this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2025
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Motors are generators when run inversely:
Motors = put in power to get rotational movement
Generators = put in rotational movement to get power
You already have the heaviest parts on the ebike - motor and battery, just need some capacitors and charging circuit board which are light and not too big.
Cheap electric bikes I've ridden with regen breaking slow you down quite a bit.
It's not difficult to get regenerative braking on a bike it's just difficult to get regenerative braking on a bike that's any good. Hub mounted motors are the least efficient type of motor because it's just directly driving the wheel at whatever speed it can output, with no access to gear ratios. E-bikes that forgo generative breaking in favour of a more efficient motor designs achieve better speeds for any given amount of power usage.
So yeah you can absolutely do it. But it's not a good idea for reasons that have nothing to do with the weight.