That's really something! The gentle thrust with which the bike accelerates is addictive. Especially uphill. You no longer feel the 12 kilos of touring luggage, even in the lively ups and downs of the hilly Bavarian Oberland.
Electric assistance makes cycling wonderfully easy for the cyclist.
The effortlessness of moving forwards increases the experience factor. Suddenly you can see more of the landscape, because the next hill no longer demands the rider's full concentration on the round pedalling. At the beer garden, you get off your bike relaxed, the crusty roast and the unleaded wheat beer taste almost better than before. Outside, the bikes of other visitors are parked by the fence: a good half of them are e-bikes on this one beautiful Tuesday afternoon in an otherwise rainy May 2017. But you often have to look twice:
These bikes are a far cry from the pensioner-friendly step-through model.
Attractive touring bikes with high-quality equipment can be found in the middle of the touring paradise of Upper Bavaria, with modern, angular frame tubes, wide handlebars, contemporary thick tyres and derailleur gears suitable for mountain biking. Manufacturers have responded to the fact that an e-bike has to withstand greater stress than a normal bike due to its higher weight and speed. Technology has developed at full steam ahead since we last looked at pleasure tourers in TREKKINGBIKE 3/2014. Tapered seat and head tubes that accommodate tapered fork steerer tubes in enlarged bearings, powerful and moisture-resistant disc brakes, reinforced rims and spokes, puncture-proof tyres with a large volume and long service life characterise the new generation of e-bikes. Riding safety, stability and durability are therefore at a much higher level. The current test field includes beautifully designed bikes whose motors are as inconspicuously integrated into the design as the batteries, which are often incorporated into the colour concept of the bike as an additional surface: Another reason why you only notice the "E" on the bikes at second glance. We have moved away from the battery pack: the disadvantages for riding dynamics are too great when around three kilos are placed in such a prominent position.
The most common configuration is the mid-motor, which drives the chainring; the battery sits in the frame triangle on the down tube with a favourable centre of gravity. All "power tanks" can be charged both on the bike and separately. Capacities of around 500 watt-hours (Wh) are standard today. A full charge is guaranteed to cover distances of between 70 and 90 kilometres without any problems. It is almost impossible to make serious statements about the range: There are too many factors involved that depend on the situation. In addition to individual pedalling performance, system weight, route profile, road conditions or wind conditions on the tour, tyre pressure, the efficiency of the motor and gears, the outside temperature or the age and condition of the battery cells also play a role.
Six motor concepts
The variety of motors on our test bikes consists of four Bosch, two Shimano Steps, one each from Giant/Yamaha, Brose, Impulse and a hub motor from Neodrives. This should also roughly represent the current market situation: The mid-motor has emerged as the best-selling concept. Its advantages are its high compatibility with all gear variants, centralised weight distribution, high power delivery, simple integration of the control electronics with short cable runs and, as before, simple removal of the wheels. The disadvantage is that the motor transmits its power to the rear wheel via the chain. The high tractive forces, especially during the shifting process, wear out the chain and sprockets faster than on a normal bike. However, a lot has happened in terms of fine-tuning: whereas in the past, the sprocket used to jostle every time the chain was changed, today more sensitive control elements give the chain a well-deserved short break from the motor cable when shifting. The electronics recognise the shifting process, interrupt it briefly and the chain climbs more gently onto the sprocket. The Bosch motor has a special feature: an internal gear, which runs permanently, allows the extremely small chainring of 15 to 18 teeth to spin two and a half times faster than the crank. This has two effects: Firstly, only a few chain links have to distribute the pulling forces. This increases their wear. Secondly, the gearbox is always running with you and slows down each crank rotation a little due to friction - for example, when you are pedalling downhill without motor power, pedalling on flat terrain with the motor switched off or above the speed limit of 27 km/h, or when you have to get home with an empty battery. Both the motor manufacturer and the bicycle manufacturer can adjust how smoothly or abruptly the motor decelerates above the speed limit. This also applies to other parameters of the control electronics, so that two externally identical motor/battery systems in different bike models can never be directly compared.
The complete article was published in Trekkingbike issue 4/2017.
