East Motion Evo - how far will it take me for my commute?

[PowerMe]

In terms of actual time, you'll want to test that out. If you don't have to contend with too many streets with lights then you'll be faster. Once you get on a bike path you'll have an easier time of it. If you plan for an average of 18 mph realistic time you'll probably be in the ballpark.

 

[Jonah]

I have an Evo Jet that I bought at Bike Attack and I think you can make your 30 mile commute if you can charge your bike at work. I am finding there are many ways to ride an ebike and some of those result in better mileage (e.g., coasting to stops well ahead of when I would coast on a regular bike; using the throttle to get up to speed and then pedaling on my own power; using lower pedal assist modes with a fast cadence and less resistance then would be the case on a regular bike). How hard (or not) do you want to work on your ride to work?

 

[Operator7]

Hi Brambor,

I made rough calculations, based on the fact that I spend roughly $100 per month on gas (probably a bit more), and then made a rough (and as an accounting person, I shouldn't be so lazy ) estimate that biking half the time would be a savings of $50 a month, which would be $600 for the year - but since I plan on biking two days a week (less than half), I just called it $500.

Going by your measurements, if I divide 6000 miles by the 30 miles per gallon I get with my Acura, the result is 200 gallons of gas being saved, which if multiplied by your $3 a gallon figure, comes to about $600. So pretty close!

And yes, I know I didn't account for wear and tear though. I am spoiled by a great car. But yes, I agree with you that wear and tear is a significant consideration.

 

[Operator7]

K Jones, thanks for that! Will keep that in mind.

Garrick, thanks a bunch for your honest feedback about Bike Attack. Are there any other shops you suggest I checkout? I see they have mixed reviews on Yelp, but I have not yet had time to read thru the reviews. Are they snobby? Will they give me good service after purchase, especially if I don't go with their Stromer preference?

And awesome info on the route! I do know Main has a dedicated bike route... I haven't been down the bike path along Venice and SM. I take it a lot of pedestrians are clogging the path? Here in Long Beach, they just completed a separate path for pedestrians, and while I was standoffish on the idea at first, I have to give credit where it's due, and say this really was a great idea. It works MUCH better with separate paths!


PowerMe - thanks, I have similar thinking!

I plan this Friday to do a two hour rental at Bike Attack.

 

[Operator7]

Jonah, great question. On the way TO work, which will be in the morning (and I'm not a morning person ), I want to pedal as little as possible. I'm athletic though, so I can definitely handle a bit, I just don't want to be having a full workout in the morning, and a ride that is over an hour... well the pedaling can't be consistently hard. I mean if it's low resistance pedaling, I consider that easy pedaling. That type of pedaling that makes your muscles dig in and get hot, that's the kind of pedaling one does on a manual bike either up hills, getting started from a stop, or maintaining a good speed. That type of hard pedaling is something I don't want to do a lot of, especially not on a long ride.

Now coming home? Heck, I wouldn't even mind a workout pace, stopping at Manhattan Beach (oh the life!), grabbing a lemonade or something, enjoying a sunset, and then finishing. So the ride home I am much more flexible on. I just want to be sure I don't have to be a real bike monkey to make the commute. Again, I am athletic, and workout regularly several times per week. I actually am a dancer (poplocking), and so I have pretty good cardio workouts, and then usually finish with weights and/or machines. But pedaling too hard for over an hour would be where I'd opt out.

 

[BadKnees]

I'm still figuring out what type of assist works best for me, but a couple of factors that need to be kept in mind are whether you will be traveling on non-paved roads such as hike and bike trails, on dirt, or even a beach; and how much other traffic (including pedestrians) you can expect to encounter. If you plan on keeping on paved roads you should get a bike with narrower tires to reduce rolling resistance. Conversely, if you plan on traveling off-road (even hike and bike trails) you will want somewhat wider tires. I am using some hike and bike trails and have found that the 2" wide tires on the EVO's street bike do well on them. I have found that periodically have to slow down for other traffic both on streets and on my hike and bike trails. It could prove difficult to average much more than 15 mph over a distance unless your route has minimal other traffic to contend with. It may work well for you with your dedicated bike lanes, but you still may have other bikers to deal with. It has been mentioned that a second battery would eliminate any range concern. Another possibility would be to get a second charger and charge your bikes battery while at work. A charger is a lot cheaper than a second battery and you wouldn't have to have a second heavy battery to lug around on your bike as your riding.

 

[Jonah]

I was thinking that if I had a 30 mile commute that I would consider a pedelec (right term?) that can go 28 mph. This could include the Stromer ST2 or the Dash by IZIP - the latter rated well on this website and is in the same price range as the Easy Motion bikes. I would also consider a suspension seat post. I put a Body Float on my Evo Jet and it has made the ride much more comfortable.

 

[K. Jones]

I just took my EVO City down to 15% charge on it's third charge. It went 31 miles. It was using mostly, but certainly not entirely, the lowest pedal assist and the hills weren't that aggressive. Fairly low speed since lots of the time I was following little kids around. I was averaging around 9mph, because of the kiddos.

So, I thought I'd put that out here, for what it's worth.

 

[Jonah]

I rode 13 miles on my Evo Jet, mostly on Eco mode; I averaged around 15 to 18 miles per hour. I think I was down 1 bar (60 to 80% range). I wonder if the low speed over a long time resulted in the battery drain? I have the impression that there is not a linear relationship between top speed, how long the battery lasts, and pedal assist mode.

 

[George S.]

Speed kills the battery because aerodynamic drag increases exponentially, not linearly.

http://bikecalculator.com/how.html

Aviation people distinguish air resistance as parasitic and induced drag, but the critical thing to understand is that drag increases as the square of speed. That is, while power increases in a linear fashion, drag increases exponentially with speed, in a parabolic function. For example (neglecting the effect of rolling resistance), if 100 horsepower would push a certain vehicle 100 miles per hour through the air, doubling the speed to 200 would require two-squared or 400 horsepower to overcome air resistance, while 300 miles per hour would require 900 horsepower.

 

[Aaron]

The display on my Evo Cross says I average 31 Km/h over 500 Km of riding so far. That's about 19 mph. I guess it includes stops as well. On a flat I can go about 40 Km/h if I push it but probably am usually about 36 Km/h (22 mph). My commute has some hills and a long stretch with no stop lights.

 

[stevenast]

The display on my Evo Cross says I average 31 Km/h over 500 Km of riding so far. That's about 19 mph. I guess it includes stops as well. On a flat I can go about 40 Km/h if I push it but probably am usually about 36 Km/h (22 mph). My commute has some hills and a long stretch with no stop lights.

That's quick! I average about 12-14 mph recreational riding in a State Park with no traffic signals.

I am using an app, "ridewithGPS", to supplement my bike display. It deducts out the times when you're stopped. Try that and you can see what your moving average speed is.

 

[PowerMe]

The display on my Evo Cross says I average 31 Km/h over 500 Km of riding so far. That's about 19 mph. I guess it includes stops as well. On a flat I can go about 40 Km/h if I push it but probably am usually about 36 Km/h (22 mph). My commute has some hills and a long stretch with no stop lights.

Wow! You are flying on that bike. Right now I'm averaging slightly less than 12mph (LOL). But I end up riding on sidewalks in areas where I deem it too dangerous, and that slows me way down.

 

[Aaron]

Wow! You are flying on that bike. Right now I'm averaging slightly less than 12mph (LOL). But I end up riding on sidewalks in areas where I deem it too dangerous, and that slows me way down.

Heh, yeah my commute is pretty ideal, can pretty much go as fast as I want the whole way. And I leave the bike in Boost mode always

 

[Ian Heier]

He previously said 33 mi one way. That's a huge amount of commuting, even if only twice a week. I'm tired just thinking about it!

Even for a gas powered scooter that's way too much time/distance.. i do that maybe once a week and then along a commuter rail line and i can always jump on the train along the way. Can you maybe combine it with public transit at a half way point or something? Outside of that i'd invest in a motorcycle or something.. 66 mile round trip commute is one heck of a distance. I'd also consider moving closer to work..