First commute on e-mtb

[mustang1]

TLDR: wow! 2.6 inch 29er tyres, front suspension, electric power.

It really is fantastic. Those 2.6 Inc tyres makes mince meat out of anything the road can throw at me. So comfortable, not only in the ride quality (30psi) but no need to think or look out for cracks in the road, not as fussed about pot holes. It all adds to mental wellness, not having to go around avoiding the pitfalls, looking left and right, behind me, to make sure I don't veer into the path of overtaking cyclists (not that I'm clumsy with a normal bike, but all the looking around my space becomes a non-event when I can just plow through any cracks).

And going electric is brilliant. No longer do I get to work even remotely sweaty which saves time not having to shower. I also do not have to carry additional baggage, clothes and things like that for the return journey. It's also the bike that I feel ok wearing jeans on, so no time faffing around getting "the bike kit on" - it really is a get-on-and-go bike.

While I don't want to ride in the rain, I have mudguards for wet roads to stop spray.

There is a very slight problem in that the bike is really heavy and is quite noticeable when maneuvering the bike Tommy storage place at work but other than that, it's absolutely fantastic.

Oh, just one more thing: being an MTB, it has wide handlebars which means I cannot filter through traffic as easily as a road bike. It won't ever replace.my road bike, the experience is totally different, but I will certainly be using it a lot more.

A few stats: 18km each way, pretty flat, knobbly tyres, 29er 2.6in 30psi, I'm a big guy and used up 40% battery in total on auto power (so mainly using 3 or 4 out of 4 on the power thingie); riding at 25kmph whenever possible but accelerating reasonably gently from the lights and it seemed like quite a blustery day.

 

[Slick]

I'm a recent convert to the e mountain bike myself, but mostly because it was a bargain and I'm a typical Jock.

I may be wrong and it may just highlight my range anxiety, but I think that using 40% battery seems very excessive.

On my maiden voyage, my trip computer was telling me that I was going through the juice like a good un, and I was going as easy on it as I could as I knew that the ride finished with a couple of really good climbs. After a very lumpy 40 odd miles, I had used just a smidge over the 50% despite the earlier warnings on my trip computer.

Either, something is faulty or I can't read the information available to me during a ride and to be honest, either is as likely as the other.

 

[mustang1]

So mine is 40% battery used on mostly max power, riding at max speed and getting 25 miles out of that 40%. So I guess 50 miles will be 80% making it a 60 mile battery plus some left over for emergency.

 

[Dadam]

I may be wrong and it may just highlight my range anxiety, but I think that using 40% battery seems very excessive.

18km each way, so 36km total. Using 40% suggests that you'd use 100% for 90km (56 miles) which doesn't seem bad to me for a "big guy" on a heavy bike used in a high assist mode.

Blustery day so probably quite a lot of time spent going into the wind too.

 

[mustang1]

18km each way, so 36km total. Using 40% suggests that you'd use 100% for 90km (56 miles) which doesn't seem bad to me for a "big guy" on a heavy bike used in a high assist mode.

Blustery day so probably quite a lot of time spent going into the wind too.

Yeah my thoughts exactly.

 

[Vantage]

Certain points missing here...
What's the terrain like? Flat? Hilly? Lots of traffic and lights etc?
What size is the battery? How hard were you pushing the motor?
40% of a 36v 15000 mah battery feeding a motor pulling every ounce of muscle it had up 20% hills in heavy congested traffic is different to 40% of a 72v 30000 mah battery feeding a motor doing the bare minimum on flat country lanes.

Glad to know you're enjoying ebiking though. Love mine 😁

 

[gbb]

Ebikes are fabulous for those moderately longer commutes.
I used to road bike my 14 mile commute twice a week if I could, loved it, but you need an hour each way plus you arrive either end sweaty.
As I switched to ebike it was a revelation, you arrive at work fresh, not sweaty.

It will never replace the workout you get on a roadbike, but then you gain in other ways.

 

[mustang1]

Certain points missing here...
What's the terrain like? Flat? Hilly? Lots of traffic and lights etc?
What size is the battery? How hard were you pushing the motor?
40% of a 36v 15000 mah battery feeding a motor pulling every ounce of muscle it had up 20% hills in heavy congested traffic is different to 40% of a 72v 30000 mah battery feeding a motor doing the bare minimum on flat country lanes.

Glad to know you're enjoying ebiking though. Love mine 😁

Update:

Yesterday done total 55km with 350m climbing. 3/4 was town traffic, stop and go, on bike paths. 1/4 was on open roads at 25Kmph. Was on auto power mode which means it's nearly always on max power and sometimes goes down to one power bar less.
It's a 630 kwh battery and 65Nm motor. 135kg (suggested weight limit for the bike is 120kg but I guess that's for MTB'ing, and not on smoother roads) total weight (bike, rider, bags).
This was all on road or cycle paths. No off road at all. Tyres are 2.6 inch 29er running at 30psi f and r, knobbies, tubeless. Used "forward thinking" kind of ride (I don't go rushing towards traffic lights if they have been green for a while as most likely they will turn red).
At end of 55km ride, 7 out of 10 battery bars were used up.
Weather was, uhm, idk, about 8C in the morning, 12C in the afternoon, a bit of wind.

Things I do not like about the bike:
There is no way I will go over 26kmph unless it's downhill.
The handlebars are too wide to filter through traffic like on a drop bar road bike.
Very heavy and cumbersome to maneuver it when off the bike.

 

[mustang1]

Ebikes are fabulous for those moderately longer commutes.
I used to road bike my 14 mile commute twice a week if I could, loved it, but you need an hour each way plus you arrive either end sweaty.
As I switched to ebike it was a revelation, you arrive at work fresh, not sweaty.

It will never replace the workout you get on a roadbike, but then you gain in other ways.

I still prefer riding my human powered road bike. If I could only keep one bike, it would be this one.

But the e-bike has all the advantages you mentioned: not getting sweaty means not having to shower means time saved. Also, using the road bike means I have to carry extra gear - I don't want to re-use the morning bike clothes so need a separate set of clothes for the return trip.

I find the e-bike to be a get-on-and-go type of transport. Whatever bag or coat or shoes I would normally wear if taking the train, I just use the same for when riding the electric bike. When going to the human powered bike, I have more stuff to think about and carry.

 

[Vantage]

No idea what 630kwh is in volts, amps etc so that's way over my head 😁
I'd imagine it's a max 250w motor as per regulations and a 'standard' sized battery if sold as a complete off the shelf ebike.
That said, 55km(34m) isn't exactly horrendous considering the weight it's pushing under constant max power on knobbly tyres and stop start traffic.
You'd no doubt get a few extra miles or Kms if you swapped to slicks and backed off on the power output but I think you'd still need a daily charge to keep it going so no benefit in doing any of that.
The speed limit on these things is something I absolutely hate and cannot understand at all but rules are rules I suppose.
It might be worth taking the charger to work with you if it's going to be a windy day just to pump a bit of extra 'get you home' juice into the battery. One windy day I noticed I had to drag an extra 200w out of the motor just to keep up the speed I normally did. Over a 15mile ride, that would suck up some juice and it's no fun riding an ebike without the e bit.

 

[albion]

Mustang obviously meant watt hours. Wh is Amps multiplied by Volts. So the 640wh battery could well be 36V 17.7A or even more likely a 48V 13.33A.

 

[mustang1]

No idea what 630kwh is in volts, amps etc so that's way over my head 😁
I'd imagine it's a max 250w motor as per regulations and a 'standard' sized battery if sold as a complete off the shelf ebike.
That said, 55km(34m) isn't exactly horrendous considering the weight it's pushing under constant max power on knobbly tyres and stop start traffic.
You'd no doubt get a few extra miles or Kms if you swapped to slicks and backed off on the power output but I think you'd still need a daily charge to keep it going so no benefit in doing any of that.
The speed limit on these things is something I absolutely hate and cannot understand at all but rules are rules I suppose.
It might be worth taking the charger to work with you if it's going to be a windy day just to pump a bit of extra 'get you home' juice into the battery. One windy day I noticed I had to drag an extra 200w out of the motor just to keep up the speed I normally did. Over a 15mile ride, that would suck up some juice and it's no fun riding an ebike without the e bit.

Yeah I think it's a standard 250W, just a normal, non-modified, completely legal, off the shelf e-bike.

I wasn't a fan of the speed limit either but I've learned to live with it. I prefer the American system - they have 20mph or 28mph depending on which state the bike is sold in.

I still use the bike for recreational off road use so want to keep the knobbly tyres although he's you are completely right that slicks would be better for commuting.

 

[biking_fox]

On my maiden voyage, my trip computer was telling me that I was going through the juice like a good un, and I was going as easy on it as I could as I knew that the ride finished with a couple of really good climbs. After a very lumpy 40 odd miles, I had used just a smidge over the 50% despite the earlier warnings on my trip computer.

There tends to be a not very intelligent algorithm looking at past use and projecting forward into the ride for those kinds of displays, so they're very much treat with eh pinch of salt especially if the terrain/ride/wind changes and/or this ride is different from previous ones.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Mustang obviously meant watt hours. Wh is Amps multiplied by Volts. So the 640wh battery could well be 36V 17.7A or even more likely a 48V 13.33A.

On the units:

Watt hours - Wh is a unit of energy - The SI unit for which is Joules.

Watts (W) is a unit of power - the rate at which energy is consumed. Watts are Joules per second.

Amps x volts is the instantaneous power the battery produces, in watts (W)

Wh is the total energy produced over time.

 

[Dadam]

On the units:

Watt hours - Wh is a unit of energy - The SI unit for which is Joules.

Watts (W) is a unit of power - the rate at which energy is consumed. Watts are Joules per second.

Amps x volts is the instantaneous power the battery produces, in watts (W)

Wh is the total energy produced over time.

Minor clarification, a watt-second is equivalent to 1 joule. One watt-hour (the total energy expended delivering a power of 1 watt for 1 hour), is 3,600 joules.