Wow...Don't put away your regular bike.

[StormTrooper2]

Over the weekend I experienced the strange feeling of getting back on my 2015 Trek Domane 4.5, a mid-level carbon bike with mostly Ultegra components. It felt like I was riding in sand with a brake dragging at some point in the rotation of the rear wheel. I got off the bike and checked it out...nothing wrong. The problem was ME. The Turbo is not my first e-bike, but it is far better in terms of seamless power and feel. I believe I've read that the Turbo has a torque sensor, crank speed sensor, and an accelerometer that can determine incline. Whatever is involved the Turbo has effectively de-tuned my legs - except for level riding (where the Turbo provides minimal assistance). To sum up what a Turbo feels like, I often say "It flattens the Earth". It also really helps overcome wind. I can maintain 20 mph on my Domane on the flat without wind. The Turbo allows me to maintain 20 mph all the time - when I should be calling my leg muscles to climb, overcome wind, or accelerate, the Turbo spoils me. The Turbo is programmed to offer a lot of assistance when it senses a lot of torque from the rider, but little speed of the crank or wheels (not sure which), making starting from rest one of the greatest benefits of an e-bike.

But...truth be told, it's made me a less fit rider in terms of strength and stamina. I still burn a ton of calories riding the Turbo 56 miles round trip commuting. I enjoy the ride and will continue riding the Turbo to work as often as possible. I will also ride my Domane at least twice a week, but not for distance. I've done a few 15-20 mile rides after work riding between Purcellville and Leesburg, pushing hard and getting my heart rate up.

The only way to get the same workout on the Turbo is to turn the assist down to about ECO 20. But but this means shortening the life of the battery instead of saving the charge cycles for riding to work. The light weight and nimble Domane is an outstanding ride, and very comfy.

 

[Marko]

This is why I ride mostly in eco30 and sometimes also in regen (that makes even the smallest uphills feel huge). I dont get your comment about eco shortening the battery life. Doesn't it do the opposite; you will have less charge cycles per distance travelled.

 

[opimax]

it seems , seems i say , that the assumption I read here is every time you charge it is a cycle which is not the case. The way I think 1 cycle is approximately (2) 1/2 charges or (4) 1/4 charges. Also in eco you are stressing your battery less even if you used the same total amount of electricity the battery wont heat up as much (and heat almost always = bad) .

 

[StormTrooper2]

I understand the principles of charging and battery life. Partial charges eventually add up to full charges. I meant to convey that if I want a strength workout I'll ride the Domane, and save the useful life of my battery, regardless of the myriad of factors that can increase or decrease it's life, for commuting - thus putting off the purchase of a new battery as long as possible. 90% of my riding on the Turbo is ECO 50. I ride 28 miles to work and arrive with about 40% charge remaining. For each round trip I'm probably requiring a full charge cycle, perhaps a little more.

 

[Marko]

it seems , seems i say , that the assumption I read here is every time you charge it is a cycle which is not the case. The way I think 1 cycle is approximately (2) 1/2 charges or (4) 1/4 charges. Also in eco you are stressing your battery less even if you used the same total amount of electricity the battery wont heat up as much (and heat almost always = bad) .

That is my understanding as well.

 

[StormTrooper2]

And it has been my understanding....the whole partial charge cycles principal applies to my phone, my rechargeable lights, etc. etc....all stuff I've owned for a lot longer than the Turbo.

Here's a simpler explanation. If I'm riding my Domane I won't later be charging my Turbo.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

So I took your advice and got back on my 1971 custom made Caylor road bike.

It is a vintage 1974 all-Campagnolo Nuovo Record racing bike with pat. 1971 Nuovo Record drivetrain (except the original Phil Wood bottom bracket still in use). It still uses the NR brakes and front derailleur, but now has a vintage Campagnolo Rallye wide ratio rear derailleur with a 6 sp. 14-32 rear freewheel and 42-52 front chainrings. The original 27" tubular rimmed wide flange wheels have been replaced with more modern 700x21c low flange wheels with Ultegra front hub and Phil Wood rear. The bike is 59cm with moustache bars, plug shifters and Cinelli Unicanitor seat. It is made out of Reynolds 531 double butted steel tubing. This bike was state of the art in the early 1970's (even through the late 1970's) and my bike of choice for years. I still have ALL of the original racing equipment for when I finally sell it on (Campagnolo NR rear derailleur, half-dozen 5 and 6 sp. freewheels of various ratios, additional 45T chainring, Cinelli drop bars and stem, frame mount shifters, all of the original shifter and brake cables, and Nuovo Record wide flange with Fiamme Red Label tubular rims with new tires.

I still love to ride this bike and got out today. What a joy, even though the ride was more work and the average speed was just around 13.5 mph. I still could cruise sections at 16-18 mph. Also, compared with my Specialized Turbo, this bike (which was considered stiff in 1971) rode so smoothly over the same bumps that jar the heck out of me on the Turbo. Even with skinny 700x21c tires at 110psi. Aside from the smoothness of the ride and the slower speed, what I noticed most was the difference between 170mm and 175mm cranks, the lower riding position on the old bike (not full drop however), and the infinitely superior brakes on the Turbo. Also, even though I use bar-end friction shifters instead of frame mounts, the shifting of the vintage Campy gear is excellent. However, having to double shift (both front and back) due to the wide ratio freewheel is a pain.

Any day you can ride is a good day!

 

[Tara D.]

Nice bike @Douglas Ruby , that is great that you still have all the original racing equipment to go with it as well!

 

[StormTrooper2]

@Douglas Ruby - Very cool vintage bike you have. I have a Bianchi Veloce steel bike with carbon fork (last year the bikes were made in Italy) with the Campy Veloce groupo. Compared to the Domane the Veloce is even more comfortable in the compliant springy way that only steel bikes feel. I appreciate the precise, accurate, and silent Shimano gear, but I think I prefer the mechanical and deliberate Campy shifting. It's very robust and positive. I like the snappy clicks of the campy shifters and "cha-chunk" punctuated shifts. Something cool and nostalgic about the riding experience. Agree that getting out for a ride on any of my bikes is a good day, and each rewards in its own way.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Here is a picture of this 1974 Caylor:

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[Allan47.7339]

Riding the Turbo for commuting makes weekend group rides fun again on the road bike. I can still make it to work on Monday even though my legs are toast. Nice vintage bicycle and the good foresight to keep all of the correct vintage parts as you've upgraded over the years.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

I don't ride my road bike often, but my daughter invited me to join her Outdoor Education group on a ride around Martha's Vineyard. She teaches at a local prep school, and coaches an "Outdoors" group in the Fall. They went camping in Falmouth on Friday night, and then took the ferry on Sat. AM to Martha's Vineyard. I drove down separately, stayed in a motel, and then joined them.

What a wonderful day. Total ride was 34 miles, 26 of which was a circuit around the island. Beautiful weather, gorgeous New England fall foliage, and I road my 1974 vintage bike. I had a great day and was able to keep pace with the kids, no problem. My only issue was that I was heads down at the 20 mile mark, riding at 17- 19 mph on the bike trail, when I saw a slow down sign for a sharp turn. Unfortunately it was too late. I ran off the trail, thru some bushes, and then did an endo, coming to rest head first, in a small pine tree, with my bike upside down hanging from some branches. Took a pretty good bang on my helmet and I am sore with some scrapes on my face from the branches I broke, and contusions on my bald pate from the helmet but no road rash. All ended up ok, but in over 50 yrs of riding, this was the first real crash I have ever had.

Aside from the crash, the rest of the day wwas great. After 1300 miles of ebiking this year, it is great to be in good enough shape to be able to ride this distance on my road bike.

 

[pietro carnovali]

Dear all,

my name is Pietro and I live in Milan, Italy. I am quite new in the e-bike world. Last day I came across this new company called BIKEE BIKE. They sell mid drive motors to install on any bikes, turning them into e bikes. Do know this brand or could you give me some recommendations?

Thanks very much for your availability

Best regards from Italy

Pietro

 

[J.R.]

Dear all,

my name is Pietro and I live in Milan, Italy. I am quite new in the e-bike world. Last day I came across this new company called BIKEE BIKE. They sell mid drive motors to install on any bikes, turning them into e bikes. Do know this brand or could you give me some recommendations?

Thanks very much for your availability

Best regards from Italy

Pietro

Hi Pietro and welcome!

The Bikee Bike system is a very interesting mid-drive and I've been interested in seeing it, since first reading about their Kickstarter earlier last summer. They raised nearly €150,000 and had plans to deliver in November, so at present there's nothing available to purchase, only pre-order.

At this point in time, I would wait to see the reviews in November or December from Gen1, to see if it's everything you want it to be. A lot of these Kickstarter startups have delays delivering due to logistics and manufacturing. My reason for mentioning that is, I don't know your time line for wanting to be on the road.

Are there any other ebikes or kits that interest you? Have you test ridden any ebikes? If you can provide more information for what you want and what you need, there might be more suggestions forthcoming.

Good luck.

 

[Ann M.]

@pietro carnovali , J.R. has some good points. A lot of good product have come from Kickstarter or other crowd funded campaigns; some work-some don't; some have support most don't. Delivery times, especially outside the US can be iffy estimates. Would you consider looking at some of the better known proven mid drive kits made by Bafang? e-RAD and Luna and others offer their own versions of these mid drive kits and lithium batteries that would work just fine. Some of the other Bafang kits that you see on Alibaba or eBay are older versions and may lack current upgrades like shift sensing, or with e-RAD new torque sensing. With companies like these you have people you can get on the phone or internet for help or if need be, for warranty service; not something that's always so easy to do with a crowd sourced product.

Test rides will help you figure out what works best for you. If you care to share a bit about what bike you are thinking of putting a kit on and what sort of riding you want to do--haul a lot of stuff, ride a lot of hills...we can help more. And welcome to EBR

 

[ROJA]

I am curious if others thing that ebiking helps fitness much. I think I'm getting a solid workout and I'm basically riding fairly hard, but for less time (given the assist). It means more time on the bike for me, which must be a good thing!

I really want to find a way to mount my iphone so I can see the power display from MissionControl (it supposedly shows both how much power the motor is putting out and how much power I'm putting out). That would be the best indicator of how hard I'm working! Does anyone use this functionality? It seems like it displays current power only (meaning that it doesn't give you any average power data or anything else after your ride, which makes it MUCH less useful than a regular power meter).

 

[J.R.]

I am curious if others thing that ebiking helps fitness much. I think I'm getting a solid workout and I'm basically riding fairly hard, but for less time (given the assist). It means more time on the bike for me, which must be a good thing!

I think you'll appreciate the data in this article.

http://electricbikereport.com/electric-bike-cheating/

 

[drcollie]

I really want to find a way to mount my iphone ..

Highly recommended and yes, you have to use their case - works really well.

https://www.rokform.com/iphone-handlebar-mount

 

[eagamer80]

As broke a spoke yesterday I took my old bike to go to work again. I just wanted to cut my balls off after running 11 kms. I just got off, paid for the bus and left the bike somewhere there with the hope it will get stolen.

 

[Jaladhi]

I am curious if others thing that ebiking helps fitness much. I think I'm getting a solid workout and I'm basically riding fairly hard, but for less time (given the assist). It means more time on the bike for me, which must be a good thing!

My experience has been similar to yours. For me, ebike has made it possible to ride 200 miles every week. I wouldn't have done that on a non-electric bike. So even if I'm using less effort while riding, overall, I'm exercising a lot more. I've lost a decent amount of weight since I started riding my ebike regularly. That is the only exercise I do. I'd however, like to find a way to accurately measure my daily calorie spend. I know that what I see on Strava is not accurate.