By chance I met up with a group of fairly advanced riders today and made an unexpected observation.
My bike is a first generation electric bike - a big, fat, portly 37 lb Trek Domane+. I love it.
Understandably, when this bike came out a few years ago, serious riders scoffed at a bike weighing TWICE the weight of a decent 17 lb road bike and sales were flat.
Bike companies responded with a second generation of electric bikes with half the power, half the range, a smaller engine, and smaller batteries that brought down the weight of the bike to about 28 lbs. On paper it sounds like the perfect compromise for the serious rider that only needs a “gentle assist”, now and again. These bikes seem to be selling well. And there were a few of these gentle assist bikes with Fazua and e-motion motors amongst the more traditional bikes in the group I met up with. From the current advertising, I would have assumed that these bikes would have had a significant advantage over both the traditional bikes in the group, as well as myself on my heavy electric bike. I was wrong.
The group was strong and were drafting tightly enough for me to know that they were pretty serious. I joined them and clicked into sport mode. I had no problem keeping with the group even though I am fat and old.
Every once in a while the young guys at the front would get out of the saddle and sprint ahead for a bit in their super light bikes with the racing geometry. E-bikes have relaxed geometry and are heavy, so those of us with the electric bikes couldn’t compete in those reindeer games. Strangely, I noticed that the e-bikes were at the back of the pack. Our average speed was about 23-27 miles an hour which is a pretty brisk clip for me. The gentle assist bikes are Class I bikes which cut out at 20 mph. These bikes are about 10 lbs heavier than the regular bikes and the riders were riding without any assist because we were going too fast. What’s worse, many of the gentle assist bikes have a 46 tooth front chain ring in case they run out of power and have to peddle their heavy bikes home un-assisted. They couldn’t keep up with the regular bikes with a 50 or 52 tooth chain rings.
I had no such problems since I have a 50 tooth front chain ring and 400 watts of power assist to 28 mph. In fact, some of the fit young guys who were a bit jealous that a fat old guy was keeping up with the group nudged me to the front of the pack when there was a strong head wind, and since I was only a visitor to the group I was happy to pay my dues. I switched into turbo mode and pulled everyone along for a mile or two. One guy came up to me later and said, “ I have to take back all the bad things I said bout electric bikes.”
So if you’re thinking about spending about $6000-8000 for a beautiful Pinarello Nitro, Cannondale synapse Neo, Bianchi Aria E Road, Scott addict e-ride or Carbon Orbea Gain, realize that these bikes are class I “gentle assist” road bikes. Be aware that they are designed to be recreational bikes or fast touring bikes. These are terrific bikes to be sure, and their advantage for hill climbing cannot be understated. However, I was surprised that they can’t keep up with the the pros:
1) The relaxed geometry means you can’t sprint very well,
2) If your’e averaging more than 20 mph you get no assist, but you have to carry the extra weight of the motor and battery which will put you behind the regular bikes on the flats,
3) if you only have a 46 tooth front chain ring you can’t keep up with the pack who are riding a 50 or 52 tooth chain ring.
I’m a casual rider, and I’m happy to let the younger crowd race by, sweating and huffing. But if you NEED to keep up with the big boys, either stick with a light traditional bike, or make sure you get a class 3 bike that can assist you up to 28 mph.
(My sincere apologies to those who live in countries where class 3 are restricted.)
My bike is a first generation electric bike - a big, fat, portly 37 lb Trek Domane+. I love it.
Understandably, when this bike came out a few years ago, serious riders scoffed at a bike weighing TWICE the weight of a decent 17 lb road bike and sales were flat.
Bike companies responded with a second generation of electric bikes with half the power, half the range, a smaller engine, and smaller batteries that brought down the weight of the bike to about 28 lbs. On paper it sounds like the perfect compromise for the serious rider that only needs a “gentle assist”, now and again. These bikes seem to be selling well. And there were a few of these gentle assist bikes with Fazua and e-motion motors amongst the more traditional bikes in the group I met up with. From the current advertising, I would have assumed that these bikes would have had a significant advantage over both the traditional bikes in the group, as well as myself on my heavy electric bike. I was wrong.
The group was strong and were drafting tightly enough for me to know that they were pretty serious. I joined them and clicked into sport mode. I had no problem keeping with the group even though I am fat and old.
Every once in a while the young guys at the front would get out of the saddle and sprint ahead for a bit in their super light bikes with the racing geometry. E-bikes have relaxed geometry and are heavy, so those of us with the electric bikes couldn’t compete in those reindeer games. Strangely, I noticed that the e-bikes were at the back of the pack. Our average speed was about 23-27 miles an hour which is a pretty brisk clip for me. The gentle assist bikes are Class I bikes which cut out at 20 mph. These bikes are about 10 lbs heavier than the regular bikes and the riders were riding without any assist because we were going too fast. What’s worse, many of the gentle assist bikes have a 46 tooth front chain ring in case they run out of power and have to peddle their heavy bikes home un-assisted. They couldn’t keep up with the regular bikes with a 50 or 52 tooth chain rings.
I had no such problems since I have a 50 tooth front chain ring and 400 watts of power assist to 28 mph. In fact, some of the fit young guys who were a bit jealous that a fat old guy was keeping up with the group nudged me to the front of the pack when there was a strong head wind, and since I was only a visitor to the group I was happy to pay my dues. I switched into turbo mode and pulled everyone along for a mile or two. One guy came up to me later and said, “ I have to take back all the bad things I said bout electric bikes.”
So if you’re thinking about spending about $6000-8000 for a beautiful Pinarello Nitro, Cannondale synapse Neo, Bianchi Aria E Road, Scott addict e-ride or Carbon Orbea Gain, realize that these bikes are class I “gentle assist” road bikes. Be aware that they are designed to be recreational bikes or fast touring bikes. These are terrific bikes to be sure, and their advantage for hill climbing cannot be understated. However, I was surprised that they can’t keep up with the the pros:
1) The relaxed geometry means you can’t sprint very well,
2) If your’e averaging more than 20 mph you get no assist, but you have to carry the extra weight of the motor and battery which will put you behind the regular bikes on the flats,
3) if you only have a 46 tooth front chain ring you can’t keep up with the pack who are riding a 50 or 52 tooth chain ring.
I’m a casual rider, and I’m happy to let the younger crowd race by, sweating and huffing. But if you NEED to keep up with the big boys, either stick with a light traditional bike, or make sure you get a class 3 bike that can assist you up to 28 mph.
(My sincere apologies to those who live in countries where class 3 are restricted.)
