What assist levels do you usually use on e-road bikes?

[Katrina92]

I've been looking into e-road bikes lately, thinking maybe I'll get one or go for a conversion kit

I noticed someone mentioned they rarely use the assist, and when they do, it's just on levels 1 or 2.
So I'm wondering, how much torque do you usually need?

I've been looking at Scott Addict eRide 30. It's got a max torque of 23Nm. I'm not sure if that's gonna be enough for me.
I weigh 154 lbs and sometimes hit slopes about 10%.

 

[Aushiker]

Eco and sometimes Tour on my SuperCharger 2.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Eco and sometimes Tour on my SuperCharger 2.

She meant a road ebike

These are very much different to Riese & Muller.

@mschwett, will you chime in?

 

[Extreme1]

Always Eco unless I go too far or it’s windy, or Im particularly thrashed that day and don’t really want to ride, but I go for a ride anyways.

 

[Base]

Aha, with a X20 motor. 55Nm max

personally I ride with the home/office bike (rando with Bosch mid drive) I ride just eco (even downtuned) and get 180 to 220 km out of the 504wh battery.

 

[Neverlost]

My Yamaha has an “autol that changes as needed. It’s great!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Eco or unpowered on the Creo. Makes for great range!

 

[EMGX]

I've been looking at Scott Addict eRide 30. It's got a max torque of 23Nm. I'm not sure if that's gonna be enough for me.
I weigh 154 lbs and sometimes hit slopes about 10%.

I think that I saw you quote that torque value before - but from their specs they state 55nm which is substantial boost.
At your weight a 10% slope should be a piece of cake with that bike.
BTW here is another screaming deal on a '22 model year medium
https://upway.co/products/scott-addict-eride-30-lad98?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=
"Ownership history: never owned before This bike was sold to us by a business"
If you live in LA you can pick it up from their store, not sure how much they charge for shipping.

 

[Nvreloader]

Eco 1 99% of the time, unless I am in the rough stuff..

 

[jabberwocky]

On my Giant Revolt E+ for general gravel and pavement by myself, I generally run Eco in stock assist level (which is 100% assist). When riding with other people on non-electrics I generally turn eco to 75% or 50%. The past year I've been running 75% more often by myself. The battery goes a lot longer and I get a bit more workout at the expense of a bit of average speed.

 

[PedalUma]

I ride daily as transportation and very rarely as recreation/sport. When doing a recreational ride to say western Marin I can slow down, I am not trying to catch a train or make it to breakfast before work. As a commuter I am dressed for my destination and my business there and have gotten my timing estimations down to a science. On a 90Nm mid I am usually pulling 12 Amps max on a 500W motor. That is my personal level 3. The DM02 is the best I have ridden. And I work on and ride all of them daily. My speed limit is 60kph but I am rarely over half that on the torque sensor. At some point gearing spins out. Max on the bike I rode today is 17Amps. I never use level 4 or 5. Most often it is in 3. I can set all of these parameters because I own the bike, like a female dog, not some big company dictating. It is my bike and I control every aspect of it down to the torque sensor response times in milliseconds.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Welcome aboard! Hopefully @mschwett will chime in. He has an Addict and vast experience with regular and electric road bikes.

My 38 lb, 250W, 35 Nm Specialized Vado SL has some road-bike affinities. On average, I use ECO > OFF > SPORT with only brief spurts of TURBO now and then. Lots of hills here, many in the 5-10% range but some above 15%. After reducing the chainring from 44t to 40t, the SL climbs them all well — if not in ECO then in SPORT.

Like you with the Addict, I wasn't at all sure that I had the legs to get the SL over local hills with acceptable effort. Turned out to be a non-issue, in part because...

I made a stupid rule when I first got my first ebike: Lowest possible assist at all times.

The good news: Got me ready for the SL over 2 years after 20+ years away from cycling.

But I eventually figured it out: Life is too short for stupid rules like that. These are both fitness and fun machines. You can pile any amount of exertion you want on top of any level of assist.

So now I just ride the level that feels right at the time, battery allowing. If I happen to feel zippy or in a hurry one day, I use SPORT as long as I like — no guilt. Result over time:
ECO > OFF > SPORT >>> TURBO.

 

[Aushiker]

She meant a road ebike

View attachment 191528
These are very much different to Riese & Muller.

@mschwett, will you chime in?

You mean I cannot ride it on the road? O no

 

[Katrina92]

I think that I saw you quote that torque value before - but from their specs they state 55nm which is substantial boost.
At your weight a 10% slope should be a piece of cake with that bike.
BTW here is another screaming deal on a '22 model year medium
https://upway.co/products/scott-addict-eride-30-lad98?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=
"Ownership history: never owned before This bike was sold to us by a business"
If you live in LA you can pick it up from their store, not sure how much they charge for shipping.

The X20 hub motor actually puts out 23Nm of torque, which is “comparable to a 55 Nm Mid Drive”.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You mean I cannot ride it on the road? O no

I mean road e-bike is a very specific type based on racing bicycles. Lightweight, drop bars, usually a low power motor (often a hub drive) and small battery. Roadies think differently and an advice of another roadie riding a Scott "road e-bike" is vital here. Of all forum members only mschwett rides the bike Katrina is asking for.

 

[Katrina92]

My Yamaha has an “autol that changes as needed. It’s great!

Does it adjust automatically based on the terrain?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Does it adjust automatically based on the terrain?

Katrina, most of the responders do not ride the e-bike type you are asking for. Only a rider of a Mahle x20 road e-bike (such as Scott Addict eride) can give you a true answer.

Regarding Yamaha motors (mid-drive) also found on Giant Revolt E+, I found the Auto mode just hopeless. The Giant/Yamaha Auto mode takes measurements from several sensors and jumps between the first 3 assistance modes (out of five) to match the assistance against resistances. As the outcome, you are getting too high assistance, resulting in the battery empty too soon.

A Mahle x20 road e-bike is typically ridden with the assistance OFF, and you only turn the assist uphill or against headwind.

Hope that helps.

 

[PCeBiker]

She meant a road ebike

I noticed someone mentioned they rarely use the assist, and when they do, it's just on levels 1 or 2.

You mean I cannot ride it on the road? O no

I converted my full suspension e-bike into a road ebike by putting road tires and a new front end on it,..

I don't pedal and only use throttle.

I carry a 48v 19ah and a 48v 25ah battery with me and have at least a 160 km combined range.
My ebike is close to 100 pounds with both batteries and the rear rack bag.

I don't really have any hills around, but I will ride into a 40 kph headwind and max out my controller at 21 amps for half the ride, then head home using 2 amps.


YMMV as they say, and my ebike is doing ALL the work.
I can easily add at least 100 or so Watts of my own effort, which does make a difference and is enough to pedal the bike unpowered Really Slow in granny gear.

I weighed 255 pounds ten years ago.
I weigh 155 pounds now.

As far as I'm concerned, my ebike is weightless.

 

[Katrina92]

Katrina, most of the responders do not ride the e-bike type you are asking for. Only a rider of a Mahle x20 road e-bike (such as Scott Addict eride) can give you a true answer.

Regarding Yamaha motors (mid-drive) also found on Giant Revolt E+, I found the Auto mode just hopeless. The Giant/Yamaha Auto mode takes measurements from several sensors and jumps between the first 3 assistance modes (out of five) to match the assistance against resistances. As the outcome, you are getting too high assistance, resulting in the battery empty too soon.

A Mahle x20 road e-bike is typically ridden with the assistance OFF, and you only turn the assist uphill or against headwind.

Hope that helps.

Seems like they need to redo their Auto mode logic.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It is not easy to buy a classic road e-bike nowadays, Katrina. The reason is, the industry has reassessed the market needs and found road e-bikes (especially with hub drive motors) did not sell very well. Some examples:

• Specialized had the Creo 1, a lightweight mid-drive motor road e-bike. Discontinued, replaced with Creo 2, a gravel e-bike
• Trek had a Domane+ SL with Mahle x hub drive motors. New Domane+ get a TQ mid-drive motor
• Cervelo had a Rouvida. Now Rouvida has a Fazua mid-drive motor.

My observation is the Mahle x20 system is being phased out...