going over the 15.5 cut off point

[it is i footpump]

hi all today myself and a m8 were doing a fairly hilly ride just over 42 miles in total.
my ebike is Carrera subway with tdz2 250w cd drive 10ah bottle battery, I parrelled a enerprof 13.8 with the 10ah to be sure of having enough juice for the journey.

on the outward journey we were often overtaken by (roadies on road bikes) who just breezed by us.

on the return we took a different route , a main road , lots of traffic so selecting a higher gear and in turbo mode found trying to go over the 15.5 cut off felt like I was pulling a trailer despite me trying to peddle hard.
and it being slightly downhill.
I don't normally notice this much as I am often about the 13 mph mark

I quite often see on this forum members going well over the cut off point non dongled.
my m8 who is fitter and rides his ebike in ecko is faster than me on his 29er but also feels its hard going over the 15 mph cut off.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I just did a battery charge and looked at how many Wh/km I got from the previous one - 5.05 Wh/km! Lots of the 57 km were done over the 25 km/h cut off so what happened?

I have a trike which I ride without a motor and have averages of 27-32 km/h on the flat. I got strong legs back...

The GSM and the controller I have do not let me feel when power is off, the transition is seamless. I ride most of the time in level 3 of 5 which is about 150 W of assistance.

 

[Gubbins]

The phrase you are looking for is riding through treacle!
As far as i can see and discounting terain and wind it's down to the bike and fitness.
My eMTB is difficult to ride above 16 mph due to the treacle effect but I can ride the e road bike much further and faster above the cuttoff for longer with much less effort which is likely due to the more aerodinamic drop bar riding position and the less draggy skinny tyres.

 

[Poolepete]

Hello! I only cycle on footpaths and roads with my Motus Grand Tour. On the flat with no wind I am usually running at 16 to 18mph, with a little wind behind me I can be cruising at 20. When there's a strong headwind I can forget going above the 15.5mph!

Now this may make me look like superman, but my journeys are only 4 mile commutes.

I have not ridden other e bikes so I cannot compare , I can say there is no feeling of cut off once I pass the 15.5mph speed limit, only a feeling of surprise when I look at my speedo to see I'm going 18mph with no assistance from the motor (Bosch Active Line Plus)!

 

[Nealh]

Don't forget most roadies are at 25mph.
As AK says try a GSM or get a Yose hub which powers above 16mph quite easily, you need strong legs and fitness though to maintain a higher speed.

 

[Fat Rat]

As above

It’s all down to your fitness generally and how hilly your rides are
I live in a very hilly area 50% of my regular 10mile ea way commute is hills and some steep long ones at that but with good fitness I can also be well over 18mph on the flat and with any down hill of any length sees upto 35mph on a Bosch emtb with fat tyres my work gear and of course my rucksack on ,obviously thou my rucksack is lighter coming home because I’ve eaten all the food and drink inside

 

[MikeS]

[QUOTE="a main road , lots of traffic so selecting a higher gear and in turbo mode found trying to go over the 15.5 cut off felt like I was pulling a trailer despite me trying to peddle hard.
and it being slightly downhill.
[/QUOTE]
This part of the description implies there’s a fault with your bike. Have you read the two or three other threads about Halfords bikes and the riding through treacle problem?
Mike

 

[Nev]

on the outward journey we were often overtaken by (roadies on road bikes) who just breezed by us.

The only time I have a chance of staying with or even passing decent roadies is on steep hills, or if there is a very strong head wind. Any other conditions and they breeze past me too.

I do wonder though if there might be something wrong with your bike. If your on the flat and have a bit of a tail wind you should hardly even notice when you have gone over the cut off and are powering the bike totally on your own. It should not feel like all of a sudden your pedalling through treacle.

Can you either have a test ride on another make of ebike from your LBS, or have a ride on one of your friends bikes to see if they are the same.

If there is no difference then you need to work on your fitness, ridding two or three times a week and putting in some effort makes a massive difference in just a couple of months.

The improvements are gradual and you wont notice day to day, but if you ride with someone at the start and then ride with them again a couple of months later they will see massive improvements in your fitness.

 

[Fat Rat]

Also as a thought
Knock the power off completely
How does it feel then from zero up ?

 

[MikeS]

Also as a thought
Knock the power off completely
How does it feel then from zero up ?

Yes my crossfire E would often (but not always) slow down going downhill if I started to pedal with the motor switched to off. So something was failing to disengage. Haven’t had it happen with the Bosch system so far
Mike

 

[LeighPing]

The 15.5 cutoff is an anchor. You can cut that anchor's chain with a dongle and throw it overboard. It's perfectly illegal unless off road of course. Roadies flying past you at 30.. and even 40 mph is legal though.

 

[Gringo]

Roadies flying past you at 30.. and even 40 mph is legal though.

If that bothers you, it time to either get fit or get a motorbike

 

[soundwave]

If that bothers you, it time to either get fit or get a motorbike

or high performance drugs

 

[Gubbins]

The 15.5 cutoff is an anchor. You can cut that anchor's chain with a dongle and throw it overboard. It's perfectly illegal unless off road of course. Roadies flying past you at 30.. and even 40 mph is legal though.

Dongle use is a two edged sword. Yes it doubles the cutoff and yes it allows you to go faster, but there are downsides as well!
You will have the potential to ride at up to 31mph which on a mountain or hybrid styled bike looks decidedly odd to say the least and if doing this where pedestrian have access then you run a big risk of, if not causing, then being involved in an accident with all that that implies!
Out on the road other road users will be confused by your almost magical turn of speed, unless you are dressed in licra with the obligatory insect eye sunglasses but even then you will still look... odd.
You may think you would only go a few mph faster and only use it when it's safe(or when you think it's safe) but if it's there you will use it..
And of course battety life will be compromised..

 

[Fat Rat]

Dongle use is a two edged sword. Yes it doubles the cutoff and yes it allows you to go faster, but there are downsides as well!
You will have the potential to ride at up to 31mph which on a mountain or hybrid styled bike looks decidedly odd to say the least and if doing this where pedestrian have access then you run a big risk of, if not causing, then being involved in an accident with all that that implies!
Out on the road other road users will be confused by your almost magical turn of speed, unless you are dressed in licra with the obligatory insect eye sunglasses but even then you will still look... odd.
You may think you would only go a few mph faster and only use it when it's safe(or when you think it's safe) but if it's there you will use it..
And of course battety life will be compromised..

And of course your bike is completely and uterly illegal when ridden on any thing but private land
But we all know that anyway
Just some dont care about there driving license or just dont have one

 

[Gubbins]

And of course your bike is completely and uterly illegal when ridden on any thing but private land
But we all know that anyway
Just some dont care about there driving license or just dont have one

Yep, and those same "some" know what to do and say when caught and always manage to get away with it.

 

[Gubbins]

And of course your bike is completely and uterly illegal when ridden on any thing but private land
But we all know that anyway
Just some dont care about there driving license or just dont have one

Here is a thought about private land...
I was reading about RBS being "owned " by the tax payer.. So does that apply to the roads? We are often told there is no such thing as road tax and road building and repairs come out of general taxation, so as a tax payer am I part owner of the roads? Are they privately owned by the public?

 

[anotherkiwi]

250 hp car limited by road signs but capable of 200+ km/h
250 W assisted bicycle limited by electronics to 25 km/h
spot the error...

25 km/h is really too fast for most cycle paths, here they are often limited to 10 km/h and 5 km/h when mixed. The problem is when riding on the road where un-powered bicycles go faster than that speed anyway on the flat. My personal best downhill is 67 km/h just 3 km/h shy of the speed limit on that section of road.

The problem is not fast bicycles it is cars and drivers of such. Anything with pedals is perceived as a menace to their entitlement to go as fast as they please, despite the law, and their sacred "average speed":
- "How was the journey?"
- "Horrible! I lost 25 seconds following a bicycle, killed my average".

 

[flecc]

250 hp car limited by road signs but capable of 200+ km/h
250 W assisted bicycle limited by electronics to 25 km/h
spot the error...

There is no error. The car driver is tested for competence, the pedelec rider isn't.
.

 

[Gubbins]

There is no error. The car driver is tested for competence, the pedelec rider isn't.
.

Which is one of the arguments put forward by some car drivers.