Test of pedelec vs road bike for long commute

[mfj197]

Those of you who have read my previous thread know I was wondering whether a pedelec would work for me on my commute. A huge thank you to KudosDave and LEBC Tom who have lent me a Kudos Typhoon for a couple of days to test my exact scenario. I'll post updates here to let you all know how the comparison goes.

My exact situation is covered in the previous thread but basically I have a 22 mile each way commute from Surrey into SW London. I currently do this (occasionally) on my road bike, a 5-year old Specialized Secteur Sport. It's been well and truly turned into a commuter, with rack, pannier and lights. I generally cruise at about 17mph or so, so the purpose of this test is to see whether an e-bike would actually be beneficial or not.

As a quick teaser here is the old faithful:

Michael

 

[mfj197]

The first test was this afternoon on the ride home. According to Runkeeper on my 'phone I completed the ride on the Typhoon in 1 hour 25.06 mins, averaging 16.32 mph. That compares to an almost identical set of figures on the road bike from last week - 1 hour 23.21 minutes, average speed 16.45 mph. Things I learnt:

• The 15 mph cutoff is very annoying indeed. I could keep the bike above this using my legs but it's a big heavy mountain bike and would take a lot of energy to do so. I therefore let the bike dip into and out of the power assistance on the whole journey home.
• How I miss SPD pedals when I don't have them!
• I used much less effort on the Typhoon obviously - arriving home relatively fresh.
• The Typhoon is a big bike!
• Battery life looks fine for my journey like this. I had over half the battery remaining - indeed it only just dipped into the second segment of the battery display as I reached home.
• The gear range on the bike is pretty useless for me on this journey. I was in the large chainring and the top three gears all the way, spinning out at about 26mph downhill.

We'll see what the journey in tomorrow is like. I usually manage that a bit quicker than the journey home on the road bike as there is more downhill. I've also pumped the Typhoon's tyres up to their recommended max which should help.

Michael

 

[Kudoscycles]

Michael,interesting experiment....you could set the cutoff at about 17 mph,that would be in the tolerance of 10 per cent,I suspect that would move it away from your natural cruising speed.
Like your other bike I suspect you would customise it to suit your requirements.
I am sure other pedelec members found the experiment of use.
Kudosdave

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Better still, you can turn off the speed limit, so no cutting in and out of the motor.

 

[Jimod]

• 
  
• The gear range on the bike is pretty useless for me on this journey. I was in the large chainring and the top three gears all the way, spinning out at about 26mph downhill

Michael

Are you sure it's in top gear? I've had my Typhoon faster than that on the flat. Not for long admittedly and my legs were spinning faster than a man of my years should.

 

[Jimod]

Better still, you can turn off the speed limit, so no cutting in and out of the motor.

On a couple of occasions I've got rid of the cut off speed, it certainly makes it a different weapon. On one occasion, I went hammering up a hill passing a load of young'uns on bikes. I'm a crazy old fool. I'm not sure the OP would get 22 miles if he did that though, maybe I'll give it a go and see.

 

[mfj197]

Rain!? Who said anything about rain?

For this morning's trip I thought I'd see how quickly the journey could be made. I pumped the tyres up to their recommended maximum, recharged the battery, removed the speed constraint and used assist level 5 the whole way. Cruising speed was hovering around the 19mph mark - much more and the assistance dropped away as the motor approached its no-load speed.

The journey in took 1 hour 08.06 minutes - a record on that leg. I averaged 18.76mph and again arrived fresh and relaxed. This compares with the last trip on the road bike when it took 1 hour 15.17 minutes, averaging 17.04mph. So, victory to the Typhoon!

The battery lasted very well and had only dropped one bar when I got to work (it had been like that for about 10 miles, so probably about to drop another). I guess that means I was putting in a bit of effort to keep the pace up, but nothing like what I am used to. Indeed the whole experience does feel very much like cheating in that I am not getting the same workout as before. I could of course put considerably more effort in but my gut feel is that I wouldn't reap much benefit from that in terms of speed. The situation would probably be different on a faster rolling bike (or if the tyres on this were more road-focussed).

I still know I've been on a bike for over an hour when I get to my destination. My bum and wrists feel it for the second half of the ride. The riding position is more upright so my neck and shoulders don't ache from peering upwards at the road ahead, and the front shocks and wide tyres take serious bumps with aplomb. I would find a set of drop handlebars much more comfortable though, but hardly any pedelecs seem to be so equipped.

Runkeeper rides so far:
Journey home on Typhoon (versus journey home on road bike)
Journey in on Typhoon (versus journey in on road bike)

For the cycle home I'll put the speed limit back as mentioned by KudosDave above and take a more scenic hilly route home. This may well help the average speed up a bit compared to yesterday as there will be more climbing (with electric assistance) and downhill (with gravity assistance).

Michael

 

[JohnCade]

When I had a Woosh Sport CD I set the display to 30 kph which cuts out at just over 19 mph, and was much more pleasant than the 25 kph/15.5 mph abrupt cut out. I found it a good compromise without going overboard and also using a lot much power. With that King-Meter it wasn't possible to fine tune it to 17 mph so I don't know if yours is?

The Kalkhoff I have now cuts out at 17.3 mph quite smoothly and also legally. Since unlike the King-Meter it takes account of the ten percent leeway. It's also a lot easier to ride past the cut out because it has better components, and rides much more like a normal bike unassisted. As it's a torque sensor it does respond to rider input much more directly that speed sensor bikes too which means a less lazy ride. It is a little undergeared, but I'm going to change the rear sprocket soon. Not that there is much flat road where I live.

 

[mfj197]

Yesterday evening's ride was a more hilly scenic route home. I left the speed cutoff at 35km/h in the end and let the motor do quite a bit of the work. The journey was 21.55 miles, completed in 1 hour 13:21 with an average speed of 17.62 mph. I haven't been that route on the road bike this year so haven't got a direct comparison unfortunately.

Runkeeper ride here.

The bike continued to make short work of the hills and cruise along quite happily on the flats. The benefits of a hub drive were apparent - the pull away from lights and turnings is smooth and powerful whatever gear you are in. You just need to turn the cranks a bit and the bike will then pull you up to speed. There are of course other benefits to a crank drive, not least of which the power is more available at higher speeds whereas with a hub drive the available power drops off as you approach the no-load speed of the motor. Mind you, that works well with a smooth transition from assist to no assist as I pedal faster.

The motor makes a refined whine, not intrusive at all. Indeed I don't know if anybody noticed it was an electric bike as I went past. For me the loudest noise was probably the wind - there was a reasonable headwind and the journey on the road bike would have been very tiring.

On to the next leg ...

Michael

 

[mfj197]

Face off ...

 

[mfj197]

21.75 miles in 1 hour 06:57, averaging 19.5 mph ...

... but there's a story behind this morning's ride. This time I was putting in quite a bit of effort myself, having a lovely cycle in and making good progress. Power assistance again on level 5, taking the more scenic hilly route in to work. A couple of miles from my destination I heard a noise, the electrics turned off and wouldn't turn back on again. To cut a long story short removing the battery and replacing it solved the issue and I was on my way again. The Runkeeper GPS paused whilst I was checking the bike over but was tracking me as I was walking around seeing if anything had fallen off the bike. Therefore the actual time in was probably about 1 hour 4 minutes or so, which would have been an average of 20.4 mph.

Runkeeper results here.

I had a following wind this morning, was on the downhill leg and was putting in a significant amount of effort myself which contributed to the impressive speed. Still not nearly as much effort as I need to put in on the road bike mind you. The battery indicator was still reading full when I got to work

The bike needs to go back to the London Electric Bike Company today. I'll be very sorry to see it go. So what have I learnt?

• I could certainly cover my commute daily on an e-bike. I can do the entire journey once, maybe twice a week on the road bike but every day would be perfectly possible with electric assistance. Although I am a bit numb in the nether regions from the time in the saddle ...
• The ride would be very frustrating on a bike limited to 25kph. The overall time would be no quicker than on my road bike. Of course this might be different on a bike that rolls better without assistance, which leads me on to ...
• I would want a bike with lower rolling resistance to be more efficient when under my own steam. I'd love a cyclocross style bike with smaller frame and drop handlebars but to my knowledge there is nothing like this around in the e-bike world.
• Hub drive definitely has merits. I haven't tried a crank drive so can't compare directly, but the take-off from stationary in any gear is very nice when commuting and the power tail-off at speed means it is efficient on the battery when I'm putting in power myself.
• Riding the e-bike has been downright fun! Covering miles in the country with the flexibility to put in effort yourself or let the motor do the talking is wonderful.

Massive thanks to LEBC Tom and KudosDave for lending me the Typhoon to try out the commute. Having the opportunity to try a bike out for a couple of days has really helped form my thoughts for my particular needs. Hopefully the information in these few posts has been useful to others who may be in a similar situation.

Michael

 

[Artstu]

Exactly as expected. With the right tweaks to the right bike your commute would be a joy to do every day of the week. The standard limit soon went out of the window I see

 

[oldtom]

So, I take it then we can safely say that a motorcycle is quicker for your commute. The original premise, I thought, was:
Test of pedelec vs road bike for long commute
Of course, now that you have established that if electrical assistance is adapted to provide propulsion beyond the legal limit, it follows that lots of EAPCs could be utilised for your journey and not just the Typhoon.

I think it's fair to say that most forum readers were aware of that fact without the need for your 'experiment'. The comparison in bold print would be far more interesting to those of us who do have qualms about breaking the law.

Tom

 

[Jimod]

• I could certainly cover my commute daily on an e-bike. I can do the entire journey once, maybe twice a week on the road bike but every day would be perfectly possible with electric assistance. Although I am a bit numb in the nether regions from the time in the saddle ...

Michael

A very good report on the bike. When I first got my Typhoon I did a 30 mile trip and my butt was in agony after it. I put a new saddle on it, gel padded, and don't suffer as much now.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Great write-up thanks. Hopefully, we'll get the S-class in the next change of legislation, then we can all commute on our bikes at a sensible speed, and OldTom can turn into the nice guy that's always been there waiting to come out.

 

[JohnCade]

Don't think the S pedelec is ever going to happen here. To be fair to oldtom the OP did say in his other thread that he wanted to stay legal, and mentioned the higher cut out speed of some German bikes which take full advantage of the leeway in the law.

 

[mfj197]

Indeed. The first of the four rides was with exactly that constraint and confirmed that with my particular route I would be no quicker with a pedelec with a strict 15.5mph cutoff. Interestingly the times were virtually identical - I felt quite a bit slower on the pedelec. The other rides tested differing scenarios of route, cutoff, pedal input etc. for information-gathering, including to see if it would be feasible to do the journey day in day out. Interesting to hear the Kalkoff makes use of the 10% leeway. I think I asked about that on the other thread - what are the cutoff speeds of the other makes and types?

Michael

 

[Jimod]

Indeed. The first of the four rides was with exactly that constraint and confirmed that with my particular route I would be no quicker with a pedelec with a strict 15.5mph cutoff. Interestingly the times were virtually identical - I felt quite a bit slower on the pedelec. The other rides tested differing scenarios of route, cutoff, pedal input etc. for information-gathering, including to see if it would be feasible to do the journey day in day out. Interesting to hear the Kalkoff makes use of the 10% leeway. I think I asked about that on the other thread - what are the cutoff speeds of the other makes and types?

Michael

In the first test where you stayed legal you mentioned the times being almost the same but you used less effort on the ebike. You proved that an ebike can do the job easier than a normal bike. You did some good tests and anyone considering a Typhoon or any ebike will have found the posts valuable.

 

[Artstu]

All interesting and very useful information for those considering an e-bike.

My bike with no speed restriction in Eco mode more or less matches what I can do on a medium weight racing bike over a 10 mile circuit. However when speed restricted and in Turbo mode it's about 2 to 3 minutes slower on the same circuit !

Not much scope for a 15.5 mph e-bike to improve on this normal bike.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

You found the same as me, even though the terrain is different.

So the important observation is that you can do it on a road legal Ebike and ride it every day and still have energy left over.

I'd suggest also trying it on a road legal bike with faster rolling tyres and perhaps a crank drive.

Tom at LEBC will take delivery of a 2015 ktm macina cross 9 early next week, Bosch drive, 700c wheels and under £1700 RRP. Could be worth comparing.

I really can't understand why anyone would risk riding an illegal bike on busy roads day in and day out.

Not worth the risk to save a few minutes IMHO.