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Have you ever used an electric assist? a 50Wh battery weighs very little[1], the motors are similarly light, even by road-bike standards. Remember that there is a minimum weight, so you have a small amount of deadweight to play around with as well.

That would give a pro biker a 10%[2] increase in power usable over 1 hour of the stage. It would make the uphill parts way better while negligibly affecting flat terrain and downhill.

1: Maybe 300g for such a battery were it lithium polymer. Lithium primary cells can be even lighter.

2: Or 5% increase in power for 2h, &ct.



Ive some of these tube-size assists are 100 watts. That could be as much 30% in sustained riding. They were designed to provide half the power for commuters.


indeed; my point was that even a modest amount of power would clearly be a net-advantage versus no assist, despite the weight.




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