Weight vs Battery Life, getting the partner a eMTB and other ramblings...

[Softsand]

Now I have a eBike, my partner would like one too after a brief ride on mine (not a surprise as we all know...).

Keeping it in the family (and I guess I might be able to "borrow" the battery if needed...), I was thinking of getting her a Liv, the Embolden.

Now this has no dropper, the Sport motor and other lower spec items but also the 400w battery instead of the 500w in my Trance.

The colour scheme of the Intrigue (next model up) isn't as appealing and I wonder if upgrading is worth it as I doubt she will ride it as much as me, especially offroad.

Thing is, I'm 80Kg but she is 55Kg. I guess that her lighter weight would mean that our battery life would be equivalent and she wouldn't tax the suspension and components as much so the Embolden may be a reasonable equivalent ? Any thoughts ?

 

[net wurker]

I went all-in on my Wifey's e-ride. The color on the Intrigue is actually kinda cool...it's one of those color "shifters" that changes in different light.

 

[Softsand]

I went all-in on my Wifey's e-ride. The color on the Intrigue is actually kinda cool...it's one of those color "shifters" that changes in different light.

View attachment 23390

Hmmm, AU market gets one model (the 2) - and its black... That 1 does look pretty cool. Intrigue E+ 2 Pro 25km/h (2020) | Women Trail bike | Liv Cycling Australia

 

[net wurker]

Oh wow, sucks that they don't offer the full range there.

 

[steve_sordy]

Back to your original question: Will your 55kg wife with a 400whr battery be able to go as far as your 80kg on a 500Whr battery?

Let's assume that those are riding weights we are talking about fully kitted up.
You are 45% heavier, but only have a battery that has 25% more energy.
So I suspect that your wife should easily be OK. Unless of course she uses Boost and Trail more than you do in order to keep up! Her bike may be lighter than yours too, even better.

That's a very rough guide, but you can see where I'm coming from.

 

[Doomanic]

Look at it from a different perspective; what size spare battery will you be happy with?

 

[Pdoz]

Put your wife on your bike for a given route and see how much battery she uses compared to you.

Variables like pedal technique / gear selection / riding style / endurance make weight irrelevant

Then buy her the sexiest bike you can justify - it should be better than yours so your masculinity is not threatened when she is faster .

 

[Softsand]

Back to your original question: Will your 55kg wife with a 400whr battery be able to go as far as your 80kg on a 500Whr battery?

Let's assume that those are riding weights we are talking about fully kitted up.
You are 45% heavier, but only have a battery that has 25% more energy.
So I suspect that your wife should easily be OK. Unless of course she uses Boost and Trail more than you do in order to keep up! Her bike may be lighter than yours too, even better.

That's a very rough guide, but you can see where I'm coming from.

I love the Auto mode and leave it in that most of the time. I expect she will too so in theory that should make things even more even - perhaps...

Be interesting to see some sort of graph showing the assistance level that is used on a ride when in Auto - or even any app that shows more detail than the generic Giant one. I'd love if the guy doing the Blevo app would do a Giant version - I'd happily pay for that...

 

[Iskjone]

Millage will vary because every ride and route is different but I believe way too much range anxiety is shared by rookie eBikers. Absolutely a larger battery means more distance but how much is enough? When was the last time you ran your car's gas tank dry? If Giant eBikes came with 1,000 hw batteries you would see the inevitable postings on this forum of members declaring they desire 3,000 hw batteries with a range of 500 miles. I know I can get a honest 60+ miles out of my 400hw battery and for this rookie eBiker that's sufficient.

 

[Michel F]

Hi, We are more or less in the same situation 100kg for me 60kg for Sylvie. I’m riding a E trance with 500w and Sylvie an Embolden XS 500w Just upgraded with a dropper. Perfect combo - for long rides when I’m arround 40% remaining we are swapping the battery, she is arround 65% - So we can seriously increase the rides

 

[Janc]

The below is an interesting comparison test.

I bought my wife the same bike as me (one model down as she preferred the colour). Both are Commencal Meta 29 Power. She was timid off road but has started to ride fire trail and easy single track due to the comfort and confidence given by such a design.

She loves the safety and confidence given by the laid back geometry, travel and simplicity of 1x12.

Her two favourite things are the dropper post (start low and gradually raise as well as feels safer even on road and fire trail downs). and BOOST mode.

She loves it because it gives her exercise in whatever mode and tries to minimise the motor support but loves the confidence of the extra assistance when tired or climbing (we live in a hilly area).

I've not noticed much of a difference in range - I am about 30kg heavier but more bike fit than her. I'd assume its as previously mentioned - assistance mode, cadence, power to weight, skill etc.

As mentioned above why should she be on a lesser machine than you as she may grow into it.

 

[Softsand]

An update, after waiting a while until being able to ride the alternatives back to back, a new Intrigue was ordered. Should be here soon. She liked the idea of a seat dropper so adding that, also knowing it wasn’t factory, combined with a good discount, swayed us that way. You only live once eh ?

 

[Swissrider]

My wife and I weigh about the same and have same bikes - 2018 KTM Town bikes with Bosch performance line motors and 500w batteries . On one climb of about 1200m ascent I managed to get to the top but she ran out with about 200m to go. I had used turbo pretty much the whole way whereas she claimed to have been in trail most of the way. Weird. However, the other day we did another long climb but this time she used turbo quite a lot and I only used trail but at the end she has 7k left as range and I had only 5k. Weird again. I wonder if the main factor is how much energy the rider puts in so that a rider using turbo who puts in a lot of effort will use les battery than a rider who uses less effort in eco. Maybe the best tactic would be to really go like mad in turbo for half an hour rather than grinding away slowly in eco for an hour and a half. I’ll try it out and let you know!