Wondering if an e-bike is for me...

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
266
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Bristol, Uk
Yes so does mine. They use the ten percent leeway to cut out at 17.3 mph. You can still pedal past that on the flat though, and when it's rolling it's not so different from a hybrid or even a road bike if the tyres are pumped up to a good pressure.
When I pedal around 18-19mph on the flat, I feel like i'm towing a steam train behind me! I'm not that match fit at the moment, though I do feel many of these pedelecs are mostly to be used at the assisted speed limit rather than considering them as something you can ride at 20mph with no assistance easily.
 
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JohnCade

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 16, 2014
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When I pedal around 18-19mph on the flat, I feel like i'm towing a steam train behind me! I'm not that match fit at the moment, though I do feel many of these pedelecs are mostly to be used at the assisted speed limit rather than considering them as something you can ride at 20mph with no assistance easily.
Depends on the bike and the quality of its cycle parts. Unlike the cheaper Chinese ones the Kalkhoff has good parts and will cycle well past the cut out. If you don't have a good 80psi in the tyres, assuming they're rated for that it won't pedal so well. It depends which model you have though. A Tasman with big tyres probably won't.
 

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
266
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Bristol, Uk
Depends on the bike and the quality of its cycle parts. Unlike the cheaper Chinese ones the Kalkhoff has good parts and will cycle well past the cut out. If you don't have a good 80psi in the tyres, assuming they're rated for that it won't pedal so well. It depends which model you have though. A Tasman with big tyres probably won't.
I've got the Pro Connect Alfine 8G. Always keep the pressure to 80psi with my floor pump. It's probably my leg strength being down but i've been riding around a lot recently and I can feel them getting stronger!
 

D8ve

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 30, 2013
2,142
1,294
Bristol
When I were a lad
15 mph training speed
17 to 20 in a small bunch
22 good going for a time trial
25 realy fast for a hour.
All these on a road bike with 10 speed gears.

So doing 18 mph is fast for a cycle on the flat unless your a lycra God.

Or riding a recumbent of course
 

martinb

Pedelecer
Jan 28, 2015
71
23
65
Leicestershire
Few seem to mention the haibike?
I use mine say 90% off road and yes it has the dongle but easy to sit comfortably at circa 20 mph and 20 miles in the high setting is easily achievable.
I find myself using mostly the medium/ Eco setting and quite happy peddling at lower speeds.
For your guys information my haibike with the yamaha engine cut out at 14.6 mph pre dongle, so no lee way, whether that's just mine I don't know.
Haibike SL hardseven seem to be £1850 here in the UK but from chatting to others there's around £200 discount so plenty of change out of your 2k even with a dongle and mudguards etc.
Your profile does not say where your from but my advice is to try a few and if your local to leicestershire you can try mine out
 

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
266
57
Bristol, Uk
Few seem to mention the haibike?
I use mine say 90% off road and yes it has the dongle but easy to sit comfortably at circa 20 mph and 20 miles in the high setting is easily achievable.
I find myself using mostly the medium/ Eco setting and quite happy peddling at lower speeds.
For your guys information my haibike with the yamaha engine cut out at 14.6 mph pre dongle, so no lee way, whether that's just mine I don't know.
Haibike SL hardseven seem to be £1850 here in the UK but from chatting to others there's around £200 discount so plenty of change out of your 2k even with a dongle and mudguards etc.
I thought they were much more expensive than that but it's probably because i'm new to the Pedelec world and I just ran out of brain power looking at all the options o_O

Sorry. This is not my thread so I hope i'm not rattling on here. I've only had mine for approximately six weeks so I kind of feel the pain of the OP as there are many many good and bad options out there.

Do you think the Haibike is more an off road brand albeit perfectly able to work as a tarmac only vehicle? That's the kind of idea I got so I went with the Kalkhoff. I'm more a hybrid man these days. The Haibikes do look cool i'll give them that!
 

martinb

Pedelecer
Jan 28, 2015
71
23
65
Leicestershire
I thought they were much more expensive than that but it's probably because i'm new to the Pedelec world and I just ran out of brain power looking at all the options o_O

Sorry. This is not my thread so I hope i'm not rattling on here. I've only had mine for approximately six weeks so I kind of feel the pain of the OP as there are many many good and bad options out there.

Do you think the Haibike is more an off road brand albeit perfectly able to work as a tarmac only vehicle? That's the kind of idea I got so I went with the Kalkhoff. I'm more a hybrid man these days. The Haibikes do look cool i'll give them that!
Having tried the kalkhof and ktm's cube etc.
The Haibike with the Yamaha motor seemed the better option and the Ktm was July delivery. £2195, £300 discount.
Out with friends on their hybrids it's great,
Maybe a sprung saddle if only road work but even the tyres wont need changing.
Your call though again test ride as many as you can
 

SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
266
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Bristol, Uk
Having tried the kalkhof and ktm's cube etc.
The Haibike with the Yamaha motor seemed the better option and the Ktm was July delivery. £2195, £300 discount.
Out with friends on their hybrids it's great,
Maybe a sprung saddle if only road work but even the tyres wont need changing.
Your call though again test ride as many as you can
Sorry. I wasn't the OP. I've just been gabbling on in his absence :(
 

4bound

Pedelecer
May 1, 2014
172
86
Neston
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I used to do a 22 mile round trip commute by person powered bike - took about 45 -50 mins each way. One day tried it with my wife's Panasonic powered Kalkoff. The route was fairly flat and I found it a huge disappointment - power assistance cut out most of the time because I was cycling at around 15 mph, so it finished up being harder work and taking longer than the unpowered version.
Don't forget that you need to be doing say 15 mph most of the time to achieve an average of say 12 mph allowing for junctions, corners etc.

How ever I now have a Kalkoff S Pedelec and although I haven't tried it for the commute route yet, I am confident it would bring the time down significantly. I will let you know once I try it out.

The battery certainly goes down quickly if you ride it fast. I did a 26 mile ride at an average of 17.5 mph recently which exhausted the battery, some hills.

http://www.50cycles.com/product/6145238110
 
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mfj197

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 18, 2014
553
160
Guildford
4bound, agree with all your findings and thoughts. However ...
The battery certainly goes down quickly if you ride it fast. I did a 26 mile ride at an average of 17.5 mph recently which exhausted the battery, some hills.
That seems a very high battery consumption - I don't think you should be exhausting a 612Wh battery in 26 miles. When tried a Kudos Typhoon last year for my 22 mile per leg commute I averaged 19.5 mph and had an indicated half battery power left, and that was with a 375Wh battery in a big heavy hub drive mountain bike. Even if the battery display was well out it obviously used less than 375Wh. I've posted a link to the thread detailing my experiences over 4 journeys earlier in this thread.

Michael
 

martinb

Pedelecer
Jan 28, 2015
71
23
65
Leicestershire
Mostly off road for the first 10 miles mostly Eco and medium then all on road for the second ten miles mostly high. Still 15 miles range in high remaining
 

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SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
266
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Bristol, Uk
4bound, agree with all your findings and thoughts. However ...

That seems a very high battery consumption - I don't think you should be exhausting a 612Wh battery in 26 miles. When tried a Kudos Typhoon last year for my 22 mile per leg commute I averaged 19.5 mph and had an indicated half battery power left, and that was with a 375Wh battery in a big heavy hub drive mountain bike. Even if the battery display was well out it obviously used less than 375Wh. I've posted a link to the thread detailing my experiences over 4 journeys earlier in this thread.

Michael
I just got back from a 34 mile journey, mostly on a relatively flat cycle path. I think I averaged around 15mph although most of the path I managed around 16-17 if nothing was in my way. I have the Impulse 2.0 on the Kalkhoff with a 17ah battery. I had around a quarter battery left, at best. I did hit a long laborious hill for around 10 mins which I felt really had an effect on the battery level. More than I had expected.

On the other hand, the other week I road virtually the same route with my GF who was riding a light weight Trek 7.4 and we averaged around 10-11mph. It was showing half the battery left. All on full power for both rides. We didn't do the steep hill route this time.

I really do think that the extra energy required for steep hills can make a noticeable difference, as can the wind. I do agree though that his figures seem poor.

*note. Apparently when these Kalkhoff batteries nearly show empty, you still get a generous 5-6 miles of power to get you to safety (if you have weak legs :)). I have never taken it that low so far.
 

4bound

Pedelecer
May 1, 2014
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Neston
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4bound, agree with all your findings and thoughts. However ...

That seems a very high battery consumption - I don't think you should be exhausting a 612Wh battery in 26 miles.

Michael
Perhaps I didn't stress that I wasn't making any attempt at preserving the power, I was riding fast uphill using maximum assistance, just experimenting with what the bike could do. I am confident that it will do far more when I need it to and ride more sensibly.

Chris
 
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SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
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Bristol, Uk
Perhaps I didn't stress that I wasn't making any attempt at preserving the power, I was riding fast uphill using maximum assistance, just experimenting with what the bike could do. I am confident that it will do far more when I need it to and ride more sensibly.

Chris
Still.. That feels a little low. I have tended to ride mine in full power mode around Bristol which is very hill challenged. Granted its speed is limited unlike yours. Anything under 45miles at full tilt would have me concerned about the battery condition.

A 30 mile range at 25mph is the top performance figure I was informed by 50 cycles for those models.
 
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JohnCade

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 16, 2014
1,486
736
I used to do a 22 mile round trip commute by person powered bike - took about 45 -50 mins each way. One day tried it with my wife's Panasonic powered Kalkoff. The route was fairly flat and I found it a huge disappointment - power assistance cut out most of the time because I was cycling at around 15 mph, so it finished up being harder work and taking longer than the unpowered version.
Don't forget that you need to be doing say 15 mph most of the time to achieve an average of say 12 mph allowing for junctions, corners etc.

How ever I now have a Kalkoff S Pedelec and although I haven't tried it for the commute route yet, I am confident it would bring the time down significantly. I will let you know once I try it out.

The battery certainly goes down quickly if you ride it fast. I did a 26 mile ride at an average of 17.5 mph recently which exhausted the battery, some hills.

http://www.50cycles.com/product/6145238110
The Panasonic tapered right down before 15 mph so not much assist after that. But the impulse goes on to over 17 mph before it stops so that makes a difference to the average achieved on flattish roads. It accelerates faster from standstill too. If the Panasonic had a smaller back sprocket fitted it would give its power for longer and give a faster journey than the unassisted bike on a flat route I would think. At the expense of hill climbing ability of course.

The S pedelec you have now is going to eat batteries if used to its potential. Power usage goes up dramatically with increased speed. So judging from what I've read about them the mileage you're getting seems about right for that average with hills on the route if you're using the speed on the flat.
 
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SteveRuss

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2015
566
266
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Bristol, Uk
This is for Bosch motors. It`s really good, it`s within 10% of my riding on my Haibike XDURO Cross Pro :)

http://www.bosch-ebike.de/en/service/reichweiten_assistent/Reichweiten-Assistent.html
That is quite interesting. Shame there isn't a website that uses the same technology to make a comparison option for everyone other than the Bosch guys.

I found it particularly interesting when changing the surface terrain which appears to make a huge difference. As you would expect I suppose.