> Ditch the bike chain and traditional propulsion

I'd like to remind my fellow denizens of HN that pedalling being an option is a strength of ebikes, making them operable once batteries have discharged, and giving riders the opportunity to exercise on their equipment as well. The bike is an excellent piece of design and is going nowhere :)

I agree it's likely hubris to try to redesign the bike. I am wondering if there is a metaphysical middle ground to e-motorcycles and regular bikes that does not require a bolt-on motor to oldschool bicycles. Old school bicycles are flawless more or less, as a push-bike.

> Make the pedal angle determine the speed of the e-motor

Wouldn't this lead to you accelerating right after a bump, as your body first gets "propelled" up and then brought down again with gravity, making you shift your foot position?

On traditional pedals yes, you can make pedals/levers that would just hold their position until altered by the passenger. The core idea is that the feet should be selecting the speed.

Yeah no, I get that. But as you hit the bump, your foot would leave the pedal/lever, and when you come back down again, your foot will press against the pedal/lever, increasing the acceleration as you inadvertently pressed it down.

Hmm just had a brain wave, going to see if I can make it and show you guys instead.

What's the advantage of pedal angle vs a torque sensor (or even an RPM sensor that some ebikes use)?

Well the concept for this bike (bike-alike) is to ditch the dual drivetrain and run on purely an electric motor. So your control surfaces no longer push gears and a chain, but instead simply select. No need to RPM sense, or Torque Sense when you have a fresh control design from scratch. It would just be direct from control surface to motor.

Ah, gotcha. Would there be a backup plan for a dead battery (other than walking)?