Best bike for long distance touring?

[E-Wheels]

That’s interesting! Just last week I was discussing this with a US-based dealer who mentioned the switch to a Purion was based on the Intuvia mount incompatibility with the handlebar. Perhaps you have a different handlebar? Of course, that would be the optimal solution.

The description of the bars on the AU spec bike are a little vague to say the least
“Handlebar description. aluminium, slightly curved model”
Full AU specs here https://www.gazellebikes.com/en-au/ultimate-t10-hmb-v3

So happens the US site has the exact same handlebar description
I can’t see any reason why the Intuvia cant be fitted to the US & EU spec bikes as an option

 

[Mr. Max]

Okay, so it sounds like the perfect ebike for cycle touring doesn't exist. Would it be totally crazy to take a Trek 520 and turn it into an ebike? The Trek 520 is a legendary touring bike, with a steel frame. It's designed to hold weight and to be fairly easy to repair with components that are available world wide.

Side note - Someone mentioned the discontinued Trek CrossRip Ebike. I've got a non-electric, 2016 CrossRip Elite. It's my go-to commuter bike and love that I can take some diversions onto the gravel recreation trail on the way home if I want. My only criticism is that the gearing isn't great for carrying much weight. I wonder why Trek discontinued the Ebike Crossrip? Maybe like Mr. Coffee said, it wouldn't be a perfect long distance touring bike, but I'm sure it would have been an awesome bike for a quick 2-5 trip.

 

[dblhelix]

Okay, so it sounds like the perfect ebike for cycle touring doesn't exist. Would it be totally crazy to take a Trek 520 and turn it into an ebike? The Trek 520 is a legendary touring bike, with a steel frame. It's designed to hold weight and to be fairly easy to repair with components that are available world wide.

Side note - Someone mentioned the discontinued Trek CrossRip Ebike. I've got a non-electric, 2016 CrossRip Elite. It's my go-to commuter bike and love that I can take some diversions onto the gravel recreation trail on the way home if I want. My only criticism is that the gearing isn't great for carrying much weight. I wonder why Trek discontinued the Ebike Crossrip? Maybe like Mr. Coffee said, it wouldn't be a perfect long distance touring bike, but I'm sure it would have been an awesome bike for a quick 2-5 trip.

A conversion is certainly a possibility. if you take a look at the Sun Trip, you’ll see many converted bikes and recumbents doing serious touring in Europe and Asia over longer distances than what you are planning. They do conversions to facilitate solar recharging (not easily done with proprietary systems).

I just looked at a thread on converting a 520. It has an alloy fork, so not the best for a front hub conversion if you want to keep a wide drivetrain. Another thought on those bikes is the brakes that you’ll need to upgrade. That said, there are plenty of builds out there to research for your best candidate or you could get a build done for you. I would probably go with something like a used Surly Ogre — if memory serves, it ticked a lot of boxes.

Whether you go for used R&M, another ebike or DIY, why insist on a “perfect” long-distance e-bike? This industry is still in its early stages like the bulky cell phone from the late 90s. This is not a big market at present because of battery/charging limitations, so manufacturers are designing for the shorter trips.

I have taken my Tern Vektron (a 20” folder) on multiple-day trips. Not incredibly comfortable by the end of the day but do-able. I can also get this bike up any hill. No I’m obviously not recommending this bike, but I think you’ll find that the key to ebike touring is in planning to get around where you are less-than-perfect (this includes charging).

 

[dblhelix]

So @Mr. Coffee effectively killed my dream of the coming summer e-bike trip to Czech Republic I was thinking of travelling extremely light, up to 100 miles per day, daily elevation gain of 3600 feet, paved roads only. 10 days, most of them not as demanding as the hardest described day. Seems none of my bikes qualifies. The other participants of the rally will ride on acoustic recumbent bikes or trikes: that's another world of cycling. It is fairly easy to pedal for 8-10 hours daily on their cycles.

I think a custom made e-trike would do. These are very expensive.

Why not? Which bike would you be taking? Your description sounds like a very reasonable trip.

 

[Oberst]

Okay, so it sounds like the perfect ebike for cycle touring doesn't exist. Would it be totally crazy to take a Trek 520 and turn it into an ebike? The Trek 520 is a legendary touring bike, with a steel frame. It's designed to hold weight and to be fairly easy to repair with components that are available world wide.

Side note - Someone mentioned the discontinued Trek CrossRip Ebike. I've got a non-electric, 2016 CrossRip Elite. It's my go-to commuter bike and love that I can take some diversions onto the gravel recreation trail on the way home if I want. My only criticism is that the gearing isn't great for carrying much weight. I wonder why Trek discontinued the Ebike Crossrip? Maybe like Mr. Coffee said, it wouldn't be a perfect long distance touring bike, but I'm sure it would have been an awesome bike for a quick 2-5 trip.

Cannot comment on viability for long distance touring with single chainring but I will say mine is very versatile. Carbon fiber fork can take a rack and, without fenders mine currently fit 700 x 40 gravel tires. Bosch power pack 500 is small enough to easily carry a spare. It may or may not work for your needs but is a very versatile bike. For summer I will put back road tires and for short tours will put the rack back on to carry what I need in panniers.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Why not? Which bike would you be taking? Your description sounds like a very reasonable trip.

Lovelec, the e-bike with a very good range (and I own a spare battery) is a 250 W rear hub motor. I'm afraid it might not do on long climbing. Turbo Vado 5 has a small carrier space and it has too poor range with far too expensive spare batteries...

 

[dblhelix]

Okay, so it sounds like the perfect ebike for cycle touring doesn't exist. Would it be totally crazy to take a Trek 520 and turn it into an ebike? The Trek 520 is a legendary touring bike, with a steel frame. It's designed to hold weight and to be fairly easy to repair with components that are available world wide.

Side note - Someone mentioned the discontinued Trek CrossRip Ebike. I've got a non-electric, 2016 CrossRip Elite. It's my go-to commuter bike and love that I can take some diversions onto the gravel recreation trail on the way home if I want. My only criticism is that the gearing isn't great for carrying much weight. I wonder why Trek discontinued the Ebike Crossrip? Maybe like Mr. Coffee said, it wouldn't be a perfect long distance touring bike, but I'm sure it would have been an awesome bike for a quick 2-5 trip.

Speaking of side notes, I am intrigued by utility/cargo bikes like the Benno Boost. I don’t know how I feel about 24” wheels until trying it out, and I would replace the Deore brakes, but I think this style gets overlooked for hanging your gear. Another issue is the long chain, would like to hear reports on that. I can’t believe that the optional front rack supports 55lb!

A Cargo E-Bike Can Replace Your Car

The right e-bike opens up a whole new world of transportation adventure—the Benno Boost E may be that bike.

www.adventure-journal.com

 

[dblhelix]

Lovelec, the e-bike with a very good range (and I own a spare battery) is a 250 W rear hub motor. I'm afraid it might not do on long climbing. Turbo Vado 5 has a small carrier space and it has too poor range with far too expensive spare batteries...

It seems unfair that your Lovelec can’t make it back to the mother country!

I am not familiar with this bike at all, so I’m assuming you’ve had difficulty climbing? If you haven’t already, you could compare notes in the sub-forum where ppl are using the same rear hub motor.

What type of range are you getting with your Turbo Vado? I hope it’s reasonably close to advertised.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

So @Mr. Coffee effectively killed my dream of the coming summer e-bike trip to Czech Republic I was thinking of travelling extremely light, up to 100 miles per day, daily elevation gain of 3600 feet, paved roads only. 10 days, most of them not as demanding as the hardest described day. Seems none of my bikes qualifies. The other participants of the rally will ride on acoustic recumbent bikes or trikes: that's another world of cycling. It is fairly easy to pedal for 8-10 hours daily on their cycles.

I think a custom made e-trike would do. These are very expensive.

Actually in Europe there are a couple of touring e-bikes that come closer to the ideal.

This thread discusses several that aren't yet available in the States.

This beautiful e-bike hits nearly all of my requirements. The fact that you can run 650b or 700c wheels (although how you switch out the hub motor is a heck of a question) is also most awesome. Nice racking and most of the touch points are well done. You could make it perfect with on-bike dual batteries and butterfly handlebars or jones bars.

 

[Cowlitz]

My plan is to get in better shape on my e-bike, then purchase a nice acoustic bike to do rails to trails on. I live in the PNW and plug ins are non existent in the woods.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I am not familiar with this bike at all, so I’m assuming you’ve had difficulty climbing? If you haven’t already, you could compare notes in the sub-forum where ppl are using the same rear hub motor.

We have no real mountains in Central Poland. The only place to test the Lovelec was Agrykola, 855 m run length with max 11% rise. I also climbed an artificial mound, only 31 m elevation change but there was a very steep but short segment near to the top. Riding up Agrykola was easy. The segment at the mound required the granny gear. I told my friends I might bring my bike with a car to the rally and spend two or four days practising with them.

What type of range are you getting with your Turbo Vado? I hope it’s reasonably close to advertised.

Provided it is cold winter time reducing the range, I found the range of my Vado: Up to 75 km in Eco mode, flat, 5 C, favourable winds; 45 km in Sport mode with strong winds.

This beautiful e-bike hits nearly all of my requirements.

The bike itself is beautiful; the way the battery is mounted is a nightmare How do Direct Drive motors fare in mountains as it is not a mid drive motor?

 

[Saratoga Dave]

This popped up in my YouTube selections this morning. Very nice.

 

[oojoe]

good luck with your search...
batteries... check the price of batteries.... they can cost 1/2 of the price of a bike/ maybe one's that don't need patented holders ..would be best maybe... ..
I carry 3 bottle batteries @36v at a given time..this adds range and keeps the draw/heat down on any one given pack. if you want 100miles .. expect to need major watts..

you can always get a mid drive bafang e-bike conversion kit and throw it on a good bike if money is an issue.....BUT remember...
if you want miles from ebike...batteries..(aka watts to burn..most people go for the 48 volt systems..)
LiPo or LiFePo4?
good luck... the weight of batteries adds up before ya know it that 45lbs bike weighs in at 75lbs...

 

[Mr. Coffee]

...
The bike itself is beautiful; the way the battery is mounted is a nightmare How do Direct Drive motors fare in mountains as it is not a mid drive motor?

I don't know. The same company had similar Bosch-CX and Rohloff-equipped e-tourers in the past, but does not seem to do so any longer.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

My plan is to get in better shape on my e-bike, then purchase a nice acoustic bike to do rails to trails on. I live in the PNW and plug ins are non existent in the woods.

If you have 900wh of battery capacity or more you can ride nearly all of the rail-trails in WA (and for that matter OR) without worry.

Probably the only exception would be some sections of the Palouse-to-Cascades trail in eastern WA.

It is another thread but I'd say 95 percent of State Park in WA and 90 percent of county parks in the state have outlets you can use. Probably the most unique skill the e-bike tourer needs to cultivate is the ability to find good places to charge.

 

[pushkar]

The Ti frame on the Watt Wagons looks great, but I'd still like to swap out that front suspension fork with a springy steel fork with lots of eyelets and a suspension stem.

All our forks also have lockout - you can just turn the dial and it acts (almost) like a rigid fork.
However, if you want additional mount points for front racks, we can swap out forks with the rigid Niner boost fork, no problem.

Also in terms of touring, we have a very active user community, that has put the bike through the paces - literally - though no where compared to the levels RM has at all. We are just happy we are being mentioned in the same breath.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

All our forks also have lockout - you can just turn the dial and it acts (almost) like a rigid fork.
However, if you want additional mount points for front racks, we can swap out forks with the rigid Niner boost fork, no problem.

Also in terms of touring, we have a very active user community, that has put the bike through the paces - literally - though no where compared to the levels RM has at all. We are just happy we are being mentioned in the same breath.

A rigid fork watt wagon that could take low-riders would be a game changer. Definitely I think you guys are in the top tier!

 

[pushkar]

A rigid fork watt wagon that could take low-riders would be a game changer. Definitely I think you guys are in the top tier!

Thanks. That means a lot.
Please tell me a little bit about the low rider thing. Are you talking about stand over height or a step- through?

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Thanks. That means a lot.
Please tell me a little bit about the low rider thing. Are you talking about stand over height or a step- through?

"Low-riders" are a generic term for a front rack that can take panniers, e.g.:

Lowrider Racks - Ortlieb USA

While I haven't needed more than two panniers to take all of the stuff I might need (and too dammed much stuff I don't really need) my thoughts are that a more fun touring configuration might be two small panniers forward, a handlebar bag, a large saddle bag, and use a duffle or stuff sack on the rear rack for overflow items. The idea is that would distribute more weight forward which would make the bike more pleasant to ride.

 

[pushkar]

"Low-riders" are a generic term for a front rack that can take panniers, e.g.:

Lowrider Racks - Ortlieb USA

Ha. Clearly a noob here.

i have not done touring or anywhere close to that. How about a front rack like the RMs Up to say 20lb. Will that work in addition to the low rider racks ?