Hi all,
just thought i'd share my experiences of trying to max the milage out of a battery/pedal combination.....any comments or suggestions are welcome.
When i first got my first ebike (an ex-demo neo cross) the range was a disaster (<10km on a full battery) it turned out to be faulty, but peoples opinions on here seemed to be varied as to whether it was a fault or the environmentals. This got me curious, so once i'd picked up the xtreme in place of the faulty cross, i decided to do some tests (purely for interest and a good excuse for rides out)
As a benchmark, i did an eco run on the turbo trainer set to zero resistance, and recorded 75km before the battery died. I also stipulated normal routes i ride, no special treatment, my original goal was to break 100km on a single battery and pedal combination, that i achieved reasonably easily - so i set my sites on 200km
I'm running the standard 9ah battery on bh neo's (cross while the xtreme is in for repair) and on Sunday i almost hit my goal - to break the 200 km range on one battery. I got to 196km, but it died annoyingly right there...i think i would have made it on the xtreme, but the cross is a demo bike.
now bearing in mind that i'm a/heavy (100+kg) b/not the fittest c/am exceedingly stubborn d/ struggle with good cadence due to foot injury
in my experience to maximise range
(1) max your tyre pressures - i run at 70psi, if i drop that down to 50psi, i lose a consistent 10-15% (might just be my weight making it so extreme.
(2) hills kill your battery (no **) but if you're going to go up them, turn the motor on before you leave the flat, and peddle steadily up the hill as smoothly as possible.
(3) switch off the motor when you aren't using it
(4) avoid using the brakes
(5) ride in hot weather not sure if this is bh only, but the batteries last quite a bit longer when its warm.
(6) non off road tyres - i get way more range since i changed to schwalbe big apples on the xtreme, its still got enough grip for tow paths and tracks (with a little bit of sliding) and the balloon tyres give a high psi/comfort compromise.
things that appear to make no real difference.
(1) locking out forks - i'd hoped for some improvement as i'd have thought the motor would be overcoming the suspension on a climb, but no noticable difference.
(2) non existent regen.
(3) carrying a rucksack or not
things that i'd like to try to make a real difference....
(1) well that 12ah battery would be a start, but still waiting for prices on it.
(2) hopefully one of you smart folks can help me out with some ideas that are neo-compatible?
just thought i'd share my experiences of trying to max the milage out of a battery/pedal combination.....any comments or suggestions are welcome.
When i first got my first ebike (an ex-demo neo cross) the range was a disaster (<10km on a full battery) it turned out to be faulty, but peoples opinions on here seemed to be varied as to whether it was a fault or the environmentals. This got me curious, so once i'd picked up the xtreme in place of the faulty cross, i decided to do some tests (purely for interest and a good excuse for rides out)
As a benchmark, i did an eco run on the turbo trainer set to zero resistance, and recorded 75km before the battery died. I also stipulated normal routes i ride, no special treatment, my original goal was to break 100km on a single battery and pedal combination, that i achieved reasonably easily - so i set my sites on 200km
I'm running the standard 9ah battery on bh neo's (cross while the xtreme is in for repair) and on Sunday i almost hit my goal - to break the 200 km range on one battery. I got to 196km, but it died annoyingly right there...i think i would have made it on the xtreme, but the cross is a demo bike.
now bearing in mind that i'm a/heavy (100+kg) b/not the fittest c/am exceedingly stubborn d/ struggle with good cadence due to foot injury
in my experience to maximise range(1) max your tyre pressures - i run at 70psi, if i drop that down to 50psi, i lose a consistent 10-15% (might just be my weight making it so extreme.
(2) hills kill your battery (no **) but if you're going to go up them, turn the motor on before you leave the flat, and peddle steadily up the hill as smoothly as possible.
(3) switch off the motor when you aren't using it
(4) avoid using the brakes
(5) ride in hot weather
not sure if this is bh only, but the batteries last quite a bit longer when its warm.(6) non off road tyres - i get way more range since i changed to schwalbe big apples on the xtreme, its still got enough grip for tow paths and tracks (with a little bit of sliding) and the balloon tyres give a high psi/comfort compromise.
things that appear to make no real difference.
(1) locking out forks - i'd hoped for some improvement as i'd have thought the motor would be overcoming the suspension on a climb, but no noticable difference.
(2) non existent regen.
(3) carrying a rucksack or not
things that i'd like to try to make a real difference....
(1) well that 12ah battery would be a start, but still waiting for prices on it.
(2) hopefully one of you smart folks can help me out with some ideas that are neo-compatible?
