How Much Further Will Your eBike Take You?

[@andersun16]

Agreed - I feel Eco mode basically overcomes the extra weight of the motor and battery with perhaps a bit more. I live mostly in the middle modes (Tour/Sport). Turbo just gets ridiculous on anything but the gnarliest steep climbs. That said, I'm all Ebike and don't see a time when I'll go back unless I just putter around on the flat stuff later in life.

[@helicopter12345678]

Agree with all but I still ride my ordinary bike to the max as well, love to split my time on both it makes me appreciate both the normal bike and the ebike even more.. Nice one Neil 👍

[@sd5458]

I have an ebike too and love it. But putter around in your twilight years? More like the other way around friend. No need for what we call now as a "real" bike or whatever the fuck.

[@andrejhaluska4061]

Depends on rider weight and fitness level. I have Spectral too. I climb selected section cca.9km/h, on Eco e bike 13-14, but lower efford. Boost 23-25.

[@djm8027]

Hats off to you still enjoying riding non e-bike up hills , I just find the e-bike so much more fun going up and only ride my non-ebike when there's shuttles available, should add ,I'm old and lazy :) Nice video , thanks.

[@oseogunda]

I like reading about how different riders use their eMTBs. It helps inform my riding style. I have a 40 lb Levo SL Gen 2 (50nM torque, 300W power), and I know that I go farther with a motor. I ride Trail only (the middle of the 3 speeds) with the S/W set to give me 75% of the max power in Trail (at 60% rider input). No Eco, no Turbo. Then I adjust to +/- grades on my rides only with the 11-52 cassette and to cadence (keeping 75-90 rpm). I like this approach, because it simplifies the ride and helps me track performance on climbs I do regularly. I am in the SF East Bay with lots of hilly climbs. Like Neil in the video, it's not really a ride for me unless I get at least 2000 ft (600m) elevation gained. I estimate that the motor is providing about 1 additional watt per kg body weight (76 kg ~168 lb) on top of the 2 watts/kg I can probably provide for 2 hr or more. However, being over 70 now, I just couldn't do the extended 12%-18% grades we have here without some watts on demand available. However, I ride for fitness so always use an HR monitor, and somehow I can get a higher average HR with my eMTB than on hilly rides with my 16 lb road bike. I usually take a Range Extender along just in case, so I have 320Wh + 160Wh = 480Wh available, but I recently got in rides of 16 mi/3900 ft climbed on 91% of main battery in 2:03 and 21 mi/4200 ft on 97% of main battery in 2:10. Averaged 70% and 75% max HR on each ride (including downhills), so I obviously provided a lot of the power required. I wasn't ready to do more on at the end of either of those rides, so the battery in Trail is supporting me to go about as far as I am willing to do anyway, even though I had ~150Wh left in the RE for 50% more riding. Plus, there is no way I would be do either of those rides in even 4 hours each without a motor, it would be too unpleasant to redline my HR and then a lot of bike pushing. I could go a lot farther on a flatter rides, but flatter rides are boring.

[@setta.bozatti]

I recently climbed a hill on Eco while my friend was riding an acoustic 26'' XC hardtail. We have similar leg power and physical stamina. It was definitely easier for me at all times, my friend had to ask me to slow down a bit just for him to be able to participate in our conversation.

[@InfiniteMishaps]

I ride my 2021 giant trance e pro + almost exclusively in eco. I constantly outrun fast ppl on non e-bikes even in eco. Maybe giant’s assist is setup differently? I get more than enough assist, often too much on eco. If I go up to 2 or more I can’t read trail fast enough and end up making mistakes. One good thing about an ebike is that it does teach you to ride a trail faster. I rode a newer giant in the setting that adjusts the assist on the fly based on your riding. Sheesh it’s like no effort required. Still fun though 😅

[@SylvainsShipyard]

I really like this type of video, very interesting data!

[@steveptasznik6147]

I 1:17 stay in Eco or trail mode the most. I can go a long ways if I stay there. Turbo really came in handy when I crashed and broke my leg. It got me out from the bottom of the canyon.

[@vashon100]

Dang, was it a jump gone bad?

[@steveptasznik6147]

@vashon100 New trail. Really smooth until I rounded a corner. I'm sure I panicked a little. I knew better to take it slow on a new trail. That is now a hard reminder. Glad I had my full face helmet. My visor broke off.

[@AllWeatherRiding]

I ride a levo turbo. I weigh around 175lbs. I ride between turbo and trail most of the time. I avg around 22 miles with 2700 ft of elevation. I can push it to 30 miles with 3500 ft of elevation if I use eco for a few of the climbs

[@leavemealoam]

So many people in comments like i ride in eco! I still ride mtb if im on the emtb thats going straight in turbo for maximum fun.

[@AllWeatherRiding]

If in doubt flat out

[@vashon100]

7:04 Curious if the approaching riders said anything as you boosted by them, it was cut out?

[@kayakutah]

Hey - thanks for calling a mountain bike a mountain bike and an ebike an ebike! Simplicity is good.

[@vashon100]

Exactly, none of this acoustic shit.

[@megane230f1]

@@vashon100 where on earth did that acoustic bullshit come from? lol

[@Section59.]

Trail most of the time, very often boost or race mode though. I didnt buy an ebike to ride in eco mode. I bought it to get up hills as quick and as easy as i could so i could throw myself back down them again.

[@RobertWooten-jr9ly]

That's about what I thought. I would be interested in how mid level assistance( were I always ride) compares to turbo. I would test it myself but I lack focus.

[@FrankDecker]

Which eco did you use, the standard or when having the 15 steps. From feel, my Spectral:on feels in level 2 of 15 similar to my Capra. Step 1 of 15 for sure is harder than riding a traditional mtb.The normal (3 Step) eco mode feels noticably easier. I sttill think for all those emtb riders who say "I always ride eco". Pro tip to save some money buy a traditional mtb and save a lot of money ;)

[@bradsanders6954]

Yup. I know people who buy an E gravel bike or road bike, and they take great pride in riding with the motor off. They can go 100's of miles with their E Bike! On my Spectral ON if the wheels are moving chances are its in boost mode. I can go 3 hours in boost mode and have a great time.

[@Zoehalcott]

How did you make it work without the battery because the bash plate has nothing to grab onto

[@bradsanders6954]

Im wondering, how many more times this same subject can be broached. It seems like its been beat to death? Can always go back to "whats best, a light tiny motor/small battery bike, or a full on trailbike?" Thats only been done about 30 times.

[@chrispederson4157]

All this talk about riding in eco mode why? Don't feel bad about cheating and just enjoy it. I run in auto mode on my Yamaha and push hard all the time which mean on boost a lot. Usually doing 20km in a hour and loving it. The battery will last 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours and I am done after. But what a fun ride. Why buy a ferrari and drive it in eco mode. Put it in sport plus (boost) and enjoy it. My garmin tells me I am actually getting more of a work out on e-bike than my regular bike. Which I don't care i know I am having way more fun. I am not wrecking my e-bike and letting off between shifts to save the drive train. Well actually first 200km I did not let off but now i do. HAHA

[@leavemealoam]

exactly owning a ebike and boasting about riding it in eco is mad. Trail/turbo smash out flat out laps! 🤠

[@stuartrathbone5403]

My 2 to 2.5 hour local weekend ride is about 1500 to 1750 feet of ascent on an MTB and 2500 to 3000 feet on mt E-MTB (21/22 Rise). Different type or workout. More upper body exercise, more akin to my MX days of 40 years ago 😃.

[@ssjj9584]

I asked three buddies who only ride e bikes that if all the e bikes didn’t exist anymore would they still ride??? They all said no 😂 So much for real mountain bikers riding e-bikes. At least they were honest 😂

[@RubenJFernandes]

How it feel the shimano motor compared to the bosch, and is it possible to connect booth with the garmin?

[@77rockcity]

Ah, a question as old as time. Shimano/Bosch, only topped by Do you want fries with that. 😮

[@RubenJFernandes]

@@77rockcity doesn't help my question, if you won't do reply do it if a really answer and not unuseful one

[@GarthFlint-nc2vj]

I have 2 ebikes, one Shimano EP8, the other Bosch CX. I like the Bosch a lot more. More power applied better. The Shimano is not bad, just not as good. I do not think the Bosch will connect but mine is not the latest model.

[@Cassienope]

You can connect the Shimano to a Garmin, but you need something (either that screen or a special dongle) to allow the connection. Bluetooth/ant+ isn't built into the motor. Which was a surprise for me.

[@HawkSwimming]

Very helpful. At 70, my leg strength isn't like my younger friends. A few months ago, I thought an eMTB was cheating, but now I see it as a way to stay in the game. Curious what you think of the eMTB on tight downhill switchbacks.

[@Cassienope]

It's fine. Also depends on the bike. I have a 46 pound eBike and it feels like my 37 pound Enduro bike on tight downhill switchbacks. Geo of the bike will make more of a difference than weight.

[@patdennehy8564]

How far would you go in the smart mode on your e-bike? I almost never use Turbo/Boost mode, but often use the EMTB/Smart mode since it varies the motor according to terrain. The motor below that is too much sometimes in trails and I get I don’t use the turbo mode on trails.

[@jeanmarc_in_Hudson]

Interesting test. I also find it easier to stay in the targeted training zone on e-mtb, and agree that eco on my 25Kg bike is about the same as regular mtb. Not sure about that music though... Anyway, my 2 cents. 😁

[@mikedwiles]

The ebike is my go-to machine now. I ride mostly in Eco or off unless climbing steeper stuff. I will use boost on the long climb back to the top. In Eco mode, my YT Decoy (50lbs) requires about the same amount of effort as my Pivot Switchblade (32lbs). I don't want to lose my ability to ride the Switchblade. So I make myself work for it with the Decoy.

[@lja3657]

Basically what you said if Iam climbing it’s not in eco. Just a lot of extra words

[@jimbo4203]

I live in Sport mode 😊

[@timfriesen3079]

Does adding the longer travel fork change the bikes geometry much?

[@vashon100]

Slacker head angle and raised bottom bracket will make a difference if enough mm added.

[@MC-ey8kw]

I'm not surprised with this particular motor since it is the most 'natural' requiring a higher cadence to do its work, where is a bosch will give a motor feel with very low cadence for instance.

[@lja3657]

I love all the I ride in eco comments , Nothing like spend 7,000 for a heavy bike and then not use the power. I call 100% bullshit too a lot of you.

[@ken46120]

My trails are very turny so eco mode is usually fine but it’s fun to ride in turbo and see if I come home alive. 😊

[@leavemealoam]

The i ride in eco thing is always strong in the emtb community. 😆

[@lja3657]

@@leavemealoam best mtb screen name have seen

[@leavemealoam]

@@lja3657 thanks king 🤴

[@jamesdorsijiuhjuh6151]

Eco?🤣🤣🤣 Just buy a light weight trail bike and have at it!

[@kevinmanzo862]

Your Gas gas bike or a kenevo SL sworks?

[@P6_7R_Nick]

There is no way I'm staying in zone 3 when I'm on my all leg mtb. I'm zone 4 zone 5 just to keep the thing moving 😂 On my Ebike I try to put the same effort in and use the power modes to compensate for lack of fitness. I'm very rarely in sport or boost, mainly in eco and tour, occasionally actve. Guess what ebike I ride lol.

[@kenmain448]

Ride style sounds like my Trance e+.

[@ElBa55man]

Shimano E ride app gives the percentage of battery used, I am guessing it should be more accurate than the garmin, I used to ride everywhere in trail mode but now use mainly eco (modded) and find I am getting fitter because of it. I would say it is a similar effort on eco compared to a reasonable ride on my road bike, comparing when both are ridden on the road. The road bike is much quicker obviously - in most places. I can't compare off road because I don't have an mtb only an emtb. However, I have tweaked the power delivery via the Shimano app so I think eco mode is pushing out slightly more torque than the factory settings and to be honest the EP8 is over powered for the area I live in (East Anglia), but I love it anyway.

[@Emtbtoday]

Well apparently It's your SRAM chain, etc., as well, slowing you down by 3 to 5 watts! New data from the Dutch company that tests all these [chains] let a tester finally release the data publicly. They didn't want to upset any manufacturers, but SRAM was the slowest, and tests showed their higher-end chains were even slower than their cheaper ones! It was a very interesting video; Shimano was the fastest, then came SRAM Force for gravel and road, and flat-top chains were all slowest! I'd leave the link to the data video, but YT just deletes links now.

[@Hans-F]

EMTB mode most of The time..

[@Mtb9r]

Eco mode on my full fat 55 pound Husqvarna is just a touch faster than my naturally aspirated 37lb fs steel Marino.

[@ceriway380]

Kudus to you mates, that's a good workout.

[@prodeo2167]

I ride eco 80% of the time. Use Trail only on steep climbs. On flat bike is normally on off, except when wind is blowing.

[@jamesdorsijiuhjuh6151]

What's the point?🥴

[@vashon100]

@@jamesdorsijiuhjuh6151 More exercise, reduced load on drive train for a couple.

[@sd5458]

Thanks for the demo but honestly, 5m of riding? Need 20m at least to really gauge things.

[@kareem-mokdad-swiss]

Well, you didn't mention which gear you were in on the MTB vs eMTB. I guess the motor helps to climb in a higher gear, hence going further away, as I could see on the views of your rear wheel.

[@IrregularrAF]

Why are people talking about cheating? Just enjoy yourself. You'll have more energy to do exactly that on an ebike.

[@douglaskaye1395]

I ride my Trek Rail in eMTB 100% climb disappear downhill super easy ebikes 🤙

[@vashon100]

How can that ebike be only 25kg when trail ebikes with 140mm air shocks weigh that much? Gotta be at least 3 kg heavier than that.

[@daggsusa]

Stull trying to convince my Mates that I well enjoy being able to ride further on my ebike that when on my mtb. Most of them are hardcore enthusiasts, which would lead me to believe they would be on board with ebikes but none of them are...I just don't get 'it'

[@jamesdorsijiuhjuh6151]

Eco is last resort!! Boost or BUST! why bother with ebikes to ride in Eco 🥴

[@franciscocardoso7882]

I don't think that ebikes are meant to go further... They can go faster and easier, even cover more distance on a given (short) time window, but will always be limited to battery life. And, if you ride for fun, using eco is like having a 12 speed drivetrain but using only 7 gears, to me, and to the brain of anyone, it will never make sense. The brain develops a sense of return for effort applied, that you will have to fool in order to feel happy pedaling in eco mode. Eco is only good for riding flat sections between the real fun singletracks. Two other very important factors should also be considered: the faster you ride for a given effort, the better you maintain body heat at bay, and, while using the motor with higher assistance the suspension works better because pedal inputs disturbs the suspension, while the power delivered by the motor actuates directly at the bottom bracket. Another problem with riding far into the moors with an ebike is that it has many more parts liable to fail out there, times the difficulty of getting back with a broken rig that weighs twice as much as a good XC bike does.

[@mray8519]

Say what?

[@CMZPICTURES]

@SomeguysTrailrides I think I agree with most of what they said. I can get about 50km and 800m of climbing out of my ebike (I'm 100kg and its a 500w battery). It's not really enough for a full day of tour style riding. But I've definitely noticed that in the winter I can crank up the power to reduce the amount I sweat. That way I don't get so cold. :-) But also I've had weird electronic issues I couldn't fix in the middle of nowhere which sucks. And nobody wants to lift an ebike over a fence :-0 So mostly I use my ebike for short rides in the winter, for longer rides in the summer I use my mtb.

[@celticsone_]

that's some next level yapping

[@CMZPICTURES]

@SomeguysTrailrides It turned out to be silt in my torque sensor. Would have happened whether the motor was on or not unfortunately. I think the design is meant to allow water spray to flush through rather than being waterproof, but the designers didn't consider that the water would be have mud in it. Doh.

[@sety409]

Short answer IME: 3x a mechanical bike. 2x if you reeeeeealllllly let the bike do all the work.

[@boblatkey7160]

Specialized Turbo Levo with Brose motor. 💪💪💪 41 miles and 5,400 ft of elevation gain. 4,300 miles on the motor, Zero problems.

[@MrDefiant17]

i considering to buy Turbo levo or Kenevo, but afraid of battery capacity..

[@boblatkey7160]

@@MrDefiant17 700 watt-hours is a good sized battery. I ride in low power mode for the first hour or so and then as I start to get tired I gently bring up the battery assistance level. Brose still has the most torque, and the most natural feeling assistance levels. All the stories of unreliability are old.

[@lja3657]

You have it modified so it’s just motorbiking. So clam down with the strength emoji.

[@boblatkey7160]

@@lja3657 it's not modified! It has a chip so that it doesn't cut out at 20 miles an hour but beyond that it's all human powered.

[@boblatkey7160]

@@lja3657 💪

[@neilelliston]

I did 32miles in eco and had 50miles range left👌🏻 eco is turned down to -2. Which is still a tiny bit faster than my pedal bike.

[@JH-bw7lp]

The channel appears to be running out of credible issues or products to discuss. Thanks anyway.

[@jimmyalexzander1941]

If only our battery technology improve can these ebikes ride longer and farther.