How much of a disadvantage is there to riding an e-bike by pedal-power only? It's all very well me gaining the benefit of a motor for the first 25 miles, but if the next 25 miles involve fighting the drag of a dead motor system as well as lugging the extra weight of the now redundant motor/battery combo, then the game aint' worth a candle. - - - - - - - - - - - - I'm wondering if there's folk who tour on an e-bike?
Choosing the right kind of motor is important. The internally geared hub motors almsot always have an internal freewheel, meaning they are disconnected when cycling without power. Central crank motor systems also have a freewheel and mostly give little added resistance.
Direct Drive hub motors are engaged all the time and do always have a degree of drag.
A few have toured e-bikes or covered long distances on them, mostly falling into two groups. One is those who have facilities to charge every day and sometimes use two batteries. The other is those riding mostly in flat areas who ride much of the time without power.
One member, Frank9755, used to go over to Holland and the like touring his e-bike accompanied by an unpowered cyclist and probably riding at moderate speeds. Wai Won Ching, the owner of the eZee company making the well known e-bikes has ridden very long sections of the Silk Route on his e-bikes, but the photos have generally shown very flat stretches and it's likely that was done riding either without power or using Eco mode much of the time.
I've done many day rides of 55 to 60 miles in very hilly areas using up to three batteries, one in each pannier and one in use. Those were smaller 10 Ah batteries, with today's 14 to 24 Ah batteries I would only have needed two at most.
.
