What do you call a big ride?

Aug 25, 2018
44
84
Randa, Switzerland
Hello guys, this is the Tails Map around my home, i can start from home and come back again only with my e-bike with no transportation.

This was my last big ride Matterhorn Valley Trail Bike Tour (Nr. 20)

Just started in Täsch all way down to Visp and then back to Randa. Very good trail. 59,72km.
Ended with 2 bars battery left. 500Wh Bosh Cx Gen3.

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Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,265
5,055
Scotland
I don't have any parks or epic trails near me but I can peddle to some decent scenery and a blast around a few woods, I can only dream about those epic you tube vids of endless down hill runs and miles of empty space :rolleyes:

I am talking about leaving your house on the bike and getting back on the bike, no transporting .

I have done 2 rides now which i consider for me to be on the limit of enjoyment, its always in the back of my mind the further i go the more miles home is away.
Ok, so hears the thing both of my so called big rides were around 38 miles.

That's a mixture of road/ canal/ scenic trails and a few woods. Nothing to shout about so I guess just summed up as a bike ride but for me it would have to be something special to go beyond 40 miles, my average rides range between 10 and 25 miles.
I cannot even comprehend having range anxiety before butt or boredom anxiety set in. Any one else consider 38 miles a good ride out or am i just a light weight ;)

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free photo upload
I am going to have to limit replies to the uk only, this takes into consideration no wilderness beyond your back door :) If I had views like that maybe I could muster up a proper day out (y)(y)

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Your asking a lot Mak I have done 42 miles from house 1000m ascent on eco with 15 percent left maybe 10 road miles . Im 96 kg so depends on what you weigh obviously. Lot depends on condition of trails , right now everything dry up with me for 3 weeks now that makes a big difference . I doubt much people doing much more than 40 miles the arse doesn't like it. Unless you are really young and strong they are a cunt to cycle once the battery dies not caring what anyone says.
 

ScuzzII

Member
Mar 23, 2020
57
72
Adelaide
For me anything over about three hours starts to become a big ride, that's usually when the first twinges of cramp come along. For a ride to be epic it's all about the things you see along the way and the views - did the Old Ghost Road in February - 30km climbing to a mountain hut on day one and 55km mostly downhill on day two (needed two batteries)
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fantastic photo
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,265
5,055
Scotland
Hello guys, this is the Tails Map around my home, i can start from home and come back again only with my e-bike with no transportation.

This was my last big ride Matterhorn Valley Trail Bike Tour (Nr. 20)

Just started in Täsch all way down to Visp and then back to Randa. Very good trail. 59,72km.
Ended with 2 bars battery left. 500Wh Bosh Cx Gen3.

View attachment 28723 View attachment 28723 View attachment 28724 View attachment 28724 View attachment 28725 View attachment 28725 View attachment 28726
Never been in summer just winter my type of biking that beautiful
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,265
5,055
Scotland
For me big rides er 3-4 hours in the saddle - I have Trailwatts spare battery.
Epic rides ares 5+ hours and 100KM
Love to do the long XC rides between days of trailriding

Did 5 full days in the saddle last summer in the Alps.
Plan to go 6 days around Mont Blanc in July
But I am afraid this plan will be postponed :cry:

View attachment 28527
Curious offroad I presume or maybe not. Where would you recharge at.
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
are you unwell ? That's crazy . Good work though I'm disappointed yet proud of you at the same time .
Haven't you read my posts ? I'm obviously very very unwell - mentally ..
Recovering from fractured ribs and couldn't believe how knackered I was riding a short distance so hoped a power off sesh would jump start some fitness and recovery .. .. see - mentally unwell ..

I strongly don't recommend it. Though one bring side is that when you then next ride the bike even in the lowest eco setting possible, it feels so ridiculously easy.
 

Howz

Well-known member
Oct 12, 2019
421
484
Chester
This is my longest ride (with a trail watts battery extender) battery ran out about 1/2 mile from home. :)

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Electrikarl

Member
Jan 5, 2020
5
4
BB31NT
Quite lucky myself to living next to the moors so, straight from my door, big climb but lots of different options back home with good DH and trails mixed in, usually do about 13miles then another 13ish day after on a full battery
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Frank_Denmark

E*POWAH Master
Patreon
Dec 17, 2018
312
530
Denmark
Curious offroad I presume or maybe not. Where would you recharge at.
I have a spare battery - charged the bike at the restaurant at noon - In The Alps they all welcome bikers - and eMTBs are everywhere (y)

We also had a van carrying our batteries, spare parts, tyres and bags.
Then if needed I could change to the spare battery at noon.

I don't think You could this with only one battery, as it takes more than a lunch break to charge fully.

Bosch has also made their own "Tesla network" of charging points :love:

Link to Powerstations

Bosch.png
 

Janc

Active member
Oct 22, 2019
230
132
Dorset
Understood! :cool:

I lived for a few months in Berkshire 4 years ago. A big ride was managing to do 20 miles without getting into a fight with a car driver. :rolleyes:

Your views look great. At least you are able to get out and enjoy them at the moment. (y)
30 miles is possible in Berkshire but it requires at least 3 pub stops including the West Berkshire Brewery...
 

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Bodark

Member
Feb 1, 2020
5
4
Nottingham
When I was researching which e-mtb to get the one thing that interested me was the sort of ranges other people were getting out of their bikes. I decided to get a Levo Expert and a large reason for that was the 700Wh battery.

I've had the had the bike for a few months now and my usage is mainly focused around long distance rides and blue trails, I have kind of limited myself currently to this because I am pretty heavy and the last time I weighed myself I was 330 pounds - not something I'm proud of!

Back to the point anyway, over the last few months of owning the bike I have been sort of testing the limits of bike and myself and getting a feel of what is possible and yesterday I feel like I sort of reached the limit of what I am currently able to do with a 58 mile ride which had 1600 feet of climbing.

About 23 miles of this was on roads of some kind but the rest was gravel, fields and loose stone. I did have to manage the battery quite a bit and I didn't use anything higher than eco. Additionally I did turn off the motor for downhill sections and some of the road bits.

I finished the ride with 9% battery remaining so for any of you who are worrying about running out of battery I hope this post will help.

Hopefully once I manage to lose some more weight I can push the distance even more.

Strava
 

Janc

Active member
Oct 22, 2019
230
132
Dorset
Found the limit of my battery. 66.92 km (41.5 miles) 1,235m (4000ft) climbing
One battery.jpg

I'm 105kg, backpack was 10kg including tools, water and spare battery. Only ECO and off and used a lot of the OFF!
Had 1 mile left when I got home but the battery wouldn't power back on once powered off!
Shimano 504W external battery - E8000 steps motor. Eco set to 30% assist and 60nm.
I'd memore comfortable aiming for 25 or less with this sort of climbing and being able to use a bit of TRAIL mode when tired!
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,265
5,055
Scotland
Found the limit of my battery. 66.92 km (41.5 miles) 1,235m (4000ft) climbing
View attachment 29588
I'm 105kg, backpack was 10kg including tools, water and spare battery. Only ECO and off and used a lot of the OFF!
Had 1 mile left when I got home but the battery wouldn't power back on once powered off!
Shimano 504W external battery - E8000 steps motor. Eco set to 30% assist and 60nm.
I'd memore comfortable aiming for 25 or less with this sort of climbing and being able to use a bit of TRAIL mode when tired!
I tried on smart control a few days ago three miles later switched off made bike feel dead . I know I could get fifty miles at a push and that’s plenty for me
 

Janc

Active member
Oct 22, 2019
230
132
Dorset
I tried on smart control a few days ago three miles later switched off made bike feel dead . I know I could get fifty miles at a push and that’s plenty for me
What's smart control? Is that like Trail mode on Shimano?
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
It's actually quite clever. You set how far you want to go and how much climb and how much battery you want left, or alternatively how long you want to ride for and it then controls the power to make sure you make it. Theoretically, it gives you more on climbs and you set a minimum elevation change before that kicks in.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
There comes a point when using so little assistance to eek out battery mileage means you're not far off negating the point of using a BIG HEAVY Ebike at all tho, eh?
 

Janc

Active member
Oct 22, 2019
230
132
Dorset
It's actually quite clever. You set how far you want to go and how much climb and how much battery you want left, or alternatively how long you want to ride for and it then controls the power to make sure you make it. Theoretically, it gives you more on climbs and you set a minimum elevation change before that kicks in.
thanks for the explanation.
Kind of what I tried doing manually on the ride by constantly checking battery level, range and distance ridden and left. Knowing which hills I had to come factoring in how much to ride engine off. Very touch and go and tiring. Reminded me of hypermiling!
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
There comes a point when using so little assistance to eek out battery mileage means you're not far off negating the point of using a BIG HEAVY Ebike at all tho, eh?
Totally ! Though the smart control seems to perform a bit of magic somehow.. If I use smart control to go a set distance, it seems to be a far easier ride than if I manually set the power at a level which will also get me the same distance. .. doesn't make a lot of sense in any logical terms.

Setting it manual so low that you're only just countering the weight of the bike seems counterproductive to what the bike does.... and makes for a boring ride. Might as well just turn it off and have a pain session.
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,265
5,055
Scotland
What's smart control? Is that like Trail mode on Shimano?
Put in how long and far you want to ride and elevation and how much battery you want left when finished. The Smart Control adjusts motor to make sure you manage it. I don't feel I need it 40 miles plenty for me.
 

EebStrider

Well-known member
Apr 18, 2020
712
763
Surrey, UK
Anything under 60 miles on an ebike, I wouldn’t consider a big ride. I guess it depends how much you use the power. I used to to 60-70 mile bike rides on my regular mtb a few years ago, now they were big rides!

i did 38 miles on Monday, and 28 yesterday on it, neither wore me out, my back just ached, as I’m still getting back into it.

When I read about range on here, I wonder if people are leaving them turned on the whole time, as I leave mine off, unless I get to the hilly sections, so could easily do 100 miles on a single charge?
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,265
5,055
Scotland
Anything under 60 miles on an ebike, I wouldn’t consider a big ride. I guess it depends how much you use the power. I used to to 60-70 mile bike rides on my regular mtb a few years ago, now they were big rides!

i did 38 miles on Monday, and 28 yesterday on it, neither wore me out, my back just ached, as I’m still getting back into it.

When I read about range on here, I wonder if people are leaving them turned on the whole time, as I leave mine off, unless I get to the hilly sections, so could easily do 100 miles on a single charge?
Depends on fitness and age and time you've got i wouldn't want to or couldn't peddle mine without motor .
 

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