Which e-bike for the wife? (Bosch motor Qs)

[Nealh]

Range/mileage figures can give someone a false idea of which bike to buy as too many variables are involved. Not using assisted powered for an our of a ride will vastly affect range calcs ( most buy a bike for the assistance not the non assistance), speed, weather, conditions, rider health/fitness etc ,etc all play a part and could be disappointing to another user.

To be fairer Andy should also compare the same route with assistance throughout (start to finish) for prediction comparison.

 

[Artstu]

Range/mileage figures can give someone a false idea of which bike to buy as too many variables are involved. Not using assisted powered for an our of a ride will vastly affect range calcs ( most buy a bike for the assistance no the non assistance), speed, weather, conditions, rider health/fitness etc ,etc all play a part and could be disappointing to another user.

To be fairer Andy should also compare the same route with assistance throughout (start to finish) for prediction comparison.

Indeed indeed, hence my challenge route which would give a really good comparison to my bike, although there is of course the rider variable.

 

[Andy McNish]

Those are seriously impressive range figures Andy, I really need to try a newer bike, my bike will be 6 years old soon, and I'm guessing my batteries aren't as good as they used to be.

If you're up for a hard test of you and your bike it'd be really really interesting to see how your 500 w/h copes on this route below, I used 700 w/h when I did it. Stu

https://www.strava.com/segments/11318325

Looks very hilly! What is the total elevation on that one Artsu?

Here is my 'some elevation' ride that used about one third of the 500 battery.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2038050197

As for not using the battery on flat tarmac in first hour, the difference is likely to be very marginal on this particular ride as there is very little flat tarmac in it after the first mile or so. That was more relevant for the Mersey and Bridgewater Canal 'flat' ride but as my speed on flat tarmac is going to be around 25kph anyway, apart from in congested areas, the assist even if on may not actually amount to much. Assuming that my power input whist dawdling under 25kph on flat tarmac is around 100W then Eco assist for a full hour would only be 40W (or about 8% of the battery).

You also have to remember that the 3rd gen Activeline Plus motor is 1:1 ratio and zero resist (so much easier to pedal when off or over 25kph) and that it's c. 30% more efficient than the CX to start off with - so ranges (especially with a new battery) will be pretty impressive compared to older motors.

 

[Artstu]

Looks very hilly! What is the total elevation on that one Artsu?

Here is my 'some elevation' ride that used about one third of the 500 battery.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2038050197

As for not using the battery on flat tarmac in first hour, the difference is likely to be very marginal on this particular ride as there is very little flat tarmac in it after the first mile or so. That was more relevant for the Mersey and Bridgewater Canal 'flat' ride but as my speed on flat tarmac is going to be around 25kph anyway, apart from in congested areas, the assist may actually be fairly marginal.

You also have to remember that the 3rd gen Activeline Plus motor is zero resist (so much easier to pedal when off or over 25kph) and that it's c. 30% more efficient than the CX to start off with - so ranges will be pretty impressive compared to older motors.

My Garmin clocked 4734 feet, but it always underestimates so nearer 6,000 feet going off other riders stats on the day. https://www.strava.com/activities/485023813#11640864343

That's interesting about the zero resistance above the motor speed. mines a first gen Bosch classic and I've never thought those 2.5 ratio motors were a good idea, so the new ones like yours appeal to me.

I grew up not far from you and went to Alexandra Park junior school, that'd be 71 to 77.

 

[Andy McNish]

My Garmin clocked 4734 feet, but it always underestimates so nearer 6,000 feet going off other riders stats on the day. https://www.strava.com/activities/485023813#11640864343

That's interesting about the zero resistance above the motor speed. mines a first gen Bosch classic and I've never thought those 2.5 ratio motors were a good idea, so the new ones like yours appeal to me.

I grew up not far from you and went to Alexandra Park junior school, that'd be 70 to 77.

I've just finished my term as a school governor there (both my kids went to it)!
I'm from properly up North (Sunderland) originally.

1800 metres is a lot of climbing! Just over 3x what I did on that ride. I think it would be very close to using up all the 500 battery - the range calculator set on 'uplands' (one above hilly) is giving me 68km on Tour and 45km on Turbo. I think you'd probably manage to limp home, but not without some range anxiety. You couldn't just blast it on Turbo any time you saw an incline..

So far the only issue with my bike is entirely my own fault. I was cleaning it up after the quite muddy outing up into the High Peak and used Muc-Off protection spray (I assume it's basically WD40) on my brake discs. Now I have very squeaky disc brakes (I will have contaminated the brake pads with it and will need to fit new ones - only a few pounds each but a right faff). Otherwise the bike is amazing.