A Question regarding range...

[JP-NZ]

One of my dream rides to do on an ebike is the Old Ghost Road in New Zealand. Few very fit friends on ebikes have done it in a day and I'm hoping to do the same. Its 85km (52 Miles) with 1800m +/- of climbing (5900ft).

31km of the trip is climbing
44km is downhill
10km flat

So Hypothetical question, can you ride an ebike (Bosch CX Gen 4) comfortably with it off on LONG flowy downhills? I believe this is the only option on a single battery that will work on such a long journey.

TIA

 

[The Hodge]

5,900ft of climbing in approx 19.5 miles ..I couldn't do that on my bike unless I rode the whole way in eco mode / switched off on the flat bits and was at least twenty years younger in peak physical condition ..but can't see any reason why you couldn't ride all of the downhill switched off .
Range isn't just about rider fitness ..weather conditions and how technical the terrain is play a significant part too..
Good luck ( rather you than me though )

 

[JP-NZ]

Thanks Hodge, the climbing is split in 2 by a fairly long downhill. 4000 ft up over 14 miles then about 3000 ft down over 8 miles. Then 1600 ft back up over 6ish miles then back down to flat to the finish.

Ride time could take 7-10 hours depending, so was just making sure the bike rides ok downhill with the motor off.

Eco on the uphill was the choice. I’m a pretty fit cyclist thankfully

 

[The Hodge]

I've just had a look online at the official website ( which for some reason I can't copy ) ..quite an undertaking ..good luck !

 

[JP-NZ]

I've just had a look online at the official website ( which for some reason I can't copy ) ..quite an undertaking ..good luck !

thank you. Spending longer waiting on my ebike to arrive

 

[Doug Stampfer]

A lot of people have done the old ghost road on ebikes. If you're on facebook theres a emtb page where the question comes up often. Generally most people take two batteries.
I myself would talk to helibike Nelson & get them to drop off a battery up at ghost lake hut when they do a heli trip up there.
A lot of guys do it on eco mode but to me it would be the same as riding an analogue bike so I don't see the point. Even if you think you're going to do it in one day it's a back country route & you have to take all the gear for a night out in case the inevitable happens so you'll be loaded up.
I'm not sure where you're from but it would simply be a tick box thing to do it in one day if you're coming just to ride it like that & don't kid yourself the uphills are long & tiring. It is an amazing ride & not to be taken lightly esp descent down 'the stairs'. My two fit grade5-6 riding mates were wrecked doing it in 2 days.
The challenge nowadays is to start from Lyall, OGR & up to Karamea over the Heaphy & back over the Takaka hill. :-0
As far as range goes, I'd do some vertical riding & see how your battery likes it. The riding around here I'd be lucky to get 30kms out of a 625 so I am amazed how long people can get out of their batteries.

 

[JP-NZ]

A lot of people have done the old ghost road on ebikes. If you're on facebook theres a emtb page where the question comes up often. Generally most people take two batteries.
I myself would talk to helibike Nelson & get them to drop off a battery up at ghost lake hut when they do a heli trip up there.
A lot of guys do it on eco mode but to me it would be the same as riding an analogue bike so I don't see the point. Even if you think you're going to do it in one day it's a back country route & you have to take all the gear for a night out in case the inevitable happens so you'll be loaded up.
I'm not sure where you're from but it would simply be a tick box thing to do it in one day if you're coming just to ride it like that & don't kid yourself the uphills are long & tiring. It is an amazing ride & not to be taken lightly esp descent down 'the stairs'. My two fit grade5-6 riding mates were wrecked doing it in 2 days.
The challenge nowadays is to start from Lyall, OGR & up to Karamea over the Heaphy & back over the Takaka hill. :-0
As far as range goes, I'd do some vertical riding & see how your battery likes it. The riding around here I'd be lucky to get 30kms out of a 625 so I am amazed how long people can get out of their batteries.

I live in Christchurch, Ive done the ride up to ghost lake hut from Lyell and back down in a day on analogue. As I said I have mates that have done the whole thing in a day (in summer) on analogue bikes and ebikes.

Sounds like I'll do some uphills once my Rail 750wh when it arrives and see what sort of range I can get. Cheers for the input

 

[BrentD]

The elevation gain and rider weight are the main factors in e-bike range in my experience. On my 625Wh Rail I can get about 1,500m of vert on one battery (5 x up the shuttle hill at Rotorua) if I'm using mostly Tour(+)/EMTB Lite and I'm 75kg fully kitted up to ride. I'd imagine with the 750Wh battery on the newer Rails that 1,800m would be possible if you eeked it out but I would be taking enough gear and food to be prepared to be overnighted on OGR as a precaution as Doug wisely said.

 

[rzr]

It depends a lot on a rider.
on a good day, i did 1100m elevation (35km), boost mode constantly and i had 35% left, on flats motor was not used (i was doing 27-29kph).
60% motor / 40% me (Avg. User Power 244 W)
But few days later, when my legs weren't so fresh, I was using way more power, and range/elevation was 30% lower...
(Trek Rail 625Wh)

when i find more time, definietely i'll do >2000m (probably on Eco all time)

turning off motor on downhill won't change too much, how much do you pedal during downhill ? you could save probably energy for 10 seconds more of riding.

 

[JP-NZ]

The elevation gain and rider weight are the main factors in e-bike range in my experience. On my 625Wh Rail I can get about 1,500m of vert on one battery (5 x up the shuttle hill at Rotorua) if I'm using mostly Tour(+)/EMTB Lite and I'm 75kg fully kitted up to ride. I'd imagine with the 750Wh battery on the newer Rails that 1,800m would be possible if you eeked it out but I would be taking enough gear and food to be prepared to be overnighted on OGR as a precaution as Doug wisely said.

Yes, after 4-5 rides now my longest has been 58km and 1300m of climbing. Nearly all of that in Tour+ if I stayed in eco to keep back with my analogue friends I believe I could get to that 1800m elevation too. Also was quite happy to find the bike rides just fine when off (to conserve battery on the downhills). Happy to get a few more rides on it and see if range improves further.