little details (scott addict rc eRide)

[mschwett]

i posted my first thoughts on the addict eRide here https://forums.electricbikereview.c...ew-of-a-new-bike-scott-addict-rc-eride.54647/ a while back; and the bike now has enough miles on it that i have it dialed in the way i like it! i also have more or less settled on a riding pattern that meets my health needs - i keep my heart rate between 85 and 100 99% of the time, for pleasure rides, motor off on flats, on for any hill over a few percent, all the way up to the full power on steep, slow climbs, which delivers around 160w. for commutes i just leave it on full power the whole time, delivering 200w between 10 and 20mph. for a very hilly pleasure ride (approaching 100' per mile average) battery usage has been as high as 3.2wh/mile. more typically i am exactly half that at 1.6wh/mile.

here are all the little changes i made to the bike, in many ways matching it to the acoustic road bike i've done the last 10k miles on. the weight of the bike with mounts, cages, but no phone or lights attached is 24.3lb.


specialized s-works romin with mirror saddle. the one the bike came with was terrible. i also changed the seat post because it was the easiest way to get the correct clamp for a carbon rail saddle :


at the rear of the saddle, using specialized's swat attachment point, a 3d-printed (i enjoy modeling and making misc bike bits) mount for the garmin varia :



with the varia :




one bottle cage, one piece carbon. but not the $$$ carbonwerks one i have on my aethos, this one is a few grams heavier and shinier lol.


shimano dura-ace cranks and speedplay nano (titanium) pedals:



4iiii precision 3 pro power meter on the crank. still waiting for the right side meter, but over many many many rides i know to within 1% what my leg balance is, and the meter corrects for that. these power meters are great, they transmit power and cadence to your computer or phone, super simple and reliable, battery lasts for thousands of miles, and this one also works with apple's find my!


dura-ace crankset on the right, 52/36 tooth. dura-ace/xtr hollow pin chain. 12 speed 11-34 dura ace cassette also.


replaced the bar and stem with scott's one piece creston sl combo. not as light as a roval alpinist, but an interesting design that preserves the fully internal cable routing. there are no exposed cables or hoses anywhere.


the most custom bit is this combined phone and light mount. it's two pieces - one on the knug light, which i had an liked, but didn't have a good mounting option for this bike. so i 3d printed a thin sleeve with a bracket that has a captive (black titanium lol) nut. it attaches to a small spline on another custom mount that attaches on the bottom to the two embedded sockets on the handlebar, and at the top an sp-connect iphone head.




here it is with both the phone (a 13 mini that i use just for riding) and light :


and as seen while riding :

 

[mschwett]

and a few recent ride photos !

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

i posted my first thoughts on the addict eRide here https://forums.electricbikereview.c...ew-of-a-new-bike-scott-addict-rc-eride.54647/ a while back; and the bike now has enough miles on it that i have it dialed in the way i like it! i also have more or less settled on a riding pattern that meets my health needs - i keep my heart rate between 85 and 100 99% of the time, for pleasure rides, motor off on flats, on for any hill over a few percent, all the way up to the full power on steep, slow climbs, which delivers around 160w. for commutes i just leave it on full power the whole time, delivering 200w between 10 and 20mph. for a very hilly pleasure ride (approaching 100' per mile average) battery usage has been as high as 3.2wh/mile. more typically i am exactly half that at 1.6wh/mile.

here are all the little changes i made to the bike, in many ways matching it to the acoustic road bike i've done the last 10k miles on. the weight of the bike with mounts, cages, but no phone or lights attached is 24.3lb.


specialized s-works romin with mirror saddle. the one the bike came with was terrible. i also changed the seat post because it was the easiest way to get the correct clamp for a carbon rail saddle :
View attachment 169241

at the rear of the saddle, using specialized's swat attachment point, a 3d-printed (i enjoy modeling and making misc bike bits) mount for the garmin varia :

View attachment 169247

with the varia :

View attachment 169246


one bottle cage, one piece carbon. but not the $$$ carbonwerks one i have on my aethos, this one is a few grams heavier and shinier lol.
View attachment 169242

shimano dura-ace cranks and speedplay nano (titanium) pedals:

View attachment 169243

4iiii precision 3 pro power meter on the crank. still waiting for the right side meter, but over many many many rides i know to within 1% what my leg balance is, and the meter corrects for that. these power meters are great, they transmit power and cadence to your computer or phone, super simple and reliable, battery lasts for thousands of miles, and this one also works with apple's find my!
View attachment 169244

dura-ace crankset on the right, 52/26 tooth. dura-ace/xtr hollow pin chain. 12 speed 11-34 dura ace cassette also.
View attachment 169245

replaced the bar and stem with scott's one piece creston sl combo. not as light as a roval alpinist, but an interesting design that preserves the fully internal cable routing. there are no exposed cables or hoses anywhere.
View attachment 169237

the most custom bit is this combined phone and light mount. it's two pieces - one on the knug light, which i had an liked, but didn't have a good mounting option for this bike. so i 3d printed a thin sleeve with a bracket that has a captive (black titanium lol) nut. it attaches to a small spline on another custom mount that attaches on the bottom to the two embedded sockets on the handlebar, and at the top an sp-connect iphone head.
View attachment 169240



here it is with both the phone (a 13 mini that i use just for riding) and light :
View attachment 169238

and as seen while riding :
View attachment 169239

Very happy to hear that you found your way back to some quality cycling without pissing off your heart.

Never tire of hearing these "ebike to the rescue" stories. An ebike that allows you to dial in just the right speed, exercise level, sweat output, heart rate, or knee strain is a wonderful thing — even when you're perfectly healthy.

Very sharp bike! Keep up these mods, and someone's going to think you're serious about bike technology.

 

[AvalancheRun]

I love seeing all of these little customizations and modifications. It takes dozens of hours to test, plan, and pull the trigger on this stuff. It's just great to have this info.
The Varia mount looks good, surprisingly. I'm normally not big on the Varia on the saddle, but that mount has kept it really compact so that it blends in well.

Curious to hear about comfort/compliance, and if I could bug you to share an audio clip of the motor?

Paint looks really nice too. Is it holding up well?

 

[Rás Cnoic]

That's what I call tweaking your ride! Amazing details. Now you've bedded it in, how are you finding this bike & hub motor compared to your former Creo?

How is it on the hills? Always the stated & much argued over issue with Hub v Mid drive. Having a small 26T inner ring must be a help. I always wondered why more Mahle X35/X20 bikes which have the luxury of a 2x set up but small hub motor didn't compensate by having small granny gear inner rings like the randonneurs of old.

That's a great (light) weight for such a mean looking machine btw.

Also, general note, is it my computer or this site that has such annoying predictive text correction so Creo switches to Crew and Mahle to Male! Drives me nuts.

 

[mschwett]

That's what I call tweaking your ride! Amazing details. Now you've bedded it in, how are you finding this bike & hub motor compared to your former Creo?

How is it on the hills? Always the stated & much argued over issue with Hub v Mid drive. Having a small 26T inner ring must be a help. I always wondered why more Mahle X35/X20 bikes which have the luxury of a 2x set up but small hub motor didn't compensate by having small granny gear inner rings like the randonneurs of old.

That's a great (light) weight for such a mean looking machine btw.

Also, general note, is it my computer or this site that has such annoying predictive text correction so Creo switches to Crew and Mahle to Male! Drives me nuts.

oops!!! that was a type on the chainring - it’s 52-36. i don’t think any modern road front derailleurs are designed for a much bigger gap than that.

i haven’t done any crazy hills yet - if my health continues to stabilize i’ll certainly try it on some of the +/- 1000m climbs around that i did without problem on my acoustic. i am 90% sure it’ll be fine. the longest climbs i’ve done so far are around 300m, with grades 8-10% for a while and short peaks of 15% or so. no issues for me BUT it is very true that the power and efficiency of the motor fall off quickly when the RPMs of the rear wheel get too low. i’d say as a very rough estimate that it will give you 100% at 10mph, 80% at 6mph, and maybe only 50% at 4mph. so there’s a bit of a death spiral there, you start slowing down because it’s steep, motor outputs drops … you slow down more. for me that means somewhere between a 10 and 15% grade, i have to start working too hard for my heart. sustained grades like that are very rare on paved roads in the states. but certainly not unheard of, especially in san francisco!

as far as the heat issues you hear about with hub drives and hills, i can’t imagine that’s an issue with this motor at these very low power levels.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Ha that’s funny. I was just out on a ride and while going up a hill found myself thinking about that 26T ring and how on Earth you’d managed to make that work. But I figured a man who can 3D print gizmos for his bike probably found a way!

That hill climb diagnostics sounds right. I guess having a 36T at least, is better then a 1x road set up. Plus the bike being so light will be a help. Especially in keeping everything under control as you climb.

 

[mschwett]

Ha that’s funny. I was just out on a ride and while going up a hill found myself thinking about that 26T ring and how on Earth you’d managed to make that work. But I figured a man who can 3D print gizmos for his bike probably found a way!

That hill climb diagnostics sounds right. I guess having a 36T at least, is better than a 1x road set up. Plus the bike being so light will be a help. Especially in keeping everything under control as you climb.

i think the gearing could be pushed a bit further - but nothing like what you can get with a gravel or mtb RD. 11-36 would work fine in the back, and there’s a 50-34 option for the front, so 1.06 vs .94, a little more than 10% easier. with a road link i wouldn’t be surprised if 11-40 worked, but at that point a different drivetrain is probably in order.

the thing is … the really low gearing helps you go slower, not faster, so while the human portion of the contribution is made more comfortable, the hub motor speed issues would not be. and there you have the hub-mid issue in a nutshell!

heart issues aside, i’m a pretty strong rider and not super heavy (180 + a 24 lb bike is a lot for a road rider but not in the bigger picture) but i have been working very hard to keep my exertion in a very narrow band. if things go OK medically, i’m guessing the riding envelope with this bike includes centuries with maybe 2000m of climbing or aggressive climb routes with 2000m in 80km.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

I was reading over Christmas a number of recent articles about the benefits of not riding to the limit, regardless of health issues. That it's better for everyone to ride within our own limits, do longer rides at a comfortable pace and build up slower. Here's 2 articles about it:

Why is everyone talking about Zone 2 training? Tadej Pogačar, or rather his coach, is responsible - here’s why

The cacophony of praise for Zone 2 training of late left Chris Sidwells scratching his head. So he decided to find out what all the fuss was about

www.cyclingweekly.com

How to boost your cycling fitness when you’re aged over 50

Check out tips for improving health and fitness as you get older from coach Joe Beer

road.cc

Of course given that my fitness levels mean I've been doing this comfortable riding for years I was feeling pretty smug reading these!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I was reading over Christmas a number of recent articles about the benefits of not riding to the limit, regardless of health issues. That it's better for everyone to ride within our own limits, do longer rides at a comfortable pace and build up slower. Here's 2 articles about it:

Why is everyone talking about Zone 2 training? Tadej Pogačar, or rather his coach, is responsible - here’s why

The cacophony of praise for Zone 2 training of late left Chris Sidwells scratching his head. So he decided to find out what all the fuss was about

www.cyclingweekly.com

How to boost your cycling fitness when you’re aged over 50

Check out tips for improving health and fitness as you get older from coach Joe Beer

road.cc

Of course given that my fitness levels mean I've been doing this comfortable riding for years I was feeling pretty smug reading these!

Still learning when to keep my mouth shut at 75. Now I have to do it on my bike, too??

Cool that ability to breath comfortably through your nose or talk in full sentences can be such useful benchmarks. The good news: With an ebike, you can vary assist to stay in the right zone in any terrain or headwind.

 

[mschwett]

I love seeing all of these little customizations and modifications. It takes dozens of hours to test, plan, and pull the trigger on this stuff. It's just great to have this info.
The Varia mount looks good, surprisingly. I'm normally not big on the Varia on the saddle, but that mount has kept it really compact so that it blends in well.

Curious to hear about comfort/compliance, and if I could bug you to share an audio clip of the motor?

Paint looks really nice too. Is it holding up well?

on the compliance front, i’d say it’s a bit better than a carbon creo except for the future shock, far better than an any aluminum e-bike i’ve ridden, but still nowhere near as smooth and floaty as the best carbon road bikes i’ve ridden. i liked the future shock for gravel, but found it not necessary for road, especially after i replaced the cockpit and saddle. i wouldn’t say it’s a huge point in favor or against either bike, but the scott probably has the edge for traditional road riding, even with the more aero seapost and fork.

what kind of audio clip? full power at high speed, full power at low speed (uphill), medium/typical power … ? it is completely inaudible much of the time, but higher power levels at low speed are clearly audible.

paint seems very durable but i haven’t dropped or banged or knocked into it yet. both my specialized bikes have matte or transparent finishes, which i think are quite a bit more delicate. my daughter’s sirrus has a more traditional gloss blue finish and seems very durable too.

 

[AvalancheRun]

on the compliance front, i’d say it’s a bit better than a carbon creo except for the future shock, far better than an any aluminum e-bike i’ve ridden, but still nowhere near as smooth and floaty as the best carbon road bikes i’ve ridden. i liked the future shock for gravel, but found it not necessary for road, especially after i replaced the cockpit and saddle. i wouldn’t say it’s a huge point in favor or against either bike, but the scott probably has the edge for traditional road riding, even with the more aero seapost and fork.

what kind of audio clip? full power at high speed, full power at low speed (uphill), medium/typical power … ? it is completely inaudible much of the time, but higher power levels at low speed are clearly audible.

paint seems very durable but i haven’t dropped or banged or knocked into it yet. both my specialized bikes have matte or transparent finishes, which i think are quite a bit more delicate. my daughter’s sirrus has a more traditional gloss blue finish and seems very durable too.

Sounds like a pretty sweet bike! I was just hoping to hear a few seconds of the motor at full bore, and a more typical level of assist. Really just a few seconds should do it.