Would you be classed as cheating, a lunatic or a cheating lunatic?
Not sure about that but some of my longest yet fatigue free workouts have been the e-bike on the turbo trainer…and don’t even think about adding the range extender battery…
I dunno, I can see a point to it. If you're limited to 25km/h then why not gear for it and just have the motor deliver whatever power is needed for whatever the incline is. A combined 400-500W will push you up a pretty steep gradient at 25km/h!
Not sure about that but some of my longest yet fatigue free workouts have been the e-bike on the turbo trainer…and don’t even think about adding the range extender battery…
You know I can't even decide if that's parody or not anymore 😂
Wasn't the Metroneer ebike at Merlin an SS?
Could definitely work on the flattish terrain and suitable gear.
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I enjoy the Pure Flux
single speed e-bike
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it’s perfectly fine to call it cheating, won’t diminish the smile on my face
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carbon gates belt means brilliantly all round low maintenance
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Not sure you'd be doing the motor any favours by not using an appropriate gear for the gradient.
I’ve wondered this. If you gear it so 15mph is 90rpm, then 60rpm is 10mph and 70 which seems to be the sweet spot for motors is about 12.
ok you won’t be motoring up any walls but with the extra power could you hold that speed on any flat or regular uphill single track?
or the other way of thinking about it, if it just gets used for winch and plummet fireroad climbs, then gear it for climbing at your preferred rpm and sustainable leg power, then enjoy the sweet suspension action of the light rear end on the way down.
I have actually considered this…
I ride a singlespeed or an ebike, haven’t had a normal geared MTB for 3.5 years now - so I’m quite prone to standing and stomping in a high gear with the motor helping. It’s definitely faster uphill than my unpowered hardtail even in the wrong gear, but you can feel the motor can’t put out anywhere near as much power at low cadence (and I don’t pedal half slow as I get forced into on the singlespeed).
I guess if you Only Ride Park, and the pedal up isn’t too steep then it makes sense. I don’t so whatever works for down won’t work for up because it’s too steep - and the ebike is good for XC when it’s being stupidly windy! Still tempting though, gears are tiresome and wearing out cassettes isn’t cheap…
Hmm - not convinced. electric motors have a pretty narrow band of revolution for efficient power output.
Conversely at the other end of the scale something like the 
Enviolo (nuvinci) with an automatic cvt would make lots of sense if it could be made mtb-proof. Single sprocket at front and back for a mud proof chainline and pick a cadence. Never (consciously) change gear again.
electric motors have a pretty narrow band of revolution for efficient power output.
odd that basically no electric cars have gearboxes then.
odd that basically no electric cars have gearboxes then.
I didn't realize that electric cars were electric assist rather than electric drive...
As said by convert up there.
The power band* of an ebike motor is not actually that big.
Probably geos a long way of explaining why some folks seem to get such low range from the same bike that others get better from.
*strong and efficient output.
Why does that make a difference to whether they have a narrow power band or not?
Cars don't quite have the same constraints as bicycles.
Why does that make a difference to whether they have a narrow power band or not?
Because it multiplies what YOU put in and it's only a very small amount of power anyway.
Spin it at the right revs to get the most out of it.
For that you need gears.
There are lots of single speed commuter/city ebikes (including all the rental ones Lime, Forest, Voi etc).
A lot is going to depend on the motor and the control system - a lot of the hub drive aftermarket stuff just has a pedal sensor and not a torque sensor so will deliver all the power it has irrespective of the effort you're putting in. But not all the big brand mid motors are set up the same - Bosch delivers a lot more power at low cadence and as far as I can work out the Emtb mode just keeps delivering more power if you need it. You definitely see people climbing on Bosch bikes at low cadence a long way down the cassette. Shimano IME demands that you actually ride it a lot more like you would a meat bike and change gears and up your cadence.
The majority of ebikes I see the rider very rarely changes gear anyways.... On the bottom half of the cassette grinding up climbs with super low cadence..... In turbo mode, most likely.
I have an e-cargo bike which has the thumb button so you can start it going without your feet on the pedals (only works up to 6km/h) and a hub motor (so it's singlespeed from the motor's point of view). I'm impressed by how much torque it can provide at zero rpm.
Electric motors are essentially constant torque from zero RPM, so the power increases proportionally with revs, and then tails off as the motor spins too fast.
IC engines have no torque at zero revs, they need to spin to work, and then the torque tails off relatively soon as the intake & exhaust struggles to happen in time - so you rarely get more than a 10:1 range between min and max revs. There’s no fluid mechanics limiting electric motors at the top end or the need for a flywheel to spin to make the combustion cycle happen at the low end.
But bike electric motors spin super fast compared to our legs so there must be transmission losses to take a high power low torque lightweight motor down to normal cadence. Human legs driving cranks seem to be much more like constant power rather than constant torque devices, so as we pedal slower we can pedal harder, otherwise singlespeeding wouldn’t work!