How many people are using there e-bike off-road?

[peerjay56]

Thankfully we don't have that problem here in the highlands, everyone is happy to share and the Scottish access rights allow you to go pretty much anywhere which includes bikes (and dogs under control) so the best of both worlds.
Great pictures and write up TinKitten, that bike will be my very first purchase when the premium bonds finally come good!
Dave.

Good point Dave, which I had forgotten.

 

[berkobennie]

Hi Stan,
Do you find the Smart Sam +s are wearing quickly?
My back one's showing significant wear after about 800 miles:
I ride a fair mix of road & trail @ 40/42psi.

Hi Jack, was looking at the tyres today, I've probably done about 250 miles on them, the little rubber pattern on the tread blocks are just starting to wear off. Like you, a fair cross section of riding. I would guess that wear will be quicker than say Marathon MTB, Smart Sams seem a lot softer rubber. I guess its a trade off I'm quite happy with, the Marathon MTB were bullet proof, but didn't always inspire confidence.
These SS's I am really happy with, in the wet, loose flint, slippy chalk, an no punctures yet,... and almost as important, they look good! I'd go as far as best tyres I've had, I might feel differently at 800 miles though if I have to replace them!!!

Edit: pressures 45psi

 

[amigafan2003]

Eddie's use is quite extreme - deep ruts, deep mud, tree roots, rocks, etc.

I'm not sure any ebike will stand up to that very well.

Some do

 

[EddiePJ]

I've now been out four nights in a row riding off road, and have put in approx. 80miles. I've also just been invited to tag along on an organised ride tomorrow afternoon as well. My body is starting to feel pretty beat up!

As for the BH, surprise surprise I have issues with it once again.
I'm not sure if it's the new battery or the charger, but the charger is refusing to show a green light when the battery should be fully charged. It switches from the red/yellow whilst charging, then to red. If it's not one thing it's another with this bike.

 

[EddiePJ]

Well the organised ride left me a bit flat.
I had to pretty much pedal most of it to remain slow enough.

I was shown a fantastic range of single track though, which they had been riding for some time. I followed behind for the first route, and just hung on to the brakes all they way down, to avoid ramming the lads in front.
For the rest of the time in the woods, I went first!

I guess that my competitive streak came out to play.

I think that I need a few days break from riding now, but I may well head to the South Downs at the weekend.

A little taster of what was there.

 

[EddiePJ]

I stupidly took the BH for a 28 mile ride on the South Downs yesterday. Stupid, because the battery only lasted for about 8 miles in eco!
It was still a good ride though, although ideally I've had liked to have got a few more miles in, but pedalling the best part of 20kg of bike, soon gets tiring.
I'd been asked to map out an organised route for a local mtb group. I don't think that they are going to enjoy the climbs, but as they brag about how good that they are, this one might shut them up.

The first significant hill was 3.4miles into the ride is a lovely 25 degree climb, so that'll test them. The first 3.4 miles was fairly flat, so it'll be interesting for me to watch and see if they go too fast by not pacing themselves.
This was the only other person that I saw for the whole ride. Obviously I was past him in seconds after taking the photo.

As you can see, I had some residue on the camera lens, and sadly didn't realise this until a good halfway through the ride, so had to bin many photos. Lesson learned there.

 

[amigafan2003]

Quick wizz out on it this lovely summer evening:-

Route.

 

[103Alex1]

I stupidly took the BH for a 28 mile ride on the South Downs yesterday. Stupid, because the battery only lasted for about 8 miles in eco!

Eddie, I take it that's a wee bit of an exaggeration ? Thinking about buying a regular cyclocross bike at the moment which I could shove on a roof rack but keep getting distracted by ideas that a lighter, neater eBike would be likely to get more use.

Decent cyclocross bike with hydraulic disc brakes looks to be over £1.5k anyway so there's likely not much in it really ! Just keep coming back to the feeling that without a decent 15-17Ah battery I may as well go light and unpowered, and take it somewhere flatter to ride.

 

[EddiePJ]

Eddie, I take it that's a wee bit of an exaggeration ? Thinking about buying a regular cyclocross bike at the moment which I could shove on a roof rack but keep getting distracted by ideas that a lighter, neater eBike would be likely to get more use.

Decent cyclocross bike with hydraulic disc brakes looks to be over £1.5k anyway so there's likely not much in it really ! Just keep coming back to the feeling that without a decent 15-17Ah battery I may as well go light and unpowered, and take it somewhere flatter to ride.

Sadly not. I now have yet another warranty claim logged!

I also have a hankering for a cyclo cross bike. Genisis look good.

 

[103Alex1]

Good grief, Eddie - it's been one thing after another !

I was trying to get hold of a Specialized Crux Sport E5 Evo earlier but all 54cm stock has now sold out.

However .. just got told about a new bike from Specialized which should be out very soon. Called 'Diverge' it has the proper S785 hydraulic disc brakes on it (not the TRP HY/RD ones they've all been fitting, which have hydraulic pistons but are cable-operated). Looks quite a good balance for me. Shame it's over £2k !

http://www.specialized.com/ee/en/bikes/2015-early-launch-bikes/diverge/diverge-comp-carbon

I like my hydraulic discs .. ever so hard to get on a Cyclocross bike still !

 

[EddiePJ]

First day on my hols in Switzerland and I have spotted this. The shop is rammed with 5k plus pedal bikes, but this is the only e-bike. It's outside in the rain unloved.

 

[103Alex1]

^^ That's probably because being a Bosch, it keeps running out of battery with those hills

 

[RobF]

Eddie, I take it that's a wee bit of an exaggeration ? Thinking about buying a regular cyclocross bike at the moment which I could shove on a roof rack but keep getting distracted by ideas that a lighter, neater eBike would be likely to get more use.

Decent cyclocross bike with hydraulic disc brakes looks to be over £1.5k anyway so there's likely not much in it really ! Just keep coming back to the feeling that without a decent 15-17Ah battery I may as well go light and unpowered, and take it somewhere flatter to ride.

Riding a lightweight bike is a pleasure denied to all ebikers, so I can see where Alex is coming from - particularly because he's a light guy himself.

I also agree about battery power, I now take two batteries with me on almost every ride.

Sometimes I don't dip into the second one and I rarely use a lot of it.

Carrying the second battery is a bit of a faff, so I can see the merit in a bike with a single 15ah+ battery.

 

[RobF]

First day on my hols in Switzerland

Are you tempted to chuck a Stromer into the back of the van?

 

[103Alex1]

Well, seeing as the whole reality of trying to sell an e-bike when you're away half the time and there's not much of a second hand market for them anyway, I decided to put everything down and give the old bird a decent run out today. I just thank the lord I don't need the cash badly or I'd be b*****ed !

Climbed great up silly slopes, rode great, handled the tracks great - just a bit hefty to lift her stately undercarriage over the two-foot high timber style things (no idea what you call them) between between me and paradise. Fantastic day. No idea how far I rode but plenty of time to stop off and shed my shirt over a can of sparking Rhubarb If only we had 4 months of this sort of weather every year Britain would be ... well ... probably inundated with tourists like the Costa Not-a-lotta.

Quick 6 mile detour via the nearest health supermarket for a "pre-Supper" snack of fresh brown rice sushi & ice-cold smoothie, and a naughty ice cream to refuel. Felt great and just like old times. This having to earn money for a living and getting a car again thing really does has a lot to answer for - as do I for getting lazy, distracted and unmotivated to ride my bike nearly enough when I do get the chance

Prospect of having to start up again breaking in a new bike etc etc. getting pretty unattractive at the minute - would just be nice to have something I could lift onto my new roofrack without springing a hernia. But that goes for any e-Bike, so got to face reality if I want another bike it's going to have to be a normal one... and that'll either sit in the shed or force me to get fit again. Jury's still out - and probably will be in 6 months' time unless something I can't resist gets put in front of me !

For now, I'm feeling happy enough to have been lucky to spend my afternoon here, looking down across the lowlands I've just climbed up from, happy as a pig at swill, in complete peace on a perfect Summer's day ... and it doesn't really get much better than that, does it ? :

 

[EddiePJ]

This is proving hard work! I borrowed the bike from the neighbour of the people that we are staying with. I spent a bit of time riding, then watched a group of Americans base jumping. There was one very near miss when a lad in wing suit nearly ploughed into another jumper just as his shoot opened! You can see more on YouTube. Lauterbrunnen base jumping. The speed as they fall is amazing.

 

[TinKitten]

Well I've now been on my third proper off road outing. This time I had the benefit of my newly fitted 'Walk Assistance' button. My goodness, it's so much better with this fitted! When I get to something I can't ride up, I no longer have to exhaust myself by pushing up my 23kg+ trusty companion. At just over a third of my body weight it wouldn't phase an ant, but for me it was crippling. But no more! It mostly moves itself and I get to save buckets of energy. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't want one of these as standard!

So I chose once again to assault my local mountain. I'm learning what routes to take over it and what the current capabilities of me and the bike are. I really enjoyed my ride and I'm loving the bike. I was out for three hours including breaks taken to look at the scenery and I climbed a total of 1987 feet over my whole 11.6 mile ride. I didn't skimp on the assist uphill and ended up using 38% battery on the trip.

Here are a few pictures including a tricky track that really tested by balance.

My route into the wilds began in the forest. Note the crowded handlebar, I can't fit anything else on it!

That in the distance is where I'm going! (Not all the way to the top, but most of it)

I was really lucky with the weather. The showers only dusted me and I was rewarded with spectacular views of light and shadow over the mountains.

As usual, the camera doesn't capture how steep this unmade road is. It's much harsher than it looks in this photo. My new mtb skills were tested to their limit with the loose stones and tree roots at such an incline. I guess proper mountain bikers would look at this and laugh. All I could think was that if it goes wrong, it's going to go really wrong!

 

[baldylox]

That stoney road does look steep (the fence posts are testimony to that) and your full suspension must have helped to negotiate it... Going down not up, right? Looks like fun

splendid photos yet again!

 

[peerjay56]

I came a proper cropper on a similar stony track when I ventured onto an alleged BOAT (byway open to all traffic); bearing in mind that my bike has no suspension, after falling off for the second time, I pushed it for the last half mile of that track!

 

[EddiePJ]

TK, yet another superb write up and associated photos.

Certainly better than my very dull and blustery road ride this evening.