eMTB owners photo and ride thread.

trouty

Pedelecer
Nov 4, 2016
98
134
69
west yorkshire BD20
Pretty good day today so went to explore some of the Pennine bridleway
its quite a few years since I explored over this area and much has changed .

here is my ride

https://www.strava.com/activities/870690990

I hope it works











some very good trails have been opened up since my last visit but it was a hard ride with no level riding always up or down .
but it has given me a clue as to what to expect range wise 2 rides now and it would seem 30 ish miles with approx 1000 mtrs of climbing before the 500w battery is toast .I used 90% eco mode with tour on the real hard climby bits

it did run out 8 miles from home but I had taken my wifes battery as a backup so turboed it home the last 8 miles ha ha

if anyone says its cheating I say ****** as I have had an immense workout and loads of fun will be back into this area to have a bash at the Mary Towneley loop one sunny day
 
Last edited:

EddiePJ

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 7, 2013
4,632
4,013
Crowborough, East Sussex
www.facebook.com
You did well to use eco for 90% of the ride. It also sounds a very comparable range assessment to what I would get over the same mileage and elevation gain. My knee joints are suffering at the moment, so I am using tour more than eco, but I would expect a similar ride in tour, to give a range of low to mid twenties.

One of my intentions today was to see what the range was in tour, on what was seemingly very reasonable terrain conditions, that ranged from dry through to a manageable inch or so of mud. Sadly I must have somehow knocked Strava onto Pause, so have no idea of what the mileage or elevation gain was, when the battery gave up.
Interestingly though and something that I have never noticed before, was that there was a drop off in support towards the end. Strange how in what must be approaching 8k of mileage, that I have noticed that happening before.

On a positive note though, I had a couple of very long and useful discussions about plus size tyres.


.
 
Last edited:

trouty

Pedelecer
Nov 4, 2016
98
134
69
west yorkshire BD20
I guess I still have quite a bit of fitness left and coming from 4 years of riding a fat bike the heavy ebike is not too dissimilar .
the dinnerplate EX1 cassette is also helping its only grip that makes techy bits unrideable I did cheat on a few steep rocky bits and use tour
and aslo was bolloxed after I changed battery so enjoyed the turbo for the last leg shame they run out at 16 mph 20 would be better me thinks
 

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
Pretty good day today so went to explore some of the Pennine bridleway
its quite a few years since I explored over this area and much has changed .

here is my ride

https://www.strava.com/activities/870690990

I hope it works











some very good trails have been opened up since my last visit but it was a hard ride with no level riding always up or down .
but it has given me a clue as to what to expect range wise 2 rides now and it would seem 30 ish miles with approx 1000 mtrs of climbing before the 500w battery is toast .I used 90% eco mode with tour on the real hard climby bits

it did run out 8 miles from home but I had taken my wifes battery as a backup so turboed it home the last 8 miles ha ha

if anyone says its cheating I say ****** as I have had an immense workout and loads of fun will be back into this area to have a bash at the Mary Towneley loop one sunny day
This looks like an interesting ride. I am planning on downloading it, making a route in strava route builder, uploading to my garmin and then seeing if I can follow it..
Def not in eco.. old men don't do eco... well, this old man doesn't..
 

chris130256

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 4, 2016
298
492
68
herefordshire
Hopton Woods today with IR772. Some tricky, sticky conditions and it was a baptism of fire for IR772 who had not ridden on this kind of trail centre tracks before! He got quicker and more confident as the day progressed and had some great control over the rutted, wet rooted runs towards the end of the day. Impressive, as his front tyre had no grip. I hope we do this again my friend, when its drier and you've got better tyres?
A couple of screenshots of IR772....

hopton Mark5.PNG
hopton Mark.PNG
 

IR772

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2016
931
1,044
Leominster
Test or courage for 53 year old man on red and black routes!

Really great day with Chris in the clouds and mud, where were we ?

Met some really friendly bikers who took and gave a joke, Chris made one mother squeal with joy, good job Mrs. Chris was at home.

Said "you're doing well" to one young lad riding by and he promptly fell flat right in front of us, then chatting he showed us the bike he had built himself !

Off to buy new tyres that grip in mud, Robs going in bin after faithful service but nostalgia makes me sad to dump them.

Note to self do not put worn rear robs on front again when your life is in danger.

Also need to get VW van to fit in with the scene.

Great day all due to eMTB and the company of Chris
 

Steve A

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 28, 2016
704
414
Ashford, UK
When i get momentum up on flat, i switch assist off, same downhill. Other than this ride in eco and managed 300m of climbing. Best i got was near 60 miles. Range depends on so many factors, weather, roads, weight, cadence, tyres, wind etc etc.
I'm tempted by another battery, but i'm reluctant to spend more as technology is moving so fast.
 

Steve A

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 28, 2016
704
414
Ashford, UK
Well you've seen the improvements Tesla have made with battery efficiency / power and they haven't really started yet.
The more i think about it the more I'm convinced e-bikes are the future.
 

IR772

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2016
931
1,044
Leominster
When i get momentum up on flat, i switch assist off, same downhill. Other than this ride in eco and managed 300m of climbing. Best i got was near 60 miles. Range depends on so many factors, weather, roads, weight, cadence, tyres, wind etc etc.
I'm tempted by another battery, but i'm reluctant to spend more as technology is moving so fast.
The only time I turn the assistance off is when I put the bike down.

If its very steep I use maximum assistance then standard and Eco depending on how I feel and what I am doing.

For me with hard off road and some on road riding I get about 32 miles from a 400 watt pack.

If you cycle a lot with the assistance turned off you should get a normal bike as pedaling a heavy ebike with no assistance is a backward step.
 
Last edited:
  • Dislike
Reactions: Steve A

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
It's not a competition, you can use what you like.

The only time I turn the assistance off is when I put the bike down.

If its very steep I use maximum assistance then standard and Eco depending on how I feel and what I am doing.

For me with hard off road and some on road riding I get about 32 miles from a 400 watt pack.

If you cycle a lot with the assistance turned off you should get a normal bike as pedaling a heavy ebike with no assistance is a backward step.
I tried an experiment last week. I tried a mile long climb in eco to see if I could do it but after about 100 metres I remembered why I bought an ebike on the first place..
Riding without power seems to me like having a dog and barking yourself...
Not criticizing or judging others.. just saying that I don't want to go back to sweat dripping off my nose..
 

Steve A

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 28, 2016
704
414
Ashford, UK
IR772....., Not sure if i can be bothered to respond, but here goes.
It was a test on battery i.e how much i could get out of a full charge. Once only managed 18 miles on full turbo mode. I like to test what bike and rider can achieve, so as to manage future rides. Also, i like to test myself and keep fitness.
I used to be in a road cycling club and competitive on strava, but no more. I ride for me and frankly don't care what other riders do!. I also, don't judge others and how they ride or what they should ride.
Enough said.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,919
6,516
the faster yo go the faster you will drain the battery or the same as going up a mountain like eddie and its dead in 10 miles of non stop climbing.

either way you are pulling max amps and watts from the batt.

the problem is what speed you can maintain and not be peddling like crazy why then you need the right gearing.

the point off assist cut off with no speed limit will be how fit you are and to what speed you can maintain and the top speed you can get with max effort to the pedals.

remember Torque is only good for climbing and not top speed that is where you need power.

so you will reach a point where the motor is using all it can power wise but not helping at all.

then the top speed you can get is with ur legs alone tho then the other problem is the wind ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steve A

Deere John

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 13, 2015
532
580
47
EU
I also made an experiment on my standard ebike that had no speed limit, front hub motor. So I put the speed limit to 30 km/h and tried a long ride but assist still on highest to get good acceleration.

It's easy for the motor to keep 30 km/h on flat. With no limit it use to be around 35-40 somewhere. So I guess you gain alot there but I had many stops so I think the many accelerations did drain alot there. If I set assist to medium I think you save alot there.

Best would be if you had a switch that affects more parameters than only assist level. Well the Bosch actually has that [emoji2] I wonder what would be best for a touring bike

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steve A

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
My giant road bike only has 3 assist levels.. eco, normal and sport and is set to normal and I rarely use sport and never use eco.
Yesterday, pedaling reasonably hard (for a 67 year old) I did 30 road miles with 1300ft elevation gain some of which was into a stiff breeze.
The battery meter shows one segment gone and four to go but that is a bit misleading because along side that it shows 64% remaining and the second segment won't dissappear until I get below 60% which I find more informative that the bosch system.
My points here are...
1) I have tried eco in the past and found no real distance gain for a lot more effort on my part, but my efforts are not particularly athletic.
2) don't trust the Bosch display regarding range cos it's like woman... says one thing but means something else...
 

Steve A

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 28, 2016
704
414
Ashford, UK
Tugwell,
It's just a matter of building up to it, and time to get out riding of course.

Cycling is a bit of a leveller age wise. I remember cycling around Lake Annecy, france and been comfortably over taken on my road bike by 2 x 60 year olds (i was 40 at time). They were chatting like it was a casual Sunday ride. I soon realised that you get out of it what you put in and just to do what your happy with :)
 

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
Tugwell,
It's just a matter of building up to it, and time to get out riding of course.

Cycling is a bit of a leveller age wise. I remember cycling around Lake Annecy, france and been comfortably over taken on my road bike by 2 x 60 year olds (i was 40 at time). They were chatting like it was a casual Sunday ride. I soon realised that you get out of it what you put in and just to do what your happy with :)
Fully agree with this.. some of these achievements can seem superhuman, but some of these guys have a long cycling history so are used to it.
I have done 3 x 40 milers in the last 2 years but am more comfortable with my usual 15 to 25 miles or about 1hr 40 mins riding. I have several routes around where I live and can make them longer or shorter as I go depending on how I feel.
Strava route builder is handy to plan a ride as it gives the milage, elevation to climb and aproximate riding time which is how I planned my last 40 miler. My ambition is 50 miles....
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Steve A
I've been taking it easy for a number of week now since bouncing off some visually impaired old guys bonnet, but what a cracking little ride yesterday delivered.
Took my Go Pro so have footage. Struggling to upload to YouTube, Vimeo wants money (tight git, I know!) so I've simply dumped it on my Google drive for now, that is if anyone is even interested to watch!
I'm interested to see if the link even works :p
Latest lesson I've learnt, is stick to off-road riding!

Blast across the South Downs can be viewed HERE.

No strava, no photos, but spent an hour editing the video with some mildly drole comments.
 

Related Articles

Advertisers