Can We Break The Hour Record? (On An E Bike!)

The hour record is considered by many to be the ultimate test on two wheels. Many have attempted it, many, including our own Oliver Bridgewood have failed - sorry Ollie! But what happens if you scrap all the UCI rules and regulations and rock up to a velodrome with a derestricted e bike? Alex was up for the challenge! Can he break the hour record? (On an E Bike!)
Unfortunately Alex forgot to upload his ride to Komoot so you won’t be able to see his data from the ride!
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Watch more on GCN...
📹 The Derestricted E Bike Taking on the Hour Record! - gcntech.co/HourRecordEbike
📹 GCN vs GMBN Track Cycling Sprint Challenge - gcn.eu/GCNvsGMBN1
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Leave us a comment below!

[@gcn]

What did you think of Alex’s attempt? Let us know! 💬

[@crazywindows88]

Even using an E-bike, his attempt is still amazing

[@luukrutten1295]

So you only needed an official finale bottle to make it. ( If a canyon is compatible with those extra range bidons )

[@Paganiproductions84]

I might try one next year on one of my xc mtb's maby go for the one or two hour offroad record

[@LT-rk6fr]

Without battery measurements the safest shot at the attempt would have been to hold the record speed until the last minute, then go full assist. Idea: Try this challenge with the tandem bike.

[@apm9507]

Gravel ebikes for the win!

[@dawoudabdulaziz9920]

Now Alex can also use the phrase "My hour record attempt" in every gcn episode. 😂

[@gcn]

You wait 😂

[@thedanalcantara]

😂😂😂

[@ai314159]

As long as he actually says "attempt"; Ollie just goes with "my hour record" 👀

[@mr.t8713]

This shows us how crazy the hour record actually is...

[@silvercat7328]

& how crap E bikes are.

[@billybobby7607]

@@silvercat7328 it's just that batteries don't have the energy storage of petroleum.

[@sevenrats]

@@silvercat7328 How do you figure that? He was well ahead of the record until the battery died. That was an hour of all out full power riding. That E bike can make you look like Jan Ullrich for 20 minutes anytime you want.

[@matlip.]

record is crazy yeah, but he has lost a lot of watt cause because of the equipment. At 60kph every little thing can be like 10watt efficiency loss

[@kelvingartei9187]

It’s not fair

[@cjcustodio429]

The Jeremy Clarkson approach, SPEEED and POWER!! hahahaha

[@jontyarcheryedgar]

I wonder how much strategy might affect this; start on low and ramp up so you have more power at the end when you’re tired?

[@pauldamian2988]

My thoughts exactly... Now that they have some data, should be able to analyze it to come up with a winning strategy.

[@ubatuba1]

Or get more battery power. Actually ebike will succeed because they will keep the good bit of long distance cycling and reduce the occasional climbing exertion

[@jontyarcheryedgar]

@@pauldamian2988 I wonder if that’s not the plan, quite a simple and interesting series for them to complete!

[@beams2002]

I think the ebike output needs to be made to allow Alex to *just* be ahead of the record pace. Below that and you're never going to break the record. And too much above is going to waste more energy to overcome increasing drag.

[@moegigo]

It was just for fun. There was no strategy. With an aero optimisation and calculating the e power supply its clearly possible for him

[@jeskli11]

Kudos to Manon on that Jeremy Clarkson notice - seriously LOL :-D .

[@chrisridesbicycles]

Good work Alex. Now we have enough material to speculate about on GCN Tech for a year. What would have happened with aero bars for example? Would it have been better to start off with the motor turned down?

[@emiljarengrim2536]

Next challenge: Can Manon in a recumbent beat Alex derestricted e-bike distance? :)

[@MrMartinSchou]

Depends on the recumbent. The hour world record in a faired recumbent is 91.556 km.

[@ChrisKrukMusic]

I think Alex has really come into his own now when presenting! Nice seeing him develop from day one and nice to really see him pushing himself on some Gcn challenges! 💨 💨 💨 Go Fast Turn Left

[@philadams9254]

well done mate. An hour effort with or without assistance is bloody hard to do!

[@lionelclavier2476]

What if Alex started in ¾ power rather than full power ? Would it have saved enough battery juice to last until the hour ? Anyhow ! Interesting effort and well done 👍🏻

[@aamj50]

That was way more interesting than I thought it was going to be, nice work!

[@Seppster58]

Well done Alex. That was valiant effort to try for that record. Let's have a GCN showdown with Ollie, Si and Hank and see if they can beat your time. Looking forward to an epic 2022 on GCN!!!

[@nerdexproject]

I guess Manon enjoyed this episode😁

[@nickoutdoors85]

Great fun, thanks for the Boxing Day entertainment 😃

[@bolttracks]

I got a grail:on a couple months ago and love how it keeps appearing in your vids 😄

[@richcrompton6891]

I now wonder how well Ollie would have done… 😯 Well done Alex, a great effort 😊

[@stephenchu1115]

It's nice that Manon and GCN mentions Jeremy Clarkson in their one of their videos as he is their inspiration to become presenters and to make Top Gear/ Grand Tour type vidoes for cycling

[@renegadetenor]

I want to see tandems on the track! (Along with all variety of places they don't normally belong) :)

[@AveryAbbott]

Alex: "Literally anyone who has ever ridden this bike in any race has won" Also Alex: "Hold my beer."

[@thecommentchannel2442]

Nice job, Alex! Try it again with a 625Wh battery, assuming it will fit in the Canyon. The extra 125Wh might be enough.

[@c0reying]

Yeah, this is what I came here to say. He would've beat the record with that extra capacity!

[@richardscharold3055]

Good job, liked seeing it!

[@Dabbtrabb]

A visit to the ollie school of Aero to pimp that bike... Aero bars, deep section wheels, bigger crank...etc. Would love to see how that would affect things.

[@swites]

Great effort! Man Alex was flying in those first minutes on max! How long would battery last if he started out at the next assistance level down I wonder?

[@andrewjohnson9896]

Another wonderful video guys.

[@nsjohnston]

500 Watt hour battery, 250 Watt assistance...lasts under an hour. One of those numbers isn't correct.

[@888johnmac]

the 250 watt motor rating is probably at the legal limit .. unlimited god only knows how many Watts / amps it's drawing

[@mathewrose2951]

I mean, shouldn’t that battery last for exactly two hours if those numbers are correct? Did I miss something in school, or is Bosch fudging numbers?

[@chrisridesbicycles]

It‘s not as easy as that. I guess the batteries git very warm from the constant load and the usable capacity was reduced.

[@michaelmechex]

Maths says that even if it did 500 watts assistance it should last the whole hour. The bike is not new, maybe the battery is a bit tired? Held up more like a 200Wh.

[@michaelmechex]

@@chrisridesbicycles I don't think it overheated, velodromes are usually kept cold, (circa 10°C, maybe even less in winter) and it had a huge amount of airflow from the speed.

[@keithevans5667]

Nice one Alex. Not clear if you beat Ollie. But we'll done enjoyed it 😉

[@gefloigle]

It’s not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home, they’re not much bigger than two meters.

[@oranjetoeters1]

Ollie done well just 2k or so behind Alex on proper set up

[@dcv9460]

GCN RECORD!!! Way to go!!! =P

[@knownas6217]

Well done alex a great effort. I'm voting Manon for the Next GCN hour attempt.

[@justinlewis2466]

Great effort! I wonder, might you have got closer if you'd started with lower assistance from the motor and saved more for use as you tired?

[@robbchastain3036]

I like that Manon always shades Ollie. And that could be his new full name, Even Ollie. And this is all a good use of an e-bike--make it a league of modern-day board racers like those Harley v. Indian duels of a century ago.

[@jontywarnetto7127]

Nice effort Alex

[@georgejgilles.3999]

Decent effort Alex.

[@justinbocchino5141]

I'm confused though because they said the bike had a 500 watt/hour battery. So shouldn't that mean the bike could exert 500 watts of power for 1 hour? Why did it die so soon if the bike only gives a max of 250W of assistance

[@myhandle97]

My thoughts exactly, either the motor produces more than 250W, or the battery is not as big as claimed, or there are losses we don't account for, but it has implications for people making purchasing decisiins when they see motor ratings and battery capacities published

[@lukewalker1051]

Pretty clear there was an efficiency loss. This whole spectacle was easily contrived of course. My ebike would crush the record. In fact, my ebike with spare battery would crush the record without pedaling...all throttle.

[@justinbocchino5141]

@@lukewalker1051 what kind of Ebike do you have? Because I want it lol

[@ubatuba1]

@@justinbocchino5141 Motorbike 🤣

[@mikldude9376]

500 watts for a motor is not much , and gearing also plays a big part in how the motor performs , more speed = more load .

[@filippopogacar]

I think I can die each frame each shot of Manon in this video really

[@alexk2127]

Nice job Alex! How about GCN presenter team on unrestricted e-bikes vs pro team. Sprints, climbs, etc. How would GCN team do?

[@Lsu4878]

This was fun to watch.i ride an ebike...now I have a big challenge!

[@KenSmith-bv4si]

Dude you did an hour bike ride at full gas, well till the gas ran out. Pretty awesome video Alex and Manon. Tho next one should have both Ollie and Alex on E bikes drafting or what appears to be drafting to see if two E bikes working together can beat the hour record.

[@deanke18]

Dude, this is awesome! GCN! Why don't you organise a real e-bike world hour record attempt for amateur teams? Me and my mates would be modding out the Canyon Grail like as if it would come straight out of minority report 😀

[@ItIsCoMpLiCaTeDsTuFf]

I think that could be interesting if it was limited to a specific battery capacity.

[@alexnaturalis1179]

There's some interesting strategies that this brings to mind. What if you paced the motor to die out exactly at the hour, the reasoning being that aerodynamics cost more per battery juice at higher speeds than at lower. And Alex also needs to pace out his effort and not totally loose it at the end. It would be interesting to see what is the strategy that optimizes both the motor and the rider.

[@sergeantmtb]

Now I want to see Ollie and Alex on a Tandem have a crack at the Hour Record.

[@ivansemanco6976]

May be its time for second attempt with more careful planning. Try to plan better batery usage spreaded for full hour, maybe uses more Alex power from begining and more for the lat part of ride. But thanks for nice video.

[@kennylee8179]

Doing the hour record on E bikes is like doing missions on gta sa with codes

[@michaelmechex]

So pretty much useless but still a ton of fun? Sounds about right!

[@FriuliUdine94]

@@michaelmechex ahahah right! With the flying Rhino tank

[@ricktoth7418]

Nice effort, no way I could come close to your attempt 😀!

[@R20VT100M]

Would be interesting to see how a home brew derestricted setup would get on instead? I converted an old Raleigh MTB to an e-bike and it's extremely quick with a good range too

[@romelgallo2531]

jeremy clarkson approach. i can hear jeremy jeeza at the back of y head screaming "POWER!"

[@erichhall5078]

The last 12 minutes you without assistance you pushing a much heavier bike plus friction resistance in the motor; so the ideal tactic would be to avoid at all costs to run out of battery.

[@merckxy54]

To just turn up and ride this was great. With specific training (speak to OB) you would have smashed it, even more so with aero bars etc!

[@robertcatuara5118]

Now Alex and Alex Dowsett have something in common.

[@ItsMrDarren]

“More POWERRRRRRR” - Manon Lloyd, 2022

[@jessiefoster9605]

Nice video! You should try other e-bikes like Super73 or Ariel Rider Grizzly

[@leissp1]

well done Alex but really the guys doing the hour are way more impressive !

[@sandydennylives1392]

750 watt battery, 19 mm tires pumped to 180 psi and the jobs a gudden.

[@MicroageHD]

Watthour plz...

[@MrLuigi-oi7gm]

"You're not a bad cyclist." Praise from Caesar is praise indeed! 🤣🤣🤣

[@SimonBauer7]

yes you can! just get more power and send it! bafang ultra m620 1500w+ and a huge battery should do the trick

[@jliho1]

Loved the Jeremy Clarkson reference.

[@kstethespokes1051]

What else will the velodrome allow on the track? Can we see the recumbent and the tandem have a bash at an hours spin too?

[@viffer94]

There must be a way to jury rig an external battery onto the Canyon maybe through the charging port? Alternatively perhaps running the full hour on a midlevel setting might be more efficient and yield a better time and distance?

[@stefanwagener]

On one hand very interesting test, and I am curious about those things and I like to see what those eBikes are capable of, on the other hand it is a little bit doubtful that GCN does so many tests with a delimited, road illegal eBike ... it might give the impression that GCN motivates people to go for delimiting their eBikes. But being more on the side on science ... yes, I am ok with seeing more of this kind.

[@notreally2406]

Please Do it again with aero bars, and start 1 notch down from max power. Thx

[@charvlim5159]

Jezza should be proud…powerrrr!!!

[@edsinofsky]

It would have helped if you knew the power draw dynamics of the bike ahead of time and then be able to fine tune the power assistance to make it last.

[@leedorney]

Even on an e-bike that's still HARD, great achievement

[@robertm1552]

Need to aero up and try again!

[@lucassu9099]

hahaha Jeremy Clarkson: Power!!!!!

[@jossovh]

BIG thumbs up for #vocsnor !!

[@jonpoon3896]

Alex Dowsett can relax knowing he beat an ex pro on an e-bike

[@nikhoward]

Now you’ll have to do it again but with more optimisation

[@LtStone1]

I have been yelling halleluya for Eddy Merckx on this show when Si still had pimpels and if anything this shows once more how bloody i n s a n e this guy is!!!

[@Intensecure]

Big batteries for the win. Obviously.

[@samc3100]

*A 20,000w stealth bomber E-Bike would do the job*

[@lokkagutt]

Todays best compliment : "Well your not a bad cyclist" hehe nice

[@michaelwink7552]

Surely tandem has to be attempted!

[@nileshvagal]

Oli can beat you all that too without e-help😂😂😂😂

[@BlackSwan0303]

You get ever decreasing returns with the bosch battery meter. I'd say the last two bars are worth 66% of the first bar. Why they can't produce a more linear battery gauge I don't know. I get more than a days commute with the first bar but the then the second day will use ruffly one and a half bars and after the final day the battery will be nearly finished.

[@oddjob4877]

I ride the same canyon grail ebike, because it’s the only way I can keep up with my teenage son!!!! I ride on the lowest assist setting to preserve battery and can keep up with him for about 130km. Then the e assist runs out and I’m toast!!

[@Chris-13]

Yes same here , I had to have a pacemaker fitted due to heart arrhythmia so max pulse allowance is 150 . EBike’s allow me to still ride 👍👍

[@finallyonethatworks]

Now we need to see it with full aero mods

[@alexnaturalis1179]

Ah man, that's too much effort. e-bikes is all about how lazy you can be to get the job done 😁

[@tomrachellesfirstdance7843]

Uci fine for puppy paws incoming 😂

[@yspegel]

Step one: get your aero set-up. Step 2: see how much power you need to get just above hour record speed Step 3: test how much power you can produce for an hour Step 4: test on what setting your bike can produce the minimal amount of power needed and if it can hold for one hour Step 5: train harder or add more battery if needed All the prep you need, you're good to go! It's that simple....... in theory......

[@henricinelli4339]

Having been allowed to compete ,by the CTT, in a club TT event on my MODA TT "E-Bike", ( my own build ), to test the E-TT Concept, I then got banned by the CTT for exceeding 15.5mph 😞 There's forward thinking for you, I used 250W/36V and averaged 21mph !!!

[@czad23]

Powerrrrrrrr!!!

[@innesdunbar]

Praise indeed Manon……..”Your not a bad cyclist*

[@nickgoodall578]

Pointless, painful and a failure. Beautiful GCN. This is what KZbin is for!!

[@robvan6527]

Next, Dan should attempt the hour record on a motorbike.

[@Enzo575]

Try this event on the Autobahn

[@mac23806]

I love it

[@shanegreen2583]

Good effort anyway Alex.

[@nwbudro9210]

Do it again but this time use a lower setting for the first half while you have your strong legs and then turn up the power when you start to weaken.

[@RichardMigneron]

If you had only put tri-bars to be more Aero, you would've beaten it. And to help, maybe right after the start, when you are at speed, put the e-bike at the second level, to have enough juice to go the full hour.

[@scooter32145]

Pushing air at 65km/h is going to be incredibly inefficient as energy lost is the square of speed. He could have paced it just over the record mark instead. Great vid though, and I get that winning this race isn't really the point.

[@hotsky83]

"Struggling to make 38 -40km and hour " as if that's actually slow!!! Lol

[@zeusfitter007]

I think Hank would have tied or beaten it by 2/3km

[@merckxy54]

Without the electric bike!!!!! Ha Ha

[@Chrislubey__1]

I would be scared to ride fast in a velodrome, just so narrow

[@sasha371]

Alex nedd to make a fixed/single gear with motor, proper aero bars and arm supporters and do it again. But this time by Ollie!

[@djrlloyd]

I’d like to try for the hour record using a derney bike. Think I might have a chance😂😂😂

[@karstenmeinders4844]

... like a Bosch!

[@hackerhacker3667]

This is a channel who turned a day of recording into a 30 seconds short but then length it out to 10 minutes. Btw amazing e bike 👍👍👍👍👍

[@alexgraves6842]

Maybe try to upsize the battery capacity on the next try. Or, better assistance management to conserve the battery life 🤣👍

[@xmtxx]

Battery is supposed to be 500Wh, he should have had 2 hours worth at 250W. Either the manufacturer lies a lot on its specs, or, they just started with half a battery battery, for dramatic effect, and to not beat the record out of respect. I'd go for the second option.