Another E-Boardman called Paddington

[Ferdinand]

I now have my e-bike, as of yesterday.

Boardman Hybrid Team with Gruber Assist fitted. It has been renamed for reasons obvious to anyone who has ever been 6 in the UK in the last half-century.

Been out for a 7-8 miler this morning and it seems excellent - just what I wanted to travel less sweatily in civvies and keep up with traffic more easily on narrow bits.

Still a few wrinkles to work out.

1 - This bike is very tight between the seatpost and the back tyre, especially since I run 37mm tourers, and the current mech is only about 5mm from the tyre. Wasn't expecting that one. I might need to switch to a slightly smaller big chainring or different mech, since I have put a 24-36-48 triple on to give me a more relaxed top end and a granny instead of the previous 28-42.

2 - The wire routing and onoff switch need a bit of fettling - perhaps looking for a silver cover or trim for the seatpost to vanish the wire - any ideas?

3 - It needs a slight diet to restore the sub 13kg riding weight. Need to lose about 2kg. That will not be a problem; I'll just lose the rear pannier rack and trunkbag in favour of front panniers when needed.

4 - Need to get to grips with riding the Gruber with the triple, in particular the best way to work up to a highish cruising speed on the big ring. Generally it is a delight.

My final note would be that it has been worth paying for a decent donor bike and components in this case. Photos when finished.

Ferdinand

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Would it be easier for you to lose 3kg than the from the bike?

 

[Ferdinand]

Would it be easier for you to lose 3kg than the from the bike?

That's the mantra, plus "necessary bike weight but no more".

I've already lost much more than that. Half came back as muscle. And is departing again gradually.

Maintaining the bike weight was always the plan. If I go touring I'll switch to a Wildcat Tiger luggage system, plus a frame bag.

It also has a front rack on it already.

F

 

[flecc]

That's the mantra, plus "necessary bike weight but no more".

Within reason, personal weight is less important that bike weight. One's body automatically adjusts muscle strength to body weight carried, since that weight is ever present one is always exercising to match the weight.

There's no such constant adjustment for an intermittently ridden bike's weight of course, so that's the best weight to lose.
.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I can't agree. Since I lost weight, riding my bike is so easy. Don't forget that we're talking about electric bikes. The motor doesn't adjust its power downwards when you lose weight. Instead, hill-climbing becomes much faster and easier. I used to have to use the Xiongda's low gear several times during my rides, but not any more.

 

[Ferdinand]

"Within reason" is the key phrase here.

I am around 14st, and I am quite capable of cycling 40 miles+ over undulating ground in 3-4 hours in an afternoon before the E-Assist was added, if I take it fairly steadily and don't try to blat along at 35-40kph for too long or go up hills as if they were Norfolk. Last year I couldn't do that.

I went from 14.10 down to 13.8 and back up to 14'3 since last summer, with 2 months off in the spring.

I prefer as light a bike without spending an absolute fortune* as I can get without losing too much comfort or strength as it feels nippier, though I pay even more attention to rotating mass than bike mass.

That will be a different perception from someone who has eg lost 4st, or nothing.

Ferdinand

* Having just bought the Gruber, this is now somewhat relative .

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Each KG that you lose will make approximately 1% difference to hill-climbing ability whether it comes from you or the bike. Nine times out of ten, it's easier and cheaper to remove the weight from yourself.

 

[Ferdinand]

This is cheapskate weightloss.

I lose 2kg (+2% hill climbing ability) by taking the Topeak Supertourist DX Rack and Topeak MTX Trunk Bag EXP, and exactly 230g of attached gubbins, off the bike and putting them in the garage.

F

 

[trex]

I don't understand this obsession with weightloss - it's not that important on an e-bike, especially when most of the weight that you shave comes from the metals, frame and suspension - that's your own safety you are playing with.
but to put a price on it, how much do you think a kg of weightloss on an e-bike is worth? £100/kg?

 

[Ferdinand]

I'm not sure why we've got into a big debate about weightloss here.

The bike weighed 13kg.

It now has a 2kg kit on it.

I'm taking 2kg of accessories off it, and not touching the frame or any other structural doodads.

It will still weigh 13kg.

It will ride very similarly when I use it as the pushbike it was before.

End of.

F

 

[mfj197]

Look forward to the photos - sounds a very interesting bike. I haven't seen any Gruber Assist conversions on here - did you do it yourself? How did it go?

Michael

 

[Ferdinand]

Look forward to the photos - sounds a very interesting bike. I haven't seen any Gruber Assist conversions on here - did you do it yourself? How did it go?

Michael

It is dealer fitted. They had the bike for a day.

Grubers are not supplied any more (reinvented as the Vivax with more silent running), but I happened to ask about reconditioned ones and and they had an ex-demonstrator, which is a Gruber 3.15, so I went for that.

I would have struggled to justify the full £2.5k.

The noise it makes in this vid is about right:

I think I like the slight whirring noise as I get an indication how hard it is working. The noise varies quite a bit, and is louder as you first switch up a gear - as you would expect. Ten it tails off as you stop accelerating. If there is any traffic at all close by you can't hear it. Bikes next to you on a cycle track can hear it; not that it matters.

No idea how that compares to a normal ebike noise.

There's a Vivax thread somewhere about a conversion.

Ferdinand

 

[mfj197]

It is a very neat system.

On the noise front, as a comparison here's a link to the sound of the BBS01 which is one of the quietest systems at the moment. The BPM hub motor I tried on the Kudos Typhoon was louder than the BBS01 but a different note to the Gruber Assist, lower frequency. The Bosch generation 2 I tried was somewhere in between the two.

 

[Fordulike]

Boardman Hybrid Team with Gruber Assist fitted. It has been renamed for reasons obvious to anyone who has ever been 6 in the UK in the last half-century.
Ferdinand

errrrrr???

 

[Ferdinand]

errrrrr???

 

[Fordulike]

Yeah, gotcha now. Missed the Paddington bit in the title.

I was racking my brains why Gruber would been changed

Just come back from 2 hours out on the bike, so I may have a little heat stroke.

 

[Ferdinand]

Here's a pic of the bike in nearly final trim.

It needs a rear mudguard, a new version of the crudguard-on-seatpost cut to fit (this works *really* well to protect trousers and ankles), and a little bit of posh on the seatpost to hide the wires completely.

It is a Gruber not a Vivax because I got the reconditioned one from the demonstrator.



That saddlebag is a Topeak Drybag Wedge Bag Large 1.5l version with Quick Release from Halfords, for the battery and repair kit/spares.

The gearing is a 48-38-24 triple with an 11-32 cassette. It came with a 50-34 chainset, which was too high for my cycling. Switched to 42-28 which was fine until I became fitter. So now it has a bit more at both ends for the Peak District and the E-Assist.

Brakes are hydraulic disks.

Gears are Deore XT and pedals Shimano double sided.

Pump is Mountain Morph, as advised here. Seems slightly large, so I may go for a more mini track pump soon.

The weight budget works out as:

Original bike: 10.1kg
Change of tyres to Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 37mm fr./32mm rear: same as Zaffiro originals
Gruber Assist 3.1 kit inc 8.25Ah battery (30V): 2.2kg
Vavert Advancer front rack: 350g.
Topeak Wedgebag: 250g
Ergon GP3 bar ends: 350g

Which makes it about 13.5kg in riding trim, plus perhaps 1kg for tools, inner tube, lights, pump etc. And it has an extra chainring.

I could have gone a little lighter by using a different bike, but I had this one and it does everything from road to utility to reasonably rough touring (panniers on front rack plus frame bag), while being quick, comfortable, stealthy, and robust. It's quite happy doing tow paths and trails, and small flights of steps, and I'm wondering about trying the South Downs way.

Learning point: don't skimp on the donor bike if you plan to enjoy the riding as well as the E-Assist.

Ferdinand