Solved
Resistance when pedaling over e-bike speed limit
Question to Jess, Lyft_Omar: Is any active resistance applied when manually pedaling an e-bike past the configured speed limit?
No, this is just what it feels like to ride an extremely heavy bike without electric assist.
For reference, I've biked these bikes a bunch when the battery is below assist level (mostly when recovering lost bikes) and they feel the same then as when trying to accelerate beyond 15 mph (generally I take it slow under those conditions and avoid uphills at all cost).
Although there was that one time that I decided to risk trying to get home with an ebike that truly didn't have enough range and I ran out of battery at the bulge out before the apex of the Manhattan bridge. I was deeply tempted to turn around but ended up sweating it out to the highest point because there were no ebikes in the station behind me.
