Spare battery, High capacity or dual battery bike?

[Emanresu]

I am sorely tempted by a R & M dual battery eMTB but for some reason my OH looked shocked when I told her it is just £6K. As I do a lot of bikepacking (unpowered), I'm looking towards getting some sort of assistance by using anE-MTB.

Supercharger – The long-distance runner | Riese & Müller

Innovative design, up to two fully integrated batteries, outstanding engineering. For sporty trips with unique riding comfort.

www.r-m.de

But before I break open the piggy bank should I be considering just purchasing a second battery or looking at some of the high capacity batteries now available.

PS. If there are no replies, I will assume that you all agree that the R & M is the best option

 

[Andy McNish]

It's not exactly a budget bike, although it's very nice.

If you want German buld quality on a budget for Touring type bikes then Cubes are very good value.

You can pick up something like this for less than £2k

Cube Reaction

If you can manage with a Tourer rather than an e-MTB then the ALP powered Cubes basically go all day on one 500Whr battery and you can get an ALP powered one starting at around £1500 if you shop around.
Cube Acid One 500
Cube Touring 500 Pro

You can even get a Cube Tour 400 for around £1300 and just buy another Bosch battery. That would give you truly insane range.
Cube 400
A PowerPAck 400Whr is about £400 new I think.
Power Pack 400

 

[Emanresu]

Thanks Andy. I've seen your comments about ALPs before.

What is the difference between ALP and CX(Gen2) used on the R&M when the battery dies.

 

[Jonah]

Cube do a few of their 2020 bikes with the 625wh powertube battery. This one looks quite nice imho.

2020 Cube Cross Hybrid Pro 625 Allroad Electric Hybrid Bike in Green

Sometimes you just want a bike that'll do it all, with no fuss. That's what they had in mind when they built the Cross Hybrid Pro Allroad.

www.hargrovescycles.co.uk

Gen 4 CX motor is lighter and supposedly does away with previous generation CX downsides.

 

[Emanresu]

I've taken my own advice and RTFM'd the Bosch site for a comparison and can see the ALPs is actually what I need. The difference in in the start mode which I hadn't appreciated. Cube Acid looks to be the way forward but would welcome comments on this one

Tredz Bikes

www.cyclerepublic.com

 

[Andy McNish]

Cube do a few of their 2020 bikes with the 625wh powertube battery. This one looks quite nice imho.

2020 Cube Cross Hybrid Pro 625 Allroad Electric Hybrid Bike in Green

Sometimes you just want a bike that'll do it all, with no fuss. That's what they had in mind when they built the Cross Hybrid Pro Allroad.

www.hargrovescycles.co.uk

Gen 4 CX motor is lighter and supposedly does away with previous generation CX downsides.

That looks like a lovely bike and good value at £2500.

The 4th Gen CX is zero resist I think, which takes away the biggest advantage the ALP had over the old CX motors.

It it is much harder to dongle, but that isn't usually important on a Tourer.

If you are going to go up really steep hills the the CX will output more power of course.

Also you should probably try out some of the bikes and motors to see which ones feel best to you. Cadence sensors and hub motoes etc. will feel different from the Bosch (alhtough no necessarily worse).

And there is very good value and quality in the Chinese motors and batteries that most reputable UK suppliers use - such as Woosh and Wisper.

 

[Deleted member 25121]

I've taken my own advice and RTFM'd the Bosch site for a comparison and can see the ALPs is actually what I need. The difference in in the start mode which I hadn't appreciated.

What do you mean by "start mode"?

I've a R&M Supercharger with the Rohloff gears, it's a great bike and the gears are fantastic. The advantage of having 2 integrated batteries vs carrying a spare one on a rack are:

1. It's not necessary to stop and swap batteries when one is low.
2. Handling - batteries are heavy and bikes handle better when the weight is lower down, as it is with the Supercharger.
3. Although only one battery is active at any one time the controller switches between them quite often so they are run down together. Same thing happen when they are charged on the bike.
4. Range - it's nice to set out on a ride knowing that there's 1000Wh of assistance available with a range of around 100 miles depending on use. The 2020 model has an even greater range.

 

[Nealh]

The factor to take in is do you plan on riding unassisted at all ?
If the answer is yes then opt for the Alp or Gen 4 motor.

 

[Emanresu]

The factor to take in is do you plan on riding unassisted at all ?
If the answer is yes then opt for the Alp or Gen 4 motor.

Unassisted is my usual method but as I am travelling into remote parts of Greece and lack the language skills, I want to be sure to be able to make the distances or not have an issue with the weight of the bike plus panniers.

This takes me to another question. You can't fly and ebike but you can fly it without a battery. So I could get there and buy a battery pack when I get there. The issue then becomes what to I do with the battery at the end of the journey? Ebay Greece or some other way?

[The R&M is out then as don't want to swallow the cost of having to leave 2 batteries behind]

 

[Andy McNish]

Can't you ship it home by sea? Might take a few weeks but it would turn up eventually. Otherwise you could look at seeing if you can hire a battery - maybe a place that rents out ebikes might have one it would be prepared to hire out in the off season...or can't you just hire an ebike whilst out there?

 

[Emanresu]

All of the above have been considered but I start in Rome and end in Athens - its one way. I can get an Ebike with battery across on the ferry. But I can't get a battery into Rome or out of Athens. There are Bosch dealers in Rome where I can purchase a battery.

I'll put it on the "For Sale" section - buyer collects.

It's ironic that ebikes are there to give you freedom - but not that much.

 

[darren66]

Cube do a few of their 2020 bikes with the 625wh powertube battery. This one looks quite nice imho.

2020 Cube Cross Hybrid Pro 625 Allroad Electric Hybrid Bike in Green

Sometimes you just want a bike that'll do it all, with no fuss. That's what they had in mind when they built the Cross Hybrid Pro Allroad.

www.hargrovescycles.co.uk

Gen 4 CX motor is lighter and supposedly does away with previous generation CX downsides.

I've just bought one

 

[MarcusT]

The 625W Bosch battery costs 800 euro. That is a big expense.
One idea is to buy an e-bike new or used in Rome and sell it in Athens. It would also save you the transport cost of your bike
Not sure what the market is for a used battery, especially with several thousand kms on it
Or
Get the older 400-500w bikes which are dropping fast in price and
Get the fast charger for a 400-500 watt battery it can charge in just over 2 hrs