How do you ride your Ebike for Max distance

trouty

Pedelecer
Nov 4, 2016
98
134
69
west yorkshire BD20
OK I know this is a how long is a piece of string question but here goes .
how best to use the assist but stay in Eco mode
when I am riding in the dales I find I dont need to use higher assist levels than eco
but was wondering should I spin in lower gears or honk in higher gears to get the most range from the battery .
 

D8ve

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 30, 2013
2,142
1,294
Bristol
The most relaxed style that keeps you at 16 mph then it's your power not the battery.
Keep the motor spinning for efficiency, if it is stalled then it's all heat and no drive.
 

anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
7,845
5,786
The European Union
d8veh has posted the answer a few times on the forum: turn of the assistance :)

I don't do "riding for fun", I do getting from point A to point B so the first thing I did was plan for a battery that would get me there and back over my longest commute which is to the city.

However as of late I have changed my riding style (and gotten a bit of fitness back) and ride mostly in levels 2 and 3 of 5 which has given me a bit more range. If you use lower gears and lower levels of assistance you will be able to spin at higher cadence and you will see the motor requiring less Watts as a result even if you are under the cut off.
 

Izzyekerslike

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 3, 2015
455
415
Leeds, West Yorkshire
OK I know this is a how long is a piece of string question but here goes .
how best to use the assist but stay in Eco mode
when I am riding in the dales I find I dont need to use higher assist levels than eco
but was wondering should I spin in lower gears or honk in higher gears to get the most range from the battery .
My Yamaha powered Haibike has a power meter which shows how much power the battery is supplying at any given time. Using this as a guide it would appear that on my bike when climbing, that lower gears and higher cadence proves to be more economical on power.
 

Trevormonty

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 18, 2016
1,135
564
17
NZ
My Yamaha powered Haibike has a power meter which shows how much power the battery is supplying at any given time. Using this as a guide it would appear that on my bike when climbing, that lower gears and higher cadence proves to be more economical on power.
On my commute which has significant climb, STEPs drive on High will use about twice as much battery capacity (30%) compared to Eco at (15%).
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm wondering if a non-electric bike would be better if you can go everywhere in eco mode. The only difference is that you use one or two gears lower, which makes the journey slower, but then you don't have to worry about range. You gain a lot by having a lighter bike.

After using my electric bike a lot, I became quite strong. I use it mainly on the road and found that I only used the lowest power level. I tried a road bike. After about 100 miles of adjustment, I find the road bike faster than my electric mtb on the lowest level and the pedal effort is about the same.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Artstu and flecc

trouty

Pedelecer
Nov 4, 2016
98
134
69
west yorkshire BD20
No offence taken happy to get feedback

a bit about me is in order
age 62 this year been riding mtbs since 1984 and have been a flooring fitter for 45 years so kindness to me knees is required , and the group of mates I ride with vary in age from 62 to 28 years young I do have a sort of normal bike
Fatbike ! which i ride quite lot
but when out with the group no way can i keep up on the ups so the Ebike was got to level the field a bit .
,
 

D8ve

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 30, 2013
2,142
1,294
Bristol
One other thing keep the cadence up around 70 to 90 then the motor in a mid drive stays in the efficient zone.
 

anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
7,845
5,786
The European Union
Bradley Wiggins has just retired !
I'm over 61 and my natural cadence is about 70. My EPO comes from Navarra at the moment and in 75 cl bottles. A bit smoother than the Rioja and cheaper too at 1.87€ the bottle...:rolleyes:
 

KeithMac

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 20, 2016
344
255
24
York
I ride above the assistance speed on the flat (no battery usage) but like the assist on the hills and when setting off from a stop.

Chose my bike for a few different reasons, maintenance free carbon belt and simple single speed being two, the motor fills in where the single gear ratio is a slight miss-match for the conditions!.
 

D C

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 25, 2013
1,142
577
As I ride mainly off road and for pleasure only I have my cut off set to around 12 mph which seems to extend the range quite a bit though I haven't done a scientific test. Being a hub motor I never let my speed drop below about 7/8 mph on hills so get the help where I want it then on the level or slightly downhill I can exceed 12 mph using leg power.
Dave.
 

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