Originally Posted by
letank
Do you have a model name/number for the trek or a link to the other less powerful bikes... thank you
She rides a Trek similar to this one. It weighs about 35-38 pounds, heavy to lift onto a car bike rack. But it can easily go 50 miles with hills and have 40% charge remaining. And a 28 mph top speed on assist. It has 4 or 5 levels of boost, I think. It has a single front chainring.
Trek Domane+ ebike
They recently test rode a Trek like this:
Domane+ ALR, but didn't buy it. Much lighter, and a half sized battery and smaller motor at the crank. It's a "class A", 20 mph top boost speed. Rides more like a road bike, too. It has a normal pair of front chainrings and a wide range rear cassette, so it can be easily ridden without a boost.
The only problem was on a couple of steeper climbs where it felt like the drivetrain locked up briefly. I'm guessing that the software that decides when to engage the motor had a bit of a lag. It shouldn't boost if the rider is coasting, for instance, but has to start assisting as soon as the rider pedals. They found some other online comments about the same problem. I'm sure these glitches will be handled better in the future. It had a nice display with the battery remaining percentage, etc.
I know a rider out of town that got a
Bianchi Aria this summer. It's similar to the lighter weight Trek, but the motor is in the rear hub, which is about as big around as the cassette. There's a lighted push button on the top tube, with three levels of boost: 50watts, 100, and 150 watts. That's definitely in the "assist" mode, not the "do all the work for me" mode. And the same Class A 20 mph limit.
This same setup, with the top tube button and rear motor, is available from other manufacturers, too.
One is featured in this entertaining GCN Show video:
Can an E-bike make you fast enough to train with a pro? He says "250 watts max" but that's likely to be just a momentary startup power, it should have the same 150 watts max as the Bianchi. He gets dropped on the flats, since his assist stops at 25 kph = 16 mph. That's pretty slow. But the 150 watts boost lets him work hard and hang with the pro on the climbs. Really, though, e-bike riders: don't ride with the pros or the local "A" group drop-ride. Not a good idea.