50 Mile round trip commute, feasible or not?

[RobF]

The reason i'm thinking of getting a mid drive bike is not because of the motor (I have no idea which is best) but because of the familiarity of the components, for example:

Shimano XT gearing, i've been using this on my mountain bikes for at least ten years, i know it pretty much inside out and can adjust and replace as necessary

Hydraulic Disk Brakes, some have Shimano XT hydraulic disk brakes, which i have also used on my mountain bikes for many years, its super powerful, and very reliable,

Do any of the hub motor bikes have components such as these? I really like the idea of being able to do my own maintenance and repairs, its something i'm comfortable with and confident about ( I would not do any work on the motor though, i know nothing about those)

Another thing i like about the mid motor bikes is the wheels, if i damage the rim on one i'd just get another wheel, swap out the bits and i'd be back on the road, but if i were to damage a wheel that has a motor on it i don't know how easy it would be to put the motor and on a new wheel, or if the wheels are readily available at local shops.

Also, not having a quick release wheel on the hub motor bike could be quite inconvenient, I know its not hard taking of the wheel of a hub powered bike, just disconnect the cable and unscrew the nut, but if its 5 o clock in the morning, pitch black, pouring down with rain and i have to replace an inner tube, i think the simplicity of a quick release would be beneficial

For my use, the only benefit i can see of bikes with hub motors is price, but maybe i have overlooked other benefits?

I'm not criticising hub motor bikes, i'm sure their brakes and gears and wheels are good quality and are really durable, my preference for XT is based on my familiarity, i'm not saying it is a superior system

Julie,

You have certainly identified one of the big pluses of a crank drive bike.

Either side of the bottom bracket, they are an ordinary bicycle.

Which, as you say, is a big benefit from a care and maintenance point of view.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The reason i'm thinking of getting a mid drive bike is not because of the motor (I have no idea which is best) but because of the familiarity of the components, for example:

Shimano XT gearing, i've been using this on my mountain bikes for at least ten years, i know it pretty much inside out and can adjust and replace as necessary

Hydraulic Disk Brakes, some have Shimano XT hydraulic disk brakes, which i have also used on my mountain bikes for many years, its super powerful, and very reliable,

Do any of the hub motor bikes have components such as these? I really like the idea of being able to do my own maintenance and repairs, its something i'm comfortable with and confident about ( I would not do any work on the motor though, i know nothing about those)

Another thing i like about the mid motor bikes is the wheels, if i damage the rim on one i'd just get another wheel, swap out the bits and i'd be back on the road, but if i were to damage a wheel that has a motor on it i don't know how easy it would be to put the motor and on a new wheel, or if the wheels are readily available at local shops.

Also, not having a quick release wheel on the hub motor bike could be quite inconvenient, I know its not hard taking of the wheel of a hub powered bike, just disconnect the cable and unscrew the nut, but if its 5 o clock in the morning, pitch black, pouring down with rain and i have to replace an inner tube, i think the simplicity of a quick release would be beneficial

For my use, the only benefit i can see of bikes with hub motors is price, but maybe i have overlooked other benefits?

I'm not criticising hub motor bikes, i'm sure their brakes and gears and wheels are good quality and are really durable, my preference for XT is based on my familiarity, i'm not saying it is a superior system

Any hub-motor with "CST" in its designation will allow you to use Shimano XT gears. I have XT hydraulic brakes on two of my hub-motored bikes, but to be honest, Tektro Auriga E-comp with switches are just as good, Many OEM hub-motored bikes have these brakes.

Hub-motors are much more comfortable for commuting. When you're cold and tired in the winter and your hands are too cold to change gear, the hub-motor will still give it's power regardless of which gear you're in. Keep the crank-drives for off-road and other sporting uses. For commuting it has to be a hub-motor.

Here's the last tourer/commuter I built for comfort and distance. Total cost was about £1000. I built it from a bare frame:

Shimano M785 XT hydraulic brakes
XT rear derailleur
DNP free-wheel gears
Front Shimano M590 Hollowtech crank
Fox rear air suspension
Marzocchi front air suspension
Marathon Plus puncture resistant tyres
20aH LiFePO4 battery
Xiongda 250w 2-speed hub motor
Range about 60 miles carrying 100kg reasonably hilly.

 

[Julie]

Thanks, that's a nice looking bike, but would not have a quick release rear wheel? And would need a special wheel if I damaged the wheel with the motor?

I've never made a wheel before so don't think I could make my own, being able to go I to my local bike shop and get a replacement wheel right away would be something I would value

 

[D8ve]

D8veh and I might not agree on the hub vs crank issue but he is about the most knowledgable here on builds and a spare wheel could be made /bought in case you damaged yours.
The only thing that might change his mind on crank drive is do you ware lycra to cycle,(ie are you qute a serious cyclist).
Yes the range is doable with either.
And a terminal bike failure can happen to either type. Bearing fail?
What is your plan then?
I believe you need a good lightweight bike that you can ride like a normal bike with a little contous assistance.
Hills kill, headwinds too. But you only need 13 mph do do your commute.
That is a long steady drag.
4 hours a day is a lot of cycling but kudos to you if you do it.

D8ve

 

[Artstu]

4 hours a day is a lot of cycling but kudos to you if you do it.

I imagine I could do each way in a little over an hour with two 400 wh's of battery consumed for the trip to and from work.
Certainly if I were healthy I'd undertake the commute for most of the year, the car would be on standby though.
I couldn't face doing it if it took double the time though.

Simon averaged just over 25 mph for 5 hours yesterday without a motor http://app.strava.com/activities/178628480

 

[Julie]

j

I imagine I could do each way in a little over an hour with two 400 wh's of battery consumed for the trip two and from work.
Certainly if I were healthy I'd undertake the commute for most of the year, the car would be on standby though.
I couldn't face doing it if it took double the time though.

D8veh and I might not agree on the hub vs crank issue but he is about the most knowledgable here on builds and a spare wheel could be made /bought in case you damaged yours.
The only thing that might change his mind on crank drive is do you ware lycra to cycle,(ie are you qute a serious cyclist).
Yes the range is doable with either.
And a terminal bike failure can happen to either type. Bearing fail?
What is your plan then?
I believe you need a good lightweight bike that you can ride like a normal bike with a little contous assistance.
Hills kill, headwinds too. But you only need 13 mph do do your commute.
That is a long steady drag.
4 hours a day is a lot of cycling but kudos to you if you do it.

D8ve

Ly

D8veh and I might not agree on the hub vs crank issue but he is about the most knowledgable here on builds and a spare wheel could be made /bought in case you damaged yours.
The only thing that might change his mind on crank drive is do you ware lycra to cycle,(ie are you qute a serious cyclist).
Yes the range is doable with either.
And a terminal bike failure can happen to either type. Bearing fail?
What is your plan then?
I believe you need a good lightweight bike that you can ride like a normal bike with a little contous assistance.
Hills kill, headwinds too. But you only need 13 mph do do your commute.
That is a long steady drag.
4 hours a day is a lot of cycling but kudos to you if you do it.

D8ve

I wear Lycra on a road bike, does that mAAke

 

[Julie]

I must be an idiot, i wear lycra when on my road bike, but i'm not serious, I just ride it for fun and enjoyment.

Thanks for all the replies, its has given me a lot to think about, I certainly think an ebike is a possible solution for my needs.

My next step is to see if there will be a reasonable advantage commuting on an ebike, as opposed to a manual road bike , over the next few days i'm going to try and do some tests comparing my average speed and exertion doing the same ride, use my road bike and my Mum's electric bike

 

[mfj197]

My next step is to see if there will be a reasonable advantage commuting on an ebike, as opposed to a manual road bike , over the next few days i'm going to try and do some tests comparing my average speed and exertion doing the same ride, use my road bike and my Mum's electric bike

That's exactly what I'm going to do as well. I have a 44 mile round trip commute which I currently sometimes do on my road bike. I don't know if an e-bike will work for me or not - the thread about it is linked to below. I keep a reasonable speed up on a flattish journey so am likely to be above the 15.5mph cutoff quite a bit. I'll be trying the journey on an e-bike in a couple of weeks to see how it works out!

Michael

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/bike-for-long-fastish-commute.18540/

 

[Julie]

That's exactly what I'm going to do as well. I have a 44 mile round trip commute which I currently sometimes do on my road bike. I don't know if an e-bike will work for me or not - the thread about it is linked to below. I keep a reasonable speed up on a flattish journey so am likely to be above the 15.5mph cutoff quite a bit. I'll be trying the journey on an e-bike in a couple of weeks to see how it works out!

Michael

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/bike-for-long-fastish-commute.18540/

That should be interesting, i look forward to hearing about your results, you are quite a bit fitter than me, i'm lucky to hit 12mph average.

I will be doing a 20 mile ride tomorrow on my road bike, I'm going to wear a heart rate monitor and try and keep my heart rate around 110, I have a GPS bike computer that can accurately measure my average speed.

The next day (if its not raining) i'm going to the same journey on the Freego Wren (probably on level 2 assistance) and keep my heart rate at the same level (in an attempt to replicate similar levels of exertion), and see if my average MPH is higher. I"m hoping it will be

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

you might also both like to have a read of this thread, where I compared my road bike with eBike on a commute.

over a few different days. once aiming for the same time as a normal bike to see how much effort I saved, and once aiming for the same effort as a normal bike to see how much time I saved. Even on my shortish commute, on a legal mountain bike on the road, I saved quite of lot of time or energy compared to my normal road bike.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/how-much-faster-by-ebike.16505/

Col

 

[Julie]

you might also both like to have a read of this thread, where I compared my road bike with eBike on a commute.

over a few different days. once aiming for the same time as a normal bike to see how much effort I saved, and once aiming for the same effort as a normal bike to see how much time I saved. Even on my shortish commute, on a legal mountain bike on the road, I saved quite of lot of time or energy compared to my normal road bike.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/how-much-faster-by-ebike.16505/

Col

That's a really interesting thread thanks, I can't wait to try my comparison, I'm keeping my heart rate quite low, as when I get to work I have 11 hours of manual labour, so don't want to wear myself out

 

[mfj197]

Col, that was an interesting read - thanks. The e-bike certainly helped quite a bit, which reinforces your comments on the previous thread. I'll be doing the comparison myself on 27/28 August. Unfortunately I don't have a heart rate monitor so the effort side will have to be a bit more subjective!

Kind regards, Michael