Drive Train

Shimano derailleurs that will work on 7 speed Lectric bikes are listed here. The progression of performance from low to high is Tourney > Altus > Acera. These 7 speed derailleurs can also work on an 8 speed freewheel if the shift lever is changed out also.  The chain remains the same going from 7-8 speeds. We have worked out an 8-Speed system for Lectric bikes and you will find links to those parts.  I have had it on my bike for almost a year. See the Experimenter's Corner page for more info on the 8-speed. The next higher level of derailleur is Shimano Alivio which is a 9 speed shifting system.  Note: The very popular Shimano Rapid-Fire shifters will not fit our bikes unless you go to a left hand thumb throttle.  Many other brands of eBikes use a left hand thumb throttle for that reason. The problem is interference between the lever or trigger with the Lectric twist grip throttle plastic case which has a rather large diameter. 

One of the most popular rider mods on 1.0 and 2.0 models was upgrading the 14-28 stock freewheel to an 11-28 . I think the factory realized that this very popular rider upgrade made a lot of sense. One of the major changes on the 3.0 model was it came with an 11-28 freewheel.   With the new 11-28 a rider would not have to turn over the cranks as quickly when riding in the 7th gear above 20MPH. Ghost pedaling is a term to describe the rider running out of gear and just turning over the pedals enough to keep the PAS working.  Since most of us want to get some exercise, the change to the 11 tooth cog was a welcome change. At 60RPM of the crank you would be going 15MPH with the 14 tooth sprocket and 19MPH with the 11 tooth.  On the low gear side of things the 28 tooth sprocket combined with the electric motor will give you a pretty comfortable climbing gear on all but the steepest of hills. If you have a number of steep hills in the areas where you ride, the 34 tooth freewheel will be very helpful.  

A quick technical primer on freewheels and cassettes as newbies can get confused on the differences in these: Lectric bikes use freewheels on their currently offered models. In a freewheel the ratcheting mechanism is built into the freewheel unit immediately under and behind the cogs. You will use a splined tool to remove the freewheel. The ratcheting mechanism and cogs all come off in one piece.   In a cassette hub, the cogs are just individual pieces that slide onto the ratcheting mechanism that is part of the hub. The cogs are retained by a fixing nut or outer threaded cog. If you find some interesting cassette cogs sets on Amazon or elsewhere, generally these won't fit a Lectric bike.  Freewheel Yes! Cassette No! 

Here are the original freewheel tooth counts on the 2.0 and 3.0 models and aftermarket options:

Model 2.0 7-speed OEM Shimano 14-16-18-20-22-24-28

Model 3.0, XPedition & XPeak 7-speed OEM Shimano 11-13-15-18-21-24-28

Drift Maniac 11-28 7-speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-28 A logical upgrade for 2.0 owners

Drift Maniac 11-34 7-speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-34 Upgrade for 2.0,  3.0 and XPeak owners who want a lower gear for hill climbing capability.

XPremium 7-speed 12-32

Lite single speed 16 teeth

7, 8 & 9 speed Drift Maniac Freewheel options

Drift Maniac 11-32 7-speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-32

Drift Maniac 11-34 7-speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-34 

Drift Maniac 11-32 8-speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32

Drift Maniac 11-34 8-speed 11-13-15-18-21-24-28-34

Epoch 11-34 9-speed 11-13-15-17-19-21-24-28-34 

Crank arm removal is something that is often done to replace the PAS sensor on the left hand crank arm area. A puller very similar to an automotive tool, is used for this purpose. The bottom bracket bearings in our Lectric bikes are accessible by removing the splined cups after the crank arms have been removed.

The 58 tooth crankset would replace your stock 52 tooth Lectric crank. This would give you a higher possible top end speed  at the cost of hill climbing. You can get the climbing capability back by going to a 11-34 freewheel which with the 58 front sprocket will be very similar to a 2.0 or 3.0 for climbing. Also, this 58 tooth equipped crank does not have an inner chainguard. That means that it is possible for the chain to fall off the inside of the sprocket. It is not likely but it is possible. 

Also, there are cranksets with shorter crank arms available. These can help a shorter rider and will give you bike additional ground clearance.