Electric bicycles - who buys them?

[Downward]

I see a bloke often going up my road. 7% gradient for about 1km and he’s flying up not pedalling. I’d say about 12mph. I’ve seen him for a few years now. He’s got a big dinner plate type motor on his rear wheel, assume it’s an e bay jobbie ?

[GSE]

Anybody have any experience of running the Fazua Evation system on an e-bike? Looks like a very cool system.

I've done about 5k miles on mountain bikes over the last couple of years, latterly on a Boardman MHT 8.9 29er, mainly commuting to work. Now that the winter is coming parts of my route are going to get too muddy, so I'm looking at switching some of it to road which will extend the overall distance.

I'm not as young as I used to be... I'm sorely tempted by one of these ....

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2327-...

[Phil.]

GSE said:

Anybody have any experience of running the Fazua Evation system on an e-bike? Looks like a very cool system.

I've done about 5k miles on mountain bikes over the last couple of years, latterly on a Boardman MHT 8.9 29er, mainly commuting to work. Now that the winter is coming parts of my route are going to get too muddy, so I'm looking at switching some of it to road which will extend the overall distance.

I'm not as young as I used to be... I'm sorely tempted by one of these ....

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2327-...

No experience of the above bike or system but check out how much resistance the motor provides after it reaches its 15.5mph limit. I assume you will wanting to ride above this speed on a road bike on the flat occasionally and if the motor resistance is high it will limit your commuting ability.

[uncinqsix]

I'm starting to feel like a bit of a dinosaur grinding up the hill on my way home each day, as e-bikes whizz past. It's 1.6km of 11% gradient, so I won't deny feeling a little envious sometimes, but I need the exercise

I would say about 1 in 4 bikes I see on the commute each day are e-bikes now. Amazing how they are taking off here.

[GSE]

Phil. said:

No experience of the above bike or system but check out how much resistance the motor provides after it reaches its 15.5mph limit. I assume you will wanting to ride above this speed on a road bike on the flat occasionally and if the motor resistance is high it will limit your commuting ability.

Apparently the motor de-clutches completely above 15.5mph. Also the battery and the motor can be removed very quickly, turning it back to a normal bike if you want.

[GSE]

uncinqsix said:

I'm starting to feel like a bit of a dinosaur grinding up the hill on my way home each day, as e-bikes whizz past. It's 1.6km of 11% gradient, so I won't deny feeling a little envious sometimes, but I need the exercise

I do between 9 and 15 miles, each way, each day, with steep climbs at each end ... which means I arrive at work and arrive home looking khackered. The bit in the middle is easy!

Edited by GSE on Friday 13th September 21:35

[uncinqsix]

GSE said:

I do between 9 and 15 miles, each way, each day, with steep climbs at each end ... which means I arrive at work and arrive home looking khackered. The bit in the middle is easy!

Edited by GSE on Friday 13th September 21:35

The funny thing is that my commute is only 6km each way, so on the way home 1/4 of it is climbing.

[Scaleybrat]

https://www.cube.eu/en/2019/e-bikes/mountainbike/f...

I am close to my 60th birthday and have been a keen cyclist for the last 20 years. I ride to work most days on my Whyte Montpellier hybrid on a 15 mile round trip along the banks of the River Tay between work and home. I’ve also got a 2015 Cannondale F29 Carbon hardtail that I love but beginning to find I’m struggling to get up some of the steeper climbs. During recent holidays in Selva Val Gardena and Kitzbuhel I’ve really enjoyed the e-bike experience when I’ve hired bikes to hit the mountain trails.
Today, I found this beauty for less than £2900 and decided its time to take the plunge into the world of e-bikes. I’m not sure if I’ll keep the Cannondale as, given the choice, I think I’ll find myself always gravitating towards the Cube for my trail ride. E-bikes have made rapid progress over the last few years but the integration of the battery into the down tube really makes a huge difference for me and made me decide the time is right.
I should get the bike later this week and can’t wait for my first ride on it next weekend.

[Dog Star]

Great stuff, Scaleybrat. Please let us know how you get on. Great looking bike.

[GSE]

Well I bought the ADV 8.9E here are my thoughts so far after a week riding it:

Bear in mind that for the last 3 years I have been riding mountain bikes. I have only ridden a road bike once lately, and that was in Tenerife, when I hired a bike and managed to make it up mount teide from Vilaflor and all the way back down to Los Christianos as part of a group – huge fun!

The 8.9E feels heavy compared to my MHT8.9, although without the drive pack, it’s probably about the same weight. I rode it for a couple of hours without the pack in to get a feel for the handling and the new (to me) riding position. It accelerates quicker and the ‘steering’ is way quicker compared the MHT, initially it felt very twitchy when standing up and pedalling, but I’ve got used to now. I Got aching thumbs and a bit of a backache too, but they are ok now. The ride quality is rock hard compared to the MTB and you have to watch out for potholes! It came with what look like slick tyres to me and it felt a bit slippy up hills on gravel paths, so I swapped out the tyres for a set of Schwalbe Landcruisers and they definitely feel better.

With the drive pack fitted the first thing you notice is the extra 5kg weight. But it really helps on hills and accelerating up to 15mph, above that, as the clutch disengages, it’s all up to you, and there is no drag from the motor. I can get over 20mph from on long straights, about 3 – 4 mph faster that I could get on the MHT. It has torque sensors on each crank, the power application and transition as the clutch disengages are very smooth. It has 3 assistance levels, green is fine for cruising on long straights, then switch to blue or maximum red for steep hills. This doesn’t mean that you will automatically go up really steep hills at 15mph (unless you are really fit) but change down a gear and the motor really helps!

I did a 25 mile ride on it last weekend, on the MTB that would have been enough, but on the ADV I felt that I could do another 25. I arrive at work far less sweaty too! One full battery charge (in just 3 hours) will cover 4 x 14 mile trips on my commute, so the ‘range’ on one charge is 56 miles for me.

Only issue I’ve had is with installing and removing the battery pack, and using the key. The key is a bit fiddly to use, and button to release the battery is very stiff. I have had to apply lots of extra grease to improve it. Once the battery is fitted, the controller on the handle bar is active, but after a few hours the system goes into sleep mode, and you have to drop the battery down slightly and use the button inside to turn the system on again.

Overall I’m very pleased with the ADV 8.9E. The plan is to use this over the winter, and get used to the riding position, and then in the spring I am going to buy a standard light weight road bike. By then, that should feel like a rocket in comparison

Edited by GSE on Saturday 28th September 10:11

[Scaleybrat]

Dog Star said:

Great stuff, Scaleybrat. Please let us know how you get on. Great looking bike.

I thought I’d give an update on my purchase and first ride on the bike. After receiving the bike and assembling it, I found the frame was on the large side and I had to make a couple of compensations to increase my confidence on the bike. First, i dispensed with the dropper post which I sold on eBay for a tidy sum. I replaced it with a Thomson post and can now ride the bike with a lower height in the seat post. Initially, I fitted Crank Brothers clip in pedals (Candy) but later decided to swap them out for a pair of flatties, DMR V12.
On the night before my ride, I charged up the battery just to make sure it was topped up. Next morning I fitted the battery to the bike and switched on to find...........nothing, completely dead. I searched the internet and phoned the dealer and tried to reset the battery to no avail. In the end, I took the bike and the Bosch PowerTube battery to my local eBike shop so they could run some diagnostics. Although I hadn’t purchased the bike there, they were willing to do this to help me out rather than exchanging the battery through the post with the dealer I’d originally purchased the bike from. The verdict was the battery was toast and I needed a warranty replacement. This wasn’t going the way that I’d envisaged.
Five days later, I had a replacement battery and they had updated some software for the Bosch drive, something they were surprised hadn’t been done before I received the bike. I guess the bike dealer had done the work when the bike was received into their warehouse and never checked again before dispatch.
I’ve now had my first, and only ride on the Dundee Green route just to get confident on the bike without straying too far from home. I usually do this ride in about 110 minutes and managed to lop 10 minutes of this time. Initially I thought I would be quicker but there’s not a lot of climbing on the route and this is where the bike will be noticeably faster than my F29 hardtail.
I now plan to get out during the winter weekends and get up in the hills to really extend myself and the bike. Next problem is how to get the bike up to the routes, at 23kg it’s still a heavy lump to lift into the car but I’ll work out what’s the best carriage method this week while I’m on holiday.
The initial battery issues were a frustration but now I’m excited by the bike, it’s capabilities and my ability to make the most of them. Angus glens, here I come!

[Dog Star]

That really does look smart.

A friend and his OH have just bought ebikes after trying mine - he's gone for a Haibike Hardseven 7.0. The influence is spreading.

[Brainpox]

I bought a Spectral:ON 7.0 a few weeks ago. My last mountain bike was a £100 online special which I snapped a pedal on day two and kept getting rammed up the arse from the seat pointing upwards! That was 11 years ago. I tried my friend's 2018 model and was sold on it almost instantly. It seems to be good value too, as far as I can see you can't get the parts for less than I paid for the whole bike.

As I can't get out biking as much as I'd like to having the electric motor is great for making sure I don't kill myself on the climbs. I can make it a challenge and when I begin to struggle I switch to boost mode and it's a right laugh. It certainly means I'm not put off going out on it and more speed = more fun as far as I'm concerned.

As my Mini is a little bit short on space and I didn't fancy a roof rack I took ownership of my friends Seasucker Talon for transport purposes. It's worked a treat so far but still a little nervy as I can't see if one of the cups has lost suction whilst I'm driving.

[benny.c]

I don’t think I have the strength to lift my Levo on to a car roof

[Brainpox]

benny.c said:

I don’t think I have the strength to lift my Levo on to a car roof

It's not too bad on a Mini, a bit worse if I forget to take the battery out first though lol.

Minus the battery and front wheel takes the weight down quite a bit.

[HoHoHo]

Had my Levo since early September and it's a total game changer that's for sure





My average mph has increased from 9 to 13.8 and it means those horrible horrible hills are still getting the heart going but they're not quite as difficult.

For me it's not about going the same speed easier but going faster and further

I did buy the 700wh battery and sold my 500wh battery on eBay, the 700wh recently used 51% on a 35 mile ride having climbed over 3000ft so the fear of running out of juice doesn't worry me.

[Tampon]

HoHoHo said:

Had my Levo since early September and it's a total game changer that's for sure





My average mph has increased from 9 to 13.8 and it means those horrible horrible hills are still getting the heart going but they're not quite as difficult.

For me it's not about going the same speed easier but going faster and further

I did buy the 700wh battery and sold my 500wh battery on eBay, the 700wh recently used 51% on a 35 mile ride having climbed over 3000ft so the fear of running out of juice doesn't worry me.

I rode my friends one, destricted and with the bigger battery. That thing was a beast. Made me go out and get the best E bike I could afford and got a CX powered Cube bike. Much more powerful than my old hub motored one but still not as good as the Specialised.

Lovely bikes, enjoy.

[Cupramax]

HoHoHo said:

Had my Levo since early September and it's a total game changer that's for sure





My average mph has increased from 9 to 13.8 and it means those horrible horrible hills are still getting the heart going but they're not quite as difficult.

For me it's not about going the same speed easier but going faster and further

I did buy the 700wh battery and sold my 500wh battery on eBay, the 700wh recently used 51% on a 35 mile ride having climbed over 3000ft so the fear of running out of juice doesn't worry me.

Yes, 700wh seems to be the sweet spot for range/weight, mines just over 700 but I’ve done a few rides over 40 miles and and still 40% left, but that’s on a Bafang 750w so likely a bit more juicy than yours.

[HoHoHo]

@Tampon and Cupramax - thanks

What really surprises me is how the bike performs not entirely different to my Carbon Stumpjumper ,they really are that good.

I also notice how it picks up speed pretty quickly going downhill

I'm obviously a complete mug, the local shop simply said................Borrow this for a day and tell us what you think..............

I thought after several hours..................now where's my bank card

They're not stupid!

[yellowjack]

Coolbanana said:

Amateurish said:

You can record the ride on Strava as an ebike ride. There are separate segments for ebike times.

e.g.: https://www.strava.com/segments/18302623

Edited by Amateurish on Friday 5th July 09:06

Cheers, I will look into this. If it keeps my times completely separate then that would be great.

I found out that Strava had added an "e-bike ride" to their activity type list when a chap I followed was riding loops in the woods around my old stomping ground, and he looked pretty fast. But when I checked his segment times there was no sign of my own times on the lists, despite me knowing I'd ridden those segments literally hundreds of times. So I asked him, and he pointed out that his rides were all tagged "e-bike". He'd previously ridden a non-assisted MTB, but he'd found that there were often "no segments on this activity" when he uploaded a ride as an e-bike. So he set about re-creating a load of his favourite segments, in the same places, with the same names, as e-bike segments. So as far as I'm aware, so long as you tag your ride as an e-bike ride, it will record only those segments set up from e-bike rides in the first place. Obviously, I may be wrong, especially if I've gotten the wrong end of any particular stick along the way, but that's how I understand it to work...


...try it by editing you activity type from "Ride" to "E-Bike Ride" on a normal ride you've uploaded. (you can then re-edit it back to "Ride" so don't worry). I just did that on a 50-mile mixed road/gravel ride from this week. It went from more than 50 segments on the activity page to only 1. Even the "Don't see the segment you're looking for?" button only yielded another 2 segments for e-bikes. So it seems I'm right in what I was suggesting, and that confusion only reigns whena committed e-biker duplicates all the old segment names from their pre-e-bike days. not sure how it works in Garmin's own sites though.

Edited by yellowjack on Friday 11th October 14:07