Electric Audax

[DB_Wheels]

Hello All

Has anyone identified an "Electric Audax" bike, i.e., endurance road / light touring capability; thus, modest weight, say 80 miles range on economy mode assistance, comfortable to ride all day and able to accept mudguards and rear panniers. Budget, sub-£3,000.

Floundering in a mass of conflicting specs at the moment, so any help gratefully received.

[hemo]

e-road bikes are the next step and will be the most innovative for e bikes.
The market has been slow but bikes ranges are starting to appear.
The sub 3k market may be a bit of a tough one to crack esp as we are talking lightish weight esp amongst the weight weenie conscious.

80 mile range is the issue as to get a lighter e road bike then conventional e bike,s battery capacity has to be compromised to keep said battery to sub 2kg and a light weight drive. Mileage range will be down to riding fitness/strength and above 15.5mph assist cut off on flat terrain and descents with assist in 0. Battery also being lighter means less capacity = wh (watt hour energy), typically batteries will be only 6 -8ah approx. 180/200wh for a 24v system or a heavier 36v system will be 6- 8ah or up to 300wh.
A 24v battery would contain 21 cells and a 36v 30 cells.


WIsper bikes aka AMPS are bringing out a range though these are 6k+ bikes with easily removable bottom bracket drives also there are others as well in ali and cf.

Giant range look ugly and ungainly with in budget.

Market leader looks to Orbea Gain in this sector with bikes looking like a road bike, demand is high and outstriiong production so pre order if you can wait.

Woosh bikes are a budget seller who sell ebikes to their own spec/design. They have the Karoo not exactly road bike but a flat bar one, acclaimed independant test range was approx 75 miles in hilly East Sussex terrian. There is a Mk2 ligher version in the pipeline.

[robgul]

As suggested the Orbea Gain is the one to go for - brilliant! I've had mine about 4 months and am delighted with it - ride it un-powered and it's just a road bike, power on and it assists. I fitted mudguards and rack to mine and better quality tyres (32mm Marathon but I'm going to change back to 28mm Marathon. So far I've done a tour in France and a few club runs.

The downside if there is one is that the battery is charged in the bike - that's how they make the bike lighter and better looking by having a built-in battery and no case for it (but it is dealer replaceable)

Rob

[NickWi]

I've got to agree with Rob on this and give big +1 for the Gain. It’s a perfectly ridable road bike but with a bit of extra oomph for hills, headwinds and bad days. As mentioned on another thread I've actually reduced the power assist on the lowest setting by 50% on mine and as result on last Sunday’s ride I did 40miles and only used 48% of the battery. Admittedly it wasn’t a hilly route, but I did have the (modified) low power setting on all of the time and I did use the higher settings for the odd hill or two and for the last few miles home. What that shows to me is that if you’re prepared to compromise a little then a full on 100+k Audax ought to be doable with a bit to spare on a Gain. The long awaited (and I believe will be expensive) extra water bottle style external battery will extend the range considerably but at the expense of a bit extra weight.

One final note; Whilst Audax UK do allow e-bikes, they’re not yet fully accepted; Regulations “12.1 Machines: Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (EAPCs) may be ridden but such rides are not eligible for validation”. In practice my card has always been validated and nobody has ever queried what I’ve ridden. I don't hide the fact it's an e-bike if someone asks, but I don't boast about it either. The attidude seems to be, it’s another bum on a saddle taking part and that’s what counts.

[PH]

One final note; Whilst Audax UK do allow e-bikes, they’re not yet fully accepted; Regulations “12.1 Machines: Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (EAPCs) may be ridden but such rides are not eligible for validation”. In practice my card has always been validated and nobody has ever queried what I’ve ridden. I don't hide the fact it's an e-bike if someone asks, but I don't boast about it either. The attidude seems to be, it’s another bum on a saddle taking part and that’s what counts.

Though that only applies to Brevets Populaires, distances less than 200km, all other events are restricted to human power.

[NickWi]

Though that only applies to Brevets Populaires, distances less than 200km, all other events are restricted to human power.

You're right, but for the moment 200k on an e-bike, no matter how careful you are with the power settings just isn't going to happen so it’s a bit of a pointless rule. However, battery/motor technology is improving exponentially and at some point in the not too distant future it’ll become viable and AUK will have to take another look at the rules, particularly if they have more & more people using road style e-bikes in Audax events (which I can see happening).

[PH]

Though that only applies to Brevets Populaires, distances less than 200km, all other events are restricted to human power.

You're right, but for the moment 200k on an e-bike, no matter how careful you are with the power settings just isn't going to happen so it’s a bit of a pointless rule. However, battery/motor technology is improving exponentially and at some point in the not too distant future it’ll become viable and AUK will have to take another look at the rules, particularly if they have more & more people using road style e-bikes in Audax events (which I can see happening).

It's more complicated than that, 200km is the distance where points are awarded, so not pointless
People ride Audax for all sorts of reasons, but it is a sport and I don't see how assisted bikes fit into that without diminishing it.
Neither am I sure about the range, e-bike riders in our CTC group will do 70+ miles without depleting the battery and as robgul points out a good bike doesn't need to be assisted all the time for it still to be an advantage.

[Audax67]

People ride Audax for all sorts of reasons, but it is a sport and I don't see how assisted bikes fit into that without diminishing it.

Hear hear. Audax is a measure of human performance, not human plus machine.

[horizon]

Given the OP has asked a specific question and this is a big topic, I've started a new thread (if anyone is interested). If it's been done to death already, then I'll get the mods to quash it.

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