Several day tour with e-bike

[Lodge]

My wife and I have toured several times using our e-tandem, a Hase Pino semi-recumbent, in both Brittany (Breton Bikes) and in Croatia (BSpoke). And we only had one battery. We've only run out once, after about 50 km of rather hilly Brittany. All it took was a couple of km unassisted to a suitable café and a long lunch (such hardship) to get sufficient charge to get to the next stop.

We've also toured on our solo bikes, my (unassisted) Brompton and her Tern Vektron, together with a couple of friends who also had one unassisted and one e-bike. No spare batteries. As long as one knows one's range and plan up front (i.e. do a bit of map work for distance and ascent) there shouldn't be a problem.

That said that picture was from 2014 (Brittany). We now both have e-bikes, e-trikes as well as a tandem and, by having the same system across several machines, can plan for longer and/or hillier days on tour. One can use the battery from one for the other when going away on tour.

[skelo]

Apologies if I have replied to this already.

I cycled my e-assist trike from York to Lucca (Italy) roughly 1500 miles avg. 40 miles/day staying in hotels/B&B so re-charging every night. Didn't take a spare battery so had to 'grin and bear it' when it ran out. battery is good for 50 miles on the flat or about 35 in the hills. I guess those stats may be a lot better for an able-bodied cyclist.

I forked out about £500 at Christmas for a second battery to carry and double my range in anticipation of some fun (and quicker) touring but covid seems to have b*llxed that up for now!

[ANTONISH]

Apologies if I have replied to this already.

I cycled my e-assist trike from York to Lucca (Italy) roughly 1500 miles avg. 40 miles/day staying in hotels/B&B so re-charging every night. Didn't take a spare battery so had to 'grin and bear it' when it ran out. battery is good for 50 miles on the flat or about 35 in the hills. I guess those stats may be a lot better for an able-bodied cyclist.

I forked out about £500 at Christmas for a second battery to carry and double my range in anticipation of some fun (and quicker) touring but covid seems to have b*llxed that up for now!

That's interesting. I'm thinking that a second battery would be a good idea.

I'm also wondering about the pros and cons of front and rear assist.

[Oldjohnw]

Front assist is cheaper and lighter. It is easier to fit and easier to swap back to 'normal' wheel if you happen to have retro fit.

You can get wheel spin on a loose surface/hill, especially if loaded at the back.

[ANTONISH]

Front assist is cheaper and lighter. It is easier to fit and easier to swap back to 'normal' wheel if you happen to have retro fit.

You can get wheel spin on a loose surface/hill, especially if loaded at the back.

That's what I thought - but there may be circumstances in wet conditions where pulling rather than pushing would give more stability.
Of course I don't know what torque could be produced at the rear.
Overall the rear assist would of course be better in the circumstances you describe.

I suppose another consideration is disc braking cf rim braking.
There is a bit of extra weight to take into account.

[Oldjohnw]

Front assist is cheaper and lighter. It is easier to fit and easier to swap back to 'normal' wheel if you happen to have retro fit.

You can get wheel spin on a loose surface/hill, especially if loaded at the back.

That's what I thought - but there may be circumstances in wet conditions where pulling rather than pushing would give more stability.
Of course I don't know what torque could be produced at the rear.
Overall the rear assist would of course be better in the circumstances you describe.

I suppose another consideration is disc braking cf rim braking.
There is a bit of extra weight to take into account.

In must say that whilst the matter of wheel spin is more than academic, it has only happened to me a couple or so times, both on very steep sections (1:5 or thereabouts) and with a very loose surface and full camping gear at the back - I have a hybrid with front suspension so no front panniers. Also, my battery is in the back rack.

I have rim brakes so cannot speak of discs. They do take a bit of hammering and spokes on front wheel need constant checking for tightness.

[ANTONISH]

In must say that whilst the matter of wheel spin is more than academic, it has only happened to me a couple or so times, both on very steep sections (1:5 or thereabouts) and with a very loose surface and full camping gear at the back - I have a hybrid with front suspension so no front panniers. Also, my battery is in the back rack.

I have rim brakes so cannot speak of discs. They do take a bit of hammering and spokes on front wheel need constant checking for tightness.

Interesting stuff - thanks for the information.

[Conabike]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1LB0jPh7QQ

Sky's the limit I'd say!!

[djb]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1LB0jPh7QQ

Sky's the limit I'd say!!

Until one really robust side gust rips that solar panel roof off the bike or tips the bike over.
Of course I've never ridden something like this but I have ridden in windy conditions a lot and these vehicles look sketchy wind affected wise, especially on a narrow mountain road.

I do appreciate the resourcefulness of these folks though.

[Sid Aluminium]

A good point - do we know what the e-bike regulations are when in France?

Requirements for operating a bicycle in foreign lands are generally covered by the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic (1, 2). I can't find any international reciprocal harmonization concerning riding an ebike across an international border, so international ebike tourists are perhaps subject to local regulations in the present era.

1. Reading thousands of travelogs over the years, the only 'enforcement' I've run across is one or two mentions of being chastised by German police for too bright headlamps shining up too high. Meh.
2. In real-time on the ground, a little South Sudanese baksheesh is probably more important than a Geneva Convention.

[reohn2]

I'm just wondering if anyone has done this. A moving on ride of a few hundred miles.
I don't have an e-bike so this is (at the moment) pure just curiosity.
Presumably a spare battery would be a necessity.

I've not read the thread but there are now quite a few Bosch powered e-bikes with two integral 500watt batteries which would offer a huge range for touring,I should think upwards or 70miles before needing a charge whatever terrain.
Campsites,B&Bs or hotels all have power points so shouldn't be any problem at all having enough battery life for even the most mile hungery e-cyclist

[ANTONISH]

A good point - do we know what the e-bike regulations are when in France?

Requirements for operating a bicycle in foreign lands are generally covered by the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic (1, 2). I can't find any international reciprocal harmonization concerning riding an ebike across an international border, so international ebike tourists are perhaps subject to local regulations in the present era.

1. Reading thousands of travelogs over the years, the only 'enforcement' I've run across is one or two mentions of being chastised by German police for too bright headlamps shining up too high. Meh.
2. In real-time on the ground, a little South Sudanese baksheesh is probably more important than a Geneva Convention.

That's another thing I've thought of.
Does CUK cycle insurance cover the use of an e-bike ?

[PaulaT]

That's another thing I've thought of.
Does CUK cycle insurance cover the use of an e-bike ?

From the insurance FAQ:

3. Is my electric cycle covered? If so, what are the restrictions?

Answer: Where the main source of propulsion is electrical,the cycle would not becoveredas it would be classified as a motor vehicleand should therefore have Road Traffic Act insurance. However,if it has pedals and is mainly used as aconventional bicycle (unicycle, tricycle, quadracycles, tandem or triplet) and only has electricassistance then it would be covered.

Hope this helps.

[Cowsham]

My brother is looking an electric bike to enable him to join me on a camping trip next year so we have plenty of time to modify his old (heavy) giant hybrid. I have modified my wife's pashley and found the front wheel drive has some disadvantages mainly it can delay motor shut off if you don't use the brake levers and run you into a corner a little deeper than you'd planned plus the wheel spin would be a problem when the rear is loaded up.
Three questions --
Is that front hub John?
Is it 36v system?
Is it a geared motor?

We were thinking about fitting a rear geared 36v hub motor and using a downtube battery to keep some weight forward as most of the weight would be on the rear rack. He's fairly fit but not bike fit. In saying that the most miles we'll do in a day will be about 25 and probably only done on a couple o days.

[ANTONISH]

[quote="Cowsham"
We were thinking about fitting a rear geared 36v hub motor and using a downtube battery to keep some weight forward as most of the weight would be on the rear rack. He's fairly fit but not bike fit. In saying that the most miles we'll do in a day will be about 25 and probably only done on a couple o days.[/quote]

I looked at a site selling conversion kits.
All three options - Front, centre, rear. The only conversion kit that mentioned conforming to the street legal 15.4mph/25kph was the front wheel conversion.
The others offered various speed and power options which were definitely not legal (for the UK at least). I'd have been uncertain anyway of the safety of such conversions to a normal bicycle.
The battery range possibilities seem quite practical at normal touring speeds.
If there were a street legal centre mount available I'd probably go for that.
It's an interesting conversation.