Turbo mode, how much do you use it?

[Arminius]

Almost never.

Same with me. Thinking about dropping it for getting Auto Mode (if that is possible, but even don‘t know if I really would benefit from Auto Mode).

 

[-Matt]

I actually did a little test yesterday at 417 bike park with my cube stereo and 2 750 batteries.

All day in turbo! (with all settings in the app set to the max!). And wanted to see how many run's i could get in.

I managed 26 runs, 34 miles of riding and 9800ft of ascent!

If my body allowed it, i think i could have hit 30 runs, 1 battery still had 20% and the other 17%.

It actually really surprised me how well the battery lasted in pure Turbo, i only expected to get 10 runs per battery.


Now i have a 2nd battery it will be a lot more Turbo mode, as its great fun climbing rough ground in turbo

 

[JP-NZ]

Turbo? never heard of it

8 weeks old and 450km (including 7948 metres of elevation) on my Rail and never even used it yet. Can power up climbs just fine in Tour+

 

[RustyIron]

My "Turbo" mode is called "Boost."
Normal riding in Boost Mode would suck up my battery pretty quickly. I gauge my assist level by the intended ride distance and elevation gain. The result is that most of my rides are done in low levels of assist. However, when the trail ahead becomes super technical and super steep, I'll bump it up to Boost. Likewise, if my intended line is so steep that stopping midway is not possible, and would result in tumbling down to the bottom, I'll run it in Boost.

The other time I'll Boost it up is if it's a boring trail that's wide enough for two, and we're just horsing around to see who can go the fastest. That only lasts as long as the weaker rider's heart and lungs can keep up the pace.

So, yeah. I use Turbo/Boost, and it's good.

 

[pagheca]

Off 15%, Eco 52%, Tour 32%, eMTB 1% and Turbo 0% of the distance, so far.

Where I live slopes are very steep and everywhere. I try to do what I can to stretch the range but when I'm above 20-25% gradient if I can I set Tour.

 

[Alexbn921]

Almost never

 

[mtb-steve]

Tried it 2 years ago when I got the bike, I don't think I've used it since.
Mostly eco with tour occasionally.
For anyone wondering why I ride an emtb, I'm not super fit and I like long rides.

 

[7869hodgy]

There’s a short but steep gravelly climb on a regional trail* that I do on my regular full sus bike in the lowest gear and it’s hard work. Today I tried it on my Bold2 and it was easy even in Eco mode. I switched to Boost and it was incredible. I’m loving this EMTB lark!

*The Munda Biddi Trail, longest in the world apparently!
Munda Biddi Trail - Wikipedia

There is a local climb we affectionately call “heart attack hill”. On a normal bike it’s 6-7 minutes climb depending on weather/season. On my ebike in top assistance is 2 minutes whatever the time of year.

I use the power when I need it….sometimes a lot and other times not so much. I’ve used “turbo” all the time on a couple of rides and it’s a blast.

When out with mates on normal bikes I keep it a lowest assistance (but use power for steep hills).

I rode from Reading to Swindon along the ridgeway the other week and tried to be careful not to drain the battery. 66km and still had 30% battery left.

It’s great to have the option of assist or more assist.

 

[steve_sordy]

Almost never.

The above comment was made 18 months ago when I'd had my first 70Nm emtb for 16 months. I would now say infrequently, but when I need it, I absolutely NEED it! (and I now have 85Nm available).

 

[Mountainebiker]

Almost always: 7500km on the bike and ~7200km in Turbo (300km in Tour, 0km in Eco).

 

[pagheca]

How can you manage to have a reasonable range when you are using Turbo 50% of the distance? My statistics says that sparing as much as I can and using only Eco and Tour (see my message above) I get a range of approx 50-60 km with a 625 kW battery.

 

[dthree]

Here is a chart describing my use of Boost/Turbo (vertical) against duration of ride (horizontal)

 

[DS.]

TURBO TURBO TURBO ride it like u stole it

 

[Rando_12345]

Its a slippery slope...
My first 2 years on the e-bike i was almost always in eco, managing 1500-2000m of climbing per outing with a shimano e8000 and 500Wh battery.
Lockdown happened and we were very strict about it, lost absolutely all my fitness. Then I bought a second battery, and started riding a lot more in trail with some turbo. Most of my weekend rides were 1800-2500m.
Then I had my first kid, my on-bike time went from 10-15 hours a week pre-pandemic, ride to work included, to 0-4 hours per week.
I now have 3 batteries (rarely have time to use all in a row), almost never use anything other than turbo, however I still manage get some big rides here and there.

I think the e8000 in turbo might only correspond to a 2nd highest assistance on newer motors (mine is set to 200% assistance and tops out at 70Nm). I'm also carrying an annoying foot injury that really benefits from the higher assitance to reduce pressure on the foot.

I would note in passing that I rode the Valberg e-EWS and it was close to impossible to finish the race without riding in turbo the whole time as the timing was very tight and liaisons were crazy hard.

I will also note that turbo ruins cassettes. I can do about 18months per cassette in eco, vs 6 months in turbo despite lower mileage per month.

 

[Mountainebiker]

I will also note that turbo ruins cassettes. I can do about 18months per cassette in eco, vs 6 months in turbo despite lower mileage per month.

I have got 3500km of Turbo out of each of my last two chains/cassettes.

 

[#mitch]

I’m 99% turbo for my rides which are almost exclusively DH trails with forestry road returns to the top. I have 0 interest In “earning” my decents. Full speed full time

 

[Growmac]

Had my bike hooked up the other day to remove a service prompt, so can say that I'm 45% Trail, 45% eMTB, and 5% each Turbo and Eco. I'm really not a fan of Turbo unless I'm towing someone on a fireroad. Far too 'boosty', I just don't think it's a pleasant ride (My old E8000 motor was much better in Boost, but then its whole power delivery was much more natural that the Bosch system).

 

[skinipenem]

Turbo most of the time climbing/flats/rolling terrain. Trail on downhills. Eco on downhill jump trails in the bike park.

Turbo in jump trails seems to screw with timing lips. I think it causes some unwanted acceleration up the lip if I adjust pedal / crank position. Just kind of screws up the flow.

Ep8 motor

 

[pagheca]

sorry if I repeat a question but I am very curious about that: how much range do you get riding Turbo all or most of the time??

 

[greengenes]

Hardly ever. 80% of the time in eco mode (Levo turbo gen 3) but I am a lightweight so life's easy for the motor

 

[Paulquattro]

Never eco and tour only (bosch)

 

[Rando_12345]

sorry if I repeat a question but I am very curious about that: how much range do you get riding Turbo all or most of the time??

I don't pay attention to range in km as I ride in the mountains, but generally in perfect conditions (mid temps and dry hardpack) on a shimano with 500Wh battery:

Eco = 3h of riding with 1600m of climbing
Trail = 1h40 of riding with 1200m of climbing
Boost = 1h of riding with 800m of climbing

 

[steve_sordy]

Turbo most of the time climbing/flats/rolling terrain. Trail on downhills. Eco on downhill jump trails in the bike park.

Turbo in jump trails seems to screw with timing lips. I think it causes some unwanted acceleration up the lip if I adjust pedal / crank position. Just kind of screws up the flow.

Ep8 motor

When in Boost, do you have the Assistance Character turned up to 10? A slightly lower number, say 8, should make a difference that you will notice.

 

[Zimmerframe]

sorry if I repeat a question but I am very curious about that: how much range do you get riding Turbo all or most of the time??

If I answer (or attempt to) .. can I come and visit ?

I think everyone will have different experiences and results - just like the question, how far can you go on your EMTB or how high can you climb on your EMTB. The terrain, tyres, conditions, speed you travel, how much effort you put in, weight of rider, how much you ride "the wave" of optimum assistance - which we only really learn from riding each motor/bike.

The "turbo" question doesn't always work out the way you expect it to due to various factors.

To try and explain and give some examples :

To take a worse case scenario :

That's a screen capture in Blevo. I had to use one hand on a steep technical climb and lost cadence/power so my input dropped and so did the relevant wh/km. It normally shows a max of 99 - presumably even if you're pulling more.

To take that situation. If you assumed 99wh/km - The bike in question was a Mk1 Kenevo with a Brose 1.3 and a 500wh battery. Therefore 99wh/km would give you a 5km range in Turbo.

In reality it doesn't work like that as you don't normally maintain that rate of consumption.

For instance, if I was short on time and wanting full buzz up and down, I could stay in turbo and get approximately 30km's /1000m climbing. Even though the motor is pulling more power per second than it would in eco, you're going 2 or 3 times as fast - so covering more distance per second. Strangely, it also makes you (depending on the rider/circumstances) put more power in yourself - obviously this is just a personal view as some people will put it in turbo and trundle along drinking champagne with their Whopper burger.

With the same bike, if I rode with analogue bikes, with a de-tuned eco. I'd also get about 30km's and 1000m climbing - but it takes 2 or three times longer. Yes, you can set it up and ride it to get much further - but there's never a set scenario for "eco gives 100km's/2000m climbing" "Turbo gives 30km's/1000m climbing".

If that makes no sense ?! As it won't for many as we all see things from our own experiences/perspectives/pre-conceived ideas. Try flipping your question on it's head. How far do you go in Eco ? It's totally different for everyone depending on the conditions/terrain and so on again. It's also different for each of us each ride, depending how you ride. For example, for me, I found the Bosch Gen4 could seemingly do magical things with regards to range. It's not 150% efficient ! It's just very clever how it applies the assistance and makes YOU put power in to compensate, rather than the other way around. You become the little hamster in the wheel.

After a few experiences last year in Eco I wondered if it was possible to climb 5000m on a 630wh battery. The way the motor cuts out slowly on the limit gently hands over power, so you can use that to ride just on the assistance limit or just over it and keep dropping back in when you need it. It hurts like hell, especially with Mary's on a 25.5kg bike, but you can do it. (25kph assistance - I don't think you could with 32kph assistance - maybe one advantage of low assistance )

I failed. I was completely wrecked. I'd stopped a couple of times for coffee's and even a beer ... I aborted as I wasn't safe descending. As @Doomanic pointed out afterwards - what's the point in trying to test how far you can go on a battery when you try to ride without assistance. It's not often he says anything sensible - so this comment will rest with me for the rest of my life.

The point is .. there is no known answer.

Try it..

You might enjoy it and turn into a Turbo Nutter Bastard ! :-D It can be exhilarating !

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Started off in tour, and it was amazing, at least for a while.
Then tried turbo and its been in that permanently since. I dont pedel constantly, a few turns brings me up to max speed, then coast till it drops a bit and a few more turns gets me back to max. I'm using it to pretty much maintain 16mph.

 

[Trig]

I tried to limit myself to eco and tour when i first got the bike, and it was great. More than enough power. Now its mostly emtb mode, and i use turbo briefly for really steep stuff, or keep it on turbo for long boring rides home.

Going backwards from Emtb down to Eco is a shock after getting used to Emtb, considering how big an improvement i found eco over my analogue bike. But, emtb and turbo is great, so why not.

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Eco ?. Eco is like 60%, you get more from assistance from a tailwind

 

[Zimmerframe]

Eco ?. Eco is like 60%, you get more from assistance from a tailwind

Only if you've been to a curry house before a ride ...

 

[Zimmerframe]

It's interesting reading some of the replies in this thread.

Ultimately, everyone here is into MTB. The difference being that most of us prefer it with some assistance for either some or most of the time.

One weird thing with all of MTB is how closed minded everyone gets in their little search for the ideal/perfection.

130 suspension .. or 150 is better.. 180 is too much. You only need a hardtail ! You can't ride without tannus/ I just ride with tubes and no tyre .. An SL bike is best and only in eco or off. I only ride Full fat and only in Turbo, would you use your washing machine and hand crank it ?

As long as you're not screwing things up for anyone or anything else, just get out there and enjoy it. It's a great way to see things, find new places, feel physically good, do what you might not be able to without the "e" and meet lots of cool new people.

 

[Spin]

Eco ?. Eco is like 60%, you get more from assistance from a tailwind

For the times when you're on flat bike path commuting to or from the trails and feel like doing some exercise. I see it as a way of transforming my E bike into a conventional bike.
Also , I have Eco assistance set to 80% roughly , which makes it closer to Tour+.