Cool fish, I've never ridden out by Grand Junction ... but if I ever get to ride on the Western slope again I think I've got a better tool.
I just completed my 2nd ebike build. I wanted something more efficient and comfy for longer distance road work, so I started with my almost 20 year old Surly CrossCheck 700c road/gravel bike and added essentially the same kit from Grin (SX motor, Baserunner, CA3) only in a rear hub config vs. my front hub Bridge Club build. I came very close to a pulling the trigger on a mid drive configuration (TSD or CYC lite), but in the end compatibility (spares) and a labour day sale at Grin helped me with the decision.
Now the original BC based ebike is really focused on commuting/grocery and rougher path setup for all weather conditions (bigger tires, fenders, rack, panniers, etc. all stay on the bike). The CrossCheck becomes my fair weather longer distance ride (as it always has been ... only now with some assist). It's lighter at 23lbs before adding the kit, so under 40lbs all up - the BC as an ebike is ~46 but actually over 55 as normally ridden with all extras. It's also more comfortable over long distances, has better higher speed gearing (30/42/52 with a 12-25 rear) and overall just a bit more efficient. My goal is to be able to do over 100k rides using ~600w and not feeling like I've gone 10 rounds.
I've not been doing longer distance riding (anything over 50k) for a few months because of a bad back so my conditioning is down from my early summer levels but I decided to take the upgraded CC out for a maiden cruise (after a few sub 20k neighbourhood shake down rides to make sure I properly tightened everything) and the results pleasantly surprised me. The ride was just over 60k on road with a bunch of small - medium hills. I watched the performance over 50k (first/last 5k was in town on slower speed paths with lots of distractions).
Avg speed over 50k - 27.5k/17mph (this is where my current lack of conditioning really showed). Despite my conditioning this is up about 10% from the BC over the same route under the same conditions. I think 30+kph avg speeds over 50-100k are easily within reach.
Total climbing - 700m/2300'
Watts - ~450 used over the total 60k (7.5wh/km or 12wh/m) ... it was right around 7wh/km for the fast 50k section. I'm shooting for 6wh/km when on the road ... either that or I also need to look into a 800-900w battery
. In the mean time I'm leaning more on better conditioning and better aerodynamics (I'm considering going back to drop bars on the CC) which are easier on the budget compared to a new battery.
One difference compared to the BC that was apparent right away was hill climbing. I found it easier to a) attack the hills at a higher speed and b) maintain a higher avg speed while climbing. This really helped the SX hub motor stay in a more efficient range. In this case it was only over a series of smaller hills but I'm soon going to try out some 500-1000' climbs and see if I can keep the motor in that better range (and keep the temps down too).
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread. I appreciate your numbers and experiences, and I'm always interested in the similarities.
I just completed my 2nd ebike build. I wanted something more efficient and comfy for longer distance road work, so I started with my almost 20 year old Surly CrossCheck 700c road/gravel bike and added essentially the same kit from Grin (SX motor, Baserunner, CA3) only in a rear hub config vs. my front hub Bridge Club build. I came very close to a pulling the trigger on a mid drive configuration (TSD or CYC lite), but in the end compatibility (spares) and a labour day sale at Grin helped me with the decision.
Now the original BC based ebike is really focused on commuting/grocery and rougher path setup for all weather conditions (bigger tires, fenders, rack, panniers, etc. all stay on the bike). The CrossCheck becomes my fair weather longer distance ride (as it always has been ... only now with some assist). It's lighter at 23lbs before adding the kit, so under 40lbs all up - the BC as an ebike is ~46 but actually over 55 as normally ridden with all extras. It's also more comfortable over long distances, has better higher speed gearing (30/42/52 with a 12-25 rear) and overall just a bit more efficient. My goal is to be able to do over 100k rides using ~600w and not feeling like I've gone 10 rounds.
I've not been doing longer distance riding (anything over 50k) for a few months because of a bad back so my conditioning is down from my early summer levels but I decided to take the upgraded CC out for a maiden cruise (after a few sub 20k neighbourhood shake down rides to make sure I properly tightened everything) and the results pleasantly surprised me. The ride was just over 60k on road with a bunch of small - medium hills. I watched the performance over 50k (first/last 5k was in town on slower speed paths with lots of distractions).
Avg speed over 50k - 27.5k/17mph (this is where my current lack of conditioning really showed). Despite my conditioning this is up about 10% from the BC over the same route under the same conditions. I think 30+kph avg speeds over 50-100k are easily within reach.
Total climbing - 700m/2300'
Watts - ~450 used over the total 60k (7.5wh/km or 12wh/m) ... it was right around 7wh/km for the fast 50k section. I'm shooting for 6wh/km when on the road ... either that or I also need to look into a 800-900w battery
. In the mean time I'm leaning more on better conditioning and better aerodynamics (I'm considering going back to drop bars on the CC) which are easier on the budget compared to a new battery.One difference compared to the BC that was apparent right away was hill climbing. I found it easier to a) attack the hills at a higher speed and b) maintain a higher avg speed while climbing. This really helped the SX hub motor stay in a more efficient range. In this case it was only over a series of smaller hills but I'm soon going to try out some 500-1000' climbs and see if I can keep the motor in that better range (and keep the temps down too).
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread. I appreciate your numbers and experiences, and I'm always interested in the similarities.
