E-bikes are awesome! They have changed the paradigm of the biking industry. Most consumers don’t realize e-bikes are also very regulated on top speed levels. Local Government regulations limit the top speeds of these e-bikes. Most e-bikes top out at 20-25 MPH depending on the class of e-bike. Professional cyclists on average travel about 25 mph. Average amateur cyclists travel about 17 mph.

If the 25 MPH sounds great but 30 MPH sounds better, then we have the solution for you. We will discuss how to make your e-bike faster and overcome the preset restrictions to increase your speed.

What is an e-bike? | Looking into what makes e-bikes different from regular bicycles

E-bikes are basically regular bikes but with electric motors. These electric motors give riders options on different assistance levels and/or throttle options. There are 3 main different classes of e-bikes (1, 2 & 3). Class 1 has a motor that runs while pedaling and stops running once a bike hits 20 miles per hour. Where Class 2 e-bikes feature a throttle that can reach 20 miles per hour without pedal assistance. Class 3 e-bikes are exactly like Class 1 e-bikes but the motor offers assistance up to 28 miles per hour instead of 20 miles per hour. Note that different states have classes that may be undefined or different, but the three-class system is the most frequently referenced.

How all bikes work

When you push down on your pedal to help rotate the crank attached to, this generates a rotating force that turns your bike’s chainring. The chainring, in turn, rotates the attached chain, and the chain rotates your bike’s cassette. The cassette attached to the rear wheel turns the rear wheel and helps you move forward. The front-wheel turns freely to accommodate the motion being generated by your rear wheel and acts as how you steer. Contrary to popular belief, the handlebars are not to help you steer; they’re there to help you remain stable as you learn to steer yourself left or right. In simple terms, this prevents a disproportionate amount of weight from being applied to the side you’re trying to turn towards, keeping your center of mass constant and preventing your bike from toppling over.

How e-bikes are different

With the help of motors, an Electrical Control Unit (ECU), and a few other technological enhancements, an e-bike supplements the kinetic energy produced by the pedaling motion we use to propel ourselves on a regular bike. The motor is powered by batteries managed by a Battery Control Unit (BCU) and attached to the rear wheel of your bike (though they may be mounted in different places, either the hub of your wheels or the middle of your frame on the bottom bracket). When you push down on your pedals and force your wheel to turn, the ECU tells the motor that it’s time to help you out, and it helps turn the wheels. You’ll experience this in the form of less resistance on the pedals.

This means that e-bikes make it easier for cyclists to travel faster, which obviously increases the injury-related risk associated with bike riding. To keep this risk in check, your motors are required by law to adhere to certain speed limits. Once you reach a certain pace, your ECU sends a cutoff signal to your motor, which promptly shuts off. While this doesn’t directly prevent you from going faster, it does mean that you’ll have to do so unassisted, without any help from your motor.

Making your e-bike go faster

Because an e-bike carries extra weight from all of the above-mentioned electrical add-ons, one could argue that it’s actually more difficult to accelerate on an e-bike than a regular bike on an even stretch of road once the motor cuts out. That difference, or simply the desire to reach higher speeds, might make you wonder what you could do to get your e-bike to go faster.

The first category of options at your disposal has to do with maintaining your bike’s components to ensure that they’re working with optimal effectiveness. That means making sure your tires are inflated to a high enough level, you’re using the right dimension of the wheel for your frame, and the right size of frame for your terrain, as well as making sure your chains and gears are well oiled.

If you’ve already done all of the above and you’re still looking for some added kick, there are still other ways to get yourself to higher speeds with greater ease. Aside from just pedaling harder on your own, you can also get your motor to keep working at higher speeds through a few tricks.

 

Option 1: Using your LCD panel to change the speed limit.

E-bikes are restricted to different speeds depending on the class they fall into, as well as the laws governing that class within your state or country. While your e-bike probably comes preprogrammed to stick to that speed limit, there are ways you can get around this. Lots of bikes, such as the Aventon Pace series and Himiway bikes, allow you to change this speed limit through the LCD panel that resides between your handlebars.

For this example, we’ll be dealing with the Himiway Cruise, but other bikes will also have similar methods to implement the hack. Other Himiway bikes, in particular, will always follow these steps:

1. Press and hold the plus (‘+’) and minus (‘-‘) buttons on your bike for two seconds. Your panel should change from its regular state, indicating you’ve been successful.
2. Press and hold the minus and the “i” buttons for a further two seconds. You should be prompted to input a four-digit password.
3. Input the password using the plus and minus buttons to shift individual digits to a higher or lower value and the “i” button to confirm each digit. For all Himiway bikes, the password is always set to 0510 by default. You should be taken to a prompt for wheel size.
4. Use the “i” button to confirm your wheel size and move to the next screen.
5. You should see either LS, Limit Speed, or Speed Limit written here, along with a number below representing your current speed limit. Use the plus button to increase this number to your desired level, and then press the “i” button to confirm.
6. Press and hold the “i” button for two seconds to confirm the changes you’ve made and to save them and return them to your regular screen.

The LCD on last year’s Cruise models can be configured to go up to 90, but that doesn’t mean the motor will actually run with you up to 90 miles per hour. You can expect it to go up to roughly 30 mph before your motor shuts off, which is a noticeable increase from the factory setting. Newer models may have different maximum limits, but you will always get them to go faster than the stock configuration.

Option 2: Using your LCD panel to change the wheel size

Another hack that you can implement through your LCD involves changing the wheel size setting on your e-bike. Note that we’re not talking about actually changing the wheels (though smaller wheels do tend to make for a faster ride). No, we’re just talking about adjusting the settings.

Most e-bikes measure your speed through a sensor that counts the number of revolutions undergone by your wheel. Distance is calculated by multiplying that number by the circumference of your wheels. By changing to a smaller size, you’re actually tricking your bike into thinking it isn’t going as far as it is with each revolution, which results in a lower speed reading as well.

So if you’ve actually got 26-inch wheels, and you change the setting on your bike to 16-inch wheels, you’ll actually end up tricking your bike into going faster than it thinks it’s going. Now, if your speedometer reads 19 mph, you’re probably actually doing close to 24 or 25. While this messes up your speedometer reading, the upside is more than worth it. You can even use this hack in conjunction with changing your speed limit to increase your actual assisted speed limit to well beyond what it would usually be.

To change the wheel size on a Himiway Cruise, follow the following steps:

1. Press and hold the plus and minus buttons for two seconds. Your panel should change from its regular state, indicating you’ve been successful.
2. Press and hold the minus and the “i” buttons for a further two seconds. You should be prompted to input a four-digit password.
3. Input the password using the plus and minus buttons to shift individual digits to a higher or lower value and the “i” button to confirm each digit. For all Himiway bikes, the password is always set to 0510 by default. You should be taken to a prompt for wheel size.
4. Use the minus button to decrease your wheel size to the smallest acceptable size, and then press the “i” button to confirm your wheel size and move to the next screen.
5. Press and hold the “i” button for two seconds to confirm the changes you’ve made and to save them and return them to your regular screen.

Option 3: Moving your speed sensor to your crank

Recall the speed sensor we talked about in the previous step. To understand how to jailbreak your bike to go faster, you’ll need to know exactly how this sensor works. Mid-drive e-bikes have a tiny magnetic sensor attached to the frame of your bike, positioned adjacent to the rear wheel. This sensor is usually bolted to your frame so that it’s firmly held in place. There’s also a magnet attached to one of the spokes on the rear wheel. Such that the magnet crosses over the sensor once per each revolution of the wheel.

By using a simple Allen wrench, you can unfasten that magnetic sensor. Then position it to where it sits aligned with the crank arms attached to your pedals. Now attach a flat magnet to your crank arm. This will trick your bike’s electronics into thinking your crank arms are the spokes on your wheels. This making it count revolutions of the crank as revolutions of the wheel. Since your pedals obviously rotate slower than your wheel, this allows you to travel with your motor at speeds higher than those that are allowed for your e-bike.

Be sure to position the sensor such that its sensing end is facing the magnet. Otherwise, this method will not work. If you want to check whether you’ve implemented it correctly, simply start rotating your pedal. If you start to get a speed reading, then everything is fine.

Option 4: Manually removing the speed limit

Certain e-bikes like hub-drive models feature speed override. This is implemented via dedicated cabling between your bike’s ECU and motor. You may need to open up the box that contains your wiring hub to find it. Then remove the speed limit on your bike by simply disconnecting the wire responsible for the speed limiter.

Be warned, though; if you don’t know what you’re doing, you may end up disconnecting the wrong wire and disabling something you don’t want to. The risk of injury and harm to you and your bike is high, so we wouldn’t recommend this method to anyone who isn’t well-versed with the ins and outs of their bike’s electrical system.

A closing word of caution | Why you shouldn’t jailbreak your e-bike

Jailbreaking your e-bike might seem like a good idea. Be aware that you are introducing more hazards by increasing your speed. Certain hacks can not only compromise the longevity of your bike. They can also pose more significant risks, like components overheating, or otherwise increasing the likelihood of injury.

It decreases the overall distance you can travel

When you jailbreak your e-bike to go faster you do so at the cost of losing distance on a charge. Your lower speeds use less power.  To be clear, increasing the speed of the e-bike is awesome. It will just also decrease your range capabilities on a single charge again.

It voids your warranty

E-bikes are sophisticated machines. Increasing your speed through the LCD, you should know that it could void the manufacturer’s warranty.  Increasing your speed via the LCD, such as a wheel size hack, can potentially breach the terms of your warranty. You should consult your bike’s manual, or reach out to the manufacturer before you attempt to fiddle with your e-bike.

It can potentially damage your motor

The motor on your e-bike is designed to work at certain speeds, and under certain conditions. When you rig it to work well beyond those parameters, you’re almost always running the risk of wearing it out. Damage can manifest in many different ways, including heat damage, worn-out brushes, damage to your electrical connections, and more.

It could potentially be illegal

E-bikes belong to specific classes (1,2 &3) and they have very strict requirements. The different classes have parameters for the max speed allowed. Jailbreaking your e-bike will allow you to get around these speed limits. The problem is that it might also mean that your bike technically doesn’t meet the requirements for its class. This might change the legality of whether you can or can’t use your e-bike. The e-bike might not be allowed for normal use. Such uses as footpaths or in bike lanes, or in other areas where you can take a restricted bike. In states like California, strict laws for a specific class of e-bikes are supposedly enforced. As far as we know we haven’t heard of anyone checking e-bike programming or top speeds. To be clear we are not  Technically using your now upgraded fast e-bike in the wrong place can get you into legal trouble.