How to correctly use the gears of an ebike

Ebikes have extra power that significantly affects the transmission. Changing in the most appropriate way can help us pedal more naturally, preserve our transmission and even improve battery life.

On e-bikes we do not change gears in the same way as on a conventional bike and it is because we have motor assistance, which helps us pedal with "harder" ratios of the cassette. But just because we can do that doesn't mean we should.
Using harder ratios using the assistance will cause greater wear on the transmission components as well as making a much more noticeable drain on the battery and even on your muscles. We explain why.

Let's change like on a bike "at lungs".

This is the best advice we can give you to use your e-bike transmission in the best way. One of the most common mistakes is using a very low cadence, that is, using small sprockets and letting the motor do all the effort and dirty work. If you pedal like on your conventional bike, you will do it at a higher cadence and larger sprockets, lowering the engine's power delivery, with consequent battery savings and less component wear.

Be careful when using the modes

It is important that you know how to use the modes of your e-bike so that they give you that extra power that you need, but this should not affect the way you use the gear. There are many riders who prefer to increase the assist mode without changing the sprocket they are using. This will cause greater tension and wear of the chain, as well as all the transmission elements, due to the low cadence.

¿Turbo mode for everything?

If you use the maximum assistance mode on your ebike you are going to cause not only a very large battery consumption, but also you will be using more power than you need. The most basic modes provide a lot of power and They are more than enough for most occasions., but for this, We also have to contribute part of that power. That is why it is very attractive to increase the assistance mode when the cadence begins to drop, instead of continuing in the same mode and increasing a couple of sprockets. If you use your bike's turbo or full power mode continuously, You will notice how the changes are not as smooth as they should be., in addition to the fact that you will be asking for so much power from your engine, that the battery will suffer noticeably.

It is very important that regardless of the mode you use, your pedaling cadence is fluid and is conditioned by the conditions and inclination of the terrain, rather than raising or lowering the engine's assistance power. If you go up a hill, you have to raise the sprockets, in the same way as on your normal bike. Always apply that rule and you will see that as the days go by you are naturalizing your pedal strokea and using a lot plus the gears and minus the gross engine power.

Shift smoothly.

We recommend changing from "click to click", that is, progressively going up one gear before going up another. Do not change 3-4 gears at a time, because you can damage the chain and all the transmission components, as well as the engine, since it is applying more force than that of your legs.

You have to think that when you shift and the engine is assisting, not only is the power of your legs, if not, the one applied by the engine is added. That's why you have to change like a normal bike and accompany the pedaling cycle at the moment of shifting, but without exerting too much force on the pedals.

More cadence and less turbo

As we mentioned at the beginning, we summarize the main mistakes when changing with an ebike:

• Continuous use of small sprockets with low cadence and high power mode.
• Increase the assistance mode instead of increasing the sprockets.
• Low cadence causes greater wear on transmission components.
• Greater battery consumption due to forcing the mode by having a sprocket that is too small.
• Let the motor assist without having to change sprockets, no matter how hard it is to pedal.
• Use of modes that are too powerful for not changing gears on climbs. Increased transmission, engine and chain wear. In addition, greater muscle wear due to the tension that is caused in our joints due to the low cadence and speed.

If you want to shift more precisely on your ebike and extend the life of your battery and transmission, we leave you these tips:

• It shifts naturally, as you would on a conventional bike.
• Before shifting up from assist mode, try shifting up a cog or two.
• The most basic modes of assistance assist a lot and very well, with high cadences.
• Do not abuse the smallest sprockets unless you are going at a speed that generates a good cadence adapted to that sprocket.
• If you go up a hill, increase speeds in the same way as on your normal bike.
• Remember that your power contribution improves the autonomy of your battery.