My latest R&M Supercharger GX Rohloff is getting a bit tired now, so am thinking about my next eBike and returned to this forum to get some ideas. I've come a bit late to the thread, but thought I'd add my experiences anyway.
I started my long-distance eBike touring in Australia in early 2017, with a dual 500Wh battery Delite GX Rohloff - a great bike that carried me over 17,000 km (~10,500 miles) towing a single-wheel Topeak Journey trailer. (Besides having a lot of camping gear, I had to carry a 1kVA gas generator with me for charging). Two trailers broke but the bike was fine, the main problem being that chains lasted only about 1,500 - 2,000 miles or so. Only Intuvia was available then in Australia, and mobile phone coverage was patchy at best, so navigation was a bit of a problem.
That bike got stolen, and I 'upgraded' to an R&M Supercharger GX with a Nyon cockpit and a Gates carbon belt drive. both of which had become available in the meantime. The Nyon and the belt drive fixed the two previous gripes, and a BOB trailer and (lighter 800W Gentrax generator) fixed the load issue, and I've had no real problems since, for a further 14,000 km (8,500 miles) so far, mostly long-distance touring.
I wanted to go touring in Europe and so purchased another almost identical Supercharger GX in Germany in 2018 that I keep there, and so far I've ridden 38,600 km (almost 24,000 miles) on it, and it is now really starting to show it's age. (and I don't use a trailer in Europe as there are enough charging opportunities available everywhere, unlike in outback Australia).
The Gates belt delaminated suddenly at 20,000 km - not expensive to replace, but it took a week of waiting in Lyon, France, to get a new one delivered. The Bosch motor (Gen 3) failed at 33,000 km/ 20,500 mi because the spline on the main sprocket had worn down to nothing (due to incorrect locking ring from new). All the bike shops wanted me to fork out €1,200/US$1,300 for a new motor (after a 2-3 week wait) but after a lot of hassle I managed to find a replacement gear from off a second-hand hire bike motor (I intended to, but couldn't, just swap the motor over because mine was electronically configured for two batteries whereas the hire bike wasn't). It all seems be be working ok again, though it now whines an awful lot.
And there are a few other remaining issues too: the kickstand is kaput (and I can't easily fit a replacement as one of the mounting bolts broke off in the cast bracket plate and cracked it), both Alex MD40 rims are splitting and my Brookes saddle is broken. Also making me think about changing-up is that, from my riding experiences, I would definitely benefit from the longer range afforded by 2x615 kWh batteries as well as from greater torque and the lesser resistance of the Gen 4 motor in OFF-mode.
I need a rugged bike with a range of 180 km/ 110 mi. Not that I'd probably ever want to travel that far in a day - 150 km is about my daily max (and only 123 km is my 1,500-day touring average to date) - but you have to leave 15-20% in reserve to take account of things like weather, terrain, getting lost, looking after battery life and the time to recharge (it's best to cycle between 15 - 85% I have found), and where the next available charging point might be etc.
So would I go for another R&M eBike for my style of touring? Yeah, probably. I definitely like the Bosch system, but I'm just about annoyed enough with R&M to seriously consider alternatives.
The main negatives with R&M for me are: no front fork brazons (though I've got a 'faiv Hoogar' front luggage rack that straps on and it works), the rear pannier rack is simply pathetic, the wiring connection to the rear light is designed to fail, the spec upgrade options offered (rims and suspensin) are not top-of-the-range). I understand the Multi-charger is available in 2 x750 Wh battery configuration and the rear pannier rack definitely looks an improvement on the Supercharger, so I may go that way. But I do see, for example, that Santos are offering a steel bike with a Pendix drive that looks interesting.
