Hej ,
Is there anybody in the community who did a longer tour on a electric bike? Any Experiences? On this site I cannot find any stories? Or are there? Which brand should I look for? If I look at he bikes that are for sale they do not have very many km on a battery load. Is it hard to drive when the battery is empty? And the weight of the bike is often very high.
Or should I just keep thinking about a conventional bike tour?
greets, Jacob
Hi,
I am in Canada, our legal maximum motor wattage is 500 W, in the USA, where I often ride, its 750 Watt, max speed 32 km. I believe yours is only a measly 250 W.
Last summer I installed a BBSHD motor and 52V 20 Ah battery from Lunacycle.com on my recumbent trike. Pedaling with low level electric assist I use about 5 W per km (on a road bike you should use less) for a range of 100 km in hilly country, using about 1/2 the battery capacity for longer life of the expensive battery. Charging to 80% and discharge to 30% should at least double the battery life. Occasionally I ride 200 km using the full capacity of the battery. Charging the battery with my 8 A Satiator charger (ebikes.ca) after a 100 km ride takes about 90 minutes.
I love to take long rides and the electric assist lets me cover longer distances and arrive at my destination less tired, while still getting plenty of exercise. When pedaling without the electric assist the motor adds hardly any extra effort. The motor and battery add about 10 kg to the weight of the bike, so if you pedal only when riding uphill it is somewhat slower. Build your bike with a mid-drive motor, a hub motor has much more extra drag.
Go electric, its a blast.
Walt