Originally Posted by
fly135
There are some types of ebike motors that do regenerative braking. That means it recharges the battery when active. This creates a braking effect like lowering the gear in a car going downhill. It takes energy to recharge the battery and the braking effect is the consequence.
Yeah, my OneMotor system has regen braking but it's a friction drive using a belt, so wouldn't be the right thing for the OP. However, the regen definitely slows the bike down to a nice steady descent with my Burley Travoy and 40lbs of dog food on the back. So finding a good mid or rear drive system with functional regen could work. However, I'm more concerned about the OP not being able to see road hazards and having to fix a flat; maybe a mid-drive would be better in that case.