Hi Leo,
When I had my electric bike, before it was stolen :-(, it was basically a front wheel hooked up to a battery that sat on the rear rack. The beauty of that system is that it was still my familiar touring bike with racks. I could add racks and panniers to my existing bike.
That was about 10 years ago and I am sure things have improved since then. I know that for some they are calibrated to the amount of force you put into the pedals. That would probably be the best to give you the feel that you are most used to when riding. I am guessing others know much more about this though.
Some day when I need an electric bike I will definitely get something like what I had before so I can still be using whatever touring bike I have at the time.
Karen
Jon, I do it with a heavy heart... perhaps literally.
I was born with heart valves that don't work properly. They have become worse over time and between a third and a half of my blood doesn't get through.
The irony is that my heart is in too good shape to justify an operation. Had I not been a lifelong cyclist, I'd have had a weaker heart and the valves would be replaced.
I hope you're never in the same position and, if you are, that you're not accused of being a Judas.
Ah sorry Leo, I was referring to the (perhaps not so famous) Bob Dylan incident of when he "went electric". It might be better known here in the UK!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dylan_controversy
[edit: the joke being that when Bob Dylan started playing electric guitar, some of his closed-minded fans shouted "Judas!" at him. But Dylan's "going electric" marked a turning point in his career, after which he went from strength to strength. The lack of imagination of the acoustic fans might parallel some cycle tourists, who regard electric bikes in the same way. Not me though - whatever works is my motto! Sorry for my initial joke, it was very terse and that context was very culture-dependent. As you can see, my intention is actually the opposite - go electric!]
Welcome to the e-assist world. You’ll be really happy that your cycling life will be extended. There are several folks here (such as Suzanne Gibson) and on that other site who have toured with e-assist, even doing the circumnavigation of the lower 48 of the US.
With the caveat that I haven’t yet done a multi-day tour with my e-assist (I added it during this pandemic), I find that the biggest issues of course are getting the darn thing charged and the battery’s range. The people I know of who do multi-day tours do travel with a spare battery, and I’m going to do that also for when I’m out and about longer. And range is determined by how much you use the assist, which is pretty much under your control.
If you’re planning on primarily traveling in Europe, I envy you. My brother, who lives in Germany, did a tour with his e-bike with one day longer than his battery could handle. Luckily for him there were e-bike charging stations along the route so he could take a break during the day and charge up enough to get to his next stop. So that may be an option for you before investing in a spare battery.
Over here we can exceed the power that I understand is legal for bike paths in Europe. My TSDZ2 motor is 52 amps with a 750 watt battery because I deal with hills a lot. However, another person I know who rides a trike and does not travel light had no trouble riding the Pacific Coast route on the 36a/250w Euro standard. She could always find a place to plug in even when camping.
Good luck, Léo, on this next chapter of your cycling life.
Hi
That's a really kind and thoughtful post, Kathleen. Thank you.
I suspect a reserve battery will have to be the solution. Not that that's so much of a problem if your legs aren't taking the whole strain.
I'm still waiting to hear about having a motor fitted to an existing bike. I'd feel more at ease riding a bike I know, with the dropped bars I've always used and the riding position I've always known. There are enough places that advertise that I feel sure it won't be a problem.
I do feel guilty, though, although assuaged by its not being wholly my choice.
Thanks again for your trouble and your kind words.
Hi Leo
There is a small shop near my local railway station where Rebecca, the owner does e-bike conversions
https://rev-electricbikekits.com.au/
There is a lot of useful information on her site.
So if you can find an e-bike conversion place near to you why not call in and discuss your issues with them?
My two centimes:
The mid motor is the most visually appealing solution but I think they are limited to a single chain ring.
The rear wheel motors seem to use the old fashioned screw on free wheels which tends to limit your choice of available gear ratios.
So if you wish to retain your existing gearing the front wheel motor is the way to go for you.
Slightly off your topic I asked the folks on the Thorn forums about suggestions to convert our Thorn tandem and this is what them came up with:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14399.msg108429#new
We have not done anything about it yet.
Mike
Léo, when Dodie and her Bike Friday got hit by a car in Netherlands, we were forced to buy an e-bike, just to get her back to Paris. But with that violent introduction, we both fell in love with the darn things, and now actually own three each! With that much experience I feel like a well of ebike knowledge and opinion, and it's killing me to decide which main points I should tell you about just now. So here are a few of my top points:
1. Conversion can be ok, with as you say the main benefit being to keep your old frame geometry and fittings. But even a good conversion job is going to be clunky, compared to the super slick factory builds. Very important in this is that conversion is almost always going to use parts from (Chinese) companies like Bafang. Bafang in particular has grown in sophistication, but nothing can match a built in Bosch centre drive, with a downtube integrated battery, for looks but also importantly for the computing power and torque sensing that so wonderfully simulates the feel of a "real bike".
2. If you feel you can abandon your dropped bar geometry, then we have our two Dutch style Bosch centre drives, currently stashed in Leipzig. We would be happy to give these to you, if you would let us ride them once per year for 90 days.
3. With conversion, you could put the motor in the front, rear, or centre. Centre is often favoured, because then the motor and your feet both work together through the available gearing. This may produce better range. Otherwise, the wheel mounted motors are just spinning away according to the power they are being fed, and your feet are on their own to take that into account and to then choose the gearing they need in the circumstance.
4. The power being fed to the motor from the battery at any given time is quite a topic. In the simplest modern systems, the motor is switched on when a sensor sees that you are pedaling. After that, the amount of power sent depends on the "assist level" that you have set at the handlebar console, or (in a setup not legal in Europe), by the amount of twist you are doing on a "throttle". (If you have a throttle and especially if pedaling is not being checked for, then your bike is actually a motorcycle!)
The above types of system are commonly called "cadence sensor" based. Sometimes the misleading term "pedal assist" is also used. But a "real" system uses torque sensing. This reads not just that you are pedaling, but how hard. Depending on the assist level, it will then multiply your effort by a certain percentage. To have this in a retrofit, you need to replace the bottom bracket with a torque sensing bottom bracket.
5. In our view, you do not need anything but the smallest available motor. Even with that, you will commonly be using low assist levels.
6. To achieve touring level range you anyway need to stick to the lowest assist levels. With that and a 500 or 600 wH battery, you can have range of up to 100 km, unless you are really in a lot of hills.
7. A good factory made ebike costs $CAN 6000 here. We bought our Dutch ones over there for about 2500 euros each. We just converted our Bike Fridays to torque sensing rear drive Bafang, for $CAN 2500 each.
Need more info or advice? Email us at shadybrook@shaw.ca
Hi all
Circumstances beyond my control lead me to consider an electric bike for touring. More exactly to having a motor fitted to my existing bike, which I've established is possible.
All the sites give distances for battery life but none, of course, are for people who want to go cycling with four panniers and a tent.
I really don't know much about it so please, if you can, share your experience. What power motor? Would a spare battery be essential? Would... well, fill in your own question because, whatever it is, I won't know the answer.
Thanks, friends.
happy days
léo
2 years ago