With a longish 16 – 20 mile commute, I only really do it once or twice a week

Theoretically an e Bike would make it a bit quicker, take the sting out of the climbs and I’d ride much more often

So – what are real life experiences . Do people end up riding a lot more or am I deluded?!!?

Thanks

Get one, you won’t look back.
I’m doing loads more riding, e-bike and regular bikes now

I ride more since I’ve had mine.
I wouldn’t bother with a road bike tho, as I feel the extra weight and restricted speed are not good bedfellows. (15.5mph isn’t quick on a road bike)
In case you were considering it, chipping an Ebike doesn’t actually improve it.
A FS, hardtail, or fully rigid mtb make great ebikes though.

How much of your ride is spent below 16mph i.e. Climbing? You’ll only really see the benefit on the climbs as you’ll be above the cut off at all other times. Obviously it’ll help when getting away from lights etc but that doesn’t normally take a huge amount of effort.

I’d go for one of the lightweight models, like the orbea gain or Ribble e bike, they’re only a few kg heavier than a standard road/gravel bike so will feel fairly normal once you’re above the assistance.

I thought about it for a 10 mile commute with a 600ft climb but decided against it, as it turns out I’d only gain 5-10 minutes as the 600ft climb takes me 16 minutes on my regular bike, the rest is downhill or flat, 45 minutes total. I’ve been able to ride in 4 days a week without much issue. Any longer though and I’d definitely consider it.

ta11pau1 – those are the 2 that caught my eye, although Orbea and Ribble also do gravel bike options

and your thinking is about where I am too – I currently have 15 mile commute with 950 feet of climbing, average around 15mph. 1 biggish hill (up on way in, down on way home), about 4 or 5 smaller ones. I don’t think time saving would be that great but psychologically maybe

Advice on another thread suggests long commutes on ebikes will allow you to stay in low HR zones all the way, commute more often, but still be fresh to go out and smash it on the weekend.

The Orbea Gains look lovely – could be tempted.

Free accessories offer at Cycle Republic on the Orbea e-bikes, plus don’t you get British Cycling discount there too?

Advice on another thread suggests long commutes on ebikes will allow you to stay in low HR zones all the way, commute more often, but still be fresh to go out and smash it on the weekend.

That’ll only be the case on climbs though, on the flat any road or gravel bike will be well above the assistance level so you’ll basically be pushing a 2-3kg heavier bike long at 20mph.

Unless of course you sit just below 15mph on the flat sections and take your time, but 20mph is very easy to sit at on a road bike with not too much effort.

I converted my commuter for a seven mile commute with 1000ft of climbing to work across town. Saves 10 minutes on the way in with the climb. Nothing on the downhill return.

Unless you are doing a lot of climbing it will save no significant time and only reduces effort if you ride under 15 mph.

Not sure where you are OP, but Ribble have an EBike demo taking place this weekend in Warrington.

More info here

Personally id look at an e-mtb if your just riding to and from work a couple of times a week, that way you can also use it for off road fun

I used to commute 100 miles a week to and from work, in all weathers so averaged around 5000 miles a year on my road bike

Change of job means its no longer possible (no showers)

Now do a mix of driving and using the e-mtb, on the e-mtb i can arrive in my work clothes sweat free or take my mtb clothes and go for a ride after work

Any e-bike will be restricted to 15.5mph so if you average higher than that you will be pedaling a bike with no motor assistance, of course there are ways around the restriction if you wish to de restrict but you will use more battery power and its not legal

I tried to think this through riding home last night

– about 12 minutes gradual climb at 11 – 14mph ish
– 2 mins or so steepish climb 7 / 8 mph
– down then flat 10 ish mins
– gradual climb 3 / 4 mins 10 – 12 mph ish
– undulating with more up than down, 4 short steep bits, for about 20 mins
– pretty flat for 10 mins

so although I average about 14mph I think I am well over that 25% of the time and below it 75% of the time

dodgy calc – no benefit for 15 mins
20% (?) ish benefit for 45 mins – 9 mins?

so about 9 mins time saving over an hour or so?

Just a counterpoint.

If you did ride it every day you’d be a lot fitter and able to average much more than 15mph!

I ride 26miles each way to work when I get the opportunity (tbh not too often). I think if I were to get an e-bike to commute it would be an MTB. Reasons being:
1) Better puncture resistance
2) The speed comes from the motor not an aero tuck, so why bother.
3) More versatile. Road bikes are a one trick pony designed to go as fast as possible with 1/2 horsepower and some uci rules (see 2).
4) I’d feel like a tit wearing full waterproofs and over trousers on a road bike.
5) as an extension of 4, if it was only for nice days why bother with an e-bike, in the UK we get plenty of ‘recovery days’ 😂

Any e-bike will be restricted to 15.5mph so if you average higher than that you will be pedaling a bike with no motor assistance,

Not strictly true, if you put it on max assistance (or just pedalled fast all the time) you create a minimum speed of 15.5. Assuming you have a bike like the ribble or oreba where the battery and motor aren’t much bigger than a couple of full water bottles then you can still ride them normally on the flats and downhills you just never (unless it’s steep and you stop doing your share entirely) drop below 15.5 on the climbs.

Must admit I was thinking more a ‘gravel’ bike. I’d then be tempted to take the longer off road route home (in theory….)

I have an Orbea Gain, just the basic one (it was about another £700 for the 105 version, yet the only difference is the groupset…not really £700 of extra value eh?)

Bought for the commute and my route is probably a little too flat, I don’t save any time but I can get to work for about a 3rd less power according to the power meter in about the same time.

You learn that it’s pretty horrible above 15mph as it just becomes a heavy numb bike when the assist cuts out. And it is an assist – basically its like having a tail wind rather than say a Bosch system where you barely pedal but still get the full effect.

The Gain has clearance for gravel style tyres, not sure I’d want to take it off road though, the back end is a bit unforgiving due to the weight (and presumably the extra stiffness they needed to build into the alloy frame)

So basically, on a ride in, you chill out, make the most of the assist. Pushing on feels at odds with the concept of the bike.

And it’s probably more than 3kg heavier. I reckon more like a heavy MTB weight!

Was thinking to go that way to improve on my time spent on commuting (18miles/900feet one way).

After quick analyse of average speed over the course of 3 months decided not worth the spend.

I’m comfortably clocking 16+ mph average. Not enough climbing to feel real difference, rather invest in lighter wheel to my current bike.

Cheers!
I.

I’m not advocating it, or owt, but your 16 mile commute on a Euro-specced eBike (i.e. one that can crank along quite happily at 25-30mph, say) sounds like a lot of fun…

*I’m aware it’s naughty/frowned upon/likely to result in the death of innocent babies & pensioners as they’re mowed down without remorse, but are there any cases on record of people being caught (be it via the polizia and/or an accident etc) using de-restricted eBikes on the road?

I’m sure the penalty for getting caught (particularly if you were involved in a nasty of sorts) are unpleasant, but does anyone actually know what the scope is?

I’m sure the penalty for getting caught (particularly if you were involved in a nasty of sorts) are unpleasant, but does anyone actually know what the scope is?

from gov.uk for no insurance (as they would be uninsurable):

Penalties for uninsured drivers:
The police could give you a fixed penalty of £300 and 6 penalty points if you’re caught driving a vehicle you’re not insured to drive.

If the case goes to court you could get:

an unlimited fine
disqualified from driving
The police also have the power to seize, and in some cases, destroy the vehicle that’s being driven uninsured.

From the RAC (assuming you don’t have a motorcycle licence):

Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence covers a myriad of offences – including driving while under-age, driving with a provisional licence without a supervisor and L-plates, and driving without a licence at all.

The punishment for doing so includes a fine of up to £1,000, up to six points on your licence and a possible disqualification.

So that’s 12 points and fines already.

There’s also the whole minefield of the vehicle not being approved, displaying registration plates, having tax etc.

Somewhere below that is a section 59 notice, this is basically an ASBO for vehicles. So if you’ve been caught and go all doe eyes and “I wont do it again officer”, this is the warning, your card is marked and if you’re seen again the bikes crushed. IIRC you can even get this on private land even if you have the landowners permission (e.g. you were riding a noisy motorbike on a private road/track).

If you want to do 30mph, just get a moped.

I’m not advocating it, or owt, but your 16 mile commute on a Euro-specced eBike (i.e. one that can crank along quite happily at 25-30mph, say) sounds like a lot of fun…

Just a couple of notes:
1) To ride these on cycle paths they are signposted as moped routes, we don’t really have that classification in this country except for roads where motorbikes are allowed but cars aren’t, otherwise you’re basically limited to roads.

2) You do need a licence to ride them.

“If you want to do 30mph, just get a moped.”

What if I want the option of doing 30mph to be safe on the roads, but also the option of using canal tow paths and whatnot to stay off the roads where possible?

A: not allowed in this country but is allowed in others. Try getting very fit and using a CX bike or something.

So basically, on a ride in, you chill out, make the most of the assist. Pushing on feels at odds with the concept of the bike.

Exactly. The idea of ebike commuting is to make it easier, not faster. (For me at least )
It’s a chilled ride you don’t dread when you are tired, and you aren’t knackered by the end of a week.

What if I want the option of doing 30mph to be safe on the roads, but also the option of using canal tow paths and whatnot to stay off the roads where possible?

A: not allowed in this country but is allowed in others.

I think (I’ve only got google to go on, I had a look last time this came up) that you still couldn’t ride it on a towpath, unless mopeds were allowed. The advantage of the 45km/h class of bikes was that they were exempt from most of the registration, tax, MOT etc that a moped would be, but they were still restricted to only riding it where motorbikes were allowed.

Which is fair enough, ebikes have a lot of potential to encourage people to commute on bikes, but one bike doing 25mph on a towpath has the potential to put off a lot more people on bikes in general.