THE NATURAL RIDE FEELING ON AN E-BIKE
When riding a pedelec it is essential to have a natural ride feeling that corresponds to the force put into the pedals. The goal is to make riding an e-bike feel as habitual as riding a conventional bicycle. Our solution to this: a torque sensor.
Limitations to a natural ride feel
There are a few factors that limit a natural ride feeling and compromise the cyclist’s experience. One of them is the catapult effect, which makes the motor power kick in with a delay leading to an unwanted rush. You can read more about the catapult effect in our article Avoiding catapult effect.
Another factor for a natural ride feeling is cadence. Cadence is the number of revolutions per minute (RPM) when pedaling. When riding a bicycle you will notice, that riders pedal at different rates. Every individual rider has a preference when it comes to the cadence they feel comfortable with.
The experience of keeping up a natural cadence is closely connected to the feeling of how much force is used for pedaling. Your brain expects a certain amount of acceleration that corresponds to the torque.
On an e-bike, you get extra acceleration from the motor, so if you want to keep the natural ride feeling, you need the right cadence setting. Otherwise, you might simply get a feeling of pedaling too fast with too little resistance in the pedals. It will feel like riding a machine rather than cycling.
How can our torque sensor help achieve the best ride feeling?
Our torque sensor system includes a cadence sensor. In this way, information about both pedaling force and revolutions per minute is integrated and transmitted to the motor, which helps ease the switch from classic bikes to the comfort of e-bikes.
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