Long Range is a very subjective title, so I will try to nail that down first. Long Range on an e bike, for me, is having a bike with the capability to go the distance that I want to go in a single day, complete the mission at speed that I have set for the day, not have to compromise much to complete it and not worry too much about range anxiety. That seems simple enough. What works for me, does not necessarily work for you. What does not work for me, is having some e bike manufacturer, trying to convince me that my ideas of what long range are, is not realistic and what their offering is long range. You, might be able to purchase long range off the shelf right now, but its not available yet for me.
The number one issue that I have found is: You are first and foremost limited by the seat of you pants on the saddle. If your saddle does not measure up to your definition of long range then you are stuck in mud until you solve that issue. There is no point in spending on extended range if you butt cannot take it. Over and done with, end of story. That issue took me three agonizing years to solve. I finally found Infinity saddle and that solved the range issue.
Once the saddle issue was solved, I found I had two avenues. Approach one, in the range u to 70 mi (112Km), going light, slow and attention to rolling resistance issues or approach two, heavy with fast speeds or very long distance greater than 70 Mi (112 Km).
My experience with the first avenue was partially successful and would work for a lot of people. The whole idea is to make the bike roll easy and pedal easy at speeds up to about 14 mph (22 kph). The biggest improvement that I found was finding tires that roll exceptionally well. What you have to realize here, is that if you want to go about 13-15 mph (21-24 kph) and you can presently ride your bike at 11 mph (18kph) you are making up the difference with power. Say you want 15 mph (24kph) and you can ride without power at 11mph (18kph). The difference you have to make up is 4 mph (6.4 kph) with power. Now if you can improve rolling resistance so you can pedal that same bike at 13 mph (21 kph) you now only have to make up about 2 mph (3.2 kph). What you will find is that your range improves by a whopping 40% or so.
What I am saying is that at the slower speeds of e biking, you can improve the range dramatically by paying attention to details of how well the bike pedals and how well the bike rolls. Do not assume that because its and e bike, it does not matter. I really matters a lot for range at slower speeds. A pig with power is still a pig.
I was okay with approach one for a while but increasing range only opens more doors of opportunity and you start to realize that touring and the likes are just at your finger tips, but just out of reach due to time constraints. Well, just pile on the batteries right? Not so fast, the problem is its a bicycle, Not a motorcycle. Let's take the solution that Delfast came up with. Pile on a 3 Kwh battery and call it a day. The problem is the Delfast ended up NOT a bicycle no matter what the power the manufactures says it has. The minute you take a Defast on a bike path, you will hear " Ahhhh---Sonny, That there's a dirt bike not a bicycle, you can't ride it here." And you know what, they are right, it is not a bicycle any longer. The point is bicycles and bicycle components have weight limitations and run into handling difficulties rather quickly when you get a lot of battery range capacity on them.
My experience into the heavy side is that you have to pull all the stops out to still have a true bicycle in feel, looks and good handling. That means attention to rolling resistance, aerodynamics and weight. All are all important and nothing can be assumed. If it does not feel like a bicycle to me, then I am not done with the job, simple as that. I am getting close but I am still not really there. My bike is pretty nimble and handles well on pavement, but not so much on technical single track. Its a pig on tough single track but that is a compromise I am presently willing to live with for long range. I will continue to look for solutions.
On my present bike, I have played around with many options and explored the ranges with those configurations. My bike is a titanium fat bike frame with 150mm/197mm spacing, Bafang BBSHD 120mm mid drive. I have four 52 volt batteries in parallel for a total of 49 Ah or 2,538 Wh. Jones high rise loop bars, Lev dropper post, Infinity saddle, Sram GX 11 speed, 11X46 cassette, Liekie 42 tooth chainring and Guide brakes with 203mm rotors. Total weight with Axiom rear rack is 81.5 lbs 37 Kg. I have 15 amp fast charging.
I am finding that I can realistically pull about 2080 Wh out of the batteries with 29" tires and speeds of 16-20 mph (26-32 kph) on pavement or 1,980 Wh out at the same speed with fat tires on dirt.
Me and the bike with a day pack weight pretty close to 300 lb (136 Kg).
Speed of 20 mph (32kph) Flat pavement no wind room temperature is a range of about 175 miles (280 Km) with 29X2.25" G One tires.
Same with 10 mph headwind and range drops to 125 miles (200 Km)
Add in the head wind and 4,000 feet (1,212m) of climbing plus descending and the range drops to about 100 miles (160Km)
If I want the 100 miles (160Km) range on dirt with wind plus climbing and I have to back off the speed to about 15-16 Mph (24-26 kph)
In extreme situations of high head winds and lots of climbing, all bets are off and I would need to use extreme caution with plenty of range anxiety if I wanted 100 miles. I would be slow and putting plenty in from my own two legs like everyone else. I find to stay in the bicycle category, you can't have it all. In my opinion, that requires a jump to the motorcycle category.
I have not covered class three riding as that is really not consistent with my ideas of long range or the type of riding that I do. 25mph (40 kph) consumes much greater battery capacity and range can easily drop well under 100 miles (160Km), even on pavement. If I wanted to go that fast, a motorcycle is more appropriate but that is only my opinion.
All said and done the result feels like total freedom and wide open possibilities for travel. I am well pleased with the direction so far. Post probably to long. I have too much passion on the subject. Grin. I hope this helps somebody.
The number one issue that I have found is: You are first and foremost limited by the seat of you pants on the saddle. If your saddle does not measure up to your definition of long range then you are stuck in mud until you solve that issue. There is no point in spending on extended range if you butt cannot take it. Over and done with, end of story. That issue took me three agonizing years to solve. I finally found Infinity saddle and that solved the range issue.
Once the saddle issue was solved, I found I had two avenues. Approach one, in the range u to 70 mi (112Km), going light, slow and attention to rolling resistance issues or approach two, heavy with fast speeds or very long distance greater than 70 Mi (112 Km).
My experience with the first avenue was partially successful and would work for a lot of people. The whole idea is to make the bike roll easy and pedal easy at speeds up to about 14 mph (22 kph). The biggest improvement that I found was finding tires that roll exceptionally well. What you have to realize here, is that if you want to go about 13-15 mph (21-24 kph) and you can presently ride your bike at 11 mph (18kph) you are making up the difference with power. Say you want 15 mph (24kph) and you can ride without power at 11mph (18kph). The difference you have to make up is 4 mph (6.4 kph) with power. Now if you can improve rolling resistance so you can pedal that same bike at 13 mph (21 kph) you now only have to make up about 2 mph (3.2 kph). What you will find is that your range improves by a whopping 40% or so.
What I am saying is that at the slower speeds of e biking, you can improve the range dramatically by paying attention to details of how well the bike pedals and how well the bike rolls. Do not assume that because its and e bike, it does not matter. I really matters a lot for range at slower speeds. A pig with power is still a pig.
I was okay with approach one for a while but increasing range only opens more doors of opportunity and you start to realize that touring and the likes are just at your finger tips, but just out of reach due to time constraints. Well, just pile on the batteries right? Not so fast, the problem is its a bicycle, Not a motorcycle. Let's take the solution that Delfast came up with. Pile on a 3 Kwh battery and call it a day. The problem is the Delfast ended up NOT a bicycle no matter what the power the manufactures says it has. The minute you take a Defast on a bike path, you will hear " Ahhhh---Sonny, That there's a dirt bike not a bicycle, you can't ride it here." And you know what, they are right, it is not a bicycle any longer. The point is bicycles and bicycle components have weight limitations and run into handling difficulties rather quickly when you get a lot of battery range capacity on them.
My experience into the heavy side is that you have to pull all the stops out to still have a true bicycle in feel, looks and good handling. That means attention to rolling resistance, aerodynamics and weight. All are all important and nothing can be assumed. If it does not feel like a bicycle to me, then I am not done with the job, simple as that. I am getting close but I am still not really there. My bike is pretty nimble and handles well on pavement, but not so much on technical single track. Its a pig on tough single track but that is a compromise I am presently willing to live with for long range. I will continue to look for solutions.
On my present bike, I have played around with many options and explored the ranges with those configurations. My bike is a titanium fat bike frame with 150mm/197mm spacing, Bafang BBSHD 120mm mid drive. I have four 52 volt batteries in parallel for a total of 49 Ah or 2,538 Wh. Jones high rise loop bars, Lev dropper post, Infinity saddle, Sram GX 11 speed, 11X46 cassette, Liekie 42 tooth chainring and Guide brakes with 203mm rotors. Total weight with Axiom rear rack is 81.5 lbs 37 Kg. I have 15 amp fast charging.
I am finding that I can realistically pull about 2080 Wh out of the batteries with 29" tires and speeds of 16-20 mph (26-32 kph) on pavement or 1,980 Wh out at the same speed with fat tires on dirt.
Me and the bike with a day pack weight pretty close to 300 lb (136 Kg).
Speed of 20 mph (32kph) Flat pavement no wind room temperature is a range of about 175 miles (280 Km) with 29X2.25" G One tires.
Same with 10 mph headwind and range drops to 125 miles (200 Km)
Add in the head wind and 4,000 feet (1,212m) of climbing plus descending and the range drops to about 100 miles (160Km)
If I want the 100 miles (160Km) range on dirt with wind plus climbing and I have to back off the speed to about 15-16 Mph (24-26 kph)
In extreme situations of high head winds and lots of climbing, all bets are off and I would need to use extreme caution with plenty of range anxiety if I wanted 100 miles. I would be slow and putting plenty in from my own two legs like everyone else. I find to stay in the bicycle category, you can't have it all. In my opinion, that requires a jump to the motorcycle category.
I have not covered class three riding as that is really not consistent with my ideas of long range or the type of riding that I do. 25mph (40 kph) consumes much greater battery capacity and range can easily drop well under 100 miles (160Km), even on pavement. If I wanted to go that fast, a motorcycle is more appropriate but that is only my opinion.
All said and done the result feels like total freedom and wide open possibilities for travel. I am well pleased with the direction so far. Post probably to long. I have too much passion on the subject. Grin. I hope this helps somebody.
