Shimano STEPS range.

[Johnecybrid]

Hello again everybody.


I have a follow up question to one I ask a while ago.

I hope to be buying my first ebike soon(ish) and and still favour the Whyte Clifton for several reasons, though did look at some Cube bikes today had have to say they were nice.

My question concerns the range of the Shimano STEPS motor. It’s quoted as 37 miles in high, 52 miles in normal and 77 miles in eco. I assume these figures are a tad fanciful? They also appear to be much better that the Bosch equipped bikes that Cube use. As I seldom cycle more than 50 miles these days, but usually at least a 40 mile now and then this is important for me.

Does any reader here have experience with the Shimano drives, and what figures do you usually return please.

 

[IR772]

They are all the same.

Buy the one you like.

You will find out about range and assistance levels as you go.

 

[Trevormonty]

Those ranges are best case on flat ground. 40-50 is realistic using eco and normal along as there are not to many hills. Add hour charge while having lunch at cafe and you increase that to 60-70miles. Still worth lunch charge if targetting lower distances as you can up the assist in afternoon after that beer or two.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The range you get is personal to you and the routes you ride - nothing to do with the bike, except that a bike with more watt-hours in the battery will go further. From my battery, I can get 169 miles between charges, if I feel like it, or I can get as low as 25 miles on the same rides. If You were to ask me how far my bike goes, what should I say? that's why you can't take any notice of what's written in any advert, nor of anything that anybody claims they get. Your weight, pedal effort, hills and wind will all be different.

Electric bikes are not like motorbikes, where you can multiply the mpg times the fuel capacity, and not be far wrong. The efficiency of an e-bike motor is pretty insignificant compared with other factors.

 

[Gaz]

My Whyte Coniston has a realistic 'best' range of 40 miles on easy rides, flipping between all power levels. Factor in some proper hills (Beachy Head in my case) or some cracking headwinds and I'll be lucky to see 30 miles. Turn the battery off and you can go as far as you like!

I've been lazy this week and have left mine in High all the time. Four mile commute on level ground and smooth tarmac. Coming home last night, with the wind, I was bopping along at 18-20mph so hardly used any battery at all.

In Canada a couple of years ago there's a road called 10 Mile Hill (it was!). I wouldn't rate my chances of getting to the top without the battery being exhausted.

Gaz

 

[Johnecybrid]

Thanks for the answers guys.

Gaz…especially interested in your comments regarding range, also about being able to ride as far as you like with the battery off, please bear in mind I know nothing about ebikes, but always assumed that was the case.

When I asked the salesman in the shop he definitely gave me the impression this wasn’t possible so glad to hear your comment on that one.

30-40 miles is not bad though is it and could probably extend that a bit if really necessary I think.

 

[Gaz]

Well I can categorically say I can ride mine with the battery and display left indoors. I've run out of battery once so far and that was less than a mile away from home. It was quite hard going (up hill, into the wind of course), but do-able. I was being flippant in my previous reply, as while you can ride without the battery, it's not something I'd personally choose to do again.

I think it's certainly very easy to extend the range. My figures are real world, for my level of fitness (not great) and riding style.

If your potential Clifton is anything like my Coniston, I very much doubt you'll be disappointed. Mine's a lovely, well balanced bike to ride, with a decent level of components. Talking of which, I'm off out now, with a full tank and no particular place to go, so I'll take some photo's to give you an idea.

Gaz

 

[RobF]

Thanks for the answers guys.

Gaz…especially interested in your comments regarding range, also about being able to ride as far as you like with the battery off, please bear in mind I know nothing about ebikes, but always assumed that was the case.

When I asked the salesman in the shop he definitely gave me the impression this wasn’t possible so glad to hear your comment on that one.

30-40 miles is not bad though is it and could probably extend that a bit if really necessary I think.

I suppose the salesman is being fair in that while you can ride the bike unpowered, you probably wouldn't want to for long.

You sound like an experienced cyclist, so you might know what I mean when I describe riding an unpowered ebike as similar to riding a well-loaded tourer.

That doesn't sound so bad, but bear in mind ebikes don't have crawler gears.

You might find you could trundle along unpowered on level ground at about 8/9mph, but that could be in first or second gear.

Fine as far as it goes, but you'd have hardly any gears in hand for inclines or a head winds
.

 

[Gaz]

Setting off:



10% gone at 6 miles:



28% gone at 13 miles:



Nice watering hole:



Helpful road signage:



24 miles in total, 47% left:



And the range left if I'd kept going:



That's a fairly typical weekend pootle for me. Gives you an idea. Mixed riding, found a good few hills up around Herstmonceux and Cowbeech so it wasn't all on the flat.

Gaz

 

[Trevormonty]

Gaz at what level can you run battery down to. On my when it gets to 15% goes straight to 8% which is sign some of cells are flat. First battery did it at 25%, had it replaced under warranty.

 

[Gaz]

Mine drops off at 18% or thereabouts, and funnily enough goes to 8% as well. I've run it right down to 0%, just the once. It was alright ticking down from 8% though and I think the 18% issue is also affected by what demand I'm putting on it. I keep it topped up now, so with an 8 to 10 mile round trip commute, I'm generally charging it on average every three days, without it actually going below 30%.

Gaz

 

[tisme]

I've done a 50 mile ride on a whyte coniston and still had over 30% left so it really depends on how much effort you want to put in. All the e bikes I've had have been very similar

 

[Johnecybrid]

Some very interesting comments there, thanks all for contributing.
I was tyre kicking in a local bike shop today...just out of interest, like you do, while my wife waited outside in the car, needless to say when I eventually left the shop for some weird reason she was grumpy???
They didnt have many bikes there but they did have a Trek conduit, and I did against my better judgement, as I am still not well enough really to ride, did take it out for a quick spin. It also uses the same STEPS motor as the Whyte uses.
What a joy to ride it was, I think I could quite happily ride it some distance without too much bother. The revelation came when I used the assists, wow, I was really impressed. It's a must have now, and as at 69 I think the time has come.
Now to try the Clifton, very similar to the Trek, just perhaps a bit more sporty, but I would be happy with either.
Anyone interested in buying nine road bikes?

And thanks for taking the trouble of taking the pictures Gaz, that was very helpful.

 

[Crockers]

The Focus.bike that uses STePs allows for a dual battery option.

 

[Johnecybrid]

The Focus.bike that uses STePs allows for a dual battery option.

Well that's interesting, can you give more details please?

 

[Trevormonty]

Well that's interesting, can you give more details please?

Different motor , MTB version and batteries are design to Focus frame only.

 

[Crockers]

I didn't realise it was a different motor.

Wallerang use the STePs system with electronic shifting.

 

[Trevormonty]

I didn't realise it was a different motor.

Wallerang use the STePs system with electronic shifting.

Excellent bikes on paper also had good reviews, but in different price bracket.

 

[footpump]

hi all does the whyte use the steps e6000 moter and 400watt battery
I looked at steps ebike powered bikes but orbea mtb and merida.

also wonder what its like on short steepish hills as high setting is 50nm.
thank you

 

[Trevormonty]

hi all does the whyte use the steps e6000 moter and 400watt battery
I looked at steps ebike powered bikes but orbea mtb and merida.

also wonder what its like on short steepish hills as high setting is 50nm.
thank you

It will be E6000 and 400WH battery.

Our bike has 38T chainring and 9spd cassette and can climb a short steep section on my regular commute with moderate effort at 10-12km/h. This steep section every commuter me included tackles in granny gear on MTB at 5-6km/h, if was much longer than 50m most would end up walking it.
NB some bikes come with 44T chainring, which is wasted with 25km/h cutoff.

Were I'm in 3rd doing 7-8km/h, STEPs bike is doing 18km/h in high.