Do e-bikes make that big a difference?

[ChrisF]

3 hours ago, Eldron said:

Does anyone have specs on the media ebikes? I can't find any info.

Respect for the media riders - can't be comfy in all that gear for hours and hours!

 

Would love to see those specs.

 

They did mention that only the motor is similar to last years bike.  Geometry is different.  New batteries, but they did not mention capacity.

[Eldron]

50 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Would love to see those specs.

 

They did mention that only the motor is similar to last years bike.  Geometry is different.  New batteries, but they did not mention capacity.

Either Stefan Sahm is a beast or the motor delivers more than 250w (and keeps on giving beyond 25kph!). If Stefan can roll along at 35+ behind the Beers train then he shouldn't be on the ebike but in the race :-)

[WhiteSpider]

When someone comes past doing 45km+ on a steepish climb in the cradle, then I would think yes, it makes a massive difference. Why they need to be so fast I will never know.

[GLuvsMtb]

7 hours ago, WhiteSpider said:

When someone comes past doing 45km+ on a steepish climb in the cradle, then I would think yes, it makes a massive difference. Why they need to be so fast I will never know.

One needs to assume that the bike would be de-limited then. E Bikes are limited to 32km/h. I have done quite a few events with my e bike. A 700wh battery gave me about 1600m of ascent and 87km in just under 5 hours. It took very careful battery management to complete that stage and was marginally easier than what I would have done on a normal bike (I gained about 30 minutes). On shorter events / stages the benefit is greater. I have done a 45km event with 700m climbing on more or less full power and had battery to spare afterwards.

What becomes more important on an e bike, particularly on longer stages is accurate route information. Knowing how much climbing remains and what distance remains helps you to optimise your battery usage. You try to build a margin in, but in some cases you cut it fine or get it wrong. On that big day with 1600m climbing I finished with 1% left. The last 8kms took an hour to do, where if I had been a bit more conservative, I probably could have done that section in 30 minutes on about 50% power.

When I ride with friends that rides “normal” bikes I try to keep my HR at around 135bpm. It is in my training zone and I get a decent workout. Did Jonkershoek today with a non-e bike friend. We rode 2 hours on 20kms, I used 15% of the battery and had my HR in my zone. 

The nice thing for me is I can ride with my weekend warrior friends as well as my alpha-male-who-has-done-5-Epic friends too.  

[WhiteSpider]

12 hours ago, GLuvsMtb said:

One needs to assume that the bike would be de-limited then. E Bikes are limited to 32km/h. I have done quite a few events with my e bike. A 700wh battery gave me about 1600m of ascent and 87km in just under 5 hours. It took very careful battery management to complete that stage and was marginally easier than what I would have done on a normal bike (I gained about 30 minutes). On shorter events / stages the benefit is greater. I have done a 45km event with 700m climbing on more or less full power and had battery to spare afterwards.

What becomes more important on an e bike, particularly on longer stages is accurate route information. Knowing how much climbing remains and what distance remains helps you to optimise your battery usage. You try to build a margin in, but in some cases you cut it fine or get it wrong. On that big day with 1600m climbing I finished with 1% left. The last 8kms took an hour to do, where if I had been a bit more conservative, I probably could have done that section in 30 minutes on about 50% power.

When I ride with friends that rides “normal” bikes I try to keep my HR at around 135bpm. It is in my training zone and I get a decent workout. Did Jonkershoek today with a non-e bike friend. We rode 2 hours on 20kms, I used 15% of the battery and had my HR in my zone. 

The nice thing for me is I can ride with my weekend warrior friends as well as my alpha-male-who-has-done-5-Epic friends too.  

This bike was definitely not doing 32km/h.

I honestly thought a motorbike had just passed me. Myself and another rider had to double check what just happened. It was just very silly, and sad to see to be honest. 

[ChrisF]

6 minutes ago, WhiteSpider said:

This bike was definitely not doing 32km/h.

I honestly thought a motorbike had just passed me. Myself and another rider had to double check what just happened. It was just very silly, and sad to see to be honest. 

 

Euro e.bikes comes with assist limited to 25km/h.

 

American bikes comes with assist limited to 32 km/h, i.e. 20 miles per hour.

 

 

Adrenaline bikes comes with assist limited to 45km/h.

 

 

A very quick google search provides a multitude of ways to over.ride the limiter ....

 

 

 

Hop skip and a jump ... or is that a clip boost and light pedal, and hooligans can cause unsafe interactions on the trails 🙈

 

 

 

Then again, I recently did a lap with a gent on an Adrenaline .... amazing how he managed to ride with consideration for fellow riders, not once did he use that speed around others.

 

 

Just maybe it is not the "speed limiter", but rather the pilot.   Though the speed do allow idiots to become low flying pilots ....

[DuncanDoughnuts]

If you want an unbiased review of the difference I suggest you watch this video. 

It will give you a better opinion. 

The Bikehub is so full of hatred and fear regarding this topic, I suggest go give it a try for yourself. 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

On 3/24/2022 at 6:44 PM, ChrisF said:

 

Would love to see those specs.

 

They did mention that only the motor is similar to last years bike.  Geometry is different.  New batteries, but they did not mention capacity.

Those media Ebikes they use on the epic or un-restricted. Was behind one on the epic this year on Table mounting road and the guy was pulling away from me as if I was standing still .. my bike was cutting out at 32km and he was just blasting ahead. 

Suppose it has to be to keep up with the top guys on this flat sections. 

But a legal Ebike, is not the much faster.... 

My top speeds are higher on my Normal bike, but my ave speed is higher on the ebike. 

[W Smith]

"My top speeds are higher on my Normal bike, but my ave speed is higher on the ebike. " I fully agree.This also my experience after having bought an ebike. 

[herrowpreeze]

On 3/24/2022 at 11:10 AM, DuncanDoughnuts said:

Those camera riders are also on bikes that have been de-restricted. There is no way a ebike will keep up on the flats when they doing 40km/h.

 

Exactly, in an interview with Matt Lombardi said when he raced the E bike xc doesn't matter cause they ride so fast its above the limiter anyway, so actually harder 

[HulkCycle]

There is always the (n + 1) factor, so if your finances allow it, definitely have your normal mtb in the garage, but then also have the e-bike in the garage. 

The e-bike is a awesome machine, where you can take the sting out of the heart rate up a climb for those active rest days, but you still can ride and enjoy the trails even if it has that gruelling climbs in it.

The question is, which e-bike. this is a very long debate because you must go and see what fit into your budget as well as what is your preferences in a e-bike.

if you need high torque and high WattHour motor, then you will have to look at the Turbo Levo's, Santa Cruz etc

If you are a fairly above average rider and you have sufficient power in your legs, go for something like the Specialized SL, Orbea Rise or the new Trek Top Fuel EXe

go and test the bikes first, read up on it, watch you tube videos as well as watch youtube videos where they compare the various bikes and then make your decision, but a e-bike is for sure like a indoor trainer but you can enjoy the outside on it, because the apps running with the motor and your cellphone are so damn nice, it will engage and do everything automatically in a specific training session, but just in the convenience of being on a trail and #outsideisfree

Just don't be a d!ck when riding on an e-bike on the trails by shouting to the other riders to keep left etc - wait your turn to pass. The "normal" rider is usually k@kking off on the climb and then this "idiot" on the e-bike comes shouting 🙂

In all fairness, to have an e-bike is very satisfying especially for those days where you are not in the mood to k@k off, but are just in the mood to go and test and enjoy some downhill trails, then you can go up the climb 10 time and do the downhill 10times and still come home not binne in jou m@er.

And your friends and other riders will always have 100 things to say about you riding an e-bike - but luckily I could not gibe a flying f......

Cheers

[Pieterlab1]

On 10/23/2022 at 9:09 AM, WhiteSpider said:

This bike was definitely not doing 32km/h.

I honestly thought a motorbike had just passed me. Myself and another rider had to double check what just happened. It was just very silly, and sad to see to be honest. 

Seriously? Did it make you sad??

[WhiteSpider]

41 minutes ago, Pieterlab1 said:

Seriously? Did it make you sad??

Ooof… are you offended by what I said ? 

[Pieterlab1]

3 minutes ago, WhiteSpider said:

Ooof… are you offended by what I said ? 

Ooof... not at all, more like amused.

Why would you let an e-bike hurt your feelings?

[WhiteSpider]

1 minute ago, Pieterlab1 said:

Ooof... not at all, more like amused.

Why would you let an e-bike hurt your feelings?

Obviously offended enough to make a comment. As you were.

[Emazing]

Ride hard it's even harder then a regular bike but taking it easy it's much much easier.