Idle question - how do you use the e in your eBike?

[LittleGreyCat]

I'm just learning how to use my eBike and wondered how others used the e bit.
It is a Vado SL 4.0 so a very light bike.

At the moment I am trying to ride on 1 of 3 power mode (although I managed to accidentally turn it off in a tail wind and didn't notice until I turned off) as much as possible.

Power mode 2 for moderate hills at the start of the rides and headwinds at the end of the rides.

Power mode 3 for steep hills.

I hope to increase my fitness until I can ride most of the ride with the motor off, as a precursor to using my non-electric bikes again.
It will be a comfort, though, to have an emergency "just get me home" even when my legs are fit again.

[Cugel]

I'm just learning how to use my eBike and wondered how others used the e bit.
It is a Vado SL 4.0 so a very light bike.

At the moment I am trying to ride on 1 of 3 power mode (although I managed to accidentally turn it off in a tail wind and didn't notice until I turned off) as much as possible.

Power mode 2 for moderate hills at the start of the rides and headwinds at the end of the rides.

Power mode 3 for steep hills.

I hope to increase my fitness until I can ride most of the ride with the motor off, as a precursor to using my non-electric bikes again.
It will be a comfort, though, to have an emergency "just get me home" even when my legs are fit again.

Here's the text from another post of mine in answer to a similar question. But this is just an example that suits me. If you can configure the motor's performance as it matches your own power output in various ways, it is handy to have three levels of assistance, each gradually increasing as you increase your own pedal power. Investigate the motor software and any user settings possible, if there are any.

Fundamentally, you can treat a lightweight road bike with a motor as an ordinary bike with the added ability to give your legs the feel of a much fitter rider when that is needed by the terrain ridden over. As the speed with motor assistance is limited to 15.5mph before the motor automatically cuts out, you tend to use the "magically stronger legs" motor assistance when climbing or battling against a strong headwind - i.e. when your speed on an unpowered bike would be reduce to low single figures or you'd have to get off and walk.

On the flat and downhill, you'll likely be going above 15.5mph and not be in need of the motor. Having the motor able to propel you faster on the flat, say, might be nice but for most cyclists its not really essential to go a lot faster than 15/16 mph- although you still can with your leg power alone if you're reasonably fit.

**********
Personally I use the motor only on the steeper and longer hills of a ride. The battery has 250 watt-hrs and this will usually last me around 150 - 180 kilometers of riding (via, say, 3 or 4 rides) before I need to recharge the battery. This is achieved by using only the necessary amount of power to keep going up the hills at a pace more than a 3.5 mph crawl! Most of the time, I ride with the motor off.

Most e-bike systems have software enabling you to set assistance level profiles to suit your needs and wants. The Fazua system on the e-bikes we ride in our house are typically set to give gradual power assistance that increases with the pedal power put in by the rider. For example:

Level 1: 0 to 75 watts motor power added gradually as the rider inputs pedal power from 75 watts to 150 watts.

Level 2: 0 to 140 watts motor power added gradually as the rider inputs pedal power from 90 watts to 180 watts.

Level 3 (not yet used - got the bonk mode): 0 - 220 watts motor power added as the rider inputs pedal power from 50 watts to 100 watts

[richtea99]

On an Orbea Gain D50 - one of the heavier versions at around 16Kg, but still light in the grand scheme of ebikes:
- off for flat and undulating sections, so in my south Midlands area, thats 80-90% of the time
- Level 1 (out of 3) for middling hills when it starts to hurt (and before I'm totally knackered)
- Level 1 initially, and then very quickly Level 3 for murderous ascents

Very rarely I'll use it to 'get me home' - when I'm a bit under the weather/against some grim headwind in mid-winter.

Level 2 is never used, it's a pointless subtlety. I either need some power - or LOTS just to get up there!

[ncutler]

Amongst other more or less useful information the Vado SL app provides a graphical view of ride data.

This was a quick sortie yesterday to a local supermarket.

The yellow line shows the power level: off, eco, sport, turbo
The blue line is the power output by the motor
The numbers along the bottom are distance in miles

I tend to be quite active with the mode switch, using it much as I would a front triple.

[colyer]

I bought a Boardman HYB 8.9E to allow me to get back to riding worthwhile distances (on-road) despite partial paralysis (I no longer have full use of my left leg, which seriously hampers my riding ability).

Like your Vado, the Boardman's Fazua drive has 3 configurable power modes. I can set up multiple profiles with different levels of electric assist. On my main profile I've set mode 1 to minimum assist.

I've settled into a pattern of mostly riding with the assist turned off on descents and on the flat. I use mode 1 on gentle hills, mode 2 on steeper hills and mode 3 only when I really need it.

On my latest ride I met a couple of equestrians coming down the only hill that I needed mode 3 for. After stopping to wait for them I wasn't able to get going again, so ended up walking the rest of the way. Since then I've set up another profile with the maximum possible assist, to kick in as soon as possible, on mode 3. I hope that that will allow me to do steeper hill starts.

[LittleGreyCat]

Amongst other more or less useful information the Vado SL app provides a graphical view of ride data.

This was a quick sortie yesterday to a local supermarket.


WhatsApp Image 2024-08-06 at 15.31.45_8596775f.jpg


The yellow line shows the power level: off, eco, sport, turbo
The blue line is the power output by the motor
The numbers along the bottom are distance in miles

I tend to be quite active with the mode switch, using it much as I would a front triple.

Interesting.
Do you have to connect the App and then tell it to record the ride, or is that information stored anyway?

[LittleGreyCat]

I bought a Boardman HYB 8.9E to allow me to get back to riding worthwhile distances (on-road) despite partial paralysis (I no longer have full use of my left leg, which seriously hampers my riding ability).

Like your Vado, the Boardman's Fazua drive has 3 configurable power modes. I can set up multiple profiles with different levels of electric assist. On my main profile I've set mode 1 to minimum assist.

I've settled into a pattern of mostly riding with the assist turned off on descents and on the flat. I use mode 1 on gentle hills, mode 2 on steeper hills and mode 3 only when I really need it.

On my latest ride I met a couple of equestrians coming down the only hill that I needed mode 3 for. After stopping to wait for them I wasn't able to get going again, so ended up walking the rest of the way. Since then I've set up another profile with the maximum possible assist, to kick in as soon as possible, on mode 3. I hope that that will allow me to do steeper hill starts.

Couple of things:

The Specialized has a "walk" button which you can press to get you started before you start pedalling.

The Specialized also has an automatic boost option which gives you a higher power band when setting off.

Anything similar for your Boardman?

[ncutler]

Do you have to connect the App and then tell it to record the ride, or is that information stored anyway?

AFAIK the bike stores total mileage - but have no idea what else. The app has a function to upload bike data to Specialized for 'advanced diagnosis' but again I haven't a clue what's included. I suspect that the bike provides instantaneous data to the app but doesn't store it on the bike.

I usually connect the app ( Android in my case ) before setting out and set it to record. The phone works ok doing other things without upsetting the background bike connection. When I get home I tell the app to finish the ride and it uploads it. Ride data is then available indefinitely within the app on the 'phone.

[Cugel]

Couple of things:

The Specialized has a "walk" button which you can press to get you started before you start pedalling.

The Specialized also has an automatic boost option which gives you a higher power band when setting off.

Anything similar for your Boardman?

Most e-bike motors have a walk mode (a slow speed powered by the motor) for when you want to walk a heavier e-bike slowly up a steep path or to your front door or similar. Many also have some form of "boost" that gives you a short period of full motor power. For the 250 watt continuous-output motors in most e-bikes the boost can be anything from 300 - 800 watts but only for 8 - 15 seconds as otherwise the motor would overheat and perhaps also strain some of the transmission parts. And continuous use of any motor that can do more than 250 watts continuously would be illegal, of course.

The Boardman has a Fazua motor, I believe. Here's the FAQ about the Ride 50 version, which I think is that in the Boardman. It has details of the Fazua motor and controls but also some general discussion of how an e-bike can be used in different ways for different purpose, including an answer to the original question of this thread, perhaps.

https://fazua.com/en/support/help-cente ... a-ride-50/

[colyer]

The Specialized has a "walk" button which you can press to get you started before you start pedalling.

The Specialized also has an automatic boost option which gives you a higher power band when setting off.

Anything similar for your Boardman?

I wonder whether the walk button is street legal in the UK? I suspect not (at least if the bike is being ridden), as it would mean that the motor was providing power while not pedalling.

I don't have anything similar, anyway. If I did then I'd be confident about the legality, because I'd have made sure to find out before buying the bike!

No automatic boost either. It's not something that I can see myself having a use for, other than the exceptional circumstance of a steep hill start where the first pedal stroke can't impart enough momentum to keep the bike going until I can get my second foot on the pedal and make that second pedal stroke.

[al_yrpal]

As sparingly as possible...on my Bosch Performance drive I usually select Tour which is the second lowest setting and may occasionally select Sport or Turbo dependent on the incline. I cycle giving it a bit of welly all the time to get the exercise I want. On Turbo setting the bike struggles on long 1 in 4s and I have to put in a lot of effort to keep it moving, its a 23kg bike.There are lots of such hills down here in the West Country. Faced with frequent hills like that I can usually get about 45 miles from the 500Wh battery.

The Bosch drive is wonderful and doesnt seem to suffer from any of the problems I often see mentioned here. Coming up to 5 years fault free service now....

Al

[LittleGreyCat]

On the subject of "walk" mode and legality; as I understand it this is limited to 4 mph and is legal.
I would be surprised if Specialized sold a standard bike that was illegal in the UK.

I also understand that you can get a twist throttle eBike legally upgraded and certified to use the twist throttle when you are not pedalling.
I assume a 3rd party has to verify that the speed limiter works at the correct speed.
Good if you are of limited mobility and/or fitness and gets you on a bike instead of in a car.

Anyway, that is not my reason for buying an eBike.
I just want to be able to ride out a reasonable distance without being completely exhausted.
Like I used to be a few years back.

[colyer]

Anyway, that is not my reason for buying an eBike.
I just want to be able to ride out a reasonable distance without being completely exhausted.
Like I used to be a few years back.

I hope it goes as well for you as it has for me.

Since my injury (in 2019), pain and lack of strength had prevented me from progressing beyond about 15 (mostly flat) miles. I'm now doing hilly rides of close to 40 miles - the bike's definitely serving its purpose.

Riding it feels like being 20 years younger.

[Vantage]

My bafang is set with 9 power levels. Each one increases by 11% except for level 1 which is set to 6% (which I use to push it up the steps to my house (walk mode is mediocre in power) and 9 which is 100%. Those percentages are from a 750 ish watt motor.
Generally, on a flat road with no wind I can pootle along without power assist but otherwise I rarely need to go about level 4 or 5. Mostly in level 2 which gives me round about 200w. For short bursts of extra power, I just press the throttle whilst pedaling and that adds another 50% (very roughly). Very oddly, I have it set to the legal 15.5mph limit but if I need a bit of extra speed, pressing the throttle gives a short boost to about 18mph.

[arnsider]

I have two E Bikes;
A Whyte Coniston 2019 model with a Shimano Steps motor with a 9 speed 11-40 cassette.
A Kinesis T2 Racelight with a rear hub Boost motor driving the original Shimano 105 treble Clanger drive train.
I can bowl along nicely on the flat with the motor off on the Whyte.
I can switch off the Boost motor much more regularly and have extreded the range to over 50 miles
This helps with fitness problems as I age.