44 mile round trip, couple of hills - possible?

[paido]

I have applied for a postgraduate course part time in Portsmouth. The trouble is I live in Southampton and don't have a car or licence. The train fare is just over £9 return which I find a bit expensive. I'll probably make about two or three trips a week over a two year period.

Is there an electric bike out there that can get me from Southampton to Portsmouth and back with fairly minimal effort and without the battery running out?

I have posted the route below, there is also OS information on the elevation on one possible route to give you an idea of how hilly it is.
bikehike.co.uk - Course Creator

I actually don't mind forking out £1k for an electric bike as most other places offering this course charge £1k more in course fees but would obviously like to keep the cost down.

I've even thought about doing this on a regular bike. I can keep my speed around 15mph so should make it there in under 2 hours give or take a few minutes which is ok I guess but it's a lot of time and effort.

 

[the_killjoy]

It shouldn't be a problem IF you can re-charge whilst you are there, otherwise you are getting close to the limit ~ especially if you have a bad headwind.

 

[paido]

Thanks.

Portsmouth has to be one of the most higgle de piggledy citys out there. I have found an external charge point on hayling island although it will increase the commute by several miles.
PO11 0LJ - Google Maps

I've also found a slightly gentler but longer route (by a couple of miles)
bikehike.co.uk - Course Creator

Is it better to take the longer route with less hills? Or should I take the shorter route and power up the hills? There is a massive hill at the start.

 

[Patrick]

I'd sugest you take the shorter route, flattening out hill is something that ebikes can do very well.

If you take your charger with you then you can detach the battery when you get to Uni and hopefully find somewhere to plug it in (if you can't find a friendly office then the library might have powerpoints provided for laptops that you could use).

Patrick

 

[paido]

I'd sugest you take the shorter route, flattening out hill is something that ebikes can do very well.

If you take your charger with you then you can detach the battery when you get to Uni and hopefully find somewhere to plug it in (if you can't find a friendly office then the library might have powerpoints provided for laptops that you could use).

haha genius! I forgot about self service laptop points, or even computer rooms for that matter, or cleaner sockets. I agree though it's probably best to ask before I start plugging in equipment into their electrics.

On average how long does it take to charge a typical bike of this standard? Sorry I'm very new to these things.

 

[Alex728]

Paido - I expect you might have to get the charger inspected by by the uni health and safety department, but with most students having laptops etc I can't see a problem. An ebike charger uses about the same amount of electric as a laptop.

it takes about 4-5 hours to charge the bike, so you could plug it in when you arrive for the morning lectures and it would be charged for riding back home. might even improve your academic performance as if you only have a few lectures but have to wait for the bike to charge you may as well go in the library and do some studying (out of curiosity, what are you studying?)

 

[paido]

Another neat thing about this journey is that unless I stop off to go shopping along the way, it's very difficult for the bike to be nicked. The university has bike sheds and when I get home I'll store it in my flat.

Sorry I didn't see your post. I guess the main port of call will be the student union. The hours they're open may be problematic I guess but there's always the other power point and I could go home on a lower charge. I'll be doing an MSc in Geographical Information Systems.:

 

[Barnowl]

I think that unless you're a strong cyclist you'll need a reliable e-bike with a decent/expensive battery. If I was going to be doing that distance I'd be looking at a Wisper 905 or a Kalkoff. For bikes only providing about 20 miles per charge you'll need to factor in a replacement battery at least once a year. Depends how fit you are though and what the routes really like. I know one guy commuting 25 miles 4 days a week on a "normal" bike boasting a record time of 1 hour.

 

[paido]

Ach, I was hoping you wouldn't say that, those things are abit out of my price range. IIRC the 14a version can go about 25mph?

 

[Alex728]

Ach, I was hoping you wouldn't say that, those things are abit out of my price range. IIRC the 14a version can go about 25mph?

the 14Ah version can go longer on a single charge (about 30-40 miles apparently). it is restricted to 15mph, there are ways of making it slightly faster but thats technically illegal on the public highway.

Hantspol are fairly clued up when it comes to both normal bikes and ebikes (I think they have a significant number of police officers on bikes) so it may not be worth taking the risk.

 

[Barnowl]

But the odds are very strongly in his favour I'd suggest. I'm wondering what the range would be at 25MPH though.

 

[Mussels]

Interesting route, looks a bit massochistic to me. Why go the long way round over the biggest hills when you could get the Gosport ferry (I think it's free???) and ride through Stubbington?
If not the ferry then I would expect the route along the A27 would still be shorter and flatter, as you experiment you'll fand various shortcuts and cycle paths along the way.

 

[Alex728]

But the odds are very strongly in his favour I'd suggest.

maybe - but given what paido is studying hantspol and the rest of the blue light services could be a lucrative client or even a prospective employer so makes sense not to get on the wrong side of them.... actually with a GPS unit on the bike I can see how paido could combine this e-bike ride and his studies, perhaps his thesis material is already there

 

[Mussels]

Ach, I was hoping you wouldn't say that, those things are abit out of my price range. IIRC the 14a version can go about 25mph?

the 14ah battery on the Wispers do not make them run at 25mph, only with lots of pedaling or downhill.

 

[gedemeisterdk]

you could allways diy.

find a good quality/reliable/comfortable commuterbike you like (second hand maybe).

add conversion kit (ask for a price without the battery included):
- Electric Bicycle Kits

or

Google translate, german site


add big (aH) lifepo4 battery:
PingBattery LiFePO4 Battery packs for Electric Bicycle e-Bike & Scooter, Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

works for me, my commute is 2*24 km


just ask if you need any help...