Sorry but people are deluding themselves comparing any power assisted pedelecs to a push bike.Complete rubbish! You need to try some modern stuff.
Hello
- Thread starter DavidHolden
- Start date
Yes, we know that Neil. I'm just saying that (to me) a mid-drive has a more natural feel to it. Nothing more.
No worries! There are different variants with the Yamaha motor though, I'm looking at the SyncDrive Life with 60nm instead of the SyncDrive Sport with 70nm on a different model (even though it is £400 cheaper) because of the longer distance you can cover.
Does the difference between 60, 70 or 80nm really make a huge difference on a road?
I am thinking of waiting until the 2021 version is out to see if they will 'up' the power and battery while keeping the price the same or similar to this years model. Is there any website you know where you can find out the latest specs of a bike before they are released? Press releases maybe? Would be interesting to see the developments.
Yes, but perhaps not as much as the numbers suggest. I have a 55Nm and an 80Nm mid-drive... the 55 is more than adequate for general use, but you do notice the extra torque of an 80Nm on a stiff hill, or getting up to speed on a tricky start.
Woosh newly offer the Rambler - a Dutch style e-bike aimed at "plodders" - with a 100Nm Bafang MaxDrive.
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On most bikes lowest assist the motor puts out much less power than the rider is inputting at the time, generally much less than than what the rider can input. Bosch Active Line on eco puts out 40% of what the user is inputting, under 30% of the total.
But still a good chunk of the actual input to propel the bike, still assisting the rider.
Most might not/wouldn't ride a push bike 40 miles but will easily do so with an assisted bike that it the point I make about comparing the difference. The human energy input used is so much different.
One of my 70 mile routes I have ridden on both my ebikes and a drop bar push bike because I thought even with the sub 16kg loaded pushbike I would benefit more from the lightness, I was wrong the drop bar bike knackered me and the inclines I really had to exert my self and felt it.
I love ebikes and think they are fantastic but disagree whole heartedly with the suggestions of this or that ebike feels like riding a push bike, all ebikes give you a shove in the back no matter how little power is provided something that you never feel on a push bike.
You do feel that on a push-bike....when you're going downhill with a tailwind!
To me, that's the beauty of a well set up, well controlled ebike. It makes you feel like you've got the energy levels of a 10 year old kid, combined with the muscles of an olympian.
And more importantly, it encourages lazy sods like me to undertake cycle trips that we otherwise wouldn't consider...
Whatever I ride - e-bike or normal bike - I always come back knackered, so I'd guess the energy expended is likely similar.
I may not travel the same distance on my regular hybrid as my e-bike hybrid, but I'm still knackered. On one regular 38 mile route the e-bike is far quicker, but then I'm generally riding above the limiter and powering far more bike weight. So I'm still knackered.
I've ridden hundreds of different electric bikes. They're all different and they all work. When looking at the individual differences, what's better is always open to interpretation.
I make a simple rule: hub-motor with cadence PAS is very good for everything on-road (shopping, touring, travelling, visiting, etc.); Torque sensor crank drive pulls out an advantage as soon as you go off-road. Personally, I think that the disadvantages of crank-drive torque sensor bikes are overwhelming for normal riding on the road.
If people want to spend thousands on belt drives, fancy gearboxes, top suspension and brakes, that's up to them. Some people like to buy iPhones. Who am I to judge?
Well, I don't like iPhones but I do think you get what you pay for with quite a lot of things. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 at the moment!
I'd rather have and not need than need and not have. I want whatever I buy to be low maintenance, whether it's tools for woodwork (my job) or in this case, an e-bike. I also want them to be high-spec so the experience is seamless. I hope I'm making sense.
I'm planning on using the bike to ride to football once a week which is about 9 miles from my house, 1 hour of football once a week is not enough football in my opinion so the ride will do me good. I want to use the bike to visit family, I live just outside Liverpool and a lot of my family still live in Liverpool, my wife actually works in the Liver Building and I think it'll be good to ride in and meet her and grab a bite to eat once in a while! I have a friend who is a very keen cyclist and I'd love to go for rides with him too. Me and a few friends are talking about going on a camping trip using our bikes for travel as well. So, I really need an all-rounder. Strong enough to support my ample frame (16st) plus panniers. The only off road I can ever imagine doing might include a field where we are camping and probably a canal towpath or something similar.
Thanks again for all your feedback, whatever you are talking about I am researching btw!
Kind Regards
David
My very limited knowledge of ebikes having only just got one, is that they are a revelation.
I used to cycle everywhere as a kid, some time ago, but have not cycled in 30 years probably, but now I go out on my bike and just don't want to stop. It is only for pleasure , not to work or anything but once im on it I just love it and want to keep on going. I come back with jelly legs and a good sweat on so for me its got to be a good form of exercise even with the assist.
Its also a lot of fun.
Enjoy.
Regards
Rob.
I used to cycle everywhere as a kid, some time ago, but have not cycled in 30 years probably, but now I go out on my bike and just don't want to stop. It is only for pleasure , not to work or anything but once im on it I just love it and want to keep on going. I come back with jelly legs and a good sweat on so for me its got to be a good form of exercise even with the assist.
Its also a lot of fun.
Enjoy.
Regards
Rob.
That's basically what everybody wants. What you actually need and what your heart thinks you need are often at opposite ends of the available choices, especially when you start to believe all the marketing hype.
As soon as you say low maintenance, I'll very quickly point to a bike with a rear hub-motor and hydraulic disc brakes. Fit a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre and I doubt that you'll have to do any maintenance in that area for the lifetime of the bike. I've had my bike 6 years, starting with second hand parts apart from the electrics. After 6000 miles, I replaced one gear shift cable, 2 pairs of brake pads, one chain, one cassette and one chainwheel. I've had to pump up the tyres a few times, clean it about 4 times and put some gear oil on the chain several times. I tried some high-spec chain-lube for a while, which gummed up my rear derailleur with waxy stuff, so had to clean all that out.
I did a test for the forum a few years ago. I took one of those cheapest catalogue bikes with pogo suspension that I found in a skip, fitted a very cheap ebike kit to it, replaced the worn out bottom bracket and upgraded the cheap cable disc brakes to hydraulics, oiled the chain, then did 1000 miles on January salty roads, through rain, snow and sleet without doing a single item of maintenance. No cleaning, no adjustments, no oil, nothing. At the end of the test, I cleaned it, advertised it on the forum and sold it for what it cost me, so there you are, 1000 miles, no maintenance and no cost. Not only that, It's 2-speed motor could out-climb just about every e-bike on the market at the time and it's 720WH could take it twice as far.
When you add high spec to your requirements, which parts of the specification are you thinking about? If you're not careful, you'll pull yourself towards high maintenance and high cost very quickly.
I'm not against high cost electric bikes. I've ridden them, worked on them and recommended them, but it's almost impossible to justify them with pragmatism. Buy them because you have money that you don't care about. Buy one to show off to your neighbour or your mates down the pub Buy them because you like shiny things and/or are fascinated by fancy gadgets and gizmos.
I'll answer your question, the rest of your comments just sounded like a lecture to be honest.
When I said high-spec I meant long lasting, hard wearing parts that don't break easily and are easy to use, something that just works well, whether it's the brakes, gears, suspension etc. I'm not really worried about weight saving on certain parts, longevity is my main focus. I'm not doing anything mad, I'll be riding on roads or bike paths mainly. That's why I'm looking at the Gates Carbon Belt Drive. Obviously, all bikes need to be maintained to a certain level and I don't mind that at all, I just want it to be every now and then and not all the time.
I do not want to start adding different parts to a bike I buy. I want to buy a bike that I can use straight away. I am not an e-bike enthusiast like you.
As for the final comments in your last post, you've lost me.
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