Mountain Biking general thread

[Rich B]

Well it works! US mode cuts out just before 20 which seems much more useable.

I couldn't resist changing the wheel circumference too (for "science") . I put it down to 1300mm (standard is 2271mm), so it basically assumes that each turn of the back wheel only moves the bike 1300mm, so displayed speed is actual speed /1.74 I think.)

I went up and down my (flat) road in boost and got the speedo up to about 18 (so around 31mph) without too much effort, but I had run out of gears really. Theoretical assisted top speed will be 34.6 mph.

I put it back to standard US mode after, which I suspect will suit most of my riding. Booked in to Rogate next week though to give it a try at a bike park I know well.

[Gwaredd]

Interested to see how you get on with the 20mph cut off. Will it be enough, or will you need just a few more mph for it to be ideal? Keep us posted!

[Jobbo]

Had a fantastic ride up and down the Cotswolds, on bridleways, restricted byways and a few bits of tarmac to join the together. Yes, the bike is way more capable than me but I still appreciated it as I went down a steep, muddy stony bridleway.

I thought a dropper post was irrelevant to me but it’s almost as much of a revelation as the motor. Getting used to keeping it out of the way.

Fucking loving it.

[Rich B]

Yeah, I realised how busy you are on the controls with an ebike. I'm used to pushing up hills, then having a minute at the top to get into the right gear/saddle down/etc. before hammering down the downhill.

On an ebike, that whole process is done on the fly, along with selecting the correct assistance mode.

My only major reservation is out of the 4 of us who ride together, 2 of us have ebikes and 2 don't. Making sure the ride keeps everyone at the same pace will be super important, as riding is a social thing for me.

[John]

I rode mine for the first time this year yesterday, unfortunately I don't have the Cotswolds on my doorstep but this is only five minutes ride away. The woods you can see in the distance to the right have some nice little trails built by the locals

[Coaster1]

I rode mine for the first time this year yesterday, unfortunately I don't have the Cotswolds on my doorstep but this is only five minutes ride away. The woods you can see in the distance to the right have some nice little trails built by the locals

[Coaster1]

Chaps how long does the battery last on one full charge? Cheers

[Rich B]

Chaps how long does the battery last on one full charge? Cheers

I was out for about 3 hours the other day and used about 45%. It obviously varies with use, but I suspect the battery will always last longer than me!

[Jobbo]

The battery sizes vary a lot - is yours 700Wh, Rich

Mine is 625Wh which is the largest single battery size which Bosch make. I charged it last night with two out of 5 bars remaining and had done 33 miles, though I don’t know how fully charged it arrived, and I’ve done a fair bit of assisted climbing up the Cotswolds; if you were to just ride on flat tarmac it should have a 60-80 mile range.

I could probably get by quite happily with a 500Wh battery and save a kilo of weight but I’m glad I’ve got the 625.

[Rich B]

Mines 540, I'll have to see how it gets on for a whole day at a park really - Rogate on Friday should be a good little test. There's a couple of parks that I really want to try it at - Windhill and Aston hill. Both have epic push ups but have some of my favourite lines anywhere.

[V8Granite]

What are these like when the battery runs out, just a normal pedal but carrying the weight of a battery and motor ?

Dave!

[Coaster1]

Cheers @Jobbo @Rich B

[Rich B]

What are these like when the battery runs out, just a normal pedal but carrying the weight of a battery and motor ?

Dave!

yeah - heavy - 50+ lbs (my Capra is 30 lbs).

I had it turned off for a fair amount of the ride today though - it's fine on the flat or down hill.

[Carlos]

What are these like when the battery runs out, just a normal pedal but carrying the weight of a battery and motor ?

Dave!

As regards my Giant you wouldn't want to travel far very slowly.

[Jobbo]

I was surprised how easily mine can be pedalled on the flat with the motor switched off, but the contrast from having the motor on is stark. Wouldn’t want to climb any hills on it, at 24kg despite having a carbon frame.

[KiwiDave]

Chaps how long does the battery last on one full charge? Cheers

I've found it also massively depends on the rider weight (which makes sense). Partner and I rode the same bike, same tires on a few ride outs and typically she has 25-30% battery left when I'm out. Very similar usage of the modes, so the difference is weight or extra drag from me being massive. She's 5ft something and 60kg, I'm 6ft 4ins and 115kg.

[Jobbo]

Just been our for a proper ride, 37miles/4hrs with 2749ft of climbing. A mix of surfaces, plenty of tarmac but also plenty of bridleways, stony tracks, one stream (I won’t be using that track again) and even a downhill trail through a wood where I got some air jumping over tree roots. Other than one utter twat of a landowner who blocked a right of way leaving me no option but to climb back up the hill, it was a great ride. I found plenty of injuries to my calves from the pedal inserts when I got home though; they’re wonderful to ride with but lacerate you if you let them hit bare skin

I got down to one bar of battery left. I’m not sure what that means - does it run for a bit longer when there are no bars left? Anyway, I am glad I went for 625Wh and I can see why the likes of Specialized are doing 700Wh now. If I did 50 miles I imagine I’d have been running on empty. I didn’t use Eco after the first few metres though and stuck it in Turbo for the final 5 miles or so on the road to get home.

Rich, if you use the motor to climb back up after each downhill run then I think you’d be running low after half a day. Wonder how much spare batteries are?

[Rich B]

Just done about 5 hours of downhill/jumps/sessioning at Rogate, I still had 2 bars (of 5) left. My bros Kenevo had 2 bars (of 10) left. I'm knackered though, I'd not make it through 2 batteries worth of doing what we do!

One of the small double jump lines - probably did 15 runs down these just playing because the whole circuit up and down only took a few minutes.

[John]

I feel I know Rogate almost as well as my local trails, must be all the youtube videos the pros post of their antics. Although I still can't quite get my head around paying to ride, that'll be the tight northern monkey showing

[Rich B]

I feel I know Rogate almost as well as my local trails, must be all the youtube videos the pros post of their antics. Although I still can't quite get my head around paying to ride, that'll be the tight northern monkey showing

whereas I'm happy to pay £10 a day for a well built and maintained bike park thats closed to walkers.

I could spend half that on parking at somewhere like swinley, where I might come round a corner to find dog walkers standing on the lip of a jump or find the jumps that were there last week have been flattened because some clown decided to sue the landowner after they fell off.

Unfortunately the legal side has pretty much ruined the old "go and build loads of cool stuff in your local woods", so bike parks are the best alternative - but they cost money to run.