Tips on how to make the battery last longer?

[Bellefield]

Its the Gran Fondo festival here at the end of the month, and we've entered the ebike category for the Medio Fondo (40 miles). Its all on road, but there is a massive climb in the middle.

I rode an easy scouting trip on an approximation of the course on my giant fathom e+ 2 pro at the weekend and included that big climb into the route and even though I worked really hard on battery management, but got back home with just 5% of the battery left, despite doing most of it in eco (100% assist) or with the battery off. On the massive climb I burned through 40% of the battery using Active mode (250%).

I did the route in 3:20 hours, and while I know I won't win it, I'd like to try for as close to 2:30 hours in the race without burning through the battery too quickly before I get to that climb. Obviously I'm going to work on my fitness to use my own body more, but there will be limited gains from that.

I'm not going to change my tyres for the race, I've got Maxxis Forekasters and they are pretty fast rolling, and I'm probably not going to lose a lot of weight (I'm 105kg and I cannot see myself losing enough in the time). I'm also not going to be able to buy a bigger battery (I've got a 500 kwh), so without changing tyres, route, battery, or losing weight, what else can I do to minimise battery usage whilst putting maximum performance out on the road?

I'm looking for tips regarding the most efficient cadence / battery setting for climbs and still climb at a reasonable rate, also on the downhills does turning the battery off actually saving any battery or does the battery automatically cut off and save itself anyway?, or does it use a residual amount of power even when you are going above 25kph?

I'm looking for power grubbing tips so I can keep it to around 25kph on the flats / long climbs, and keep a reasonable speed on the steep ascents without running through my battery before the finish line?

 

[Zudnik]

Its the Gran Fondo festival here at the end of the month, and we've entered the ebike category for the Medio Fondo (40 miles). Its all on road, but there is a massive climb in the middle.

I rode an easy scouting trip on an approximation of the course on my giant fathom e+ 2 pro at the weekend and included that big climb into the route and even though I worked really hard on battery management, but got back home with just 5% of the battery left, despite doing most of it in eco (100% assist) or with the battery off. On the massive climb I burned through 40% of the battery using Active mode (250%).

I did the route in 3:20 hours, and while I know I won't win it, I'd like to try for as close to 2:30 hours in the race without burning through the battery too quickly before I get to that climb. Obviously I'm going to work on my fitness to use my own body more, but there will be limited gains from that.

I'm not going to change my tyres for the race, I've got Maxxis Forekasters and they are pretty fast rolling, and I'm probably not going to lose a lot of weight (I'm 105kg and I cannot see myself losing enough in the time). I'm also not going to be able to buy a bigger battery (I've got a 500 kwh), so without changing tyres, route, battery, or losing weight, what else can I do to minimise battery usage whilst putting maximum performance out on the road?

I'm looking for tips regarding the most efficient cadence / battery setting for climbs and still climb at a reasonable rate, also on the downhills does turning the battery off actually saving any battery or does the battery automatically cut off and save itself anyway?, or does it use a residual amount of power even when you are going above 25kph?

I'm looking for power grubbing tips so I can keep it to around 25kph on the flats / long climbs, and keep a reasonable speed on the steep ascents without running through my battery before the finish line?

I was curious how many have a spare battery. If you have one you could just swap it somewhere.

 

[Bellefield]

I was curious how many have a spare battery. If you have one you could just swap it somewhere.

it is an option, however, a spare battery and battery cover would cost a lot, and it is a big expense for one race.

 

[Tony.OK]

Put max pressure in tyres. If your Giant Ride control app works, drop eco to 75%. Try and spin at 80rpm, dont lug or grind.

 

[Bellefield]

Put max pressure in tyres. If your Giant Ride control app works, drop eco to 75%. Try and spin at 80rpm, dont lug or grind.

cheers Tony, I'll give that a go at the weekend

 

[Bellefield]

Put max pressure in tyres. If your Giant Ride control app works, drop eco to 75%. Try and spin at 80rpm, dont lug or grind.

actually, I'll drop all my modes, I only use eco (100%) and active (250%), if I change the five modes to 75%, 100% 150%, 200% and 250% it should give me a better range of options to choose for the various gradients on the route - top idea Tony

 

[mark.ai]

I don't know which shoes & pedals you use, but I always get through less battery over the same distance when using cleats, and with stiffer soles on the shoes.

 

[Bellefield]

I don't know which shoes & pedals you use, but I always get through less battery over the same distance when using cleats, and with stiffer soles on the shoes.

not a fan of cleats, but I do use stiff(ish) sole shoes, they are my trail shoes

 

[Darren]

Lock out your suspension if you're really looking for every efficiency possible.

 

[Bellefield]

Hi Everyone, just to let you know I finished the race on Sunday, 40 miles and came in 5th in the ebike category 10 minutes behind the winner of that category with a time of 2:31 so quite pleased with that

There were almost 900 entries across all competitions and it was an amazing day.

I finished with 19% of my battery left which surprised me, but thanks for all your help on this.

The main things I did were:
1) reduced the power settings in all support modes to the minimum available
2) increased the pressure in the tubes to 45 psi
3) locked out the forks
4) managed the battery on the first 20 miles which was fairly flat with just a few climbs, so I still had 80% battery left for the big climb.

For the first 20 miles I kept it to a mix of off, eco, and active, and only used 20% of the battery whilst keeping an average speed of 26kph and keeping up with the mid range road bikes. At the half way point we hit the steep climbs so I switched to full power to get me up the hills and I really pushed it as best I could, I burned 40% of my battery up those hills and then a I had a long gradual climb to get to the big descent, which was great I got up to 57kpm at some points, and then a lung and leg busting 5 miles sprint on the flat to the finish. Finished with 19% of battery, so maybe I could have left it at full power the full race.

I was overtaken on the final flat by a couple of road ebikes that I'd passed on the big climb, and although I really tried I just couldn't catch them and they finished a minute ahead of me.

I finished exhausted, with my legs shaking but really happy, thanks again everyone for your help. For next year I'll keep it in full power right through the race and I'll also try to lose 10kg or so before then

 

[maynard]

Cool man

 

[R120]

Late to the party with this reply, but great work with your effort, but to reiterate to get more range out of your bike, especially with road riding, more tire pressure and ideally changing the tires out to something more suited and faster rolling makes a surprising difference

 

[Bellefield]

Late to the party with this reply, but great work with your effort, but to reiterate to get more range out of your bike, especially with road riding, more tire pressure and ideally changing the tires out to something more suited and faster rolling makes a surprising difference

Hi R120, thanks for the input, I'm going to do it again next year, and if its wet I'll probably stick with the ForeKasters as they feel solid in the wet and they are quite fast rolling anyway. But will consider swapping out for faster rollers if its dry, do you have any recommendations? I've got 29 inch wheels with 25mm rims and would prefer to go tubeless as parts of the course are off road or over cattle grids.

 

[STATO]

If it were all road then just fitting a 32mm road tyre would half the resistance. But now you mention offroad and cattle grids then only you know what amount of grip you need. Although if you were racing against road bikes at the end id suggest a large road tyre would be fine.

Bicycle rolling resistance is the place to check though, they have done actual tests. Not your tyre but plenty of others including the kenda SB8 im sure some may well reccomend (its a brick, stay away! ). You can compare the resistance to other tyres and seem even a good mtb offroad tyre has double the resistance.

Maxxis Ikon 3C MaxxSpeed TLR Rolling Resistance Review

Rolling resistance and puncture resistance review of a Maxxis Ikon 3C MaxxSpeed TLR mountain bike tire. Also includes detailed weight and size measurements

www.bicyclerollingresistance.com

Of course aero probably plays as much if not more to total resistance which hasnt been mentioned in the thread yet, so next year make sure you also wear your tightest lycra and practice your aero tuck. Interestingly aero does matter at 25kph so using the motor assist you might be able to maintain an aero position while keeping speed up the hill.