Need a road bike for high-mileage knees.

[GingerBiscuit]

My normal ride is a Trek Madone, but sadly it has weathered the miles more gracefully than my newly reconditioned knees. Post-surgery, I just can't make it up the hills anymore. My doc assures me this is temporary, but "temporary" can mean "up to two years" for the drubbing my right knee in particular has taken.

I've been looking for the road-bike-est electric bike that I can find: drop handlebars, no need for a rack, etc. My difficulty here seems to be that these sorts of bikes tend to be on the lower-wattage side, and for a few months at least, I'm going to need a lot of help with the pedals. I know the bigger battery and motor are gonna weigh seriously more, and I am ok with lots of weight, but I'm definitely looking for drop bars and a more road-bike-like geometry.

I hate to say price isn't an issue, but honestly, as compared to knee surgery, even the spendiest bike isn't looking too bad.

Advice for a high-wattage road bike for a road cyclist with high-mileage knees?

 

[rich c]

Why high wattage? I ride Haibikes with speed version Bosch performance motors with a nominal rating of 350w. I usually cruise at 20-22 mph. At the highest level of assist I climb some really steep hills and don't get below 10mph.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

The 2020 Giant Road E+ Pro? I can’t say I’m in love with the smaller battery they’re doing these days, but the delivery of power by that Yamaha motor Is just outstanding, as smooth as can possibly be... and I see they support cadence to 170 now as well. It’s a Class 3 as well, supports up to 28 mph assistance. Giant makes a damn good ebike.

 

[GingerBiscuit]

Why high wattage? I ride Haibikes with speed version Bosch performance motors with a nominal rating of 350w. I usually cruise at 20-22 mph. At the highest level of assist I climb some really steep hills and don't get below 10mph.

Hey Rich -- I have to admit, I haven't ridden many e-bikes to be know what they can do. Steep hills are exactly what I'm worried about; I can sometimes plan to ride around them, but I've got a monster near my house that's an 8-9% grade for a bit, and I can't climb out of the saddle at the moment. But if a 350W bike can keep me from walking up a hill, that's good enough for me!

 

[pmcdonald]

Bianchi Impulso?

Bianchi Impulso e-road

You can have your cake and eat it. The Bianchi Impulso e-Road delivers the best-performing motor system we’ve yet encountered, in a package that’s light enough to ride without power. If you’ve been torn between a lightweight road e-bike with a less powerful motor, or a heavy bike with a standard...

ebiketips.road.cc

No idea what their motor is like but on paper it seems formidable.

Giant is a good call. They're efficient systems so you should see better milage than the alternatives.

 

[Deacon Blues]

If I lived in the States and wanted a powerful e-road bike I'd seriously look at this bike: https://www.bullsbikesusa.com/desert-falcon-evo.html

 

[Katysax]

You might be surprised by how much assistance you would get from a Specialized Creo. I ride a Como that weighs about 60 lbs, and I’m generally a terrible climber. At 60% assist I can climb a local mountain without much struggle. A Creo supposedly has 50% of the power of the Como but half the weight. My knees and hips are pretty messed up and I’ve been climbing a lot lately on my Como and no ill effects. It’s had me thinking that the Creo would be e nough power at the light weight.

 

[Katysax]

I’ll add that my partner who is a stronger rider than I just got a Como too. We climbed a mountain this morning and she only used 20% assistance and sailed up the hill. I think she’d use just a little of what the Creo offers and still reduce knee stress.

 

[FlatSix911]

My normal ride is a Trek Madone, but sadly it has weathered the miles more gracefully than my newly reconditioned knees. Post-surgery, I just can't make it up the hills anymore. My doc assures me this is temporary, but "temporary" can mean "up to two years" for the drubbing my right knee in particular has taken.

I've been looking for the road-bike-est electric bike that I can find: drop handlebars, no need for a rack, etc. My difficulty here seems to be that these sorts of bikes tend to be on the lower-wattage side, and for a few months at least, I'm going to need a lot of help with the pedals. I know the bigger battery and motor are gonna weigh seriously more, and I am ok with lots of weight, but I'm definitely looking for drop bars and a more road-bike-like geometry.

I hate to say price isn't an issue, but honestly, as compared to knee surgery, even the spendiest bike isn't looking too bad.

Advice for a high-wattage road bike for a road cyclist with high-mileage knees?

Based on your requirements, here are a few options from Wilier and Pinarello with road bike geometry.

eRoad | Competitive Cyclist

Find a wide range of eRoad bikes at Competitivecyclist.com.

www.competitivecyclist.com

 

[Sierratim]

I, too, went through knee replacement surgery. It's been 3+ years now. Glad I did it but the recovery did take awhile. Having ridden regularly before surgery my recovery was faster as I'm guessing yours will be. I was able to start using our recumbent exercise bike at ~1 month and slowly built up flexability from there while keeping leg strength from dropping too much. I was cycling again before 4 mos without too much difficulty. I did limit early rides to easier trails on our mech bikes. At 1 year I was what the doc called fully functional.

I agree with all the bike recommendations here but would add that test rides are wonderful, esp if you can borrow a bike to ride up your steepest hills. As others have said, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the climbing ability of the nominal 250-350W mid-drive systems. Their peak power output often exceeds 2x's their nominal ratings. For climbing motor torque is more important than power rating. Modern mid-drives are competitive with much higher wattage rated hub drive motors in this regard.

Have fun shopping. Let us know how it's going and Ride On!

 

[Captain Slow]

Ginger sorry to hear about your knees. You shouldn't apologize for being able to afford a lot for a bike. You've obviously worked hard and set aside money, no shame in that. I understand it can sound like bragging, but in this context it's not.

Anyhow if you're currently on a Trek Madone I'm surprised no one has suggested you stay within the Trek family. I think the Domane is the obvious choice and assuming you are in the US you have two options. You can get the Domane+ HP which is the more powerful version with a Bosch motor that has 75nm of torque and I think it's a 500 watt motor. You can add a second battery for serious range at speed.

If you want something more like your current Madone then the Domane+ LT is a lightweight electric bike with the Fazua system that is less powerful, no external battery support though you can carry extra batteries in a backpack, stop and swap them in.

The other suggestions are good as well.

I have a Specialized Creo and it's been a good bike, though ironically my experience with it shows maybe I should not have bought it. Nothing to do with the bike but more my unique circumstances. One group I ride with is slower and thus the motor is not needed. With the faster group, I generally find that the 32 km/hr. speed limit is a bit low and when they take off on the flats and hammer they're way faster than 32 km/hr. and then I'm just riding a significantly heavier bike. But it was only one time and then lockdown hit and I haven't ridden with them since.