Cape Town Cycle Tour second battery ebikes

[Johan van der Walt]

Hi all

I'm new to e-bikes, is there a specific e-bike forum?

I have done a few Cape Town Cycle Tours but want to do it on an e-bike next year, is second batteries allowed?

 

[MORNE]

1 hour ago, Johan van der Walt said:

Hi all

I'm new to e-bikes, is there a specific e-bike forum?

I have done a few Cape Town Cycle Tours but want to do it on an e-bike next year, is second batteries allowed?

 

im not sure if they are legally..dont know those rules.

But ive seen so many guys do it that i cant see it being an issue at all. 

They either strap them to the toptube, in a backpack or have rear racks/carriers that hold them. It's very common. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by MORNE

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Johan van der Walt said:

Hi all

I'm new to e-bikes, is there a specific e-bike forum?

I have done a few Cape Town Cycle Tours but want to do it on an e-bike next year, is second batteries allowed?

 

 

Welcome to the dark side Johan

 

MANY ebikers on the Hub.

 

 

The only rules (in 2022) regarding ebikes for the CTCT:

- speed assist limited to 25km/h, as per the SANS regulations .... many bikes are sold in SA with the American settings of 32km/h.  This seems to be tolerated.  The real issue is the people that derestrict their ebikes and race at 50km/h through the large groups - yes, it actually happens

- A MINIMUM race time of 4h10 ... if you race your ebike and finish too fast you are disqualified  (just check your time at Houtbay... stop at Seattle Coffee if needed ...  )

- Oooo, and ebikers are to start at the "back".   There are way more ebikers than the last group, and there were only a few ebikers in the last group, so not too sure how they implement this .... (having recently done a seeding event it will be interesting to see if start in the very last group again, or slightly earlier)

 

I certainly did not see any rules about 2nd batteries.

 

I carry a spare battery on my bike.  Saw many others with batteries in back packs.  Apparently some arranged with friends to swop out batteries along the route.

 

MANY ebikers attempt the entire route on a single battery.  Saw at least two that ran out of battery with 10 to 15 km to go ....

Edited September 26, 2022 by ChrisF

[Johan van der Walt]

MANY ebikers attempt the entire route on a single battery.  Saw at least two that ran out of battery with 10 to 15 km to go ....

 

That's exactly what I want to avoid, I also calculated that is is possible to do on one battery but I do not want to run out just before Chappies!

Thanks for the replies I read somewhere that its not allowed to carry a second battery but also saw nothing in the rules. Best options would be a friend next to the road but you do not want to miss him.

[MudLark]

There's nothing in the rules that limits the number of batteries you may use.

But not be funny but if you need to carry along a spare battery... Is the event for you?

BTW, I'm not an e-biker yet but the onset of age is quite likely to make me one before a great many more years have passed.

[porqui]

Just for the heck of it - what is your reason for doing it on an e-bike ??

[The Ouzo]

There is a filling station just before Edinburough climb, although that might be a bit early in the race, I think you also pass one going through houtbay, you could fill up there.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Johan van der Walt said:

That's exactly what I want to avoid, I also calculated that is is possible to do on one battery but I do not want to run out just before Chappies!

.....

 

There is a race from Prince Albert that specifies "one battery only".  Having done that route I am SURE many are going to run out of battery ... But this is the only event that specifies this.

 

 

MANY events now cater for ebikes, to the point of even allowing a drop off point and then transporting your second battery to the mid-point water station.  

 

 

In 2022 the event had "good weather", i.e. no wind to suck the range out of batteries .... if the wind pumps on the day MANY are not going to make it on a single battery !!!

 

 

 

Johan as to your other question - no.  There is no "e-bike section" on the forum.  More and more riders have both normal and e-bikes.

 

 

As for the "negative comments" .... you will need a thick skin if you want to ride an ebike !!  On Saturday I was out on a long ride, sparing the battery and working on the climbs .... twice others commented "why are you out of breath, you are on an ebike".  That said, there were way more riders striking up a conversation and just being cyclists.

[ChrisF]

36 minutes ago, ouzo said:

There is a filling station just before Edinburough climb, although that might be a bit early in the race, I think you also pass one going through houtbay, you could fill up there.

 

Sure I have coffee pics at both ....   LOVE Seattle Coffee in Houtbay

[zeerpuD1]

E- Bikes are allowed for a lot of races. For most of them your time does not count at the end (so you ride it for the fun, as it should be, but ride as hard or as slow as you want) Jakhals Events now have a special category for e-bikes (price money, etc) Trans Baviaans also allows e-bikes to take part with special drop off points for xtra batteries. But as with the Argus and some other seeding races your time does not count to get a  better seeding(as it should be).

I ride an e-bike and enjoy taking part in races. Have been riding for over 50 years now and e bike make it possible now to still be able to take part in long distance races. Did the K2C the past weekend and the only comments I got was “Yee, I wish I had one of those” (Mid part through the race on the long uphill drags) Not one negative comment. 

[Wayne pudding Mol]

7 minutes ago, zeerpuD1 said:

E- Bikes are allowed for a lot of races. For most of them your time does not count at the end (so you ride it for the fun, as it should be, but ride as hard or as slow as you want) Jakhals Events now have a special category for e-bikes (price money, etc) Trans Baviaans also allows e-bikes to take part with special drop off points for xtra batteries. But as with the Argus and some other seeding races your time does not count to get a  better seeding(as it should be).

I ride an e-bike and enjoy taking part in races. Have been riding for over 50 years now and e bike make it possible now to still be able to take part in long distance races. Did the K2C the past weekend and the only comments I got was “Yee, I wish I had one of those” (Mid part through the race on the long uphill drags) Not one negative comment. 

I thought ebikes weren’t allowed at K2C 

there were a few and the negative comments were many but probably difficult to hear over the engine 

I have no problem with ebikes and my semi regular riding partner has one  - he’s a large unit and rides hard but he didn’t ride K2C as he told me it didn’t have an ebike cat 

[Steady Spin]

2 hours ago, MudLark said:

There's nothing in the rules that limits the number of batteries you may use.

But not be funny but if you need to carry along a spare battery... Is the event for you?

BTW, I'm not an e-biker yet but the onset of age is quite likely to make me one before a great many more years have passed.

This isn’t the question. 

Let him use 3 batteries if he wants. 

[zeerpuD1]

E-Bikes were not allowed for the K2C this year but I entered a few years ago (when they were allowed) and entry just rolled over from year to year.  Phoned them beforehand and they said I can ride but will not be timed, which were fine by me. We were only 3 e bikes in the race. Funny thing is that no gravel bikes were allowed to ride but there were lots of them, some even ride past me. Good for them. Even told one rider I’m glad I’m not on one of those going down some of the downhills. Must have been scary as hell. I have no problem with them passing me or riding a gravel bike. Why do’t the guys complaining about e bikes don’t complain about the gravel bike riders? Must be the “motor” thing. So for the negative comments, well, I look at it from the guy who made the comments point of view which would have been something like “getting me one of those as soon as possible” He just did not say out loud. I don’t care what other people say about me riding an e bike. Some actually did and I talked to them about ebikes  in general while riding with alongside them on the inclines. 

 

 

 

[MudLark]

33 minutes ago, Steady Spin said:

This isn’t the question. 

Let him use 3 batteries if he wants. 

Of course it's the question. It's the question I asked... One could take along 8 batteries if you wanted. But the point of something like CTCT is that it is a challenge. At least a bit. If you're going through that much additional energy... is there still any challenge? I guess it depends upon the individual. But still.

 

2 hours ago, ChrisF said:

As for the "negative comments" .... you will need a thick skin if you want to ride an ebike !!  On Saturday I was out on a long ride, sparing the battery and working on the climbs .... twice others commented "why are you out of breath, you are on an ebike".  That said, there were way more riders striking up a conversation and just being cyclists.

Nee, kyk. E-bikes are fun. And having borrowed one once or twice I have been quite tempted. But I can't shake the idea that I will feel that I am cheating. Illogical maybe but there it is.

Edited September 26, 2022 by MudLark

[Johan van der Walt]

3 hours ago, porqui said:

Just for the heck of it - what is your reason for doing it on an e-bike ??

Fun and an amazing experience, I have done four on a road bike, and want to do many more.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Johan van der Walt

[Johan van der Walt]

3 hours ago, MudLark said:

There's nothing in the rules that limits the number of batteries you may use.

But not be funny but if you need to carry along a spare battery... Is the event for you?

The race distance is more than more than the range of an e-bike even if I use minimum assistance.