Originally Posted by
Chuckles1
Some ebikes, like my 500W geared rear hub drive from a kit, have somewhat crude pedal assist. I set mine up for 5 levels of power assist. It goes roughly 10, 15, 20, 24, 28 mph in each level.it acts like cruise control in an auto, only with 5 preset speeds, instead of being able to set any speed as in an auto. So some ebikes don't have the ability to tweak their speed to match group speed. Ebikes like mine could stay at the rear, and fall back and catch up at will so as not to disrupt steadier speeds of human only powered cyclists.
This sums up the problem very well. There is little finesse to the PAS if the system is based only on crank rotation, not torque. I find it nearly impossible to smoothly "idle along" below 10 - 12 mph when caught in traffic. It can be done roughly by quickly tapping a brake to cut the power and limit the surge, but it is still a nuisance. In those situations I usually turn off the power and ride it like a normal bike - far easier than fighting the PAS. I also cut the power when riding through crowded areas (parks, swimming beaches, etc.) so that I am not fighting the PAS while in tighter conditions.
Another alternative in those situations would be to stop pedaling and gently use the throttle to maintain an even speed. But there tends to be a short delay between throttle cutoff and actual power cutoff, which can be touchy in traffic.