Light weight eBikes review

[Deacon Blues]

A couple of the personal reviews I've read on riding these light, low-powered e-road bikes is they do most of their riding in eco mode, which cancels out the extra weight of the motor and battery.
It seems that riding in eco mode still gives these riders a really decent riding range (70+ km).

On one of the e-bike forums I've come across recently someone asked if they should get a light, low powered road bike, or a heavier road bike with a bigger motor/battery. Someone else replied that if you ride by yourself often get the heavier bike with the bigger motor. On the other hand, if you participate in group rides go for the lighter bike with the smaller motor/battery.
I thought that made a lot of sense.

 

[jim6b]

A big reason a Class 3 e-bike being so heavy is the additional power needed to maintain a 29 mph speed puts additional stress on the bike and increased strength. Recall, twice as much power is need to maintain 27 mph as 18, wind resistance increases at the cube of speed. Those light weight 15.5 mph e-bikes may need little change from analog bikes.

 

[Capt Sisko]

With these lightweight bikes the lower speed cut out actually makes more sense. The battery on these are typically are 250W and with a 20mph cut off they won’t last very long at all. The main point I’d say is that they are useful on any uphill section/ flat with headwinds and the rest of the time you’re pretty much using human power only.

This is the big question when it comes to choosing an e-bike. Do I want a Power Assisted Bike, light enought to ride power off , only really giving assistance on hills & headwinds, or do I want a Powered Bike that will zoom me along, but can't really be riden power off because it's so heavy?

Me, I went for the lightweight route and an Orbea Gain as I prefer the ride to speed.

 

[Captain Slow]

This is the big question when it comes to choosing an e-bike. Do I want a Power Assisted Bike, light enought to ride power off , only really giving assistance on hills & headwinds, or do I want a Powered Bike that will zoom me along, but can't really be riden power off because it's so heavy?

Me, I went for the lightweight route and an Orbea Gain as I prefer the ride to speed.

This is the big question when it comes to choosing an e-bike. Do I want a Power Assisted Bike, light enought to ride power off , only really giving assistance on hills & headwinds, or do I want a Powered Bike that will zoom me along, but can't really be riden power off because it's so heavy?

Me, I went for the lightweight route and an Orbea Gain as I prefer the ride to speed.

I wonder if the new BMC Alpenchallenge AMP Road bikes have greatly changed that decision. It appears to be reasonably light at 35 lbs. and can easily be ridden power off, from what I understand, but it's got a fairly big battery and good power.

The X-motion system does seem to provide a lot of power considering its' low weight.

I had been waiting for the Fazua system to come to North America as it was the lightweight system I had been hoping for, but now with this new BMC it's only about 5 lbs. more than the Fazua system and you get a lot more range. Now the Fazua system isn't looking nearly as attractive as it was.

 

[Katysax]

My fantasy bike would allow me to ride at 68 like I could at 45. I’d be able to do a 100 mile club ride with 6000 feet of climbing at 16 mph. It would look like a normal race bike. It seems to me that such a bike does not yet exist but some bikes are close. Also I am 5’3.5” and just a tad too short for the Orbea Gain. It seems like the technology is almost there.

 

[Deacon Blues]

While I like the battery size and 70 Nm of torque I don't like what BMC did with the battery. Kinda reminds me of a DIV kit. I much prefer the concealed battery in the front down tube.

 

[GregGritton]

This is the big question when it comes to choosing an e-bike. Do I want a Power Assisted Bike, light enought to ride power off , only really giving assistance on hills & headwinds, or do I want a Powered Bike that will zoom me along, but can't really be riden power off because it's so heavy?

I don't think there are very many bikes that are so heavy they can't be ridden with the power off. I own a 57lb (26kg) Gazelle Arroyo. While it is a heavy bike if I am going for a pleasure ride in the country I usually ride with power off most of the time, using the power for uphill and headwinds. I have test ridden various other e-bikes and all, so far, ride fine with the power off.

You might consider the total weight of you plus your bike. I weigh 180 pounds (82kg). If I had a 20 pound bike (9kg) then total would be 200 pounds (91kg). On the other hand, with the Gazelle the total is 237 pounds (108kg), only 19% higher. And the extra weight really only matters going up hills.

I do think the new light weight bikes are a cool concept, but I wouldn't count a heavy bike as un-ridable without power.

 

[Captain Slow]

I agree that heavy bikes can be ridden motor off on flat ground.

Riding up hills isn't my only reason for wanting a relatively light ebike. I have the Juiced CCS and while a great bike, I want to ride something that has a more aggressive road position and handles more like my Cervelo. The weight also affects handling.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I ride with a seniors group and a couple of the riders have e-bikes. My group ride bike is a very light Giant Defy Advanced Pro 0 (8 kilograms or 17.7 pounds) and on most rides our average speed is around 14mph or 23 kph. One of the ebike riders has a Specialized Vado 4.0 and he has no trouble keeping up with us at any speed, even though his motor cuts out at 20 mph or 32kph. He's also able to do part of the 25-30 mile ride with the power turned off. That surprised me since his bike weighs over 23 kilograms or 50 pounds.

My Pedego Ridgerider is a beast to ride with the power off. There's considerable motor drag and even though I'm a decently fit rider for my age (67) I can't ride the bike over 23 kph or 14 mph on the flats without the motor's help.

 

[Chancelucky2]

I happen to think that long tours still present logistical problems for e-bikes. I'm not a fan of the 2 or more battery solution. Even if you bring your charger, it takes too long to go from mostly discharged to fully charged.
Right now, a lighter bike that one can pedal uphill, more or less the cycling version of the hybrid as opposed to the all electric car, seems like the sanest solution.
I spent the last couple weeks in South Florida where the house I was staying had a Schwinn city bike, so I found myself riding around for several miles without a battery and motor. The island was completely flat, so I didn't necessarily miss my e-bike. It reminded me that unaided pedaling is quite pleasurable and should maybe be more a part of the e-bike experience/continuum. I could definitely see doing a century with 60 miles of pedaling and 40 miles or so of assisted pedaling. My current e-bike has a Bosch mid-drive and weighs about 50 pounds. It's certainly something I can ride without power, but it's not that pleasant and steep hills are out of the question.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I see that Specialized is finally getting into the light e-road bike market.

and

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Saw that this morning. Looks great - I like the gravel version - but bring your wallet, your neighbor’s wallet, and any other quarters and dimes you find on the street! Bicycling.com has a good write up also on these things.

 

[indianajo]

I don't think there are very many bikes that are so heavy they can't be ridden with the power off. I own a 57lb (26kg) Gazelle Arroyo. While it is a heavy bike if I am going for a pleasure ride in the country I usually ride with power off most of the time, using the power for uphill and headwinds. I have test ridden various other e-bikes and all, so far, ride fine with the power off.
I do think the new light weight bikes are a cool concept, but I wouldn't count a heavy bike as un-ridable without power.

I was riding an 80 lb MTbike with wire baskets with 60 lb supplies up hills up to 15% unpowered before I bought electricity. After I quit working 2008 I rode ~2000 miles/year. Standard commute was 27 miles. The new bodaboda (left) with two panniers is about 68 lb, motor & battery add about 14, total 82. Aluminum frame versus steel feels like I'm young again. Cargo to my summer camp the same weight. Trip is up to 30 miles now since I take a longer hillier lower traffic route. The geared hub motor doesn't drag unpowered. I still ride mostly unpowered but with my upright posture average 8 to 9 mph. Leading with your head always struck me as stupid; I never bought a "road bike" which was called a "10 speed racer" in 1966. I rode my 3 speed "english racer" (not so much when working) with upright posture until the MTB was invented. That was in Houston, & Kansas, which are flat. So Indiana hills motivated me to buy the 15 speed MTB which I wore out.
BTW I weighed 210 lb in 2008 when I quit working, have been under 180 5 years and down to 167 this summer. Cloresterol dropped from 210 to 150, A1C 8.0 to 6.0.

 

[Captain Slow]

Bike looks nice, but it is way too much money for me. If they made an aluminum version with aluminum wheels and spec'ed it with 105 that might knock say $3,000 or $4,000 off the price and it would still be expensive but it might be a consideration then.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Bike looks nice, but it is way too much money for me. If they made an aluminum version with aluminum wheels and spec'ed it with 105 that might knock say $3,000 or $4,000 off the price and it would still be expensive but it might be a consideration then.

This bike is pretty much what I've been waiting for, but as you mentioned it's VERY expensive. The cheapest version is $12,247CAN and the top of the line version goes for $14,700CAN. That's WAY more than I'll ever spend on a bicycle.

The Cannondale Snapse Neo gravel model goes for $5700 (CAN). Still not cheap, but it's a price I'd be willing to pay.

 

[Captain Slow]

Deacon it seems like we're looking for the same type of bike. From other threads I think you live in BC as well. I'm thinking about just going to Grin since I live in the Lower Mainland and getting the Bafang G311 kit with a smaller battery for a somewhat lighter build that probably has way more power than I want. It won't look as clean or integrated and I don't like the thought of the cables showing. But it will be way cheaper.

The BMC Alpenchallenge AMP Road looks fantastic with a surprisingly light 35 lb. build with quite a bit of power. But I think that will be in the $10k range as well.

Oh well, for now I'll keep riding my CCS and Cervelo and we'll see what is available in 2020.

 

[Katysax]

That Creo looks great. However I’ve paid for the privilege of being a beta tester too many times. The bike seems like a big design step in the right direction. 3-5 years from now bikes like that will be more affordable and dependable.

 

[4mal]

Given that the AlpenChallenge Amp aspot, Cross and Road are all using the same frame, 10k seems too much. My Cross One was 4.1K... I wouldn’t expect the Road One to be beyond 5k, if that. I’d be OK with 105 or Ultegra. Di2 is nice but...

 

[Deacon Blues]

I have Di2 on my Giant Defy Advanced Pro 0 and I love it. My next bike will be an e-road bike and I'd like it to have Di2, but it's hard for me to justifly $10,000 for any bike.

 

[jim6b]

We must think alike because . . . I don't want to buy the Synapse with the old Bosch motor, I want the new one!

Exactly. The new lighter motor may bring a cascade of lost weight. Couldn't happen soon enough.