Fuel EXe Trek Fuel EXe - Trying to understand range and altitude possibilities

CJaMTB

Well-known member
May 9, 2020
402
381
Dartmoor
I searched and found only the below which says either no drag or very low drag. Obviously my search foo is failing. :(


It would seem it is, yes, perhaps similar to your drag detection foo?!? If you want the proof, pop your bike in a workstand (mind your back as you lift!), then pull back on the upper chain run. Remove the bike, pop a non assisted bike in the stand, and pull back on the chain again. Do let us know how you go...
 

The Reverend

Member
Aug 13, 2022
52
101
Melbourne
Screenshot_20220925-183622_Trek Central.jpg


I'm on an XL 9.8 XT Fuel Ex-e.
There have been a couple of tweaks to the spec including Maxxis DHF DHR combo with Exo plus casing. Tannus armour inserts and. 240mm dropper which weighs a bit more than the stock item.

I'm 107kgs ready to ride.
I love the bike and it rides beautifully up and downhill. Being open, it'd be nice to have a touch more power / range but with my weight it's going to test it far more than someone weighing 25kgs less.

If more range + power meant stodgy handling, I'd leave it as it is.

I'll share more range details as I log more rides.
On this ride, there are some climbs where hi power is required, then on others, I've got it on eco or no assist at all.

Screenshot_20220925-183632_Trek Central.jpg
 

JP-NZ

E*POWAH Elite
Feb 17, 2022
1,193
902
Christchurch - New Zealand
I'm on an XL 9.8 XT Fuel Ex-e.
There have been a couple of tweaks to the spec including Maxxis DHF DHR combo with Exo plus casing. Tannus armour inserts and. 240mm dropper which weighs a bit more than the stock item.

I'm 107kgs ready to ride.
I love the bike and it rides beautifully up and downhill. Being open, it'd be nice to have a touch more power / range but with my weight it's going to test it far more than someone weighing 25kgs less.

If more range + power meant stodgy handling, I'd leave it as it is.

Thanks for that. I weigh the same as you. It’s interesting comparing to my Rail. Todsy on my 9.8XT I did the same 864m elevation, covered 41.35Km though and used 68% battery.

will be interested if the range on the EX-E improves as I’d love to try one but the 360wh gives me anxiety.
 

The Reverend

Member
Aug 13, 2022
52
101
Melbourne
Thanks for that. I weigh the same as you. It’s interesting comparing to my Rail. Todsy on my 9.8XT I did the same 864m elevation, covered 41.35Km though and used 68% battery.

will be interested if the range on the EX-E improves as I’d love to try one but the 360wh gives me anxiety.
That's very interesting indeed. The Rail has it covered comfortably for range and of course assistance / power.

I'd wager that, albeit tiring there's a decent chance of being able to ride the Fuel Ex-e out of the trails without any battery life should it be exhausted. The Rail simply outguns the Fuel Ex-e. I'm going to keep an eye on the range too now.
 

DugT

Active member
Sep 4, 2022
136
119
Truckee, CA
That's very interesting indeed. The Rail has it covered comfortably for range and of course assistance / power.

I'd wager that, albeit tiring there's a decent chance of being able to ride the Fuel Ex-e out of the trails without any battery life should it be exhausted. The Rail simply outguns the Fuel Ex-e. I'm going to keep an eye on the range too now.
Yesterday I rode my 9.8 for the first time and it felt just like a non e bike when riding with the power off. When I first got on it, I rode for a couple of blocks and thought, "The assist is very subtle" and then I realized I had forgotten to turn it on.
 

socal_rider

Member
Jun 6, 2021
79
89
Temecula, CA
I just rode my biggest days yet back to back on my EXe. Friday 26 mi / 3600 feet and Saturday 29 mi / 3800 feet. Both rides I ended at 4-5% battery remaining. I think that’s about the limit of what I can get out of the battery at 185 lbs / 84 kg.

Friday was all Eco except for one section of Boost which used 4% of the battery. Saturday was a mix of Eco and Trail. Probably 2/3 Eco and 1/3 Trail. All Eco doesn’t seem to offer that much more range.

I ride with a few Orbea Rises. Hard to say for sure just yet but the Shimano motor seems to be more efficient. Kind of disappointing given the lower peak torque and power of the TQ.
 

Cell4soul

E*POWAH Master
Jul 11, 2022
517
1,323
Mesa, AZ
I just rode my biggest days yet back to back on my EXe. Friday 26 mi / 3600 feet and Saturday 29 mi / 3800 feet. Both rides I ended at 4-5% battery remaining. I think that’s about the limit of what I can get out of the battery at 185 lbs / 84 kg.

Friday was all Eco except for one section of Boost which used 4% of the battery. Saturday was a mix of Eco and Trail. Probably 2/3 Eco and 1/3 Trail. All Eco doesn’t seem to offer that much more range.

I ride with a few Orbea Rises. Hard to say for sure just yet but the Shimano motor seems to be more efficient. Kind of disappointing given the lower peak torque and power of the TQ.
I agree with your observation of the Orbea Rise being more efficient, and that is kind of disappointing. all said, I think I’d still go for the stealth look and lack of motor noise on the trek. It’ll be good to see range on the Pivot Shuttle SL when it comes out.
 

socal_rider

Member
Jun 6, 2021
79
89
Temecula, CA
I agree with your observation of the Orbea Rise being more efficient, and that is kind of disappointing. all said, I think I’d still go for the stealth look and lack of motor noise on the trek. It’ll be good to see range on the Pivot Shuttle SL when it comes out.
My (much lighter) wife has a Rise. I was (optimistically) hoping the slightly lower torque and power of the EXe would make our range about the same. It’s not. Our weight difference and the potentially more efficient EP8 is too much to overcome.

The good news for her is she can pretty much run on Boost the whole ride and ride circles around me while I’m climbing on Eco/Trail. I guess that’s payback for all the years we were on acoustic bikes and she was the one struggling. I need that EXe extender battery to come in ASAP.
 

The Reverend

Member
Aug 13, 2022
52
101
Melbourne
Another run on the Fuel Ex-e and this one was at a location with less elevation and more general pedalling if that makes sense. As a result it can be run in eco / off more often and with less time in mid or high.


Screenshot_20221006-064551_Trek Central.jpg


After 30kms and 584 metres of elevation I had used 65%.

Based upon this, and at this location I'd anticipated ~40kms - 45kms range with 750m to 850m of elevation. It might have been a bit more as on the flatter sections and trails I ride with assistance off.

Again, bear in mind my rider weight of 107kgs.

Screenshot_20221006-064606_Trek Central.jpg
 
Last edited:

rzr

Active member
Sep 26, 2022
359
228
bcn
drag comes from moving all gears/transmission and motor's rotor,
however it's not big (comparing to drag from tires etc), on my Bosch gen4 i can keep 27-29km/h for longer, like on analog bike (similar tires - minions 2.4-2.5")
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,001
20,758
Brittany, France
drag comes from moving all gears/transmission and motor's rotor
Sorry, but most of that is disconnected by clutches. The Drag via the motor on any of the bikes is minimal. You can feel that by turning the cranks by hand.

The "drag" is deceptive and comes from the weight/tyres/wheels when you suddenly have no assistance compared to having assistance. It's not Drag - it's just you on your own without the motor helping. Why people keep calling this drag I have no idea, it's just the bike without a motor !

Just ride the damned thing with the power turned off. At low speeds it's just a heavy bike. The faster you go, the harder it its. To quote Gary - it's just PHYSICS !
 

socal_rider

Member
Jun 6, 2021
79
89
Temecula, CA
I set a new personal best for elevation gain today: 4,077 ft. I had to run on Eco turned down to 75W max to do it though. That’s just enough to be a little faster than my stronger pedal bike friends. I ended the ride with 23.4 mi and 20% battery left.

The EXe is sufficient for me power-wise in Trail mode but the range is underwhelming. Most of my rides are in the 20mi/3000ft range and I end up at <10% battery remaining. I work a 4-10 work schedule so I typically only ride Fri-Sun and like to do longer rides. I can’t wait for my range extender battery to arrive. Hopefully I can worry less about battery consumption and just ride what I want at a power level I want.
 

The Reverend

Member
Aug 13, 2022
52
101
Melbourne
Is there also a file stored after recording with all the data wich could be reused for other analysis and stats?
Sorry for the slow reply. Yes, the rides are saved in the Trek Central app and you can look at them after the ride.

You can also upload to Strava, download to device and some other platform called Komoot.
 

mitea

Member
Sep 10, 2022
135
97
Switzerland - LU
Sorry for the slow reply. Yes, the rides are saved in the Trek Central app and you can look at them after the ride.

You can also upload to Strava, download to device and some other platform called Komoot.

Rented the bike twice so far and used the app but never recorded a ride unfortunately😕. If you have android would you share a recorded file with me? They are on your phone probably under android/data/com.trekbikes.trekcentral/files

I'm professional software engineer and I would like to know what file format they are using and what ride information is stored in it. Would be most interested if they are also logging the motorpower and some internals of the drive unit.
 

The Reverend

Member
Aug 13, 2022
52
101
Melbourne
Rented the bike twice so far and used the app but never recorded a ride unfortunately😕. If you have android would you share a recorded file with me? They are on your phone probably under android/data/com.trekbikes.trekcentral/files

I'm professional software engineer and I would like to know what file format they are using and what ride information is stored in it. Would be most interested if they are also logging the motorpower and some internals of the drive unit.
I can confirm the file format is .gpx
 

samwilk200

New Member
Oct 7, 2022
41
26
UK
Rented the bike twice so far and used the app but never recorded a ride unfortunately😕. If you have android would you share a recorded file with me? They are on your phone probably under android/data/com.trekbikes.trekcentral/files

I'm professional software engineer and I would like to know what file format they are using and what ride information is stored in it. Would be most interested if they are also logging the motorpower and some internals of the drive unit.
Do you work for Specialized :LOL:
 

Oldhack79

Member
Aug 30, 2022
34
16
Perth, Western Australia
Thanks all for your posts in this thread. Appreciate you sharing thoughts and real world experiences with the bike. Keep them coming!
Myself, I am trying to figure out if I can get away with the range I will get from the EX E. I love every report on how it rides, how quiet, how easy it is to pedal through the 25km cut out etc etc. It seem spot on for how I like to ride. I don’t really want the weight or need the power of a FF but I am not sure if the range will suffice. I am worried I will have to go FF for range rather than power requirements.
Subjective topic I know!
Use case/Terrain:
I race local Enduro which is a practice on Sat, race on Sun format. We typically do 400/500m climbing and around 20km distance ea day. The climbs are usually not single track climb trails, most often they are fire roads straight up and steep/loose. Often we will climb up 6 to 8 times to complete our allocated practice (Sat) then race (Sun) runs. It is very taxing pedalling up multiple times a day. I am more than capable of pedalling a bike well, I actually like to pedal. So I see myself using mid power to assist climbing only and a low setting everywhere else. Just looking to make it less taxing climbing so I have more energy to spend on the timed downhill runs.
My stats are as follows for context:
Height - 171cm
Weight - 75kg (maybe 77 in gear)
FTP - 260w
Bike - Would have something like a Maxxis DHF/DHR combo and 160mm fork added
Wondering if anyone else is using the bike in a similar way that may be able to share some range, power setting experiences?
Also keen to hear from owners who maybe use the bike differently but can provide some feedback around how they thing the battery will perform in the circumstances I describe?
Anyone bought a second battery or range extender? And if so what is your experience with the impact of those on range?
I would be able to charge the battery between days but ideally it would be great to get away without having to do so! Or have a second battery/range extender as an option
Thanks in advance
 

The Reverend

Member
Aug 13, 2022
52
101
Melbourne
Thanks all for your posts in this thread. Appreciate you sharing thoughts and real world experiences with the bike. Keep them coming!
Myself, I am trying to figure out if I can get away with the range I will get from the EX E. I love every report on how it rides, how quiet, how easy it is to pedal through the 25km cut out etc etc. It seem spot on for how I like to ride. I don’t really want the weight or need the power of a FF but I am not sure if the range will suffice. I am worried I will have to go FF for range rather than power requirements.
Subjective topic I know!
Use case/Terrain:
I race local Enduro which is a practice on Sat, race on Sun format. We typically do 400/500m climbing and around 20km distance ea day. The climbs are usually not single track climb trails, most often they are fire roads straight up and steep/loose. Often we will climb up 6 to 8 times to complete our allocated practice (Sat) then race (Sun) runs. It is very taxing pedalling up multiple times a day. I am more than capable of pedalling a bike well, I actually like to pedal. So I see myself using mid power to assist climbing only and a low setting everywhere else. Just looking to make it less taxing climbing so I have more energy to spend on the timed downhill runs.
My stats are as follows for context:
Height - 171cm
Weight - 75kg (maybe 77 in gear)
FTP - 260w
Bike - Would have something like a Maxxis DHF/DHR combo and 160mm fork added
Wondering if anyone else is using the bike in a similar way that may be able to share some range, power setting experiences?
Also keen to hear from owners who maybe use the bike differently but can provide some feedback around how they thing the battery will perform in the circumstances I describe?
Anyone bought a second battery or range extender? And if so what is your experience with the impact of those on range?
I would be able to charge the battery between days but ideally it would be great to get away without having to do so! Or have a second battery/range extender as an option
Thanks in advance
Based upon your use case, I think you'll be fine with the Fuel Ex-e.

For reference, I'm 107kgs ready to ride, and have ridden it on some steep climbs and seen ~20kms with 850+ metres of elevation and had just under 20% or so left at the end of the ride.
This was on a mix of all 3 modes, using high power on only the most steep climbs.

As you weigh less and are climbing fewer metres of elevation you should be good.
 

Mteam

E*POWAH Elite
Aug 3, 2020
1,864
1,801
gone
Range extender seems to be available in the UK for £450.

I say seems to be available because some shops are showing it as ' in stock'
 

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