Electric bicycles - who buys them?
Discussion
Harpoon said:
My cycle into the office is about 18 miles / 850ft climbing each way, taking about 1 hour 10 minutes. I did it a few times pre Covid and as we don't have a shower at the office, I was paying £25 a month for gym membership at a hotel round the corner just to shower.
Does the motor assistance make it easier enough to stay "fresh" and thus add the gym membership money to the man-maths to justify another bike?
Yep. The increase in body temperature is always offset by air cooling. You’ll never arrive a sweaty mess unless you want to. Does the motor assistance make it easier enough to stay "fresh" and thus add the gym membership money to the man-maths to justify another bike?
Yeah, I did my first actual cycle to work yesterday and decided an e-bike is definitely needed.
It’s not very long at 17.1km / 10.6miles in total, but after a flat start (albeit in to a guaranteed headwind) for a couple of miles, it goes up.
100m in under 4km (330ft in 2.5miles), still with a near guaranteed headwind. Yesterday was 11mph constant with gusts of up to 18mph. I knew to try and keep the effort level down, below the sweat threshold or just verging on it, then let the coast down the other side cool me back down.
I failed. Not a hideous sweaty blob, but definitely not as fresh as I would have liked to be!
So I’m thinking it’s time to electrify the scenario and it will also improve the overall time for commute hugely.
It’s not very long at 17.1km / 10.6miles in total, but after a flat start (albeit in to a guaranteed headwind) for a couple of miles, it goes up.
100m in under 4km (330ft in 2.5miles), still with a near guaranteed headwind. Yesterday was 11mph constant with gusts of up to 18mph. I knew to try and keep the effort level down, below the sweat threshold or just verging on it, then let the coast down the other side cool me back down.
I failed. Not a hideous sweaty blob, but definitely not as fresh as I would have liked to be!
So I’m thinking it’s time to electrify the scenario and it will also improve the overall time for commute hugely.
Stage one of my electric bike conversion has been completed, i.e I've just purchased the base bike, a Specialized Stumpjumper fattie.
I'm wanting it to be capable of 30mph so I'm guessing a 1000w mid drive motor and 48v 17ah battery are my best option.
Can anybody else who has done a similar conversion offer any recommendations and guidance on kit etc?
I'm wanting it to be capable of 30mph so I'm guessing a 1000w mid drive motor and 48v 17ah battery are my best option.
Can anybody else who has done a similar conversion offer any recommendations and guidance on kit etc?
.GSE said:
I have an Orbea Gain with the X35 e-bikemotion system, typical use is 5 x 15+15 mile commutes per week, plus a longer 30-40 mile ride at the weekend, done about 3500 miles on it now. I try to keep the charge state between 25-75% which fits my commute perfectly, but it gets charged/discharged outside of those limits as well.
I’ve got a Ribble with the same motor system. What kind of range do you get? My fairly hilly 10 mile commute uses about 25% battery each way.My only complaint is that it feels quite draggy pedalling over the 15.5mph limit.
hyperblue said:
I’ve got a Ribble with the same motor system. What kind of range do you get? My fairly hilly 10 mile commute uses about 25% battery each way.
My only complaint is that it feels quite draggy pedalling over the 15.5mph limit.
Ribble are more of a ebike lite from my test ride there were zero weight penalties from the motor or battery I assume it's well below the capacity of a regular bike I rode it switched off with all the modes and it just felt like a normal bike with a bit of pep but if you were pushing the asstence i wouldn't think it could cover significant miles My only complaint is that it feels quite draggy pedalling over the 15.5mph limit.
hyperblue said:
I’ve got a Ribble with the same motor system. What kind of range do you get? My fairly hilly 10 mile commute uses about 25% battery each way.
My only complaint is that it feels quite draggy pedalling over the 15.5mph limit.
It's mostly about the elevation gain. I leave it on max assistance all the time (except if I'm on an energy saving long ride My only complaint is that it feels quite draggy pedalling over the 15.5mph limit.
)If I do my 'long' 14 mile / 266ft elevation gain route into work, I can do 3 trips and get 42 miles on 1 charge cycle (100% down to about 25% when goes into red indication.
If I do my 'shorter' 12 mile route with 470ft elevation gain, I only really get 2 trips or 24 miles before I'm in the red zone.
I did a 54 mile / 4081ft elevation gain ride to Brighton recently. I was very careful with the assistance level, left it on green for most of the way, and only switched it to maximum when absolutely necessary. It was down to about 10% on arrival. So between 24 and 54 miles on a full charge.
Just in the throws of converting a Cannondale Topstone. Bafang 750W motor should hopefully arrive in the next week. 20 mile commute, takes 35 minutes in the car. Have done it in 1:15 on the bike, not something i'd want to do every day. Hopeing the e power will get this to less than an hour.
Just trying to get my simpleton head around batteries and how they work, for instance...
If I had a 1000w motor capable of 30mph and had 2 different battery options...
48v and 14ah
or
48v and 6ah
... would the 6ah battery still deliver enough power to achieve 30mph but it would drain flat quicker?
If I had a 1000w motor capable of 30mph and had 2 different battery options...
48v and 14ah
or
48v and 6ah
... would the 6ah battery still deliver enough power to achieve 30mph but it would drain flat quicker?
Exactly that, think of the ah capacity being the size of your fuel tank.
Also bear in mind that a battery double the capacity means you have to charge it half as often, and batteries are more or less lifed by the number of charges, so the battery should last twice as long before it's knackered
Also bear in mind that a battery double the capacity means you have to charge it half as often, and batteries are more or less lifed by the number of charges, so the battery should last twice as long before it's knackered
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Tuesday 28th June 13:10
RizzoTheRat said:
Exactly that, think of the ah capacity being the size of your fuel tank.
Also bear in mind that a battery double the capacity means you have to charge it half as often, and batteries are more or less lifed by the number of charges, so the battery should last twice as long before it's knackered
Also bear in mind that a battery double the capacity means you have to charge it half as often, and batteries are more or less lifed by the number of charges, so the battery should last twice as long before it's knackered
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Tuesday 28th June 13:10
Thanks, glad I'm on the right lines for once.
The only reason I'm considering the 6ah battery over a 14ah battery is the 6ah is much smaller and would fit in a saddle bag, as it looks like my frame geo won't accommodate a conventional full size battery somewhere on the triangle.
MOBB said:
My 20 mile commute also takes 35 minutes by car
Road bike, probably 1.10
My pb on the Giant road E+ is 46 minutes @ 25.2mph, but it is derestricted, I had a nice tail wind and pedalled like hell!!
50-55 mins on a normal day
That's good going. What does your assistance top out at? For some reason my Badass box on the Road E+ will only do 26mph rather than 2*15.5mph. I've managed 22 miles in an hour, although I've never quite tried 'full attack'.Road bike, probably 1.10
My pb on the Giant road E+ is 46 minutes @ 25.2mph, but it is derestricted, I had a nice tail wind and pedalled like hell!!
50-55 mins on a normal day
RizzoTheRat said:
If you're worried about range can you carry a spare small battery rather than having 1 big one?
Yes I was considering that if range does become an issue, although a bit of an expensive option as the smaller batteries still appear to be about the same price as the larger conventional ones.mike74 said:
Just trying to get my simpleton head around batteries and how they work, for instance...
If I had a 1000w motor capable of 30mph and had 2 different battery options...
48v and 14ah
or
48v and 6ah
... would the 6ah battery still deliver enough power to achieve 30mph but it would drain flat quicker?
I don't think you would get much range with 6ah and 1000W. If I had a 1000w motor capable of 30mph and had 2 different battery options...
48v and 14ah
or
48v and 6ah
... would the 6ah battery still deliver enough power to achieve 30mph but it would drain flat quicker?
MaxFromage said:
That's good going. What does your assistance top out at? For some reason my Badass box on the Road E+ will only do 26mph rather than 2*15.5mph. I've managed 22 miles in an hour, although I've never quite tried 'full attack'.
I have the same bike and box as you, mine seems to top out around 26 also, sometimes a little moreIt’s a bit annoying!
My record is 25.2mph on an undulating 20 mile route, with a lovely 15mph tailwind, full attack mode.
Amateurish said:
I don't think you would get much range with 6ah and 1000W.
Yes that is my concern.Perhaps I should tone it down a bit to a 750w as in this video, which is exactly the same model as my bike, in the comments he suggests 15 miles is possible with zero pedal assist, does that sound feasible?...
https://youtu.be/7qO1Yuj3sH4
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