Electric Bike for Long Distance Cycle Touring

[flecc]

for some odd reason bike weight seems to slow a bike more than extra bodyweight, anecdotally, although perhaps it's a myth.

Definitely not a myth Jonathan, the reason is well understood. Within the range of fairly normal personal weights, the body naturally develops the muscular strength to match the body weight being carried for normal functions, muscles and weight keeping pace. This matching only begins to break down with gross obesity when the muscle size and strength no longer keeps pace.

Of course with cycling a small part of our total life there is little such muscle adjustment with an increase in bike weight.

This does change with a very high proportion of cycling though. My nephew set off on a heavily loaded round the world cycle ride at 18 years old, starting as a slim, light but fit youngster. A year into it, he was massive with thighs like our champion track cyclist Will Hoy. So if your tours are extended you will get a little of that gain.
.

 

[jonathan75]

Thanks everyone for replying. I'm sorry if I misled folk - I've actually bought almost all the kit already, so it's really a question of whether I would take 3.5 hrs to charge the 14.5ah battery after buying a 4a charger, which seems like it would liberate me from supervising the charge for the full 7 hours a standard 2a charger would involve (possibly risky to charge while asleep). It could double my daily distance too but might damage the battery.

I had thought of buying two batteries and chargers, it's there still at the back of my mind, but the budget isn't really going to be there this year. I thought the fast charger could be a nifty solution but it would be a bit annoying to return from a tour with a crippled battery.

 

[jonathan75]

Also quite interested in whether camping worked for any ebikers, what with charging facilities, theft issues,also weight of kit.

There is a thought in my mind of getting a used folding 26 inch bike to convert, in case of needing to put it on regular transport eg a bus or liftshare trip back home, but there would be 2-3 extra kgs involved, so not sure whether that's clever.

Lastly I've got swxk front and (180mm)bafang cst 250w rear motors and not sure which to fit - the former is 3kg and the latter 4.5. No idea of the terrain. Thanks

 

[flecc]

The only member I remember doing any longer distance tours on an e-bike in Europe was frank9755. He hasn't posted in here for a long time so a message might not be seen. However, here's some links mentioning his trips, although with little information, they do at least confirm some practicality:

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/e-bikes-in-the-netherlands.4094/

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/electric-bike-spotted-in-albania.6257/

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/what-a-wonderful-day-part-2-route-21-ride-electric-to-eastbourne.4179/#post-54049

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/e-bike-expansion-in-europe.4224/#post-54434

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/e-bike-hire-in-france.4225/
.

 

[jonathan75]

Excellent, thanks Flecc

 

[EddiePJ]

Interesting how someone's tough ride is another persons easy ride.
The Eastbourne ride caught my eye and I read it with great interest. It certainly made for a very enjoyable read. I love reading other peoples riding accounts, so thanks for sharing those links flecc. Shame that more people don't document their rides.
I ride sections of that route regularly, and drink in the Huntsman pub at least once a week. There is only one very slight hill section between Three Bridges and Eridge Station/The Hunstman pub, and I'd be very surprised or even amazed that anyone would even turn the battery on for any of that section of the ride. He was certainly right when he said that the railway was boring though. I tend to use it as a night time training ride, and avoid it completely at weekends during daylight hours. It just gets too busy to make for either an enjoyable ride, or a fast one. At night time I can average nearly 19mph along the section of old railway line from East Grinstead to Groombridge, and a reasonable bit of it is spent at 21-22mph.
The hill from Hunstman to the top of Eridge, is a steady incline, and one that a regular cyclist would not need battery assistance for, but I wouldn't blame anyone if they did use battery assistance for it. The rest of the ride from Eridge to Heathfield again isn't so bad, but has lengthy rather than steep climbs. It's one of those niggly sections that is too much effort not to want battery assistance, but almost hard to justify using it. From Heathfield to Eastbourne, it is again all down hill. More of a challenge would have been to ride the route in reverse, but that isn't something that I particularly fancy. Having said that, I'm due to ride from Eridge to Eastbourne and back some time soon. They serve a mean Moules-frites in Eastbourne.

The Huntsman pub just a few weeks ago. I was on the pedal mtb, and my Bro-in-law nicked the e-mtb.

Part of the very dull old railway line.

Believe it or not this is part of route 21 as mentioned in the thead. I certainly wouldn't want to ride it in the winter on a road bike! edit.. For some very stupid reason, local residents have a habit of stealing signs from this route, which would go some way to explain the route finding problems in the main thread. Pretty pathetic thing to do.

 

[flecc]

Here's another Eastbourne ride account Eddie, in 2009 from member Fecn. Sadly the photos are missing:

Wonderful day part 2

And here's another South Coast run from member Fecn who promoted it:

Brighton
.

 

[EddiePJ]

Many thanks flecc, I shall take a read of those later.

We also have this relatively recent thread on the forum as well. http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/lands-end-to-john-o-groats-unsupported.18004/




.

 

[Wicky]

Davestrong wrote an entertaining blog journal of his trip along the Velodyssey from Roscoff to Spain by ebike > http://e-rider.eu

 

[Gubbins]

It seems that whatever your expectations are.... its never enough! In my case with an early bosch crank drive I ride it in 2 different ways... short regular commute or fast hilly ride is done in turbo mode which gives me 25 to 30 miles or so even when climbing over 2500 feet. For a more leisurely ride I use eco and tour and can go 60+ miles providing I plan a route without hills. Buying a second battery seems the obvious answer but they are so expensive. .... There is a cheapy on ebay for £250 ish but I worry its a waste of money and I can't afford the £500 for a bosch one.

 

[EddiePJ]

Phill, I assume that the distances quoted are a mix of assist and no assist?

My old classic motor was certainly more efficient in relation to battery use than my current performance line motor. I would imagine that riding the terrain that I do, that I'd be lucky to get 20 miles from a charge if using settings higher than eco for the full ride.

 

[Gubbins]

That surprises me a lot cos I never ride unassisted as it's just too hard . In turbo mode I regularly get over 25 miles and still have 2 segments showing. It seems to give about 4 miles per segment actually climbing with up to 12 miles on the flat. I find turbo really good on the flat because it gets to the cut off really fast and then just gives little boosts is I drop back below 16 mph. On a longer run I generally leave it in tour and drop to eco on the easy bits. Of late I have noticed an aparrent increase in output but then I think I must be imagining it. This week I rode 22 miles. 2200ft into a gale most of the way so I was pedaling down hill as well and it drop to the last segment 2 miles from home and I would consider that a hard ride for me. And of course it's winter. .. It goes noticeably further in the summer. Reading what others post I thought my range was poor....

 

[flecc]

It's surprising how quite small variations in the rider input can have dramatic effects on range. When at 71 years old I reviewed the original Kalkhoff Agattu with it's 260 Wh battery, I was able to get 30 to 35 miles range consistently. Some subsequent often much younger buyers found it difficult to top 25 miles while others were able to reach 45 miles.

In one identical leisure ride together on two of those Agattus, one rider reached a bit over 40 miles before changing the battery, the other covered the full 60+ miles of the trip and still had some battery charge spare!
.