Moving to a regular bike from e-bike

[DanRichman]

Forgive me if this has been addressed (and tell me where).

I adore my R&M Supercharger and for two years have had great adventures with it. Yet I have problems when bikecamping finding a place to plug in every night, as most primitive campsites lack any electricity.

I don't like having to spend every night where there's power. And in any case I would like to travel under my own steam, just for the psychological satisfaction.

So -- I would like to transition to a regular bike. High end, rugged, with fenders and lights, maybe with Pinion or Rohloff gearing. I used to ride a regular bike -- quite a lot, in fact --but I hated being a weight weenie and I've always sucked at climbing, even after a season of cycling and strenuous efforts to improve.

I've been riding my e-bike in the lowest power level and refraining where possible from downshifting, all to build up my legs. (I just can't bring myself to turn the engine off completely. It's too hard.)

I already know about fast charging, carrying extra batteries, etc. That's not the question.

Has anyone like me made the switch who wants to share his or her experience and advice?

 

[christob]

No official switch here -- but I'd say perhaps my only advice is, it doesn't have to be a 100% switch, either/or consideration.
I just decided to start alternating my rides on the ebike with rides on a pedal bike I owned (but had not ridden in eons)... Particularly after, like you, I reached the point where nearly all of my ebike rides stay in the lowest assist setting, and occasionally the no-assist setting.
So, not quite every-other-ride I switch bikes; depends on the objective (the ebike remains my choice for daily office commuting -- if and when we get to return to the office, that is! - and would be my go-to choice for shopping treks), the hilliness of the route, windiness, and the ride time available.
(Note, I haven't attempted bikecamping before, so my mixing in a pedal bike routinely, probably doesn't quite relate to your stated goal of a bike dedicated for camping rides!)

 

[indianajo]

Well, no, but I gave up driving a car age 58. Lost 60 lb, 50 points of chloresterol, rest pulse down from 84 to 66 (summers). I still can rent a truck for furniture, lumber, big projects.
I ride the ebike power off 90% of the time, to keep my legs & lungs in shape. The power is for days when a 25 mph headwind would extend my commute from 3.5 to 6 hours, or I'm planning >25 miles. I also use the motor to whiz across 6 lane intersections on a 6 second green light. So not using the power at all would not be a big problem. My geared hub motor doesn't drag unpowered, which was important to me. 12 extra pounds, whoopie. I carry 60-80 lb of supplies sometimes out to my summer camp, in the uphill direction.
You can't turn an R&M supercharger motor off because it is a Bosch, which means you drag the motor with your feet power off. I saw that going in & refused to buy a bosch, even though the bike shown left I did buy unpowered came powered by bosch in 2017.
Men that work really hard sometimes last over 100 years. Think Japanese farmers without a pension. The average male lifespan is 70 years, and I'm there already. I'm having too much fun to stop. The Sussex bike club of 70-80 year olds that ride 4x a week 40-60 miles, have the same # of T cells (repair) as 29 year olds. (bbcnews.com) Wear out your muscles, the body will repair them. Maybe repair some other things. Sit around, as my Father did, out go the lights at 78. My father's brain was toast the last 6 years, no short term memory. He hated that life. Dementia is negatively correlated with aerobic exercise.
UK med service said 80 year olds who are otherwise healthy can build muscle mass and endurance with a regular exercise program. I improved massively after I was diagnosed with diabetes & high blood pressure age 58. Cancer is a dice game, but more repair cells looking for trouble can't hurt that disease, either.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I hear you.

Probably it is best to just go and set modest goals and start with shorter trips. On e-tour I seem to cover just short of twice the daily mileage than I would on an acoustic bike.

One observation I have is that a Bosch-equipped e-bike has a lot of drag, and I find that running a R&M bike in Eco or Tour on gentle terrain ends up feeling a lot like riding an awkwardly balanced acoustic bike.

 

[TOOSLOW]

I will never, ever, go back to a non-electric bicycle. These things are way to much fun. Did I say never?

 

[Solom01]

Maybe try something like an Orbea Gain or Specialized Creo? They're quite light unlike R & Ms and other ebikes and ride like real bikes. Their batteries aren't meant to be used continiously but as a help when you really need a bit of help, so it's a great tool to get back to regular cycling with the security of knowing that you can count on a bit of help when you really need it.

 

[dmark]

I would buy some used bikes to see if I genuinely wanted to switch back. If you always sucked at climbing, imagine climbing with camping gear.

Once you are committed to a big purchase, Van Nicholas ticks all your boxes, but it would probably be cheaper to get a Lynskey and mod it to your specifications.

 

[indianajo]

but I hated being a weight weenie and I've always sucked at climbing, even after a season of cycling and strenuous efforts to improve.

All the serious bikers that whiz past me refuse to wave at me because I'm so slow. My posture is wrong. Also I wear the wrong clothes. My bike is for girls, too. When it comes to competitive riding, I'm a loser.
But I can climb 100' of 15% grade with 60 lb groceries in 32:32 at 1 mph even if the SUV's behind me are sitting on their horns. Not in April when I'm still out of shape, but in late May without stopping.And when I parked the car in 2008 I was riding 6 miles, but by the end of the summer I was up to 20.
Competition can make one feel inadequate. I don't do it. I compare myself to myself last month or last year. With that as a baseline, I can improve. If I competed against others, I would always lose, and sit in a chair all day like my Father. Who had the stroke age 72.
BTW I weigh 165 in the middle of summer, the bike is 75 lb light, total 320 lb with groceries or 5 gal weed killer. I'm no goliath, but I can get where I want to go without electricity if I work at it. The one thing I excell at, I don't sweat much. So I'm comfortable standing still in the middle lf the hill catching my breath in April. What a geared hub motor & battery buys me is no more 6 hour days at pulse 140 all 26 miles. I don't need that much exercise.

 

[Mike_V]

Hi Dan,
Yes, I bought one, and the pedaling is "too much" so it's getting a motor kit ASAP

What If:
There were a tiny (personal?) bespoke space age DC(?) 'gen set', maybe a micro turbine run on bottle gas.
Mike

 

[sc00ter]

My regular bike was a homemade swing bike. I gave it to a kid who was fascinated with it after I purchased my ebike. I'm now finding that I actually rode the swing bike more than the ebike I currently own. My wife has zero interest in an ebike, and I dont enjoy going on a ride on the ebike while shes on her beach cruiser. I use the ebike for commuting but the 14miles each way just takes to long when coming home at night. I found new, factory made swing bikes and I may actually pull the trigger. If I get another swing bike there is a good chance my ebike will be going up for sale. I have 3 motor scooters that do everything I need. Plus I could always do a front wheel conversion on my regular bike if needed.

 

[steve mercier]

I switch to the Acoustic bike in Winter here at the 49th parallel because I find the Ebike is tricky to ride in ice and snow and when it is cold I am happy to get my excercise in 60-90 mins instead of taking 3-4 hours in Turbo. The limited travel range makes the Acoustic bike boring in Spring through Fall , while the Ebike can take me just about anywhere I fancy.

 

[Captain Slow]

I have always ridden my non-powered bikes even after the purchase of electric bikes. So I wouldn't say I ever switched completely to electric so I can't really switch back.

My mountain bike doesn't have a motor and I also ride a road bike without a motor. I don't have problems switching from power to unpowered.

 

[Chancelucky2]

Assuming you have room for both, I'd keep the e-bike. I use my e-bike the majority of time, but still ride my traditional bikes for various reasons; I find that both kinds of bikes have their uses. The e-bike is great for riding with much faster riding companions, long hilly day trips, etc. I use the traditional bike to ride with friends my age, short casual rides, iffier weather, etc.

 

[steve marino]

I had a 10 mile ride into town in the last city I lived in that featured almost no bike lanes or even road shoulders, so I bought a $98 Walmart bike to hoist onto the buses to get me into town. Absolutely loved it! Can't remember the model, but it was smooth and pretty light. It had been a long time since I owned a pedal only bike, and wow, was it easy to pedal compared to the eBike, and quite quick. Much, much easier to hoist onto a bus rack too. Of course, on these bikes you have to redo all the things the Walmart employees did wrong, lube the bottom end and steering tube, etc, but that stuff takes no time.

The downsides were grades, which simply required shifting down and going slower, headwinds, and picking up groceries. Headwinds were the worst, as New Mexico could get windy. It was a stress reliever because even w/ a crappy $15 lock nobody wanted to steal a lowly Walmart bike. If they only knew....it was a fun bike to ride! If you have the option to have a pedal bike as well as an eBike, keep 'em both. Horses for courses.

 

[E-Wheels]

I have always ridden my non-powered bikes even after the purchase of electric bikes. So I wouldn't say I ever switched completely to electric so I can't really switch back.

My mountain bike doesn't have a motor and I also ride a road bike without a motor. I don't have problems switching from power to unpowered.

I do something similar
I use my ebike to commute during the week and ride my manual bike mostly on the weekend