De-Restricted E Bike Vs Road Bike | Which Is Faster?

[@23chrischen]

"Going full time trial for this one" wears clothing one step short of a parachute

[@embn]

Chris has gone full aero before and it wasn't something he was willing to repeat!

[@aldude9511]

Also constantly tilting his head down which negates a lot of the aero benefits of the TT helmet.

[@ojanssensande]

:D almost laughed my head off, this was so funny :)

[@ojanssensande]

@@aldude9511 more like negates every benefit. Yeah thought so, too! :)

[@chriskoutroulis4531]

@@embn Oh poor thing.. did his tummy show too much?

[@luketerry9638]

Conclusion; Chris Opie is a machine! 💪

[@Rascularvideos]

Yep, that’s my take. He’s the proper machine in this.

[@icicleflow]

Opie OP

[@KnigthMare69]

Idk why but seeing roadies sprinting, it's just beautiful. It's like art

[@albr4]

look at pictures of Caleb Ewan sprinting.

[@mulletmoore5811]

They look gay as usual

[@liaml.7529]

@@mulletmoore5811 your mum's gay

[@mulletmoore5811]

liam L lol roadies are fucked up

[@red2lucas]

Must be the tight pants on their asses

[@mikeymike1792]

Man. Opie in full sprint is a majestic sight.

[@R_C420]

E-bike with dead battery VS Cyclist who hasn't eaten all day.

[@ljrandom147]

Yo that's a good challenge

[@EamonnSeoigh]

Sounds like a race.....

[@amightysailingman]

Cyclist who hasn't drank all day and with no water bottles or hydration bladder.

[@VisualKIt.Studios]

This sounds more like a chellenge!

[@techmech3893]

@@ljrandom147 yeah

[@robertandleslieobrien8398]

Next should be Clarkson on e-bike vs Hammond on road bike. Have May set things up and explain how things are done so add 4 hours to the test.

[@mrskeltal3281]

Hammonds knee is shot after that last car crash. A goat on an e-bike would win never mind a fat Clarkson.

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

Who cares about that Clarkson tosser.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834 i sense jealousy

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

@@girlsdrinkfeck not at all...he is a slob. Simple. Ask his ex.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834 a rich slob

[@hutchmusician]

'Going full time trial on this one...' *Unlocks suspension* *Puts on pyjamas*

[@shiina0232]

like wtf man

[@PassiveTerrorField]

It's not just the difference in those 2 cyclists' power. It's also the cassette's limits. This Haibike has an 11-46 cassette, meaning the smallest sprocket has 11 teeth. A 10 teeth or a 9 teeth sprocket would make a huge difference. While the e-motor helps you reach the top speed faster and with less effort, it cannot push you further than that.

[@Hunter_Bidens_Crackpipe_]

Round two with swapped bikes!!!!

[@tamasvarga67]

TomaCukor Haha... that would be something. Chris would pass out at the end of the first race. :)

[@albr4]

@@tamasvarga67 I think he would get lapped for sure.

[@diegovillacrez8349]

Why do they never do that?!

[@thomasthomas144]

Here here

[@charlestoast4051]

What's the point in wearing an aero helmet when he's wearing baggy, extremely poor aero clothes?

[@TheVinokourov]

Because this channel is dogsh1t

[@Metal-Possum]

Or when his bike won't go a bean over 50kph... At best he's just saving a few watts, not increasing his speed.

[@MrHuddy]

Because it's funny!

[@Bryanmade]

And he’s on the wrong eBike. Should have been a Specialized Creo!

[@dirface]

He's got help up to 50, so until he passes that, he could have a concrete block on his head.

[@mpick9404]

44mph on the flat 🚀 Wow Chris 💪 I need to be fully tucked on a steep downhill to hit that speed! 👴😂

[@robiulahmed]

Marc Pickersgill Tell me about it, I freak out at 28mph downhill!

[@mpick9404]

@@robiulahmed I know what you mean! 😂 Sobering video that. I think I'm doing alright (ish, for my age) then a machine 🤖 like Chris O gives a harsh reality check 😔😅

[@robiulahmed]

@@mpick9404 Hey, it's all fun and games, the main thing is that we enjoy it and it's keeping us healthy. We'll leave the madness to the pros!

[@mpick9404]

@@robiulahmed All so true. Just keep on keeping on eh 👍😊

[@robert8077]

Arm Head I done 36 mph downhill on bicycle and speed camera flash 🤣 but if camera turned off won’t work so gotta find one that switch on

[@hutchmusician]

Really nice to see Opie with an opportunity to show off his flat-out power. That first sprint was really exhilarating to watch.

[@brettm1501]

Puts on aero helmet.... wears parachute baggies... looks down at computer whole time. Comon.

[@julz19]

Still not gonna beat op

[@MrKrueger88]

What sort of clown doesn’t lock the front suspension ?!!!!! I mean really , if you want max power ... lock it down !!!

[@markush7001]

So the test was....a motor vs. Chris Opie. I hope GCN brakes down the power numbers.

[@tamasvarga67]

Markus H Yeah... even a derestricted ebike couldn’t beat a proper fit rider.

[@freshturns_snowboarding]

Technically it's all still power-to-weight ratio so with a 30lb e-bike Smith's ratio drops big times and he has to work harder to produce torque that comes easier to Opie with a MUCH better power-to-weight ratio and fully rigid suspension. There's a recent EMBN video where they do something similar with lightweight enduro bikes and it all comes down to power-to-weight. There's definitely something to be said about someone with a better ratio than Smith performing better in the contest, but even more so about someone with a worse ratio doing significantly worse (since the e-bike would down-multiply their lesser force). A weaker rider would have been thrashed by Opie. Not saying one deserved to do significantly better than the other but there's a whole lot more at play than "a motor," which I'm sure GCN will explain to you if they do break this down...

[@tamasvarga67]

Jrod Sicotte That hardtail ebike is not 30kg but ~20-22. Power to weight? Yeah, an overweight lazy ebike rider with the help of a 250W motor is still less powerful than a fit rider without a motor. No need to analyze much... 😀

[@markush7001]

@@tamasvarga67 lol....agreed. I ride both off-road and on, and I laugh that some of the best times on our trails are all at the governed speed of e-bikes. That's not so much as power to weight that is that I'm not faster than a motor. They are nice to draft in the wind though.

[@mariconor242]

@@tamasvarga67 I have a similar model ebike but ride my road bike mostly. Over my 30km commute my times are very similar, the ebike keeps my climbing the hills at 30kph but the road bike I claw the time back due to the higher speeds. Difference is seen in a higher heart rate, road bike is harder (15 to 20%) work but more fun. When I'm tired I'll break out the ebike. Both have a place in my life.

[@uptheduffagain]

SPOILER ALERT,the fastest bike was the the one in front with the camera

[@pavanatanaya]

A fair test of this might be to have each rider ride each bike on each circuit

[@stephenmacey8313]

pavanatanaya it’s just a fun video just sit back and enjoy

[@8o5c4]

GCN’s Dan Lloyd on his Pinarello Nytro de-restricted would be a interest, see if the motor could turn back the clock. 😆

[@cyclenutter2715]

Well yeah his name's Chris OP

[@993mike]

A test with a new derestricted Specialized Creo e-road bike would have been amusing

[@jochem1986]

How about a derestricted BMC Alpenchallenge Amp Road? 14 kg with an 80Nm STEPS motor...

[@kmac720]

And honestly a more accurate test. To make it really fair put a rider of Opie's caliber on it too. This test was designed to make e-bikes look like they aren't as much of an advantage as they really are. Opie on a Turbo Creo unrestricted would destroy the times he put up on the Dogma.

[@tech518b9]

With powerful unrestricted e bikes the question really is whether they are still bikes or already motorcycles with a little paddle support.

[@kmac720]

@@tech518b9 They are all mopeds, period. (The definition being a low powered motorized bicycle.) Any e-bike can be unrestricted.

[@jochem1986]

kmac720 ok boomer

[@techmech3893]

9:58 what's the use of that aero helmet while wearing pajamas and a non aero bike ?

[@tonyfranklin8306]

All in the mind, the amount he was moving his head he'd have been better off with no helmet at all.

[@philippvolkemer3846]

that what I thought

[@julz19]

You think he's gonna beat oppie even with track cyclist discipline, full speed suit with an emb?

[@jaspreetsidhu5708]

@@julz19 he would have gained an extra 1-2km/h and even greater if he got lower etc.

[@JamiePineappleWyatt]

Absolutely amazing to see Opie smacking the crap out of that derestricted E-Bike! Both of you should be damn proud of those times too. I’d like to see this test done again with a more realistic 350-500watt mid drive with all the gears, not really fair to have a bike made for climbing hills race a bike built for speed, so even with that 2 second lead all you’d need is one more gear to catch the time you lost. (I ride a derestriced 500w bpm Bafang hub in a 20”, which secretly runs 4kw on the flat and tops out at 70 odd km/h with no pedalling, I too suffered under gearing being only a single speed folding bike)

[@paulroberts7775]

I wonder what their times would have been if they had swapped bikes?

[@super-sim1665]

Would have been the opposite result for sure

[@backpacker3421]

@@super-sim1665 Not even close. Opie has superior aero positioning, superior power, and superior high cadence form. These things matter a lot regardless of what you are riding, once you get above about 15mph. He would probably have clocked faster times on the EMTB than Smith did on all three legs, but definitely on the long stretch, and Smith would not have been as fast as Opie on the aerobike, or even particularly close.

[@tamasvarga67]

carol Roberts Just do the math... Chris’s power + the motor wasn’t enough to beat the roadie guy I guess the difference after three races would be close to a minute.

[@gianmarcocostanzo1380]

On the same road bike, on the 8 minutes (two laps) effort, Opie is 2 minutes faster than Smith easy. With an electric engine probably the difference is a bit smaller as there was a limit with gears.

[@albr4]

Opie would've won by a huge margin if that were the case, he's an athlete and has much greater power & fitness than Chris. I'd expect Opie would do about twice the power of Chris on the TT so if you added the E-bike to Opie then he would be maxing out the gears at 110 rpm through the whole 2 laps as opposed to the 80rpm or so that Chris did on the E-bike.

[@nstrug]

Jesus, Opie’s sprint at the start. Well over 1200W I would imagine.

[@vetleslemdahl5725]

nstrug 1600+

[@kritan84]

He has in an earlier video on this channel cited 1600+W

[@jeffbrunton3291]

The ladies can do 1200....

[@petef15]

@@vetleslemdahl5725 Not for 30s. 1200w would be very impressive for 30s

[@UenoLocker54]

Riding a track like that looks extremely fun.

[@lambert463]

a little 250 watt !! Wow you Britts go big lol

[@evanreeves5966]

Opie seemed pretty happy with the result. Good work

[@adanielweaver]

Opie was like what about elbows? Smith said get as aero as you want. Opie gave that look like nah, I was gonna push you into the grass.

[@jedimanultra]

I mean I proved this a few weeks ago on a ride around Richmond park, E Biker thought he had passed me and left me for dead, to see me fly by 5 seconds later and I didn’t see him after that 😂😂

[@ianiscaratti4924]

mehdi neched you must have ego problems

[@jedimanultra]

Ianis Caratti nope. I just like to initiate mini races with people (most will race me back)

[@NILoaNtFaCkBa]

@@ianiscaratti4924 it's all fun and games

[@Interdiction]

@@jedimanultra I would have you for sure but I have yet to be overtaken when i use my recumbent

[@scottmcelhiney323]

@@Interdiction When I was in a bit better shape, my cruising speed was about 4mph faster on my Rans Tailwind recumbent than on my custom CIOCC I had built in 1985. Neither with a motor... my electric conversions are much much faster, especially up hills where it makes sense.

[@buckwylde7965]

Great video ! E bike has 250 watt motor, world class cyclist can put out maybe 300 watts for 2-3 hours max, plus e bike has to carry the extra weigh of motor and low energy density battery, but it doesn't get tired. Humans are very feeble motors, but as a human motor, Chris Smith is a super charged beast.

[@davidking3699]

put the roadie on the e-bike and see how his leg watts add to the motor watts... power meters on the pedals would have shown the data of how much the motor added... round 2 - Chris Smith on the Greyp he rode a few months back... win at all costs...

[@super-sim1665]

Definitely more power out of the ebike. They always more than 800 watts when pedaling hard.

[@backpacker3421]

That actually would have made this video MUCH better. Make the Chrises swap bikes and see how the numbers change. I bet Smith still loses, and all three events this time.

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

Now imagine that with a full carbon road bike with electronically assisted boost.. 😏

[@backpacker3421]

@@F1ll1nTh3Blanks You don't have to imagine. They exist.

[@daemn42]

Problem is, all pedal assist bikes gradually decrease the motor assistance as they go faster and eventually drop it to to zero when you hit their limit (even a de-restricted bike, which often just doubles the original low speed limit), leaving the rider doing 100% of the work. The trick is to find just the right balance of motor assist + rider power and stay exactly at that speed. If you try to exceed that speed, the rider will just wear themselves out that much quicker and eventually have to back off, with no net gain in average speed. The roadie could probably have gone ever so slightly faster overall, but not by much, and probably would have worked just as hard as on the non-e-bike.

[@Alvin2Wheel]

Chris Opie took years of hard training to hit those speed and timing numbers whilst Chris Smith (or anybody) can hit similar timings with e-bike. That's my take away.

[@weichentechnikk8083]

so the message you received is what ? doesn't matter if you are lazy, just spend thousands on e-bike and feel cool ?

[@cliffsangelsphotography]

Great vid. I love these crossovers. Can we get Chris Opie on an EMTB?

[@backpacker3421]

I was thinking the exact same thing. To make this video fair, they should have swapped bikes and run it all again. Opie would have killed it.

[@petef15]

He rides one on his own channel now

[@vincef7487]

Chris Smith just needed to switch into some skin tight LYCRA! 😜

[@darkmann12]

the blake samson + sam pilgrim methods lol

[@bustergoddess]

Vince F ....and comparable gearing?

[@6Shine6down6]

Switching to lycra would have him won haha

[@trevorhayes5414]

I was waiting for him to emerge from a trailer in a full on timetrial skinsuit, aerosocks & maybe even a clip-on tri bar!!! 😁

[@hanskoot6254]

You are entirely right! The long trousers and cold wind are a huge disadvantage also. Far from ideal for fast laptimes.

[@danytheunicorn95]

woww that boi has legs allright. Great video!

[@noonster55]

Impressive, 40 plus mph 180 plus bpm on the flat for 8 minutes. If I remember, he even had a decent head wind...That Dogma is the bike to have for that...

[@najibnajmudin512]

Love Opie's sprinting posture 👍

[@wakeywarrior]

Love my E- bike as well as my mountain and road bike. Different bikes for different days when I’m feeling different. Road bike when I fancy a long hard slog up the big hills near me. Mountain bike mainly for XC when I’m feeling full of beans- 25-45 miles. E-Bike when I either want to put on eco and do 50 miles, or put on a higher setting and blast 35 miles in an hour and a half and have some fun- and you still get a real sweat on at those speeds.

[@blagovestzaimov3455]

you don't need an extra gear, but extra strength. From what i saw in the video, your cadance was under 90.

[@harryhollaway]

Blagovest Zaimov ebike motors favour a lower cadence to cater to the extra torque the motor produces at lower cadences, higher gearing can be much more favourable to feel the full power of the motor

[@johnmann8253]

What a amazing contest! It be helpful to compare a single rider on both bikes back to back and see the times. I’m guessing the average rider would benefit on the E bike.

[@SoundSpeeding]

Did he even lock out his shocks for this??? Seems like he didn't

[@brianburdett3463]

It's a hardtail, dude

[@shaggy.patches]

The fork was definitely unlocked, bouncing around the whole time.

[@cwuzii]

Brian Burdett front...

[@brianburdett3463]

@@cwuzii Its called a fork or suspension fork.

[@cwuzii]

Brian Burdett but still, you knew what he was on about 🤣

[@berndbart3909]

Very impressive. Great job for both athlets. At 9:46 ist looks like the unlocked suspension fork eats some power. The E-Bike is at least 3 times heavier than the race bike. Maybe more shifting will ease the start.

[@wizbangdiving]

I would like to have seen road bike CHRIS do the first two tests on the e-bike for times.

[@bloodsord9]

If you're riding casually once a week or so and want to have the most fun with it, e-bike is for you. If you want to get strong, feel a sense of accomplishment and ride often for fun or to train for races, pedal bike is for you. No reason to hate on anyone for the choice of their equipment as long as they're not trying to smash strava records

[@weksauce]

"de-restricted" 250W dink motor. I bought the cheapest eBay conversion kit, and pushed around 1200W. WTF

[@TheCraigy83]

Wait till you realise a cordless drill can turn a 250kg winch turning a 52t - 11t

[@KandiKlover]

Yeah EU ebikes are pathetic and a joke lmao

[@somethingelse9535]

@@KandiKlover That's because eMTB's are about exercise, not transport or sitting on a moped. They want to go mountain biking, have fun and get fit. The motor is only there to help with the killer hills.

[@fackerhidonbush8420]

@@somethingelse9535 but you can have 600w and put it on lower

[@somethingelse9535]

@@fackerhidonbush8420 Really, 250w is enough, there is no hill steep enough 250w cannot handle because limits of traction hit you before that. But i like deristricted, its no use on the trail, but sometimes i go on road between trails and 250w is enough to cuise at 35 to 40km/h. Burning 600w (950w peak) just eats your battery. I like how my 522wh battery is good for 4 hours, no need for something huge.

[@BikingwithJP]

Riding out the gears on a non-ebike is very satisfying. Being in top gear and spinning your legs so fast that it feels like all HP and no torque. I wouldn't mind having an ebike help me back up hills though as climbing hills is not quite as thrilling haha.

[@GregLanz]

Not sure why Chris Smith kept claiming he was running out of gears, unless his max cadence is like 90?

Because he can't "spin" at 95 😀

[@soarstar]

It wasn't gears, it was volts. All the gears in the world won't help you when you reach that threshold.

[@clovioushoofus3928]

ha yeah kept complaining about running out of gears and spinning out but looked like he was barely hitting 70 rpm

[@atnfn]

Well I have an e-bike with a Bosch Performance CX motor and it definitely would go faster if it had higher gears. There are videos of people changing the front sprocket and going significantly faster. I haven't done that though, cause I don't know if that would be good for the motor. Of course he wasn't using a Bosch e-bike, I don't know what the gears are like on the Yamaha e-bikes. However he said in the video that the bike was only de-restricted to 50km/h and he said his max speed was 37mph (about 60km/h). That means the motor didn't actually help at the higher speeds. So kinda useless test. Perhaps they should have used a different e-bike. Bosch motors can be de restricted to 99km/h, of course they never reach that, but there wouldn't have been the 50km/h limit.

[@atnfn]

@@clovioushoofus3928 He said the bike was still restricted to 50km/h, if you listen to the start of the video again. And they were going faster than that (at least opie was). Not the best e-bike to use really.

[@silvere36]

This is stacked in favor of the road bike. Try this: 1. Standing start 100 meter 2. 10 mile race 3. Do it on gravel.

[@web0z]

Lol baggy clothes,cycle computer and watch oh and the front mudguard,got to ask on the third how does Chris start off with no chesty then all of a sudden a chesty 🤷🏻‍♂️🙈,somebody is having a laugh 😂

[@neilaquino5294]

however way you look at it, Chris won 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@antonpeterson1245]

Mr Smith I noticed the front forks were not locked out. That my of helped with your initial getaways on the starts.

[@jasper_of_puppets]

I have a feeling that for these kinds of 'vs' videos, they purposely leave out certain details that would increase the e-bike's advantage just so things appear more competitive and interesting for the viewer.

[@slickrock1371]

You believe active front shocks help in a sprint?

[@antonpeterson1245]

@@slickrock1371 I didn't say that. I merely suggested that Chris should have stopped (locked out) the front suspension to minimise any wastage of energy on the starts.

[@boblatkey7160]

I de-restricted my electric mountain bike and changed the gearing just a little bit so I can pedal it up to about 35 miles an hour. For fun, sometimes I prey on a small group of guys on road bikes. I will get in behind them and then I pass them slowly. 90% of the time, they can't handle that so they will speed up. Then I put it in turbo and just hit the pedal to the metal. It is so fun! Some of those guys are pretty damn fast but they cannot sustain 33 miles an hour plus. I get an absolute kick out of it and I never look back or taunt them. Just smoke em!

[@luckycstriker]

Vintage Need for Speed like soundtrack fits so well !

[@McStoolio]

Lol, Ope at 73 kph. Outrageous. I’d love too see what power Ope was putting out.

[@FreeMTrider]

44 mph! Absolutely fast sprint Chris!

[@scottmcelhiney323]

I really didn't know it was possible to hit that on a flat without a paceline on a road bike... very very impressive.

[@barneyklingenberg4078]

@@scottmcelhiney323 I didn't know it was possible with a slow as F rolling start within 1000 meters. In the past it was possible for me to approach that speed (69-70 kph) But that was with unlimited space (3-4km) and at first slowly get in aero position to reach 40kph without much watts used and at relatively low heartrate.

[@SoundSpeeding]

it is HILARIOUS how eBike Chris wore an "aero" helmet As true, that areo helmet makes you go a lot faster, but ONLY WHEN YOU'RE IN THE AERO POSITION! Seeing as he was upright on a MTB, that "aero" helmet may have done the opposite and slowed him down

[@okantichrist]

Getting some motorcycle love there 🤣

[@billinhouston3291]

Nice draft...

[@thetessellater9163]

Just so people in the UK know: Unless your electric bike complies with the EAPC Regulations, which specify the motor power - must be less than 250 Watts; the speed - limited to 15 mph; and the need for pedals - that means no e-scooters - they can only be ridden on private land with the owners permission. If they do not comply, then on public land they are classed as motorcycles and must be registered, plated, taxed and insured, and you must have a minimum licence, wear an approved helmet and can only be used on public roads - never cycleways ! You take the risk, ignorance is no defence. If you do get caught, you risk having points on your licence and you will have future insurance problems - and premium loading ! I have ridden a (compliant) e-bike for ten years or more.

[@ljadf]

I tried this on my commute... the results differed somewhat.

[@gonadman2]

I've only ever had one guy overtake me on my Luna E-bike (45km/h 750W) and I've only ever been overtaken on Hills on my Propel road bike by E-bikes. On the flats I have them almost every time.

[@scottmcelhiney323]

@@gonadman2 I can cruise at about 35mph on the flats with my 52v 20ah setup on my Gary Fisher mountain bike conversion or my Greenspeed GTO, both circa 1999. One has a Bafang BBHSD (Gary Fischer) and the other a Lunacycle hubmotor conversion on the rear that is programmed for 1800 watts and with a 63 tooth chainring up front and a Sunrace 10 speed freewheel on the back I can spin around 90rpm at 36mph. Can maintain around 30mph up around a 6% grade. I'd love to put one of those unrestricted into a full on velomobile... those can hit 30-45mph on 250 watts depending on how aero of one you choose. 24 hour record in a velmobile of a bit over 30mph by a 59 year old Austrian... yeah, 30mph average with a velomobile... no motor. Give one 250 watts and a good battery and you'd probably add 10-15mph to the record with a few battery swaps on the fly.

[@denselvq]

that road bike swaying when sprinting looks majestic !

[@MattiRemonen_Hki]

Er... is it just me but Mr Smith looks very much like Judge Dredd with that aero-helmet...

[@backpacker3421]

The funniest thing about it was that the helmet was soooooo not the problem. No matter how low he got, his wind profile was truly massive by road bike standards.

[@ExileTheKnightsOfMaltaNow]

I'm 50 something and let me tell you something you're going to learn eventually that going slow is fine. LOL. Just built a bicycle camper inspired by KZbin videos. Only I didn't go to two-wheel rik-shaw design with the tongue weight. Got a four-wheel 1 ton light farm wagon frame from Canada and put a Class 1 tow ball on the back of my cargo bike. Here's another tip... Always watch where the hell you're going speed is not as important LOL lots of love and light guys

[@jamesgadd5322]

He didn’t just win by 2 seconds. If you work out the % relative to how long each race was he absolutely smashed the ebike

[@Scottx125Productions]

Not really. The reason the E=bike lost was because of gearing. If you max out your gears you just have to spin faster and you'll hit that limit rather quickly. If he had a 50t chainset on the motor he could probably have gone faster.

[@junboo8730]

Scottx125 Productions Still it’s an e-bike. Even if he won everything it wouldn’t be amazing. I didn’t expect Opie to win that guy is really insanely fast.

[@johnm91326]

@@Scottx125Productions probably not, with 2.5 inch tires he'd spin out (130 rpm) at slightly above 45 mph. He didn't hit 120 rpm which is below what Chris would have done considering his gearing and tire size.

[@albr4]

@@johnm91326 yeah he kept complaining it's because he ran out of gears on the e-bike but you can see his cadence is so low, he didn't spin out at all. How many watts does the E-bike produce? 500? if it was 500 then the e-bike guy would've done around 1000w total whereas Opie probably hit around 1400w in the sprint and half of those watts on the e-bike would've been taken by aero drag and a much smaller amount taken from Opie.

[@philipk4475]

@@albr4 it said in the video the e-bike only has a 250 W motor. Seems like a pretty weak motor for an unrestricted e-bike, maybe they made a mistake?

[@SA-pc3gs]

These guys are geniuses! I'm jealous they're getting paid to have that much funn!

[@Bangandthedirtisgone]

"The 15mph limit simply wouldn't hack it..." Tell me about it. Raising the limit to 28mph would make ebikes safer on the road and an infinitely more viable and attractive form of transport The slow restricted speed necessitates a greater frequency of overtaking which can lead to dangerous close passes and accidents. Not to mention impatience and frustration for drivers and anxiety for the cyclist as a result - one of sthe biggest deterrents for cyclists/ebikers to get on the road Shared use (pedestrian and cyclist) cycle paths should have a limit of 10mph If the UK government is serious about getting people on two wheels then it needs to raise the limit Cars can do 150-200mph yet have to keep to limits far lower - you wouldn't make a car restricted to 70mph

[@devverge2516]

Yes, indeed.

[@mrskeltal3281]

Maybe safer on road but not off road. I tried a derestricted Levo and it was terrifying. The power and torque is just too unpredictable at slow speeds. When it kicks in it could easily just fling you off the trail without warning. Not good.

[@Bangandthedirtisgone]

Mr Skeltal De restriction shouldn’t make any difference to the torque leading to the experience you had. All de restriction does is allow continued assistance beyond 15mph. Sounds like it was one of your first/formative e bike experiences? They can come as a shock if you’re not used to them but soon mastered. I used to have a levo too. I’m talking about road use here, yes.

[@albr4]

that sounds like a terrible idea and very unsafe... There would be E-bike riders with no experience of riding going around at 28mph, meaning that it would be a danger to pedestrians and to their own life. 22 mph is a more sensible restriction. There is no speed limit to regular bikes because your average person can't reach speeds high enough to cause serious accidents. Road cyclists that can cycle at 22-30 mph are going to be experienced and can handle their bike well, and have the skills to avoid accidents. You suggest that there should be 10mph limit on shared paths as well but it would not work and you would get e-bikers going 28mph on it... If the law was changed to allow e-bikes to go almost 30mph then there should also be a law that e-bikers have to wear protective gear, just like a motorcyclist...

[@Bangandthedirtisgone]

Alan Braaa Any relatively fit and strong person can hit 28 on a regular bike if they really push. Over 30 easily downhill. There is no speed limits currently on shared use paths and cyclists use their discretion making them pretty safe places for pedestrians so far. Yes, there maybe more frequency in people travelling at those speeds if ebikes were allowed to be assisted upto higher speeds but I still believe 99% of riders would know when, where and how to do so safely and manage their speed accordingly. With the development of technology in this area I believe a new class of vehicle needs to come into being. I believe in the continent they have a ‘high powered ebike’ category which we should have here. Maybe it could be subject to greater safety rules ie; yes, better safety equipment requirements, possible plates but should NOT be lumped in the same category as scooters/mopeds as it currently would be. Ebikes regardless of power are VASTLY more green and unpolluting than mopeds. They should have their own category.

[@VeganCatalyst]

Fun experiment but it's like apple and oranges. I am a road cyclist myself and sometimes race on the giant propel bike. However I do own an electric bike upgraded with a bafang mid drive motor of 250w which is de restricted to 500w (36v). And from experience I can tell that if your talking about short sprint efforts over 40km/h there is simply not enough juice in this type bike motor. My first impression is that you have to know w/kg to make this as much competitive which they probably did consider it before but haven't disclosed on the video. With a 500w ebike and a non aero position you would be losing too much of energy into aerodynamics, let alone drag. The stats. That 500m were done in about 52km/h for roadie which according to cycling calculator considering rider weight, aerodynamics (cda) and other variables, would be around 630w +- 30w not taking in account the wind. For E mtb it was around 900w +- 50w (400w his own power). Now to ride at the exact speed an ebike power skyrockets to 1060 watts +- 100 watts since it's really hard to determine his flappiness lol, but generally cda is around 0.4 for mtb. That means unless the rider on e mtb had as good as roadie legs this would have been closer. Considering Chris on the roadie is a world class level sprinter at 72kg and very likely is able to hold around 9-10w/kg for 30s, it would be a surprise if he lost it lol. On the other hand E bike rider came up short around 200w +-50w, it's either in leg or motor power. Which is alot if we would consider two riders with a very similar weight and height (extra 2w/kg+). Have a nice day. :)

[@tjgato]

Has anyone tried this with a de restricted e road bike?

[@edsinofsky]

aero wheels and a thinner front tire made a big difference on my e-bike speeds.

[@PandTPoultry]

brilliant video :)

[@PPC4]

To be fair the Ebike performance was pretty good to achieve over 40mph on the flat with ebike weight with those ratio's meant his legs must of been spinning hard. That was an impressively close overall result. Obviously do those races uphill and the bias would swing heavily in the ebike favour.

[@malmsey1541]

8:20 "just spinning out the whole way" he was going at standard cadence for a roady, opie had a much higher cadence than him, how can he claim he is running out of gears.

[@xviesulisx]

Yamaha middrives goes way down on power when spinning higher cadence and then there no point in that motor.

[@billinhouston3291]

Had no idea that "spinning out" meant 80 rpm.

[@tech518b9]

The motor is designed to operate at lower rpms if he wants it to go faster he would need to increase the motor voltage. He would really have benefited from a higher gearing.

[@xviesulisx]

@@billinhouston3291 yeah, im supported cadence Bosch Performance line CX is one of the best middrives for much sportier riding within reasonable price range. I'm an older messenger and I know this. Put no less than 22t sprocket on that motor and in tailwind it can be cruised over 60km/h. In relatively flat city max achieved speed is 70km/h. Speedbox 2 makes all the difference removing 25km/h restriction.

[@xxMissSummerxx1]

Chris opie and Chris Smith two legends ..great video 👍

[@davenorman8251]

Now do the same test with Andy Kirby and the vapor..a real derestricted ebike can do well over 60kmh.

[@jimhofoss9982]

sure....win, win...until the battery goes flat. then Andy’s waiting for the battery to recharge. I luv my homemade e-bikes, but this super light roadbike is a marvel of engineering, too! My full suspension mtb with a 750 watt bafang mid drive, 52 tooth crank and nuvinci 360, eats these bikes on all three “challenges”. However, after an hour of hard riding, I’m a gonna be sucking wind hard, peddling a 48 lb bike with a dead 10 amp/hr battery😢

[@ironman8257]

@@jimhofoss9982 Would you make a video on your setup ? Im really interested in MTB+IGH+Motor.....please

[@Pienimusta]

Might just as well use MotoGP bike at that point. Makes just as much sense.

[@TheWebstaff]

@@jimhofoss9982 how's the 360 doing. I was always interested in one but hear they struggle with slipping on 1kw plus.

[@jimhofoss9982]

Dave Webster I haven’t had any issues...I am running the auto shift interface with mine. You can adjust your peddling cadence via a small bar mounted switch with up and down buttons. All shifting is automatic, always starts in lowest gear, from standstill....so motor is not using huge starting amps. I’ve climbed extreme grades, 35°....with a 32 tooth crank, total elevation 3000ft, on a small 10 amp/hr 48 volt lithium battery! Over the back torque! Change the crank to a 52 tooth for flatter riding, and you can achieve 40 mph without sweating much, unassisted maybe 35 mph. The Nuvinci has never slipped...and I push the bafang 750 watt mid drive to its max, pretty much all the time. I have heard that they are limited to how much power you push through the Nuvinci 360, tho.....I haven’t tried it with anything except the 750 Bafang....so I don’t know where the breaking point is....but so far the nuvinci has been flawless. The 2000 miles on it have not been “babied”... I have put it through the paces, and luv it! One chainline is simple, less maintenance, and still using the same chain. I do use a quality tensioner, because of the rear suspension. I think more than a kilowatt thru a bicycle chain WOULD result in chains breaking, and abnormal sprocket wear. cheers!

[@frankiehoosier6998]

Couple of points: 1.). This Ebike assist limited to 50K. Should’ve used a Bosch powered ebike when derestricted has no limit for assist. 2.). Most top performing road bike riders will beat a derestricted ebike on flat or downhill roads. I have experience with this. 3.). BUT....on hills or strong headwinds the derestricted ebike will win.....again I have a lot of experience at this. Bottom line: If this ebike wasn’t limited to 50K motor assist the results would’ve been significantly different. And a Bosch CX derestricted bike would’ve made a more interesting outcome.

[@skadi7423]

Team GCN!!!

[@bleskiven]

Great to see Opie having learned from the sprinting position video, as he picks the "Classic Cav"

[@kldstl]

How both of you on a E-road bikes? Also, Chris, you would have been 2 kph faster with lycra.

[@super-sim1665]

Agree it makes a huge difference at 35mph he must have been putting out more watts to go slower.

[@backpacker3421]

Opie would have smashed it. Smith had no ability to get into anything like an aero position. If they'd been on the same equipment in the same clothes, Opie would have won all three, partly on aero positioning, and partly on leg power and cadence above the motor limitation.

[@kldstl]

@@backpacker3421 1000% agree. They need to do this challenge over

[@aggiesjc]

Watching somebody fast on a road bike is a beautiful sight!

[@victorygo]

Put a speed limit on those legs

[@morganjenkins4924]

Seeing the road bike take off like a rocket in the first challenge is so cool

[@kaif_ff2283]

i don't think that it's a good idea to look down with an aero helmet

[@simedinson984]

its not

[@trippinbillies41]

I'm not entirely sure the aero helmet was anything but for laughs.... Probably an even worse idea to wear baggies with one ;)

[@scottmcelhiney323]

Helps keep you going straight unless you turn your head :)

[@WarriorPleb]

4:35 when boost finally kicks in

[@KnigthMare69]

I'm disappointed that GMBN has a variant called EMBN, but thinking of GCN I searched for ECN, and it's a channel about cricket

[@kwintin]

I love EMBN's attitude - chillmasters! :)

[@alfredfeuerstein9517]

Bruno sooo much pooooowweeer: hold my beer😝😜

[@FixedLondon98]

Does anyone know which editing programme they use to render to overhead view of the track with the blue points going around it? Would very much appreciate the name of the programme! Thanks

[@efficientequilibrium2982]

Ridiculous! De-restrict that thing properly first. Even with the speed "halver", you are restricted to 30mph after that it is you vs Chris Opie and Opie simply wipes the floor with you(it is not you running out of gears, it is motor cutting off). Chris Opie is amazing but with a properly de-restricted mid drive a fit rider will beat him...

[@tech518b9]

well some de-restricted / modded e bikes can go faster than every human with a untrained rider but where is the point when its basically a motorcycle in a bike frame

[@ianmangham4570]

@@tech518b9 Nah, to be classed as a moped or motorcycle it's all about WEIGHT, you just buy a lightweight mtb put a 250w front or rear hub motor in it then an esc with say 9 mosfets and 96v caps with around 60 amps and use a 96v 20ah BATTERY, then you have a 60mph lightweight flying machine. You just overvolt the bitch.

[@chrisliddiard725]

Assuming the motor doesn't cut out at a fixed speed, then the rider can add his energy to the motor's to achieve the higher speeds. The key would be the chainring and the highest gear. The blue rider says he ran out of gear, it was bottoming out. That's why he lost. Which begs the question how much higher was the red rider's gears.

[@DerpEye]

Bosch, Yamaha, Shimano, are good up to about 50km/h. Polini on the other hand....well, an untrained person could take it top 65km/h no problem, and it will go even faster.

[@kemiwork]

Both bikes are insanely expensive and would get stolen if left alone for a second. I live in Denmark were ebikes are restricted to 25 km/h cutoff, but if they were not you could buy a sub 1000 pound 250 Watt Ebike and have a great ride that you would not be scared of losing. I think a lot of us would have more fun on these bikes then the race bikes most shops are trying to sell us. Because let's face it when you buy a very expensive bike you expect a reduction in the watts it takes to drive the bike forward and that reduction is insanely expensive compared to getting the same reduction from an electric motor. And yes a motor is stupid if your ftp is around 300 watts, but with a ftp around or below 200 watts cyling quickly becomes very hard to the point were it becomes one long sufferfest and what’s the point in that?

[@Mububban23]

Love the videos, but the music level on the time trial section was so loud I had to turn sound off, as the iOS app was still too loud at lowest volume using earphones

[@jamiesmith6838]

Right from the start the Mt e-bike is out of its intended terrain. The road bike is lighter, sleeker, more aerodynamic with an advantage efficient power to wheel transfer. Notice the e-dirtbike pogo action from it's suspension? Like racing a dirtbike against a road bike of same displacement on a paved race track. It's not actually a fair comparo, even with a governed motor assist. A good test of pros and cons of the two styles though!

[@LightBWK]

In the end, who is more sore, that matters most.

[@smitajky]

Interesting but I find that the biggest difference is that an e bike doesn't get tired of pushing into headwinds. Or going up a long grade. My peak power is well in excess of what an e bike is legally permitted to have here. But can only keep it up for a short while. On a recent ride a 10 year old kid on the ebike would keep passing me on an uphill then I would pass him later on the downhill ( speed limited e bike here of course ).

[@lolshark99b49]

Road: extremely fit and fast E-bike: fat guy

[@johnreese3762]

And you guys are still alive!

[@nicknygaard4122]

Only 250w?! That's almost nothing anymore. Mine is 1200w.

[@bennyt.christensen3970]

Nice of you guys, my respect for your manpower Opie 😎🚲👍

[@FranBunnyFFXII]

The moment you said it was only destricted to 50ks, you just invalidated the entire point of this video. What a dumb comparison.

[@deathclaw1111]

Try to hit 50kph on a bike without motor on flat road without drafting someone or something. Then come back and we can talk about it ;)

[@TimpBizkit]

@@vothka205 the whole point is to have an extra 250 watts on tap whatever speed you are doing. If you have to pedal the bike entirely on your own steam to get to 51 kph then you may as well get a more aero unpowered bike if you spend most of the time above that speed. The motor might not reach it on its own but with your legs pushing as well it will help the higher speeds be less effort to you, otherwise it feels like you're hitting a wall of diminishing returns where you can't go much faster - a bit like a benefits payment that diminishes the more income you earn.

[@robplay8283]

I think it is time to bring back the "old" bike vault... Super nice!!!

[@dobie333]

interesting, but meaningless

[@julianshepherd2038]

That's life

[@backpacker3421]

So true. Entertainment only.

[@snappyfish]

Like 95% of everything we buy.

[@frankroby1554]

Adverts

[@tomlloyd9364]

Try it in America, our ebikes are allowed twice the limit and some kits offer 1500 motors vs 250. No way he’d win over here.