The last & only ebike I had (a Packster 80) had a derailleur on it. I don't recall issues with shifting, aside from the standard ones (I hate not being able to shift while stopped).
On the other hand, I've had a Nuvinci N360 since 2012 on the non-electric cargo bike, and it's great. Now that I've added e-assist, though, it sucks. It's really really hard to shift under load. I end up just adjusting the motor assistance up and down rather than the gearing, because it's so annoying.
What do other ebike folks do? Do you just get used to not pedaling while shifting? Are other internal gear hubs better? Do you just go with a derailleur instead?
@Andres4NY I built my ride from my first Mt bike frame which I rode in college. As such it’s a mid-drive and I use cheaper but more resilient steel drivetrain parts for longevity due to added stress of powered pedaling. My set up includes a shifting sensor on the derailleur cable which momentarily cuts power to avoid damage when shifting. Works pretty well.
@JohnSullivan Thanks. I looked into the shift sensors, but apparently my motor (tsdz2) doesn't officially support them. Some people do hook them up to the brake sensor, but then they cut the motor for around 2 seconds instead of 1/2 a second. ☹️
@Andres4NY With no provision for a shift sensor I would definitely use the brake technique to kick the motor off just to save some wear and tear on your drive train when shifting, especially under heavier loads / higher gears. I often hold the brake to stop the motor when down shifting approaching a stop even with my shift sensor since the delay is quite short.
@JohnSullivan@Andres4NY With the bbs02 and derailer (no shift sensor) I will sometimes nudge the brake but it does cutout for longer than a shift takes, vs pushing much harder right at the power bit of the stroke and shifting just as you ease off/right before the bottom of the circle. It's more work but if you want to go fast, it's more power and creates just enough slack to upshift (and sometimes it's also better to shift 2 steps.) Downshifting works whenever, esp if pedaling high rpm.
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