I've been considering buying an electric bike for my commute to work, I wanted to know if there would be any benefit using an electric bike over a decent manual road bike.
I wondering if the extra weight of the electric bike (3x as heavy as road bike) would counteract the benefit of the motor.
I rode my road bike 20 flatish miles, I kept my heart at around 110 (did not want to arrive at work exhausted), on my manual road bike I averaged 11.4 mph over the 20 mile course (not great i know, i have to improve my fitness a lot)
Today i did the same course on my Mum's new Freego Wren, keeping my heart rate at around 110, to try and mimic a similar level of effort.
When i put the electric bike on level one, it was much harder to pedal than the road bike, it felt heavy and sluggish even with a bit of electrical assist, i averaged only 7/8 mph at a heart rate of 110.
Going on to level 2 helped a lot, on this level the bike felt on par with my road bike, I was averaging similar speeds, around 11/12 mph. I think on level 2 the motor compensated for the extra weight, I did not see any real benefit over the road bike, other than i was achieving a similar speed with a more comfortable upright position.
On to level 3 (full power) and everything changed, the speed was much higher than i had hoped, i actually got over 19mph with full assist, and tootling along at my 110 heart rate I was achieving a consistent 18mph, far in excess of what i had hoped.
I tended to go on level 3 when i was on the open road and drop down to level 2 when i passed through a village, my average speed was 16.2 mph, much higher than that 11.4 i got from my road bike, with similar levels of effort from me, I also benefited from a more comfier riding position.
I was also impressed with the battery life, I used a quarter travelling 20s mile mostly at level 3, i'm not sure how the battery level drops off though.
Overall, i'm left feeling impressed with the electric bike, much more so than i thought i would, I'm going to the cycle show at the NEC in September, so will hopefully be able to demo a range of bikes.
Does anyone else have similar experiences with electric bikes vs manual ones?
I wondering if the extra weight of the electric bike (3x as heavy as road bike) would counteract the benefit of the motor.
I rode my road bike 20 flatish miles, I kept my heart at around 110 (did not want to arrive at work exhausted), on my manual road bike I averaged 11.4 mph over the 20 mile course (not great i know, i have to improve my fitness a lot)
Today i did the same course on my Mum's new Freego Wren, keeping my heart rate at around 110, to try and mimic a similar level of effort.
When i put the electric bike on level one, it was much harder to pedal than the road bike, it felt heavy and sluggish even with a bit of electrical assist, i averaged only 7/8 mph at a heart rate of 110.
Going on to level 2 helped a lot, on this level the bike felt on par with my road bike, I was averaging similar speeds, around 11/12 mph. I think on level 2 the motor compensated for the extra weight, I did not see any real benefit over the road bike, other than i was achieving a similar speed with a more comfortable upright position.
On to level 3 (full power) and everything changed, the speed was much higher than i had hoped, i actually got over 19mph with full assist, and tootling along at my 110 heart rate I was achieving a consistent 18mph, far in excess of what i had hoped.
I tended to go on level 3 when i was on the open road and drop down to level 2 when i passed through a village, my average speed was 16.2 mph, much higher than that 11.4 i got from my road bike, with similar levels of effort from me, I also benefited from a more comfier riding position.
I was also impressed with the battery life, I used a quarter travelling 20s mile mostly at level 3, i'm not sure how the battery level drops off though.
Overall, i'm left feeling impressed with the electric bike, much more so than i thought i would, I'm going to the cycle show at the NEC in September, so will hopefully be able to demo a range of bikes.
Does anyone else have similar experiences with electric bikes vs manual ones?
