39,000 miles/62,000 kms in 37 countries with a Riese & Müller Supercharger

[Marcparis]

I purchased a Riese & Müller Supercharger GT Nuvinci HS in April 2018 and started a touring journey from Paris, France. I am now in India having cycled 21,000 miles/34,000 kms in 28 countries. I wanted to share my feelings about the ebike.

In addition to the 2 500W Bosch Powertube batteries, I purchased 2 additional batteries that I carry in my Ortlieb paniers. It gives me a range of more than 130 miles/210 kms.

I recharge the batteries when I reach the hotel. It takes about 3 hours and 15 minutes for each battery to recharge fully when empty.

The main issue I had is that the Bosch motor broke down after 19,000 miles/30,000 kms. It happened after crossing the Pamir, Karakoram, Kashmir and Ladakh mountainous area. I crossed several high altitude passes at an elevation of up to 17,580 feet/5359 m. I had hundreds of miles of unpaved roads in this area. The Bosch motor was under warranty and they replaced it for free. At this time, in the South of India, the ebike has no issue at all. The Schwalbe Super moto tyres are impressive. Only 4 flat tyres in the entire journey. I changed them for the first time at 11,000 miles/18,000 kms to be safe but they could have lasted longer.

I have been very happy with the ebiike and do not regret my purchase.

I will be happy to answer your questions.

Here is the website about my journey with a map and some pictures: https://www.ebikejourney.com/

 

[Sirae]

ahahahah i wanted to share my opinion on mine after 1000km but then i saw your post and I was like OK :/
IMPRESSIVE though my flat tire happened after 800km (which was hell to change) what tools did you use to change them ?

Thanks ! and nice pictures !!

 

[Marcparis]

It took me 2 flat tyres to understand how to fix it easily.
At first, I couldn't separate the tyre from the rim with my bare hands. i was frustrated. Then I found an easy way to do it. You actually almost don't need tyre levers.
First, lay your wheel horizontally and make the rim touch a hard surface on about 1 feet of the rim.
Then, with your flat shoe heel apply the pressure with your full body weight only on the tyre.
The tyre will detach easily in a few seconds. it is then very easy to detach this whole side of the tyre by hand.
Do the same for the other side of the tyre. Your tyre is now fully detached from the rim.
To easily move one side of the tyre from inside the rim to outside the rim, you will have to make sure that at the opposite side where you want to move the tyre outside, both sides of the tyre are fully inside the rim. iDo that by hand, it may take a minute to play around.
It is then very easy with 2 levers to take one side of the tyre outside.
Once the repair is done, reinsert the outside part or the tyre inside by doing the same trick: making sure the opposite side is fully inserted inside the rim.
When it is ready for inflating, do not bother about misalignment of the tyre against the rim: just inflate and when reaching a certain pressure, the tyre will fit in its place by itself.

 

[Sirae]

I would have to test this out !
First time i did it was hell xD

thanks for the info though !!

 

[dblhelix]

I purchased a Riese & Müller Supercharger GT Nuvinci HS in April 2018 and started a touring journey from Paris, France. I am now in India having cycled 21,000 miles/34,000 kms in 28 countries. I wanted to share my feelings about the ebike.

In addition to the 2 500W Bosch Powertube batteries, I purchased 2 additional batteries that I carry in my Ortlieb paniers. It gives me a range of more than 130 miles/210 kms.

I recharge the batteries when I reach the hotel. It takes about 3 hours and 15 minutes for each battery to recharge fully when empty.

The main issue I had is that the Bosch motor broke down after 19,000 miles/30,000 kms. It happened after crossing the Pamir, Karakoram, Kashmir and Ladakh mountainous area. I crossed several high altitude passes at an elevation of up to 17,580 feet/5359 m. I had hundreds of miles of unpaved roads in this area. The Bosch motor was under warranty and they replaced it for free. At this time, in the South of India, the ebike has no issue at all. The Schwalbe Super moto tyres are impressive. Only 4 flat tyres in the entire journey. I changed them for the first time at 11,000 miles/18,000 kms to be safe but they could have lasted longer.

I have been very happy with the ebiike and do not regret my purchase.

I will be happy to answer your questions.

Here is the website about my journey with a map and some pictures: https://www.ebikejourney.com/

- How long did it take to have the motor attended to? Who did the work? It doesn’t sound like this happened in a convenient place. Like you, I don’t find the motor failure unreasonable at that stage of the trip, but I do worry about the logistics of such an event.

- Which battery charger do you have? 6A?

- if you are using hotels and biking avg 3hrs/day, why 4 batteries? In other words, when have you needed all four?

- elevations of 18k feet? The air already gets pretty thin at say 12k. How did you manage? Gradual or steep climbs?

 

[Alaskan]

What a fantastic and inspiring adventure. What is your plan for the rest of the journey?

 

[Marcparis]

- How long did it take to have the motor attended to? Who did the work? It doesn’t sound like this happened in a convenient place. Like you, I don’t find the motor failure unreasonable at that stage of the trip, but I do worry about the logistics of such an event.

- Which battery charger do you have? 6A?

- if you are using hotels and biking avg 3hrs/day, why 4 batteries? In other words, when have you needed all four?

- elevations of 18k feet? The air already gets pretty thin at say 12k. How did you manage? Gradual or steep climbs?

The motor was changed in Paris where I purchased the ebike. Bosch has a facility there that took care of the issue. It took about 8 days for them once they received the motor at their location.

My charger is a standard charger
Input 230 V, 50 Hz, 1,5 A
Output 36 V, 4 A

During these 14 months on the road, I did 272 days of cycling, the rest of the time was spent visiting interesting cities, temples, World Heritage sites... 34,200 kms / 272 days of cycling = 125 kms or 78 miles on average per day of cycling. In remote areas like the Iranian deserts, Oman, mountainous areas of western China, Pakistan or Ladakh I used the whole of the 4 batteries with many 100 miles or more days. The longest day was 215 kims/133 miles.

Yes, such high elevation is challenging but some people do that with a regular bicycle (few people though).

 

[Sirae]

I have another question actually, how do you store your bike so no one steals it ?

 

[Marcparis]

What a fantastic and inspiring adventure. What is your plan for the rest of the journey?

Goring up the Western coast of India to Rajasthan and then going East from there.

 

[dblhelix]

The motor was changed in Paris where I purchased the ebike. Bosch has a facility there that took care of the issue. It took about 8 days for them once they received the motor at their location.

My charger is a standard charger
Input 230 V, 50 Hz, 1,5 A
Output 36 V, 4 A

During these 14 months on the road, I did 272 days of cycling, the rest of the time was spent visiting interesting cities, temples, World Heritage sites... 34,200 kms / 272 days of cycling = 125 kms or 78 miles on average per day of cycling. In remote areas like the Iranian deserts, Oman, mountainous areas of western China, Pakistan or Ladakh I used the whole of the 4 batteries with many 100 miles or more days. The longest day was 215 kims/133 miles.

Yes, such high elevation is challenging but some people do that with a regular bicycle (few people though).

Why did you choose the NuVinci drivetrain for your trip?

 

[Marcparis]

I have another question actually, how do you store your bike so no one steals it ?

At each arrival at the hotel, I try to explain to the staff that my ebike is valuable and that it needs a safe storage space. Half of the time I have the ebike in my room. The ebike is sometimes in the luggage room or other safe place in the hotel. I never left the ebike outside of the hotel.

 

[Marcparis]

Why did you choose the NuVinci drivetrain for your trip?

I liked the continuous gear shifting of the Nuvinci. I didn't think that the larger gear range of the Rohloff was necessary. I had absolutely no issue with the Nuvinci hub in 21,000 miles and no maintenance at all was needed. Even in the steepest slopes of the himalayas, climbing, for example, from 10,000 feet to 17,500 feet, I didn't feel I needed extra gear range. The carbon belt had no issue either and at this time doesn't show any sign of wear. I wash it with clean water after a dusty day or when muddy.

 

[Ebiker01]

The motor was changed in Paris where I purchased the ebike. Bosch has a facility there that took care of the issue. It took about 8 days for them once they received the motor at their location.

My charger is a standard charger
Input 230 V, 50 Hz, 1,5 A
Output 36 V, 4 A

During these 14 months on the road, I did 272 days of cycling, the rest of the time was spent visiting interesting cities, temples, World Heritage sites... 34,200 kms / 272 days of cycling = 125 kms or 78 miles on average per day of cycling. In remote areas like the Iranian deserts, Oman, mountainous areas of western China, Pakistan or Ladakh I used the whole of the 4 batteries with many 100 miles or more days. The longest day was 215 kims/133 miles.

Yes, such high elevation is challenging but some people do that with a regular bicycle (few people though).

If you were to do it again, would you carry an xtra motor just for backup ?


So, to complete the repair you ship it ( fast shipping i guess) , waited the 8days , then did the motor install by yourself ?
It would have been xtra nice on Bosch if they had shipped the motor first , after hearing of your issue.
You did them a huge favor by completing the journey and mentioning them

If it was in a remote, mountain area that would have been hard riding the bike /logistics when the motor broke down.

 

[Marcparis]

If you were to do it again, would you carry an xtra motor just for backup ?


So, to complete the repair you ship it ( fast shipping i guess) , waited the 8days , then did the motor install by yourself ?
It would have been xtra nice on Bosch if they had shipped the motor first , after hearing of your issue.
You did them a huge favor by completing the journey and mentioning them

If it was in a remote, mountain area that would have been hard riding the bike /logistics when the motor broke down.

The motor broke down close to the large city of Kathmandu, Nepal. The mountainous part of the journey was already done. I tried to repair it in Kathmandu but that wasn't possible. Shipping such motor to Europe is expensive and takes a long time. So I flew to Paris with the whole ebike, got the repair done and flew back to Kathmandu and kept going on my journey. They told me that the new motor installed was a newer version of the Bosch Performance Line and that it should last longer.

 

[Captain Slow]

The motor broke down close to the large city of Kathmandu, Nepal. The mountainous part of the journey was already done. I tried to repair it in Kathmandu but that wasn't possible. Shipping such motor to Europe is expensive and takes a long time. So I flew to Paris with the whole ebike, got the repair done and flew back to Kathmandu and kept going on my journey. They told me that the new motor installed was a newer version of the Bosch Performance Line and that it should last longer.

Wow, that's an expensive repair to get for free!!!

With 4 batteries to charge sounds like a Grin Satiator would be a good idea.

 

[dblhelix]

Wow, that's an expensive repair to get for free!!!

With 4 batteries to charge sounds like a Grin Satiator would be a good idea.

Hi Captain — the Satiator can’t be used with Bosch batteries

 

[dblhelix]

The motor broke down close to the large city of Kathmandu, Nepal. The mountainous part of the journey was already done. I tried to repair it in Kathmandu but that wasn't possible. Shipping such motor to Europe is expensive and takes a long time. So I flew to Paris with the whole ebike, got the repair done and flew back to Kathmandu and kept going on my journey. They told me that the new motor installed was a newer version of the Bosch Performance Line and that it should last longer.

So you found a trustworthy place to store your 4 batteries in Kathmandu? Then you flew your R&M back to Paris and in a little over a week got a Gen 4 motor out of the deal? Nice.

I was unable to get any assistance/support on a defective trailer. Clearly the answer was — fly to Germany then fly back and continue trip.

I don’t know — this doesn’t seem realistic for most of us, tbh.

 

[Marcparis]

So you found a trustworthy place to store your 4 batteries in Kathmandu? Then you flew your R&M back to Paris and in a little over a week got a Gen 4 motor out of the deal? Nice.

I was unable to get any assistance/support on a defective trailer. Clearly the answer was — fly to Germany then fly back and continue trip.

I don’t know — this doesn’t seem realistic for most of us, tbh.

Yes, these 500 W batteries are not allowed on airplanes. So I left them in Kathmandu at the hotel. I inquired at DHL and Fedex in Kathmandu about the price and time for the shipment of the motor itself. It was about the same price as the return plane ticket. The 30 kg box with my ebike without batteries didn't cost me extra money with Qatar Airways. This was probably much faster to come back with the bicycle. In addition, I could have my parisian dealer do a check up on the ebike including changing the tyres and verifying the brakes. When I came back to Kathmandu, I felt like I was riding a brand new ebike.

 

[Captain Slow]

I admire your commitment to the trip. I would have ended the trip and just flown home to Paris and sent the batteries via ground.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

Absolutely fantastic trip! And you have some beautiful photos! I have always wanted to go to Uzbekistan, just for the Islamic architecture. I used to live in Lahore, and love the Badshahi Mosque which you have a photo of on your website.