So, e-road bikes. They’re heavier than non-powered bikes, by quite a margin. So how much does that affect their ability to go uphill? Wouldn’t you just be better off with a really light bike?
To find out we sent Dave and Liam off to Cheddar Gorge for a climbing challenge. Liam was riding his race-spec Cannondale SuperSix Evo, and Dave was on board Pinarello’s new Nytro e-road bike featuring the Fazua motor system. Here’s a bit more about that bike from our first look video…
And how did they get on? Watch the vid to find out!
29 thoughts on “e-bike versus lightweight bike: which is quickest up a climb?”
It looks like an excellent
It looks like an excellent moped; but until I’m in my 80s, I won’t consider one (I certainly may well do then). I want to have a bit of fun on the flat as well and it looks a bit sluggish in that scenario. I also carry my (7.5kg) bike up five flights of stairs to the office every day (I’m not going to leave the bloody thing outside), so there’s that…
Also, why so ugly?
I really fancy a delicious,
I really fancy a delicious, hot cup of Costa Coffee from my local Costa Coffee branch now – with over 9,000 outlets nationwide there’s one closer to you that you’d think!
Interesting video. A bike can
Interesting video. A bike can’t beat an e-bike up a climb, it’s not even close.
Can a bike beat an e-bike over a full length ride starting and finishing in the same place, assuming the e-bike has the 25 km/h assistance limit in place? That would be an interesting challenge. Try that one next, Road.cc !
Miller wrote:
GCN did just that over a if I remember correctly 106km course with 3000metres which is pretty hilly. The ebike rider even though he was much less fit than his co presenter comfortably outpaced the standard road rider
search Youtube gcn 28 may 17
Its bleeding obvious an ebike
Its bleeding obvious an ebike will destroy a standard road bike even with a pro on one. For a few extra kilos you get 250W. So an average cyclist producing 200 W plus 250 W motor ontop will out pace everything on a cycle
I think that was Matt
I think that was Matt Stephens and Si Richardson so not as much of a difference as you’d think. The 250w + 200w doesn’t work as such as most e-bikes cut out at 15.5mph so you’re not really using all that power. Having 15.5 consistently on grades north of 6/7% is always better than a normal bike plus chilling on hills saves you energy for the remainder.
Slappop, hope you’re lucky enough to have to wait til your 80s…
“as most e-bikes cut out at
“as most e-bikes cut out at 15.5mph”
Is that a legal requirement?
BTW, I’m w/ @Slappop on hoping not to need one until 80… or 90. I’ll likely make an exception for my bakfiets at some point as it can be rather heavy when loaded.
A friendly e-cyclist offered
A friendly e-cyclist offered me his wind shadow the other week. Frankly I was almost insulted until he told me that his self-made machine could put out 1000W! Illegal, but at least he rode sensibly. And I did accept his wind shadow.
Generally though, for the fit and healthy: E-bikes – what’s the fcuking point?!
Christopher TR1 wrote:
I used to be of the same opinion, but changed my mind about ten years ago, because I’d met a few people who didn’t have the confidence to ride without e-assistance. For people who haven’t ridden a bike for thirty or forty years, e-bikes are a godsend and they’d never get back on a bike otherwise. My sister in law for example. She’s 67, hasn’t ridden a bike for twenty years and isn’t very fit, but she’s just bought an e-bike to go out with the grandkids. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to persuade her to use it go to the shops and other short journeys too.
OK, they aren’t for people like most of us on here, but if they get more people out of a car and onto a bike, they have to be beneficial to all of us.
I’m
I’m
OK, they aren’t for people like most of us on here, but if they get more people out of a car and onto a bike, they have to be beneficial to all of us.— Christopher TR1
Agreed, they aren’t for people like us so articles like this are totally out of place on road.cc.
I’m not against e-bikes, I’m seriously considering an assisted cargo bike. But articles like this need to be where the people who need them will see them.
janusz0 wrote:
Something is out of place here, but it isn’t this story.
Christopher TR1 wrote:
At least two that I can think of.
1. Commuting
I’m a cyclist with 20+ years of riding behind me, can happily undertake 40+ mile, ‘proper’ mountain bike rides and 90+ mile road rides (probably more if I had the time), and will do overnight, wild camping adventure rides.
However, for my twice weekly commute involving of min 14 miles each way with a 30min train ride in the middle (unless I ride the whole way, in which case 80 mile round trip), carrying a hefty lock, lunch, breakfast (I head off way too early to eat it before leaving), I seriously considering a e-bike. Not because I can’t do the commute under my own steam, or because an e-bike might save me a bit of time (because it’ll only save me 5 mins or so), but when pedalling back, often 12 hours after I’ve left in the morning, the phsicological boost from knowing the ride home will be that much easier will mean I’m more likely to choose the bike and train option instead of the car and train.
And I’m not alone – a colleague, and former road bike racer has just bought an e-bike for the same reason. Now he’s regularly cycling into work where’as before he drove.
2. Group ride
e-bikes can level the playing field in group rides, meaning the weaker riders don’t constantly get dropped of the back and the stronger riders don’t get hacked off constantly having to wait for others.
And in my case, my other half can keep pace with me when she’s on her e-bike, meaning I can ride as normal when out with her, instead of soft pedalling most the way, and we can rider further because she enjoys it more too. Indeed, if she wacks up the settings she can have a laugh at me as I try to keep up.
I don’t know. I can see two
I don’t know. I can see two reasons why people here might be interested:
1) Getting partners out cycling with us. My wife would never think of cycling with me on a normal bike. But an evoke she might. They would need to come down to sub £1k first (and close passes be taken seriously by the police)
2) Make is feel better when one glides past up a hill.
John Smith wrote:
3) Getting to work not hot and sweaty. A friend has an ebike of some kind, very heavy, but it has a lock & rack & mudguards as part of it and lights too I think, but north of 20kg. He rides to work down a disused railway, about 5 miles each way. Apart from his bike helmet and coat, the rest of his clothes are normal, and he can go straight to his desk without having to shower and change and stash away all the extra kit that riding a “normal” bike requires. He has talked about selling one of their cars too.
It isn’t for me yet, but maybe in my mid 60’s it could be a useful addition.
I commute 24 miles every day
I commute 24 miles every day by bike and regularly attend club rides on the weekend, and I love my road bikes, yet I also own an ebike. Why? Around town, when I want to get from A to B effortlessly and without being drenched in sweat (or having to wear non civvy clothes) at the end of it (I live in hilly Bristol, FWIW), it’s a no brainer.
PLUS, if we really want to get lazy people out of their smog belching mobiles, an ebike is probably the only way we’re going to achieve that, IMO.
One other point here – the
One other point here – the Cytronex C1 ebike conversion kit weighs in at 3.6kg. So, you could take a fairly average road bike which probably weighs about 9kg, add the kit and you’d still be much lighter than the very expensive Pinarello that you see in this video. Admittedly, the battery/motor used in each means it’s not quite a direct comparison, but the point is you can have a relatively lightweight ebike, if you like, and not spend the earth (I think the C1 is about £1K, which is a bargain).
Truffl3Shuffl3 wrote:
How much?!!
A TSDZ2 mid drive motor can be had for around £300. Throw in a battery for £200 and you can convert a bike for £500.
The TSDZ2 has a built in torque sensor, so is pedal assist in it’s true sense (it adds a % of whatever power you are outputting – i.e. you pedal harder, the motor adds loads, you pedal softer, the motor adds less – which gives the the most ‘natural’ feel and is the basis for how Shimano, Bocsh, Yahama motors work). It’s als mid drive, so benefit from the bikes normal drive system and gears making it very efficient.
Also, is the Cyronex 3.6kg with the battery? The TSDZ2 is also 3.6kg, albeit without battery, but it replaces your existing crankset so the true ‘on bike’ weight will equate to less.
I’ve found it to be much better than Bafang/8fun mid drive motor (the seemingly go-to DIY e-bike conversion motor).
Time for ebiketips/road.cc to do a comprehensive conversion kit comparison test I feel.
joules1975 wrote:
The C1 is a plug and play kit which even relative noobs could fit; I’m not sure the same could be said about the one you’re referring to? I don’t have any experience with it to comment, mind. And yes, 3.6kg with battery. At a guess I’d say you’re adding another couple of kilos once you factor in the battery on the kit you refer to, so a fair bit heavier.
Anyway, that was just an example to highlight the relative cost effectiveness of going the conversion route. I, too, would love to see a group test of ebike conversion kits – not an easy undertaking mind!
Truffl3Shuffl3 wrote:
yup, i’m a big fan of the C1 system:
https://road.cc/ebiketips/content/reviews/electric-conversion-kits/cytronex-c1-system-1692
although it’d be a much better system with a rear hub motor, IMO. that’s something they’re looking into.
Moped faster than bicycle…
Moped faster than bicycle… shocker
A 74 year old lady went flying past me on a climb on an eBike, I caught her up on the decent and chatted with her, she cycled all her life but her body just doesn’t allow her to cycle around our very hilly area, the eBike has allowed her to ride again, she loves it and loves getting out again, it was a present from her family, I almost welled-up when she told me her story.
There is a place for eBikes and I look forward to getting one to keep me riding when my knackered old body gives up
It’s interesting, we now have
It’s interesting, we now have ebikes coming on our group rides (about 40 miles on a Sunday morning). At first people seemed against the idea of having ebikes in the group, as it seemed like “cheating” but its actually great fun trying to keep up with them on the climbs.
Usually the riders of them are really fresh for the flat sprint sections as well, so can keep up even when there is no assistance.
However one of the guys has maybe been riding his ebike almost exclusively over the last three months, definitely seems to have lost some fitness, and could not keep up on the flat, (Where it sometimes gets up to 26mph+ in sections) for the first time ever that I’ve seen him suffer like that. So for high speed group riding, you probably still need to maintain good fitness, even on an ebike.
cyclesteffer wrote:
i shall be out on this actual e-bike on your group ride on Sunday Stef, so best bring your A-game 🙂
dave atkinson wrote:
It’s interesting, we now have ebikes coming on our group rides (about 40 miles on a Sunday morning). At first people seemed against the idea of having ebikes in the group, as it seemed like “cheating” but its actually great fun trying to keep up with them on the climbs.
Usually the riders of them are really fresh for the flat sprint sections as well, so can keep up even when there is no assistance.
However one of the guys has maybe been riding his ebike almost exclusively over the last three months, definitely seems to have lost some fitness, and could not keep up on the flat, (Where it sometimes gets up to 26mph+ in sections) for the first time ever that I’ve seen him suffer like that. So for high speed group riding, you probably still need to maintain good fitness, even on an ebike.
— dave atkinson i shall be out on this actual e-bike on your group ride on Sunday Stef, so best bring your A-game 🙂— cyclesteffer
Oh fuck.
cyclesteffer wrote:
I’ll be out on a Wilier ebike that Dave reckons is a bit more powerful. I hope that helps 🙂
Iwein Dekoninck wrote:
Dave, What will be the time differencebetween you on a Pinarello Nytro and someone else with about the same qualities as you on a conventional bike like the cannondale Liam used?
I think it is unfair to the countless possibilities and potentials that road e-bikes possess when all the video done to test these E-bikes are between people of very unequal cycling capabilities. It can’t be any clearer that these e-bikes will benefits a huge number of struggling cycling enthusiast but it shouldn’t cloud the possibility being used by more than just those who struggle with conventional bikes.
Cyclist will have to say a big ‘welcome’ to their cousins e-cyclist 🙂
Iwein Dekoninck wrote:
Dave, What will be the time difference between you on a Pinarello Nytro and someone else with about the same qualities as you on a conventional bike like the cannondale Liam used?
I think it is unfair to the countless possibilities and potentials that road e-bikes possess when all the videos done to test and review these e-bikes are between people of very unequal cycling capabilities. It can’t be any clearer that these e-bikes will benefits a huge number of struggling cycling enthusiast but it shouldn’t cloud the possibility being used by more than just those who struggle with conventional bikes.
Cyclist will have to say a big ‘welcome’ to their cousins e-cyclist 🙂
Road E-bike Grand Prix wrote:
Dave, we look forward to a review of you on your pinarello nytro and someone of equal cycling capabilities and weight on a conventional lightweighted road bike.
The Nytro would look a lot
The Nytro would look a lot better without most of the red frame and tape detailing, perhaps just only on the headtube. Not that I’d buy one anyway.
International Road E-bike Grand Prix
The e-bike community will probably become the fastest growing community in the years to come. This is just the beginning.
With the dawn of a road e-bike racing competition – Internatinal Road E-bike Grand Prix (IREBGP) and plans for a E-road European Series followed by a world e-bike series there is no denying that Road E-bikes has just expanded the cycling community.
I would use this opportunity to present the Premier edition of Road E-bike Racing set for the 17th and 18th of August 2019 in Aix-lesBains, France. Registration opens soon.
Contact: info@roadebikegrandprix.com for more info.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6471389691554852864
@ dave atkinson bring your Pinarello Nytro and become pioneers in road e-bike racing.