Question about SDURO/Yamaha engine

[necroticist]

I'm currently considering getting a SDURO HardSeven SL, but having never had a chance to ride one, I have some doubts whether I'm going to get what I want out of it. See, I don't necessarily want my rides to be easier; I want them to be longer.

On a normal mountain bike I can ride about 80 to 100 km and the end is generally a struggle. So I've been thinking that with the assistance that an ebike provides I'm not going to get tired as quickly, meaning that I could theoretically extend my rides.

The issue, though, is that the battery is likely to run out if I ride more than 100 km. So I'm wondering what happens then: does the engine have any sort of drag when it's off? That is, will it actually be harder at that point to pedal than it would be on a normal bike?

 

[pxpaulx]

My wife has the Sduro hardlife SL (women's equivalent), and I'm actually getting the hardseven sl myself (crossing my fingers for this week, it had to be ordered from Haibike's US distributor).

The default listed range for the battery in eco mode (that is the 2nd of 4 levels of assist) is about 60 miles, in eco plus it is 80 - it goes to 40 or so in standard and 25-30 in high. If you plan on pedaling as hard as you would and are looking for that little extra boost, 80-100kms (50-65 miles) should not be an issue. In regards to pedaling, there is no additional resistance when the battery is drained, you're are just pedaling a 50lb bike which takes extra work. I believe it is mainly direct drive hub motors that have any sort of real resistance when the motor is off.

If you're fit, weigh less than 200lbs and actively pedal intending to use the lowest assist modes, 80 miles on this bike shouldn't be a problem.

If you can already ride 80-100 on a regular bike, a 2nd battery might get you doubling that distance.

 

[eoghan]

The motor does not have a significant drag when the power is off but the extra weight is noticeable and requires more effort to cycle without power.

The eco plus mode is similar to riding a non powered bike, so I would not justify my purchase based on that, you would need to base it on useing eco or higher, probably higher. The quoted distance capacities are based on riding on a hard flat surface or best case so that probably does not match your riding pattern.

 

[pxpaulx]

I think I agree on the eco plus - it isn't much more power than negating the weight of the bike itself.

 

[necroticist]

I'm not too worried about the weight of the bike itself. I used to do long rides on a DH bike which weighed about 18 kg, so not much lighter than a HardSeven. It's just that you're generally going to run out of power at the very end of the ride, when you're most tired, so every bit of extra effort needed at that point is likely be felt.

 

[Neal]

I have a downhill bike and consider my Haibike easier to pedal even while turned off. They weight close to the same, but my Haibike is more efficient when it comes to regular riding.

 

[necroticist]

So I ended up getting the 2015 model HardSeven SL (which doesn't have the Eco Plus mode, and only has 9 gears) because I got a good deal on it.

Riding in southern Finland (where there are no significant climbs, but it is fairly wavy) in moderate wind my fully charged battery died after 80 km of riding in a combination of Eco and Std (with the latter being used mostly on steeper sections). This was rather disappointing, as I was expecting significantly more in these conditions.

Now when it comes to pedaling with the engine off, it's not a lot harder than on a heavy DH bike, but the limited number of gears also affects the subjective impression over longer distances - you can't be as efficient as you would on a bike with more gears, meaning that you are likely get more tired (at least until you can adjust your riding style).

 

[pxpaulx]

@necroticist you could always add a double chain ring up front to get some easier gearing to tackle having that 9 gear range on the cassette.