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Tell us about your Ebike

Jeff said:
Does anyone have any experience with these and using them on really steep hills or really long hills?

I have a cargo van that I won't need anymore 6 months from now. I'd like to sell it and replace it with an ebike for commuting. Here's a screenshot of the route:

Screenshot_20220406-083023-352.png



The Google says it's 10 miles total. The section along the river is a nice flat dedicated bike path, but the highlighted section at the top is really really steep and the highlighted section at the bottom is one long hill.

My only experience with electric personal transportation are these rideshare public scooters we have here called scoobi scooters. My fiance and I (we're both small people, so combined we are about the weight of one overweight adult man) hopped on one downtown and tried to ride it home. It claimed a full charge with 20 miles of range, but when we hit that steep section of road it didn't even have the power to keep us moving uphill. We had to turn around and take a longer shallower grade home. In less than 3-4 miles we had completely drained the battery and had to walk the last half mile.

Should I expect similar usage from an ebike and plan on getting one with as massive a battery as possible? I can charge at work and at home so I really only need enough to get me 1 way.

I know I'll have to pedal, but I want it to be easy pedaling! Years ago I worked in a cube farm next to a guy who biked to work. He was usually gross, sweaty, and smelly when he arrived. I don't want to be that guy!
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Following the bike path further, all the way around to where it crosses to McKeesport, then get off the trail and go up to Bettis might be a better way to go.
 
That's exactly the kind of advice I was looking for Yinzer Moto thank you! I'll definitely be checking into the rental to do a trial run or two before buying anything.

I'm glad you're local and know the roads. "Big" and "steep" are vague enough to have a million different meanings to a million different people.
 
Jeff said:
Does anyone have any experience with these and using them on really steep hills or really long hills?

I have a cargo van that I won't need anymore 6 months from now. I'd like to sell it and replace it with an ebike for commuting. Here's a screenshot of the route:

Screenshot_20220406-083023-352.png



The Google says it's 10 miles total. The section along the river is a nice flat dedicated bike path, but the highlighted section at the top is really really steep and the highlighted section at the bottom is one long hill.

My only experience with electric personal transportation are these rideshare public scooters we have here called scoobi scooters. My fiance and I (we're both small people, so combined we are about the weight of one overweight adult man) hopped on one downtown and tried to ride it home. It claimed a full charge with 20 miles of range, but when we hit that steep section of road it didn't even have the power to keep us moving uphill. We had to turn around and take a longer shallower grade home. In less than 3-4 miles we had completely drained the battery and had to walk the last half mile.

Should I expect similar usage from an ebike and plan on getting one with as massive a battery as possible? I can charge at work and at home so I really only need enough to get me 1 way.

I know I'll have to pedal, but I want it to be easy pedaling! Years ago I worked in a cube farm next to a guy who biked to work. He was usually gross, sweaty, and smelly when he arrived. I don't want to be that guy!
Click to expand...

So you are going to be that other guy! lol Forget the ebike if you're not willing to do the work. Ride a motorcycle instead of pretending to ride a bicycle. :imaposer
 
I support ebikes, but I am not ready for for them on the road and I am not into mountain bikes. Gravel is only just tolerable. I recently discovered I still had a new in the box Pinarello Nytro gravel bike from a covid stock buyout of a local bike shop. Gravel plus electric was fun the two or three times I had a reason to ride it.

All of them were given a 150-200W hard limit with multiplier no higher than 1:1. We're a cycling club, not a pretend to pedal motorcycle club lol. Seriously though... a 50-55kg woman with a 120-150W FTP on a 14kg ebike with fat tyres and a combined output of 300W is going to be in the top few percent of climbers on say Mont Ventoux and likely on the front page of Strava leader boards. A small group of us are under 50kg and over 280W. The ebikes enable slower riders to stay with us on long climbs with little power. For others it makes mountain climbs accessible.

Batteries get thrashed by typical ebike use, but will last a lot longer with low power. Not just consumption, also wear. One tip for battery life and range is to keep the maximum assisted speed just below what the rider can comfortably ride unassisted on a flat road and maximum power to a combined output of about 4W/kg . The motor becomes a hill and wind assist and the rider still gets some benefit.
 
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To do it over again I wouldn’t have bought my E bike.
Most of the time I ride by myself for exercise so I prefer one of my other pedal bikes.
On the occasional ride with the other e bike guys, the trails are so steep and technical that I am more worried about survival and keeping up with the fast guys Then I should be.
 
Fast and flowing trails where you can get into a rhythm is best for exercise. eBike or not. JMO.

Our club started as a small group of us that were sick of guys who had to turn every ride into a race. The rule was if someone drops the group and rides away they better have a good reason (buying everyone lunch was a good reason) or don't come back. A few tried, but look like dicks trying to ride with a bunch of women who won't talk to them. :imaposer They don't come back. It caught on and within a year we had a fully funded club and now have an active membership over 300.
 
I have one on order, but I might die before it shows up...
 
Just because…….
I rode my e bike to clear brier stringers along a couple of our private moto single tracks.
I think that thing is fast enough on the tighter trails that I could keep up with some of our club guys on motos.
That would be tough on their egos.
 
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I used to ride some moto trails on my old front suspension hardtail. Also rode the same trails on my Husky. I was definitely faster on the mtb when it came to downhill tight trails that weren't to chunky. Moto guys could not keep up, but the tables turned quickly when it flattened out or went uphill.
 
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For sure the mtn bike is faster on the down hill sections, but I think the e bike is almost as fast on the flat tight sections As some of the older slower guys Are on motors. The only real problem is trying to put down power while riding over chop.
 
Mortified!! Crushed! Here I am learning I will be totally déclassé, or worse, if I descend to an Ebike so I can again almost daily ride with my young sweetheart for 50 years who is now 73, 6 years my junior. Yes, she is now faster since my family inheritance, good pump, Magnetti Marelli electrics kicked in.

My newest of numerous wheels
78DDD372-7F7E-4EDC-BD4A-C91E288B4E8A.jpeg

So, have a really good sneer as you blow by the giro d’geriatric …
 
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“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. “
E Hemingway
 
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Jo Mo Ma said:
I was recently working out of town where I noticed a great many ebikes on the road. So I asked a local why they were so popular?:lol3

Turns out that when people have their license suspended or revoked, they get an ebike.
:lol3
Click to expand...

Be careful. That is a common stereotype and leads to all sorts of nastiness.

:-)
 
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Jo Mo Ma said:
I was recently working out of town where I noticed a great many ebikes on the road. So I asked a local why they were so popular?

Turns out that when people have their license suspended or revoked, they get an ebike.
:lol3
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I saw for years. I came close to writing it, but it was the original impetus for ebikes, and I'm sure it remains one of their stronger selling points. Again, ebikes should be registered, have license plates, and owners need to carry insurance to use them on the road. Of course we don't have anything like a capable police force going on in American towns and cities now, so nothing would be enforced anyhow.
 
Mambo Danny said:
This is exactly what I saw for years. I came close to writing it, but it was the original impetus for ebikes, and I'm sure it remains one of their stronger selling points. Again, ebikes should be registered, have license plates, and owners need to carry insurance to use them on the road. Of course we don't have anything like a capable police force going on in American towns and cities now, so nothing would be enforced anyhow.
Click to expand...
Why do you hate riding lawnmowers ?!
 
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