, its still fun to zip around at 28mph with minimal effort.
These days, power and speed numbers barely factor into what I choose to ride next.
If thats not feasible, I suggest looking up user impressions on the bike or even specific components.
You may find you dont need all that much power after all.
