gears

[gray198]

looking at possibly buying a new bike (oxygen) . It has 21 gears. Just wondering what the view is on having the extra gears on ebike. Is there any benefit. I notice that a lot of the Kudos bikes have extra gears.

regards gray

 

[Woosh]

you only need the largest ring, you don't need the smaller rings.

 

[Benjahmin]

Depends where you live. I've got 16 and use 'em all.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The smallest chain-ring is handy if you ever run out of battery and have some steep hills to climb, otherwise you'll hardly ever move off the large chain-ring.

 

[anotherkiwi]

For me the ideal number would be 16 gears, 8 for going up hills even unpowered and 8 more for about 90% of the time. I am going to try just 10 to see if i can make that work but I will be cheating, I'll keep a granny chainring just in case.

 

[JPGiant]

It all depends on your personal needs, for me the Oxygen MTB is perfect.
There are some hills near me. ranging from 10 to 20%, as used in the Tour de Yorkshire that can catch you out as you slowly negotiate a corner only to be faced with a sharp incline - this is where the throttle comes in handy.
And some flat roads for the big ring.

 

[DynatechFan]

IMO it depends how steep and how you like to ride, ebikes really take the sting out of riding hills and headwinds so less gears can work, esp if you are happy with a leisurely approach

But my commuter bike has triple chainring and I like that, its pretty hilly here and by habit I like to ride a high cadence on the road and my commute isn't about leisure, though it is fun - lots of gears is about efficiency for me, granny ring is about safety net in case I run out of power through failure (or forgetting to charge up)

 

[Warwick]

I have an Oxygen eMate MTB. 90% of the time, when I'm commuting, I'm on the largest front chainring. However, when I go onto bridleways and encounter steep bits, having the option to change down to one of the smaller two rings is very useful. As was mentioned earlier, if the battery expires out on a ride, you need the lower gearing.

Having just had my bike revitalised by fitting a new drivetrain, ensure you keep the gears well maintained. It is annoying to have gears that won't change when you want/need them to, especially on rough stuff.

 

[Deleted member 22539]

I only have 8
And that’s more than enough with an E bike on or off road
In saying that it does depend on your fitness level as well as your usage so in the end only you can decide what’s right for you
Test ride one

 

[gray198]

thanks for all replies. I have only 7 on Freego Eagle which have been enough for the riding I have been doing , mainly old railway lines so nice and flat. However I would want to be varying it a bit with more hills so I think the gears may be handy