Forum Discussion

RedDragon's avatar
RedDragon
Steady Solver
3 months ago

Improve initial acceleration for low assist e-bike rides

When Lyft rolled out low assist mode in Sept 2023 in NYC it was described as follows: "Low assist mode feels like and costs the same as a classic bike".

I find that the low assist mode experience on the current silver e-bikes can range from pleasant to downright dangerous and Lyft needs to take steps to lower the risk of injury to their customers when using this mode. Furthermore, the low assist mode is noticeably challenging on low-battery e-bikes, or, worst-case, makes the ride completely unrideable for poorly maintained e-bikes with chain or motor issues.

Specifically, the static acceleration on the e-bikes in low assist mode can be so weak on the current 80-pound bike that it can cause injury when riding on a moderate or steep hill due to loss of horizontal balance when coming to an unexpected stop (something that I've personally experienced several times over the past 2,279 rides over 14 months). It also increases the likelihood of an accident due to how long it can take for the bike to get up to speed at an intersection to match the flow of traffic.

To address these issues I'm asking that Lyft increase the initial acceleration for e-bikes in low assist mode to counteract the weight and improve balance of the bike when climbing moderate/steep hills and when pushing off from a full stop. For example, if low assist were to currently provide a constant 15% of max power from 0-15mph, I'd like to see at least 30% percent for 0-6mph and then 15% thereafter.

If technical limitations don't allow for a dynamic acceleration curve to be set based on the current speed then I propose to increase the constant acceleration power for the full 0-15mph range from 15% to 20-25% of max power.

2 Replies

  • Gaffano's avatar
    Gaffano
    Casual Commenter

    I also heard that Lyft will be moving to all grey bikes with option of low assist (blue bike fees structure) or full assist (grey peddle assist fee structure). If this is true  the experience described above (which I agree) will be an issue. 

  • Lyft_Omar's avatar
    Lyft_Omar
    Bike Angels Team

    Hey RedDragon​!

    Interesting feedback here (and very thorough too thanks!) and we appreciate your reported experience.

    Obviously we don't want anyone to feel in danger when riding one of our bikes and understand the safety concerns with our heavier ebikes.

    The solution  of increasing intial acceleration I can also understand, and is a good idea, but this also points out a bigger root cause of the bikes being too heavy! I know some teams are working on some hardware parts in the background! 🤐