Do I need three batteries, or only two?

[RobF]

I have my longest ride to date planned for next month - about 86 miles to York.

The route from Sunderland is as easy as is possible to get in this lovely, but lumpy, country of ours.

Tiny bit of climbing to start with, but then mostly downhill all the way.

One battery won't do it, so the choice is my two Bosch 11ah batteries, or take the third one from my AVE which is only 8ah.

If I'm a good boy and use tour setting all the way, I reckon two batteries could do it.

But it would be close with next to nothing in hand for headwinds or diversions.

So as Clint Eastwood didn't say: "Do I need three batteries, or only two?"

Route profile here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Stadium+of+Light,+Sunderland+SR5+1SU,+United+Kingdom/York,+UK/@54.4362089,-2.4961687,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x487e667c65555555:0x4ee69dbaf463c0c2!2m2!1d-1.388371!2d54.914561!1m5!1m1!1s0x4878c340e19865f1:0x4774ab898a54e4d1!2m2!1d-1.0872979!2d53.9599651!3e1

 

[flecc]

On such trips I learned to always take the extra one, a hard lesson taught on one occasion when I didn't have enough and suffered a particulary exhausting and time-wasting completion of a hilly journey.

Having a spare battery in each pannier as well as the one in use also gave the benefit of balance.
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[Deleted member 4366]

Here's how I see it.

If you want to take all day doing the ride. You can turn the power off. As long as you don't go too fast, you should be able to manage about 40 miles with no power at all. Then, your legs will start to get tired and your bum will ache, so you'll need to turn up the power a bit. Two batteries should do the remaining 40 miles. If you want to ride back the next day, you'll need three batteries and lots of cream for your bum.

 

[Jimod]

Here's how I see it.

If you want to take all day doing the ride. You can turn the power off. As long as you don't go too fast, you should be able to manage about 40 miles with no power at all.

If I could do 40 miles without power, I wouldn't have an electric bike. Personally, I'd take a third battery if I had one.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I'm not very fit and weigh 100kg. Anybody that's not disabled and with better credentials than that should be able to do it if they put their mind to it. You need nice low gears for the hills and just take it easy.

 

[Jimod]

I'm not very fit and weigh 100kg. Anybody that's not disabled and with better credentials than that should be able to do it if they put their mind to it. You need nice low gears for the hills and just take it easy.

I like a challenge, on my days off I'll get my Merida out and give it a go.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Rob,

What about just taking the two 11Ah's and stopping off to recharge your and the bike batteries en route?

 

[RobF]

Don't fancy trying to pedal the Rose unassisted.

I could experiment with eco setting, although the ride to York might not be the time to do it.

I will be in a group who are unlikely to want to stop long enough or in the right place for a charge on the way.

That would work on my own, not least because the Bosch battery charges fairly quickly so you could get a useful amount of power into one in an hour or so.

Inevitably, I think I will take the third battery - good for balance in the panniers as Flecc says.

As a target, I could still try to complete the ride on two batteries.

Every possibility if I can discipline myself to use tour or eco for most of the way.

That should be possible if the going is as easy as I think it is.

 

[superDove]

I would like to see ebike manufacturers offering attachment points for spare batteries. I don't like the thought of expensive batteries being in panniers where they can get bashed if the bike goes over.

 

[flecc]

I would like to see ebike manufacturers offering attachment points for spare batteries. I don't like the thought of expensive batteries being in panniers where they can get bashed if the bike goes over.

It might seem that way, but our batteries are amazingly tough when subjected to accidents. Have a look at this link on my website.
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[Cyclezee]

I would like to see ebike manufacturers offering attachment points for spare batteries. I don't like the thought of expensive batteries being in panniers where they can get bashed if the bike goes over.

eZee have battery bags that strap to a rear carrier for carrying a spare or for connecting in parallel with the main battery.

eZee VP battery modified with the addition of Anderson connectors for use as a reserve or to run in parallel with the main battery​

eZee FP battery bag​

or if 2 is not enough

​

but if you don't want to carry all those spares you could have a single with the capacity of 28Ah

 

[RobF]

York ride completed today - just over 86 miles.

I think I am more tired than I have ever been after a ride, so it was quite tough despite being relatively flat.

Battery consumption was roughly as predicted, the climbs on the ride are nearly all in the first half so I changed batteries about five miles short halfway near Northallerton.

The second battery would have made it to York, but having carried the third all that way I treated myself for the last 10 miles to so some fresh power.

Consumption was increased by a headwind for a lot of the way, and I was doing some battery management by using tour for most of the time.

Carrying two spares is not ideal, the bike is heavier than I would like.

There's a bridge in the centre of York where you need to bump the bike up and down steps.

It would have been very hard to do that without help from other members of the group.

The Rose performed faultlessly, unlike some of the other riders' bikes which had various mechanicals.

Most problems were tyre-related, including a mountain bike tyre which blew off the rim - never seen that before.

The rider, who is quite light, was bowling along a minor road and it was the front tyre.

He heard a large bang and said he thought he had been shot.

There seemed to be no cause of a puncture, although there was a little slit in the tube.

The tyre bead was damaged, but we refitted it and it got him the remaining 15 miles to York.

Plenty of wear left in that tyre, although some of the group run tyres for a lot longer than I would.

As we proved today the tyre/tube is the overwhelmingly most likely thing to fail on a ride, so it makes sense to me to replace them before they are fully worn.

 

[Black Dog]

Most problems were tyre-related, including a mountain bike tyre which blew off the rim - never seen that before.

The rider, who is quite light, was bowling along a minor road and it was the front tyre.

He heard a large bang and said he thought he had been shot.

There seemed to be no cause of a puncture, although there was a little slit in the tube.

Most MTB tyres are designed to be inflated to 40-50 psi and no more. I tried to make my knobblies easier to roll on my Raleigh by inflating to the 90 psi I used on my roadie. All was well until I heard what sounded like two shots in the garage about midnight. Sure enough, both had blown off the rims, leaving the tubes in tatters. Strangely, they had gone within a couple of minutes of each other, and they had waited several hours after I had inflated them to do so. Perhaps that is what had happened here.

 

[jackhandy]

That was a marathon ride Rob - Reckon my backside would have been in tatters after that

 

[Cyclezee]

Reckon my backside would have been in tatters after that

Think yourself lucky JH that you are human and not a Cornish dog

 

[RobF]

That was a marathon ride Rob - Reckon my backside would have been in tatters after that

I was doing some 'resting' by standing on the pedals in the last few miles.

The cycle path into York from the north is quite bumpy which didn't assist.

No seating problems the next day, but no cycling either.

 

[jackhandy]

Think yourself lucky JH that you are human and a Cornish dog

Thank you for not calling one a Cornish Dog .

(One cannot edit a quote).

 

[jackhandy]

I was doing some 'resting' by standing on the pedals in the last few miles.

Ahh - Aircon!

 

[Cyclezee]

Who are you calling a Cornish Dog - Pictsie!

Read again JH

 

[drsolly]

I estimate the number of batteries that I'll need, then add one (my batteries are all 5AH). I keep them in panniers, in a rigid plastic box, so if I fall catastrophically, the batteries will probably not be affected.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231191162157?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

It's tough but light, and it will just take eight Hobbyking 20C 4S Hardcase Lipos.