electricbogaloo
Active member
Aluminum cogs will wear very fast on an ebike. The more you ride them in maxxed out turbo the quicker they will melt away. The chain will then start to jump over the cogs in turbo and it will get worse quickly. Especially if you 'shift' with the motor and ride only one cog like I see many people do. So the rest of the cassette is basically pristine but some smaller cog is toast.
Steel lasts longer but it won't take any abuse either, especially the chain. You have to remember the torque of modern ebike motors is in the region of older small cars. Just compare the gearboxes of the cars with a derailleur bike drivetrain and you'll realize that if you operate it wrong you could tear the thing apart with a dumb shift (especially if it's mechanical and you shift over the cassette with multi shift in turbo on a steep ascent as a heavy rider, it basically can rip off the derailleur and eat it).
Steel lasts longer but it won't take any abuse either, especially the chain. You have to remember the torque of modern ebike motors is in the region of older small cars. Just compare the gearboxes of the cars with a derailleur bike drivetrain and you'll realize that if you operate it wrong you could tear the thing apart with a dumb shift (especially if it's mechanical and you shift over the cassette with multi shift in turbo on a steep ascent as a heavy rider, it basically can rip off the derailleur and eat it).
