BackPacks specifically made for Ebikes

[fooferdoggie]

I think some of you may be confused I'm not talking about a connected battery

Total get where you're coming from

if I need it I would use it for sure. thats why I bought my trek as it carries my spare. but listen to me I bought the smallest Chrome messenger bag to clary my rain pants two or three sets of gloves and a few other things as I kept losing them putting them into my pannier. but it will get dumped in the summer.

 

[Nomad]

I don’t think that I would ever need to carry a spare battery on the trail for the Levo but if I did, there’s no way I would be able to fit it on the bike so I would likely throw it in a backpack like at Rob Rides emtb does. This is the same EVOC version that @Nomad is referring to. It’s likely not going to work for everyone though.

yes, that is the 20l version and that may be an older model they may have updated something on it. I would not recommend putting a battery in it like that thou. I saw someone have a seamstress modify one to fit the longer levo battery in the holder correctly.

 

[m@Robertson]

I use a backpack battery with my Cyc-powered Smash. Only did it out of necessity and once I did, I realized it was an awesome thing to have on an emtb. Counterintuitive but everyone who has direct vs. keyboard experience says the same thing.

Mine is a 20L hard shell Boblbee which has the secondary benefit of spinal protection.

A Backpack Ebike Battery… Are You Insane?!?

If all I did was write internet posts, I’d still hate this idea. But circumstances made me try one. I knew almost immediately how wrong I had been.

talesontwowheels.com

 

[Prairie Dog]

yes, that is the 20l version and that may be an older model they may have updated something on it. I would not recommend putting a battery in it like that thou. I saw someone have a seamstress modify one to fit the longer levo battery in the holder correctly.

I watched an older video showing how the pack containing the Levo spare had been modified and it looked decent enough. That being said, at $1600 Cdn for the 500W version, it had better be an epic trip.

 

[6zfshdb]

With all the e-bike battery fires being reported these days, I'd have second thoughts about carrying one in a backpack. I have visions of being thrown off the bike and landing on a rock with a burning battery strapped to my back.

A rare possibility to be sure but something to consider.

 

[Nomad]

I watched an older video showing how the pack containing the Levo spare had been modified and it looked decent enough. That being said, at $1600 Cdn for the 500W version, it had better be an epic trip.

you won't even pay that here in the US for the 700wh. Mind you they're not cheap. WAIT I forgot the rate difference so the 700wh is about that price but I did see a 500 new for $600 US.

 

[Nomad]

With all the e-bike battery fires being reported these days, I'd have second thoughts about carrying one in a backpack. I have visions of being thrown off the bike and landing on a rock with a burning battery strapped to my back.

A rare possibility to be sure but something to consider.

about as likely as the gas tank in your car catch fire from the electric fuel pump inside unless you have one of those cheaply made batteries.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

With all the e-bike battery fires being reported these days, I'd have second thoughts about carrying one in a backpack. I have visions of being thrown off the bike and landing on a rock with a burning battery strapped to my back.

A rare possibility to be sure but something to consider.

Now, listen to my story.

I often ride my Vado with a spare battery in a pannier. Once, I was swapping batteries on a ride. I placed the discharged battery on the rear rack... Did this and that and then restarted a ride. After maybe two hundred metres I was taking a corner to hear a loud thud from behind. It was the battery I forgot to pack into the pannier and which fell right onto the pavement.

The battery did not catch the fire. It was virtually undamaged, with no trace of any harm. I use that battery even today and the incident happened some two years ago. Maybe I was lucky. Perhaps a good battery from a big brand is well designed and pretty durable. It is possible the reported battery fires happened to low-quality imports. I don't know.

Anyway, I will try to take one of my batteries into the Vario backpack for a test ride on Saturday. I need to understand whether I would be able to carry at least 4 kg on my back. If yes, I would be happy as a pannier contents of which constantly shakes is really annoying on my gravel rides...

 

[Nomad]

With all the e-bike battery fires being reported these days, I'd have second thoughts about carrying one in a backpack. I have visions of being thrown off the bike and landing on a rock with a burning battery strapped to my back.

A rare possibility to be sure but something to consider.

Are you forgetting that they built it with back protection and is securely strapped in to a padded case another words it kinda has its own helmet on in addition to that if it good factory battery it has a sturdy case to begin with. I think they took that into account.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Are you forgetting that they built it with back protection and is securely strapped in to a padded case another words it kinda has its own helmet on in addition to that if it good factory battery it has a sturdy case to begin with. I think they took that into account.

I am certain they took this into account approximately as well (and probably as rapidly) as bicycle manufacturers took into account the problems with disk brakes and QR skewers.

In general I don't think it is well understood what kind of impacts may damage a battery and make it dangerous. At least not well enough to build something you can wear comfortably on your back that will adequately protect you and the battery in all reasonably probable circumstances.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Are you forgetting that they built it with back protection and is securely strapped in to a padded case another words it kinda has its own helmet on in addition to that if it good factory battery it has a sturdy case to begin with. I think they took that into account.

You made me interested in your backpack Nomad. How does it feel to carry 4 kg extra on your back? A serious question.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

... It was the battery I forgot to pack into the pannier and which fell right onto the pavement.

The battery did not catch the fire. It was virtually undamaged, with no trace of any harm. I use that battery even today and the incident happened some two years ago. Maybe I was lucky. Perhaps a good battery from a big brand is well designed and pretty durable. It is possible the reported battery fires happened to low-quality imports. I don't know.

We do not have very good tools for evaluating when a battery may have taken critical damage and is unsafe to use. You are making potentially reasonable assumptions but I don't think there is any way to know for sure.

I have one battery I dropped on a gravel ride into fairly soft dirt. I made a point of clearly marking that battery and I am extra paranoid about monitoring the temperature of that battery during charging and also while riding. Bluntly if I would have dropped that battery on pavement I would have down checked it, visible damage or not, until I could find someone (or if I could find someone) who could evaluate that battery for damage and advise me about how safe or unsafe it is to use.

Keep in mind that a 500wh battery has about the same latent chemical energy as a couple of sticks of dynamite. And you are riding a bike with that potential bomb dangerously close to your crotch.

 

[m@Robertson]

With all the e-bike battery fires being reported these days, I'd have second thoughts about carrying one in a backpack. I have visions of being thrown off the bike and landing on a rock with a burning battery strapped to my back.

A rare possibility to be sure but something to consider.

This is why I did a hardshell pack. If anything its safer than putting it on the bike frame, where its out in the open. And given its design, it fits to your body and never, ever shifts no matter how crazy the ride.

There is definitely a right and wrong way to do something like this. Do it right and its a minor miracle even in terms of weight and balance.

 

[m@Robertson]

You made me interested in your backpack Nomad. How does it feel to carry 4 kg extra on your back? A serious question.

You don't notice it. But that is said using a backpack that has an anatomically molded back fitting, which is also padded firmly but not squishy. Couple that to next-level shoulder straps and a waist strap that locks the pack down without pinching anything (me). So its one with me, so to speak.

A much bigger issue is the tether to the bike. The power cord. I thought that would be a constant bother. But 30 seconds into the first ride I forgot it was there, and that was a genuine shock. The pack incorporates a mechanism that lets me stand on the pedals and sit back down again and expands / retracts the cord without me knowing it is happening.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You don't notice it. But that is said using a backpack that has an anatomically molded back fitting, which is also padded firmly but not squishy. Couple that to next-level shoulder straps and a waist strap that locks the pack down without pinching anything (me). So its one with me, so to speak.

A much bigger issue is the tether to the bike. The power cord. I thought that would be a constant bother. But 30 seconds into the first ride I forgot it was there, and that was a genuine shock. The pack incorporates a mechanism that lets me stand on the pedals and sit back down again and expands / retracts the cord without me knowing it is happening.

I do not need to use the power cord. Actually, I have no possibility to use it. The only thing I want is to be possibly effortlessly carry the spare battery. Tried it with Vario and didn't like it. EVOC could be better.

 

[tomjasz]

I never carried a backpack on my bike while riding.

exactly.

 

[tomjasz]

It is possible the reported battery fires happened to low-quality imports.

More than likely.

 

[fooferdoggie]

exactly.

that should be I never carry one. I have used a backpack on a bike for a lot of years. but I learned to get bikes that let me eliminate that. so stop acting like its a waste of time. I have commuted on road bieks for years with a backpack. I have carried groceries for years in a back pack. . I have worn out many back packs too.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

that should be I never carry one. I have used a backpack on a bike for a lot of years. but I learned to get bikes that let me eliminate that. so stop acting like its a waste of time. I have commuted on road bieks for years with a backpack. I have carried groceries for years in a back pack. . I have worn out many back packs too.

It is understandable Steve. However, try riding off-road and gravel with a pannier and you will understand the backpack could be better

 

[tomjasz]

Anyone who has spent even a modicum of time backpacking and or backcountry walking knows that all backpacks are not created equal. Materials, design, and engineering go into a high-quality pack. Designed for protecting a user's back and securing a load as stably as possible. M@ showed us one such pack. And even Stefan acknowledges a backpack might be FAR more stable. My first backpack was from REI in 1967. A total POS as bikes go. In later years and into biking I often road with climbing gear packs, as they were the earliest anatomically designed packs. These days packs range from $6 Aliexpress to $700 Osprey UNLTD AirScape 68 pack.