Consdering Trek Crossrip plus

[ESBreidenbach]

Seriously consdering the CrossRip Plus: I have a couple of questions:

1) On my electric car (2011 nissan leaf), I only charge to 80% in order to prolong battery life. I read something similar (cant remember where now) about the PowerPak 500, that ideal storage is between 30 and 60%. If I use the battery 4 days a week, and leave the battery in the charger when I get home until my next use, will I be degrading the battery life because it will be sitting at 100% for chunks of time? Does the charger handle this in any way?

2) Looking at a 2019 model of the Crossrip plus. Wondering if there is anything known about any differences from 2018, or are they identical?

3) My round trip commute is 19 miles, with 750 feet total elevation gain. I am sure I can do it without re-charging, but am wondering what the highest level of assistance I can get is and not run out of juice. Extrapolating from the Bosch range calculator (which does not go above 20 mph !) it indicates I should be able to get at least 20-25. My first test ride with the battery not fully charged left some doubt in my mind. Anyone with real world experience?

4) The price is a hard one to swallow, when I am used to paying ~$1200 - $1500 for your decent road bike. Any thoughts on whether this might come down like alot of other technology after the first few years? I noticed the MSR price appears to have gone down on this model $300 from $4500 to $4200 recently.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Coming from 6000 miles on a Trek xm-700+ with a Powerpack 400 and doing the charging completely wrong the whole time, I can tell you that your commute will be a breeze, even in Tour and kicking up to Sport or Tuebo on occasion if the hill bums you out.

My usual trip range, five or six days a week, is between 25 and 35 miles these days. I run at Eco almost all the time but always have at least fifteen miles left showing, whether I believe that or not. I bring the battery in and charge it after every ride, regardless of how far I went. I have seen no degradation at all over fifteen months and 6000 miles... if anything, the range seems to have improved! It may be I’ve become a smoother rider or more wise in the use of higher boost ranges, but if I can do this stuff, you can sure as hell cover your commute without a care in the world on a Crossrip+.

I just wonder if they’re going to get around to using the new battery in the downtube on the Crossrip anytime soon... that would be pretty nice. Either way, you should have a great ride.

 

[ESBreidenbach]

Thanks for the details, its kind of what I figured. I also wonder at what point they make the battery integrate more seamlessly.

 

[chriskmee]

I have the Trek Super Commuter 8, which like the CrossRip uses the power pack 500 and 28mph Bosch motor. The charger/bike doesn't have any sort of charge to X% setting, the closest to this you can get easily is a plug timer. I've heard of people seeing how long it takes to charge to about 80% after an average commute, and setting a timer for that. Personally I have a 20 mile round trip commute and charge to full after every commute. My bike is only a few months old, but even if the battery degrades it will still be enough to get to work and back.

I don't know about the different model years, I think for the 2018 Super Commuter 8 they messed with the gearing a little that made higher speeds easier, but nothing major. I wouldn't expect any real significant changes.

I have a 20 mile round trip commute with a little elevation change, and often times some decent headwind on my way home. I usually ride in Tour (2/4) to work, letting the bike do most of the work so I don't sweat much, and Eco (1/4) on the way home. Sometimes if the wind is bad ill use more assist on the way home. So with that said, on my average commute I still have a good amount of range left, 10+ miles. I used Turbo once on the 10 mile commute home because the wind was so bad, still made it home with 2 Turbo miles to spare. I am probably much heavier than you (I am 6'6"), I ride with 2 saddle bags, and I ride a probably less efficient bike than what you are looking at. I think you will be perfectly fine on your commute as long as you don't go crazy with the assist and speed.

As for the price, yeah, I had a hard time paying $5k for my bike, but I am so glad I got it. I think the price will probably move a little, but at the same time when the price goes down they might just add newer more expensive parts and keep the price about the same or higher. The Trek Super Commuter 8 actually went up by $200 recently. If you want the bike and can afford it, I would get it now and start enjoying it instead of waiting for a price drop.

 

[ESBreidenbach]

Thanks for the details; I have been leaning towards going ahead with it, especially after reading posts like yours. I take it you like the upright riding position better on the Super Commuter.

 

[chriskmee]

Thanks for the details; I have been leaning towards going ahead with it, especially after reading posts like yours. I take it you like the upright riding position better on the Super Commuter.

I've never ridden a full on road bike, so I can't say what I think about riding in that position, but I don't think I would find it that comfortable. I wanted something similar to the Trek hybrid bike I have (8.3 DS), and the super commuter is pretty close to that.

 

[Mtarq]

I've never ridden a full on road bike, so I can't say what I think about riding in that position, but I don't think I would find it that comfortable. I wanted something similar to the Trek hybrid bike I have (8.3 DS), and the super commuter is pretty close to that.

I have a trek super commuter 8+ for sale any body interested in buying it?

 

[chriskmee]

I have a trek super commuter 8+ for sale any body interested in buying it?

You should try the classifieds section of the forum: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/forum/fsbo/

If you don't mind me asking though, why are you selling it?

 

[Mtarq]

You should try the classifieds section of the forum: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/forum/fsbo/

If you don't mind me asking though, why are you selling it?

Its going to,get cold where I,live soon. Its cool but not typical where I can only get maybe 8 months out of using everyday. Also im sellimg for alot less than new price. Less than around half price

 

[currypotter]

Seriously consdering the CrossRip Plus: I have a couple of questions:

3) My round trip commute is 19 miles, with 750 feet total elevation gain. I am sure I can do it without re-charging, but am wondering what the highest level of assistance I can get is and not run out of juice. Extrapolating from the Bosch range calculator (which does not go above 20 mph !) it indicates I should be able to get at least 20-25. My first test ride with the battery not fully charged left some doubt in my mind. Anyone with real world experience?

.

You can.

My round trip to work is 18.9 miles. I have the 400 Power Pack and Performance Line (27.5 mph) motor. It cuts out at 28 mph, so in my mind it is not a 28 mph assist because it provides no assist at 28 mph. OK, back on topic. My total elevation change on the work round trip according to Strava is (1,933 ft / 589 m), hence the electric bike! The bike has a recorded 3,645 miles as I type. I am 155 Ibs but carry two panniers with clothing and tools. Here's my experience so far.

I charge the battery to 100% each night. Battery designers are smart these days. When they hit 95%, they back of the charge to allow the sells to balance and then do a final trickle charge. I'm also not convinced that 100% reported is actually 100% of the battery. I know as a former Prius owner (ok, different battery) that although Toyota reported 0% to 100 %, it was actually 20% to 80% of the battery. It would be nice to chat with the Samsung engineers about the actually capacity of the battery used. I have not seen a degradation in the battery after and estimated 180 charges.

In the summer when I take it easy and stay out of turbo mode. I can do the round trip with 53% battery left. I am putting a lot of effort in myself to do that and do not consider this a realistic number for most folks. Now it is colder and rainy, I use turbo mode a lot more and the worst I have done so far when I was going all out to get home in time was a 17% charge left on the battery. But I would say I see around 26% when I get home on most days. (I have the Cobi.Bike thing so I can see the % charge).

The only time I have taken the charger to work has been when I forgot to plug it in when I got home. Waking up with 23% battery is not helpful. But I note that about 30 mins got me to almost 50%, so off to work I went with the 4 amp charger.

Hope this helps.

 

[E-Mike]

@ESBreidenbach , I have a CrossRip+ and my commute is pretty similar to yours, but a little hillier. 10 miles each way. 750' of climbing on the way to work, 425' on the way back. I generally ride in Sport mode for most of the ride, and kick it up to Turbo for the biggest hill of the route. I have had no concerns with running out of juice. I usually get home with 3 lights of 5 still on my battery, I think once I had only 2 lights on a particularly cold and windy day.

I studied the 2019 model because it came out immediately after I bought my 2018. As best I can tell they are 100% identical. And, earlier this summer I did a Trek e-bike demo day, and the Trek rep told me at that time that there would be no change between the 2018 and 2019 models for this bike.

I doubt the price will come down soon because, as you said, it already dropped pretty recently. The price actually moved from $4500 to $4700 to $4200. Unless you have the patience to wait a couple of years.

Having said that, after a little googling I see one place where it's on sale for $4000 in 52cm or 55cm. https://www.trekbicyclesuperstore.com/product/trek-crossrip-310244-1.htm

As for it being expensive, I'll just say that it lets you do things a nice road bike doesn't. I ride to work a lot more now than before I had it, and I can pick up dinner for the family on my home, do some light grocery shopping, etc. (with the proper pannier). Much lower carbon footprint than your Leaf, I'm guessing .

For the battery life / storage issue, what I read is that if you're going to store the battery "for extended periods," that's when you want to keep it between 30-60%. Up to interpretation, but I would take that as "not riding the bike for a couple of weeks or more". In fact I found this on the Bosch web site (emphasis added):

If you have not used the eBike for quite a while – in winter, for example – the battery should be stored in an environment that is dry and cool at about 30% to 60% of its charge capacity.

I think I read somewhere that you shouldn't leave the battery plugged in after it's fully charged, but I'm not sure about that.

Good luck!

 

[Johnny]

First of all any good mid drive system (Bosch, Yamaha etc) even with a 400wh battery should do that round trip just fine unless you try to do upper 20's and turbo all the time.

Second imo Trek's offerings for the commuter ranged are simply overpriced. Crossrip is a nice bike but I don't see it being worth $4500+ sorry. Also ebikes with dropbars are rare that is why they are overpriced.

E bikes are heavy so roadbike like riding position and dropbars does not make much sense, on the contrary when you have assists and weight it is better to ride in a more comfortable position with wider tires. You can try to look at last year's left over ebikes from other brands. Haibike hard tails like Cross/trekking / hard nine (also urban if you can find it cheap) for example are good offerings (I think there are cross versions with bosch and 5000wh battery is being sold for around $2600, the yamaha versions are less then $2000). Or you may look into a quality hub motor bike like Stromer (again people are finding deals around 2.5K range for some of the models). (If you move up to 3K you will have lot's of options even at msrp(Quick-e + etc.).

Shop around online see what they have.

Good luck .

 

[E-Mike]

I haven't test-ridden any of the less expensive bikes... but there are very few bikes that give you drop-bars, Class 3, and a rack. $4200 is a competitive price given those features. Plus, Bicycling Magazine named it Gear of the Year... how can you argue with that ;-).

Drop-bars make sense to me, particularly if you want to ride fast. I found it more comfortable than the Super Commuter+ (no drop-bars and even more expensive), because at speed I felt buffeted by the wind on the SC+. Personal preference, I know. I don't think the weight of the bike alters whether a more aero position is useful, though.

I do wish I would have had the chance to test ride other e-bikes but I certainly have no regrets!

 

[we don't rent pigs]

I really enjoy my Crossrip+. I wish it had little more pep when starting from full stop, though. No doubt, I feel it's absolutely overpriced, but wanted the peace of mind that comes with having a good network of dealers and solid warranty. Although I was told the warranty is non-transferable, which I find to be fairly obnoxious.

Does anyone know what the warranty details are for the battery? I was surprised to find replacement 500 packs are close to $1000.

 

[Johnny]

I really enjoy my Crossrip+. I wish it had little more pep when starting from full stop, though. No doubt, I feel it's absolutely overpriced, but wanted the peace of mind that comes with having a good network of dealers and solid warranty. Although I was told the warranty is non-transferable, which I find to be fairly obnoxious.

Does anyone know what the warranty details are for the battery? I was surprised to find replacement 500 packs are close to $1000.

Crossrip + is a beautiful bike. I didn't want to bash the product, just gave my opinion about the price.

I believe Trek gives 2 years of warranty for Bosch battery packs (There may also be a cycle limit, in the range of 500-600 however even if you get 30 miles per charge it will be plenty).

Unfortunately Bosch is very expensive for replacement parts(Yamaha also seems no different). $1000 for a 500wh battery that contains maybe $250 worth of cells is absurd. Yes safety is important but they can probably sell the same battery pack for around $500-600.

If you want to prolong your battery life then try to stay around %85-%25 (this range may change slightly but the rule is don't charge it to 100 percent all the time and never drain it completely). I believe the best battery life is achieved around %75-25 but that also means at each ride you have %50 percent usable capacity.

Unfortunately bosch system does not output cell voltage or precise capacity information so I try to charge when I hit 2 bars and stop charging shortly after 4 bars is charged.