Pedelec Comfort with Full Suspension

[Rod Fuller]

Am I expecting too much? Power Cruiser with front and rear suspension. Wheels are Haufang HF 0210 26 x 1.50, Tyres are CST MTB Traction All Seasons.
When I first had the machine the front forks did not move when applying the front brake and leaning forward, this has been rectified with WD40.
I am talking about road use, or designated cycle paths parallel with the road, the machine does not apear to be more comfortable than a normal mountain bike.
The suspension, is it there to absorb pot holes and kerbs for example, but not necessarily in addition to provide a comfortable ride?

 

[flecc]

The problem with suspension on bicycles is the potential for losing pedal effort due to soft suspension absorbing the downthrust effort, and this particularly applies to rear suspension. Basically the bike bouncing down with each pedal thrust and only some of the pedal effort driving the bike forward. Worse still is that with soft suspension, the suspension's spring rebound of absorbed pedal effort will mostly be out of synch with the cadence and will therefore often subtract further.

It is possible to arrange the rear suspension in such a way as to minimise these losses, but such arrangements are more expensive. The simple swing arm direct thrust rear suspension on your bike is particularly prone to loss of pedal effort, necessitating enough stiffness to oppose that. The end result is what you've found, not much comfort gain.

The form of rear suspension shown below is much better at minimising pedal effort loss, pedal downthrust effort being fed in two directions, into the suspension and back to the rear wheel with the geometry roughly balancing those to keep the bike level under pedal thrusts. There have been even more complex arrangements to gain more efficiency.

 

[Rod Fuller]

The problem with suspension on bicycles is the potential for losing pedal effort due to soft suspension absorbing the downthrust effort, and this particularly applies to rear suspension. Basically the bike bouncing down with each pedal thrust and only some of the pedal effort driving the bike forward. Worse still is that with soft suspension, the suspension's spring rebound of absorbed pedal effort will mostly be out of synch with the cadence and will therefore often subtract further.

It is possible to arrange the rear suspension in such a way as to minimise these losses, but such arrangements are more expensive. The simple swing arm direct thrust rear suspension on your bike is particularly prone to loss of pedal effort, necessitating enough stiffness to oppose that. The end result is what you've found, not much comfort gain.

The form of rear suspension shown below is much better at minimising pedal effort loss, pedal downthrust effort being fed in two directions, into the suspension and back to the rear wheel with the geometry roughly balancing those to keep the bike level under pedal thrusts. There have been even more complex arrangements to gain more efficiency.

 

[Rod Fuller]

Flecc, thank you for a detailed reply. I was hoping that once I get more power out of this 250W motor, that I would not have to pedal so much, as in my previous 1000W super byke,combined with a softer suspension. I have set the rear coill spring to minimum, but have not noticed the difference.

 

[SRS]

I have several bikes, 3 with front only and my non ebike with full suspension.
All are MTB's and on the road I generally lock out the suspension/s.

A bit of bobbin off road is fine but on the road just feel wrong and with MTB tyres at say 25-30 psi your should get a comfy soft ride anyway.

If you feel the bikes not comfy on the road without the suspension, perhaps try playing with the pressure / sag values. This assumes that the suspension is of the air spring type.