Ebike as approach vehicle for backpacking into the mountains

[Ian Swarbrick]

I`m a keen landscape photographer/backpacker who`s fortunate enough to live on the Swiss/Austrian border close to the Alps. I often have 30kg on my back containing camping and time lapse photography gear etc.
Particularly in Austria motorists are often prohibited from going very far from the valley floor, leaving me with a long walk-in along paved or unpaved roads. No fun with that amount of gear on your back, and my knees have suffered for it too. An ebike approach sounds very tempting.
What characteristics should I be looking for in a bike that will enable me to do this? Speed doesn`t come into it I guess, but the bike has to have enough power (torque?) to get a combined body/pack total of 100kg up a steep road without my legs burning up from lactic acid before I`ve even begun the walk-in proper.
I`d be looking to hide the bike from public view and then retrieving it after the night`s camp. Presumably a way of securing it to a tree would also be a good idea.
Thanks for your input.

 

[mrgold35]

Have you checked into the ebike restrictions for the different areas you like to travel? In the USA, every federal park, state park, and city space all have different laws/restrictions for ebike usage. Some treat ebikes as a motorized vehicle and have the same restrictions as registered or unregistered motor vehicle when in parks maintained by fed/state/local city. We usually have no restrictions on private property.

You might need to factor in an ebike you can ride uphill with the battery removed (turning it into a heavy regular bike) if there are ebike restrictions. I ran into this issue in Sedona, AZ, with local MTB parks.

 

[rich c]

Bulls Monster E FS first comes to mind. It would be a stable, climbing fool. Hiding it would be an issue.

 

[Over50]

...What characteristics should I be looking for in a bike that will enable me to do this? Speed doesn`t come into it I guess, but the bike has to have enough power (torque?) to get a combined body/pack total of 100kg up a steep road without my legs burning up from lactic acid before I`ve even begun the walk-in proper...

I think in North America there are a number of brands making the fat tire bikes designed for hunters and outdoorsmen. This Surface 604 is just one of several I can recall:
http://citruscycles.ca/surface-604-boar-camo-fat-ebike
Not sure what is offered in Europe for this type of bike but certainly something like the Haibike FatSix ought to be available and adaptable to that use (ie have some rack/cargo carrying options).

Maybe if your approach is all smooth trail, you can adapt a standard cargo bike. The Tern GSD might be good because of its ability to carry around 400 pounds of weight (including rider) and its small size. But it definitely isn't an off-road bike so that would only work with paved or hard packed dirt/gravel trail. The GSD is available in the US somewhere around March 2018.

I'm sure you can get a good lock and chain for locking to a tree but you might also want to cover the bike. I use Baleaf covers for bike storage and they have multiple colors. Not sure how much bike theft risk you have there but if you leave it for extended periods obviously a thief then has the time necessary to defeat a chain.

 

[Ian Swarbrick]

Have you checked into the ebike restrictions for the different areas you like to travel? In the USA, every federal park, state park, and city space all have different laws/restrictions for ebike usage. Some treat ebikes as a motorized vehicle and have the same restrictions as registered or unregistered motor vehicle when in parks maintained by fed/state/local city. We usually have no restrictions on private property.

You might need to factor in an ebike you can ride uphill with the battery removed (turning it into a heavy regular bike) if there are ebike restrictions. I ran into this issue in Sedona, AZ, with local MTB parks.

I`ll look into it, thanks

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I think your primary challenge here is going to be working out an adequate way to secure your bike.

Hiding it in the bushes or chaining it to a tree is unlikely to be adequate.

 

[Dewey]

Here's a recent thread about ebikes and trailers for hunters and outdoorsmen with some suggestions, some have camouflage paint https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/on-offroader-suitable-for-hunting.14631/#post-117322

 

[Dewey]

Camo vinyl wrap an ebike https://powersportswraps.com/vehicle-vinyl-wraps/camouflage/

 

[Saratoga Dave]

My brother used to leave his Porsche in some fairly remote and odd spots while doing multi day hikes on the Appalachian Trail. Once in the mountains of North Carolina he was chatting with another hiker at the shelter in the evening, and the guy commented that some Yankee fool had left a Porsche in a dirt clearing used as a starting point by hikers. Paul just said, Gee, I wonder who would be that stupid? Nobody ever bothered it on any of their trips into the wilderness. But I sure wouldn't leave an expensive ebike out there anywhere unless I hired a grizzly bear to watch it for me.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Just speaking from personal experience... I used an old mountain bike as a shuttle to get back to my car on a few backpacking trips until it (the bike) was finally stolen. The bike was chained to a tree and the thieves cut the tree down This was an extremely old and beat-up mountain bike.