Originally Posted by
350htrr
For me, the 350 watt assist is just right, it MAKES me pedal as it's not enough power to make it up without pedaling at anything more than lets say a 4% hill...I rode a 500 watt bike and it totally felt like riding a motorized bike, whereas my 350 watt still feels like a bicycle...
I suppose it depends on the total weight of bike and rider and your own pedal power.
For example on a conventional 9 kg road bike, plus my own 80 kg, I can climb up 25% hills (very slowly!) under my own power, which would be around 300W for a sustained climbing effort. Very hard work, but achievable. A 4% hill would be easy to climb even at sub 200W. Would barely break a sweat at a steady pace. A 350W power assist would make me fly up a 4% hill, even if the bike weight was doubled. I've ridden my daughter's 250W e-mtb and it makes very light work of our local 11% climb on maximum assist level. Another way to look at it is that 250W is the sort of power a decent amateur racer can put out for a few hours. 350W is World Tour Pro average power over a few hours. So having that sort of power on tap should be enough for something you would legitimately call a "bicycle".