A week ago I got a Specialized Turbo e-bike… http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/its-new-bike-day

I’ve now ridden 350km on it (plus another 100km on my fixie) and went a whole week without using my car. I’m really liking it so far. It’s doing exactly what I wanted it to do which is to make draggy hills & headwinds easier on my commute which it turn will allow me to ride to work most days (~90km round trip) rather than using my car most days.

I’m still getting plenty of exercise – anything over 25kph and there is no motor assistance so on the flat I am working quite hard (especially as the bike weighs approx 52lb + pannier). Uphill it lets me soft pedal at 24ish kph which leaves me far fresher at the end of the commute.

Range – I generally have about 30% charge left after 90km which I’m more than happy with. Charge time is excellent (approx 2.5hrs)

So far it’s definitely been a success. Will have to see how it goes through the winter 🙂

Heretic! 🙂

BURN HIM AND HIS EVIL BIKE (for that’s what the “e” stands for)

sounds like a success Simon – smooths out the rides so that you ride more often, which has to be a win.

Makes perfect sense for your commute Simon.
Glad you’re enjoying it.
And as Callum says, more riding can only be a good thing..

Simon, is this a UK bike or one of the faster US models? And how much climbing in your commute as well as time for the commute on a normal bike vs the e-bike. Interested in this.

Got to be tempted to get it de-restricted (or whatever the word is to get it fasterer)..

I really do think these things are going to start winning folk over, out of cars.

Let’s see how batteries do over winter and a good few Miles… 😈

Looks like a good call for that long commute, nice one.

Got to be tempted to get it de-restricted (or whatever the word is to get it fasterer)..

I understand the desire but I’m hoping that it gets difficult to do otherwise they may not be considered as bicycles and we might just get treated as other motorised traffic. I think they sound brilliant as every year the max length of ride I can manage gets shorter but this week fix that

Simon, is this a UK bike or one of the faster US models? And how much climbing in your commute as well as time for the commute on a normal bike vs the e-bike. Interested in this.

It’s a UK one so restricted to assistance up to 25kph.

There’s not a huge amount of climbing on my commute but after a day at work any draggy hill is energy sapping and it’s more uphill on the way home than it is on the way in.

Timewise it takes about the same on a normal bike as it does on the e-bike (1hr45m steady away) I can go a fair bit faster if I work really hard on a normal bike but then I’m too knackered to ride home so is pointless!

Sounds awesome, hope you write some more will be watching with interest. I prefer not to use a car 99% of the time, for any number of reasons, and would rather use a number of bicycles. Yet regular errands/trips across coastal valleys, A-road avoidance detours, mad hills etc – soon gets soul/knee/lung/destroying let alone time-prohibitive. Long-range e-assist is definitely planned for when funds allow and the Specialized is on the shortlist so really appreciate the review 😀

More power to your car-free life 💡

*Edit. You’ll get plenty of jibes from petrolheads who sling their 3k bike in the car and transport it to trails on Sundays 😉

There’s not a huge amount of climbing on my commute but after a day at work any draggy hill is energy sapping and it’s more uphill on the way home than it is on the way in.

Sounds like a slippery slope to me.

sounds perfect to me that Simon. fantastic idea, 1 less car off the roads.

and remember kids, cars are coffins,,,,,,,, 8)

A slippery slope to less car driving, more fitness and more money in my pocket?

I think I can live with that.

Just great that.
Perfect use and hey you have to put some effort in too.
Cool.

Interesting. I think it’s a brilliant use of an electric bike, might see if the local spec concept store has a demo. Reason I asked about time is that my commute via bike is 28 miles so roughly similar. Might have a gander at my strava and see where I drop below 15mph and how significantly below I am.

I also think the 45km/h limit is fair, seems to work in Switzerland where I understand they are growing in popularity. It’s not like it’s that hard to get up to 30 mph in a lot of places on a road bike anyway and they really would become very viable commute tools for a lot of people.

Sounds like a slippery slope to me.

I’d say it sounds like you need to learn how ebikes operate.

A slippery slope to less car driving, more fitness and more money in my pocket?

I think I can live with that.

exactly!

It’s not like it’s that hard to get up to 30 mph in a lot of places on a road bike anyway and they really would become very viable commute tools for a lot of people.

I’d challenge that! On the downy bits or on flat bit with a mamil onboard pretending to be Cavendish (for about 100 yards) maybe but consistent 30mph is dreamland for 99.9% of folk that swing their leg over a pushbike. 30mph is moped territory and they already exist. Also, for 30mph to be useful for commuting you would have to be doing it consistently – can you imagine the size of the battery!

Hmm fair point. But how do these spec bikes work if you derestrict them as they’re 45km/h in the U.S. arent they? My thinking was that on places where you’d be rolling along at 18 on a road bike you could easily get along at 25-30 with the same effort on a de-restricted e-bike.

Think there is a Swiss brand called stormer that is 45km/h with decent range. Doesn’t look quite as much like a normal bike as the spec but it’s not too bad.

Edit. Oops, not sure how I managed to post that again. Stupid phone!

It was stromer

http://www.stromerbike.com/en/int

Why the mention of mopeds? Last time I checked you didn’t need to pedal them to make them go.

Why the mention of mopeds? Last time I checked you didn’t need to pedal them to make them go.

You talking about me?

I’m very much pro ebikes, but ones (like yours and all those sold in the UK) that go push bike speeds – being able to go uphill at 30pmh is not push bike speeds. If that’s what you want to do a moped is probably the better tool as the pedalling element would be largely irrelevant.

Sounds good Simon, as Ton says, 1 less car on the road.

There are some good reasoned arguments on this thread. I’m going with Heretic, burn him.

I’ve always been a fan of ebikes for personal transportation so I’ll leave it at that.

but ones (like yours and all those sold in the UK) that go push bike speeds

Well mine is a fair chunk slower than me working hard on a road bike. I can ride my commute in a smidge over 1hr20m on my Tarmac (25mins faster than I can manage on my e-bike), would be nice if my e-bike allowed me to do that. I have no interest in doing 30mph uphill but the motor cutting out at 30-35kph rather than 25kph would make my commute a little bit nicer.

Yes, I can see that.

Have you worked out the cost per day fo a charge up ?

i always found myself struggling to keep up with my riding pals, whilst on the flat. they were probably tapping 17 mph out, and my kalkhoff cut out at 15 mph, i did not have the health or fitness to keep up then.
uphill was a different matter, as was downhill with a combines weight of 26 stones.

Cost per day for charge up is free as I’m doing it at work 😉