rockyroller
Guru
- Location
- 20 miles northwest of Boston, MA
ride wut you've got. hey, a wheel, is a wheel, is a wheel. 2 wheels beat 2 feet every time
Just started commuting again
- Thread starter Dirtyhanz2
- Start date
-
- Tags
- commuting
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tinywheels
Über Member
- Location
- South of hades
I regularly ride home on my brompton, some 16 miles. it's very hilly round here, and I'm knackered afterwards. six speeds don't really go far when the way gets steep. only 4 miles to the station when I can't face the hilly horror of a proper ride home.
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confusedcyclist
Veteran
I'm surprised the e-Brompton was capable of that sort of range, good effort regardless. Can you make it both ways on a single charge? Or are you forced to charge at work?
tinywheels
Über Member
- Location
- South of hades
WTF are you serious. I pedal the damn thing.Its a six speed pedal power.They are capable of more than a couple of miles from a station.
confusedcyclist
Veteran
OP said 18 miles each way, e-brommies haven't got the largest battery, 300kWh IIRC. If the range on my own 625kWh bike is anything to go by, 18 miles each way could be too close to call, unless your riding in eco mode the whole time, then you're left pedalling a useless motor and battery around, no good if you happen to be in a hilly area.
T4tomo
Legendary Member
which are pretty light on a Brompton, as you have pointed out, so not a big issue.
no idea what your bike is, but at 625kwh is sounds like a large battery and motor hence heavy, so half the capacity of the battery is used carrying the extra weight of the battery and motor being big enough to power the heavy battery and motor..... it gets a bit self defeating.
A small "assist" motor built into a light road bike adding only 2-3kg to its weight is defo the best set up for an ebike, then if it does run out its still ridable, rather than being a non powered moped.
Dirtyhanz2
Senior Member
Hi sorry for the late reply been mad busy
The brompton on level one assist can get there and back just
On level two which is the level i use most of the time it will get me to work and a good bit more
Level three it will get me to work with a small amount to spare
I carry my charger and charge in work no problems as long as I don't forget it which I have done on one occasion I just cycled it home which was an interesting as a comparison
My speed on the electric brompton is around 15mph in both top and middle assist
About 13 in bottom assist
Then without any assist I was averaging 12
confusedcyclist
Veteran
@T4tomo, fair points there, but I don't think the additional weight of 625kWh batteries is anywhere near close to outweighing the benefit of added range (on my bike). It even comes with an option to add a second 500 kWh battery and that adds another (best case) 50 miles range, so I suspect you'd have have 4 or more batteries before the weight of the batteries outweighs the benefit of extra capacity, probably the same point the bike would be near impossible to lift off the floor for most people! I don't know many people who would require such range on a bicycle anyway!
One of the problems with the Bromptom is key to it's folding design is portability, now these are not light bikes to start with adding bigger batteries makes these tough for all but burley men to carry, which is the point I was making initially about concerns about the range OP was doing! Also, the 6 speed gearing on my manual Brommie doesn't quite live up to the worst of the hills around here (YMMV), especially problematic if you are geared toward the high end for speed, as you would be inclined to do with a motor assisted bike, that extra weight could be make or break ride-ability on a flat battery. Not to say they are useless by any stretch, but a limitation worth considering.
@Dirtyhanz2, great to hear it is working out for you. I was initially apprehensive about being able to charge my battery in work, as there is no formal policy on it's permissibility, so I went overkill on battery capacity so I could get home and back on max assistance, I usually finish the day with 40% to spare. I never opened the can of worms with my boss either, since a full charge costs my employer a couple of pence every few days vs. the obscene cost of maintaining parking spaces for car dependent colleagues, most of the time I'm charging at home, for obvious moral reasons, but if I forget an overnight charge, I don't worry about bring in my charge cables. I've been in similar situations where I've not charged before setting off from work, and leaving the charger in the garage. And have ended up riding to and from work in Eco mode. One of the first time's I rode with the Bosch equipment I and was overly confident I could make it back before I hit 0%, little did I know, the last 5% of battery is reserved for the lighting and gadgets. The last slog home, which happens to be a long steep hill, was similarly "interesting" and not an experience I would like to repeat on a regular basis.
One of the problems with the Bromptom is key to it's folding design is portability, now these are not light bikes to start with adding bigger batteries makes these tough for all but burley men to carry, which is the point I was making initially about concerns about the range OP was doing! Also, the 6 speed gearing on my manual Brommie doesn't quite live up to the worst of the hills around here (YMMV), especially problematic if you are geared toward the high end for speed, as you would be inclined to do with a motor assisted bike, that extra weight could be make or break ride-ability on a flat battery. Not to say they are useless by any stretch, but a limitation worth considering.
@Dirtyhanz2, great to hear it is working out for you. I was initially apprehensive about being able to charge my battery in work, as there is no formal policy on it's permissibility, so I went overkill on battery capacity so I could get home and back on max assistance, I usually finish the day with 40% to spare. I never opened the can of worms with my boss either, since a full charge costs my employer a couple of pence every few days vs. the obscene cost of maintaining parking spaces for car dependent colleagues, most of the time I'm charging at home, for obvious moral reasons, but if I forget an overnight charge, I don't worry about bring in my charge cables. I've been in similar situations where I've not charged before setting off from work, and leaving the charger in the garage. And have ended up riding to and from work in Eco mode. One of the first time's I rode with the Bosch equipment I and was overly confident I could make it back before I hit 0%, little did I know, the last 5% of battery is reserved for the lighting and gadgets. The last slog home, which happens to be a long steep hill, was similarly "interesting" and not an experience I would like to repeat on a regular basis.
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