Road E-bike questions

[Ralph]

It's got a motor....lighter parts don't mean as much as on a regular road bike. And cheaper parts still work great. Electric or not. I get the desire to have nice parts though.

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

Get your knee fixed first, then if ok'd to ride, consider buying the e-bike.
Suppress the urge to customize it your way. Just get the e-bike that has the easiest resale since you are effectively looking for a longer term rental. if it becomes a permanent need, that's a different path.

First thing my ortho doc said to me as he walked in the door for my appointment was maybe it’s time to start thinking about an e-bike. He is an avid road cyclist.

Actually the knee is feeling a bit better, may have been an anomaly, but it sure scared me as I thought I might have messed up the partial or need a total. He said structurally my knee was very sound and the x rays didn’t show anything either.

Rode hard to Malibu a few days ago, knee didn’t hurt very much. We shall see.

Thanks all for the great knowledge and wisdom, much appreciated!

Steve

[pdmtong]

I wonder what the "target" range/assist/effort is for a middle of the line bike.

as was noted, light parts don't matter since it has a motor.

so for $6,000 can I expect to go do a metric with 5,000' of climbing at 170#s?

I would think people wanting to do a 10,000' century on an e-bike will be asked to pay for the privilege.

Of course over time they will get cheaper and go further with more power. But if you need one now, then don't wait but buy with resale in mind unless money to burn.

FWIW I like the bosch crank drive style more than the rear hub. Prefer the way the crank mounted motor responds and how the bike as a whole feels.

[Tommasini53]

My wife purchased a Specialized Evo and loves it. I rode it around and found that it handles very well. This model has the motor at the BB thus most of the added weight is centered at the bb. I don't know the ins and outs of wheel-motor vs. bb motor. But i do recommend you test ride an Evo. All in all i'm not a Specialized cheerleader....but have to say they really nailed the e-bike here. And it has been great with my wife being able to do longer rides together. good luck on your investigation.

[palincss]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

so for $6,000 can I expect to go do a metric with 5,000' of climbing at 170#s?

I would think people wanting to do a 10,000' century on an e-bike will be asked to pay for the privilege.

Actually, there are range issues you need to consider.

From what I've read, you may be able to squeeze out a 100km with some of the e-assist bikes, but since that distance is a bit over their maximum range you'd have to ration out power assist, doing much of the ride without using the motor.

But for all but the newer light-weight "performance e-bikes" (like the Fazua or ebikemotion X35 equipped models) the weight of the bike, battery and motor are so great you need at least the minimum assist setting just to compensate for the weight of the bike; that effectively limits you to under 100km. How much under depends on how high you have the motor setting, and of course the hillier the ride the more you'll need to use the battery and the less feasible trying to operate entirely without assist becomes.

And regardless, I don't think there are any e-bikes out there that have enough range to be able to do a very hilly 100 miler.

[eddief]

those riding Creos and Gains are actually folks trying to stay in good shape. mostly they ration power for when they really need / want it. on flats and rollers they try to compensate the extra weight with their own power. after all a Creo is probably just a few pounds heavier than your average Rivendell...for instance . on the other hand i can't watch how often they push the power button so i could be mistaken. on the other hand when they do push the button they can fly by me on the steeps.

Originally Posted by palincss

Actually, there are range issues you need to consider.

From what I've read, you may be able to squeeze out a 100km with some of the e-assist bikes, but since that distance is a bit over their maximum range you'd have to ration out power assist, doing much of the ride without using the motor.

But for all but the newer light-weight "performance e-bikes" (like the Fazua or ebikemotion X35 equipped models) the weight of the bike, battery and motor are so great you need at least the minimum assist setting just to compensate for the weight of the bike; that effectively limits you to under 100km. How much under depends on how high you have the motor setting, and of course the hillier the ride the more you'll need to use the battery and the less feasible trying to operate entirely without assist becomes.

And regardless, I don't think there are any e-bikes out there that have enough range to be able to do a very hilly 100 miler.

[sg8357]

As a points of reference, 40 mile ride, 1200 feet climbing.
80%+ battery remaining on a Cannondale Synapse Neo 1.
That is a Bosch bike, assist mostly at zero on the flats.
1 or 2 out of 4 on the hills. 37lb bike

60 mile ride, 2200 feet climbing, 40% battery remaining
on a Bionx/Surly Troll. Note the Bionx has a regeneration
mode for use on the down hills. 45lb bike

[Keith A]

Originally Posted by palincss

That "20 mph limit" is a bit of a misstatement. The motor quits assisting at 20 mph. You can go faster than that, you just have to do it yourself (with or without gravity's help) without motor assist.

It depends on the "class" of the bike. The three classes are defined as follows:
Class 1: eBikes that are pedal-assist only, with no throttle, and have a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph.
Class 2: eBikes that also have a maximum speed of 20 mph, but are throttle-assisted.
Class 3: eBikes that are pedal-assist only, with no throttle, and a maximum assisted speed of 28 mph.
All classes limit the motor’s power to 1 horsepower (750W).

More details here...
https://www.bosch-ebike.com/us/every...0of%2028%20mph.

[Keith A]

A friend's wife has a class 3 eBike, and he has looked into making it faster -- but this would void the warranty. I think, although not 100%, even swapping out the front chainrings and/or rear cassette to increase top end voids the warranty.

[pdmtong]

It’s an interesting question about range.

For sure the road bike looking designs are more limited since the battery is smaller to fit into the aesthetics

But why bother? If you get a Bosch motor ebike that looks like a hybrid and carry a second battery what does it matter you are sitting more upright or using some battery all the time ? You are motor powered and have a spare

Around here flat is 20/1000 but it’d be easy find 40/4,000 etc.

[Keith A]

Of course, you could go the route Simon Cowell did and get a SWIND EB-01 motorbike which has a 15,000w motor...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUAXtFXjEfs

Some good advice...
If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time.
I have broken part of my back.
Thank you to everyone for your kind messages.

— Simon Cowell (@SimonCowell) August 10, 2020

[palincss]

Originally Posted by eddief

those riding Creos and Gains are actually folks trying to stay in good shape. mostly they ration power for when they really need / want it. on flats and rollers they try to compensate the extra weight with their own power. after all a Creo is probably just a few pounds heavier than your average Rivendell...for instance . on the other hand i can't watch how often they push the power button so i could be mistaken. on the other hand when they do push the button they can fly by me on the steeps.

Yes, the Creos and Gains are light ones you can ride without power, so extending range by rationing is possible. It's difficult to do that with the high power / heavy weight ones like the two Trek road e-bikes from last year. One was just under 50 lb, the other around 40 lb. And there are plenty of them out there in that same weight class. Owners of those 50 lb Trek e-bikes i know tell me it's impossible for them to ride the bike without using the motor; it takes the first power setting just to overcome the weight of the bike; to get any benefit beyond an unassisted bike they have to use the 2nd power setting.

YMMV, obviously. I was at Trexlertown one time at ETR and we watched the tandem nationals. Everyone there in our group swears they saw Nelson Vails burn out when he took off. Our imaginations, obviously, but someone with his kind of power could probably ride a 50 e-bike with the motor turned off faster than me on the highest power setting.

[palincss]

Originally Posted by Keith A

It depends on the "class" of the bike. The three classes are defined as follows:
Class 1: eBikes that are pedal-assist only, with no throttle, and have a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph.
Class 2: eBikes that also have a maximum speed of 20 mph, but are throttle-assisted.
Class 3: eBikes that are pedal-assist only, with no throttle, and a maximum assisted speed of 28 mph.
All classes limit the motor’s power to 1 horsepower (750W).

More details here...
https://www.bosch-ebike.com/us/every...0of%2028%20mph.

Agreed. What I was attempting to clarify was that the 20 mph (or in Europe, 15.5, or for Class 3 in the US 28 mph) was when the motor quit providing assist, not some kind of governor preventing the bike from exceeding 20 (or 28) mph. I have no doubt whatsoever that on a 10% descent for 0.4 mi you could easily drive a class 1 e-assist up to 34 mph.

[barnabyjones]

Originally Posted by palincss

Agreed. What I was attempting to clarify was that the 20 mph (or in Europe, 15.5, or for Class 3 in the US 28 mph) was when the motor quit providing assist, not some kind of governor preventing the bike from exceeding 20 (or 28) mph. I have no doubt whatsoever that on a 10% descent for 0.4 mi you could easily drive a class 1 e-assist up to 34 mph.

I regularly hit 35 on any decline riding this:

https://www.aventon.com/products/ave...commuter-ebike