LEJOG on ebike

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Ian Stuart
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LEJOG on ebike

Post by Ian Stuart »

Hello there....my wife and I, in our 60s, are considering LEJOG June 2018. Does anyone have any experience or advice doing this on an ebike? We live in Australia so would also need to either rent or buy bikes (including helmets, panniers, lights, lock etc) for a 4-5 week period. We have the Sustrans book LEJOG on the National Cycle Network.
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Mick F
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Mick F »

Welcome to the forum! :D

I was chatting to a cyclist only yesterday and he was on an E bike, and I was asking a few questions, one of which was how far he can go on it.

He said that he easily does 40miles, and it would go 50 or 60 as well, and that on the "Eco" setting, it would probably go 100miles. I was impressed!
There was a "Turbo" setting as well, but that would severely reduce the range of course.

Therefore, I reckon you could easily do an End2End with one doing a reasonable mileage per day with the only proviso being able to charge the battery each evening. Booking accommodation ahead of time and asking permission is the way forward I would think.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Vetus Ossa »

Hi Mick

I was the cyclist you were talking to yesterday.
My mileage on that ride totalled 38, and at the end I had half a battery left. Not sure if the other half would be good for another 40 miles but recon 30 is more than possible. Most of that ride was in the second mode (Tour) with just a blast of the third (Speed) up the hill to Yelverton. I do think if you were a fit cyclist, which I am not at the moment, near 100 miles would be possible in Eco mode.
OP, riding an ebike is still fairly hard work if you’re not cycling fit, and most ebikes are heavy, mine weighs 22kg, and you do have to pedal, so would suggest you get a little practice in before your tour.
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james01
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by james01 »

Suggestions:
Some hotel proprietors will be unfamiliar with power consumption of bike chargers, and may be a little concerned. It would be a good idea to bring with you a simple printed statement of the electricity cost of a full recharge. Our Carrera Crossfire E bike, for example, has a stated maximum charger input consumption of 1.8 amps at 240 volts, and a full recharge takes 6.5 hrs. By my calculation, and with some generous rounding-up, you could offer the hotel owner 50 pence and he'd be making a good profit!
Make sure the bikes have easily removable batteries for in-room charging.
Choose bikes which can be pedalled as normal without any dead-motor drag for those occasions when you exhaust the battery.
Difficult to advise on rental versus outright purchase. I imagine that rental is quite expensive. Decent Ebikes can be bought for around £1,000.
It may be possible to pre-arrange to sell them at your final destination (they'd actually be a good second-hand purchase after only 1,000 miles use).
Maybe even someone on this forum could be interested?
Elizabethsdad
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Elizabethsdad »

If you can, I would recommend a bike with the Bosch crank drive system. I have one for commuting which could last me all week - about 100 miles. Crank drive systems have the advantage of adding the motor's effort to your own pedalling and then putting through the drive train. The Bosch system has cadence and torque sensors to control motor out to match your pedalling. Legislation on the UK means that the motor assist must cut out if you go faster than 15.5 mph - so any time you spend riding faster than this you would not be draining the battery at all. I wouldn't worry about reassuring hotels about the chargers power consumption, but the might worry about electrical and fire safety - could be worth having a PAT test certificate.
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horizon
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by horizon »

On a previous thread I wondered aloud at the potential of touring on an e-bike. I questioned whether touring with luggage (and a longer day) would eat up the battery power. If the battery did run out, would that leave you with a heavy bike and luggage? I don't think anyone answered that point.

I suppose I would also like to hear more from the OP and why they might want to do it on an e-bike.
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Vetus Ossa »

horizon wrote:On a previous thread I wondered aloud at the potential of touring on an e-bike. I questioned whether touring with luggage (and a longer day) would eat up the battery power. If the battery did run out, would that leave you with a heavy bike and luggage? I don't think anyone answered that point.

I suppose I would also like to hear more from the OP and why they might want to do it on an e-bike.


I have owned my ebike for three weeks. In that time I have covered 225 miles, mostly with rides from 20 to 40 miles and am slowly getting the feel of the thing.
I am not in the best of health and decidedly unfit as I have not been able to exercise in the last nine months or so, so my experience is limited.
All of my riding has been done carrying the minimum of luggage, just a basic tool kit and water.
I can ride my bike with no assist at all on the flat but anything resembling something up hill requires me to ride with some power assist.
As for riding an ebike with touring gear and a depleted battery, I would say forget it, at the least it would be very hard work.
Having said that with a heavily laden bike you may well be able to cover 50 miles or so if you conserve the battery as much as possible, I would do some test rides first to see how it works out, though I think that would not be enough for you?
I think some Cube bikes can run with duel batteries but they must weigh a ton.
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Mick F
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Mick F »

Vetus Ossa wrote:Hi Mick
I was the cyclist you were talking to yesterday.
Waves and says Hello! :D
Mick F. Cornwall
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Vetus Ossa »

Old bones waves back and wonders if he was the only one stupid enough to ride through the tree trimmings near Yelverton and collect one of these?
But suspect he knows the answer to that one :oops:


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[XAP]Bob
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by [XAP]Bob »

If you're properly cheeky you could probably get a bit of a top up at lunch as well.

OK, an hour or so isn't going to give you a huge extra range, but you'll get a bit more juice for the end of the day...
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Vetus Ossa »

[XAP]Bob wrote:If you're properly cheeky you could probably get a bit of a top up at lunch as well.

OK, an hour or so isn't going to give you a huge extra range, but you'll get a bit more juice for the end of the day...


I believe there are those that do just that…
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Mick F
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Mick F »

Vetus Ossa wrote:Old bones waves back and wonders if he was the only one stupid enough to ride through the tree trimmings near Yelverton and collect one of these?
Strange eh?
We were only just taking of tools and tyre inflations. :shock:

Yes, there was tons of the stuff near Yelverton, but I just rode through it all. The farmer(?) was still cutting when I passed it all.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Vetus Ossa
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Vetus Ossa »

Mick F wrote:
Vetus Ossa wrote:Old bones waves back and wonders if he was the only one stupid enough to ride through the tree trimmings near Yelverton and collect one of these?
Strange eh?
We were only just taking of tools and tyre inflations. :shock:

Yes, there was tons of the stuff near Yelverton, but I just rode through it all. The farmer(?) was still cutting when I passed it all.

Yes, same.
Not sure if I picked it up on the way out or on my return, but I am so thankful I only spotted it when I got home and pulled it out. Rear wheel inner tube replacement on that beast is a major job, and wouldn’t be too pleased about tackling it on the roadside.
I have ordered a co2 pump anyway should it happen again :(
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Mick F
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by Mick F »

Yes, a major operation.

This is a warning to long distance E bikers, I reckon.
Taking the wheels off a heavy beast could be rather hard to do, especially the rear wheel.

This thread has been dealing with the electrical side, but there's a mechanical side too.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Re: LEJOG on ebike

Post by scottg »

A club mate rides a touring bike with a Bionix kit installed, rear wheel motor
and Tubus rack with battery mount.
Stated range is 60 miles, but the system has 4 levels of battery regeneration, when
engaged it feels like engine braking in manual transmission car.
So she'll finish a 50 mile ride with 70% battery remaining, by riding in bike only mode,
using regen on the down hills and slightly down hill flats. Assist is used for the uphills
and catching people in the flats. System is torque sensing with 4 levels of assist.

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