Ebike Advice Needed Please

Hi guys,

I'm a total ebike rookie but I've been a nomad for years, usually traveling by bus from city to city while working online. I'm in decent shape but I'm certainly not the athlete some of you in here seem to be :wink:

My goal is to get an ebike that would allow me to travel 100Km (60Mi) or maybe even 150Km (90Mi) per day each Saturday and Sunday while touring Europe over the next few years. Maybe adding a short trip here and there during the week when I have a slow work day.

I know in Europe we're limited to 250W motors by law so I'll have to go with that. Torque isn't limited though so I guess I should favor a motor with torque as high as possible, what do you think?

I've read the "How to get proper advice" thread but I don't really know the answer to all the questions unfortunately and I'm hoping some of you more knowledgeable guys can help me narrow my search.

Speed: I see you guys talk about going 20mph (32kmh) or more but in Europe the electric assistance stops at 25kmh (~16Mph) and I'm not even sure I could maintain that average for hours on end. Would 20kmh (~12mph) be a more reasonable average speed? At least until I get in better shape and more used to riding a bike, especially as it won't always be flat. I'm not necessarily planning on climbing the highest mountains in Europe or anything but I imagine hills would significantly decrease my average speed.

Weight: My bags and I should weigh no more than 80Kg (175lbs) - I'm not packing that light, I'm just very skinny :lol:
I've seen a few bikes with racks supporting up to 25Kg on the back wheel which I think is what I'd need but if you have better suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Budget: I'd like to keep it under 4,000 euros (USD 4,750) but can go a little over budget if a bike perfectly fitting my needs happens to be a bit more than that.

Wheel size: I've no idea. I am 1m79 (5'10 1/2) if it helps you guys give me the right piece of advice.

Brake type: Not sure either but from what I've read disc hydrolic brakes are the best and since I'll use the bike quite a bit I'd rather have a good bike I don't need to fix every week or something.

Anything else I need to let you know?

Based on the above, what type of ebikes should I look at, which ones should I avoid? Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance!

Because you will be carrying baggage, and power limited, you should look into a mid drive bike. even a 250w bike can carry a lot of weight up mountains, in the mid drive type.

Wheels can be whatever size you like, but 700c may be the most common in europe, making it easy to get tubes, or new tires as needed anywhere you may be.

To reduce suspicion when carrying by bus or train, a commercially produced bike would be best. I just mean something that does not look like it was built out of strange battery cells and old starter motors. Not an experimental monstrosity.

Multiple batteries is the solution to range, at least two standard batteries for whatever brand bike you choose. But 90 miles is a lot of saddle time, and you can start out with much less range till your butt becomes more leather like. Two batteries should do the trick, for enough range to get you as far as you can stand to sit that saddle.

To charge them though, the best charger would be Grin Technologys Satiator. It would be fitted with the plug that will work with your battery. That satiator will charge faster than stock chargers, and is completely waterproof. So if your battery is similarly waterproof, you can charge it in the rain.

Thanks for the tips dogman, will definitely follow your advice for wheel size and mid drive bike. I also like the idea of reducing suspicion, didn't think about the waterproof issue either, thanks a bunch!

Regarding batteries I've seen the ranges given by bike companies but how does it compare to real life use? Is there an online calculator or something you guys know of where I could roughly estimate how much battery I would use given my total weight (including bags) and speed?

Manoel said:

Thanks for the tips dogman, will definitely follow your advice for wheel size and mid drive bike. I also like the idea of reducing suspicion, didn't think about the waterproof issue either, thanks a bunch!

Regarding batteries I've seen the ranges given by bike companies but how does it compare to real life use? Is there an online calculator or something you guys know of where I could roughly estimate how much battery I would use given my total weight (including bags) and speed?

Click to expand...

Here's a link to the Grin Simulator, set up with some of your parameters. For designing a bike to go a certain speed, you want the top speed to be higher, just like a car, since you need some on reserve for safety reasons. With your budget, you can probably build two bikes with your specs, so get decent reliable components and a really good battery.
https://ebikes.ca/tools/simulator.html?motor=MG370_10T&batt=cust_36_0.05_30&cont=C20&hp=100&axis=kph&frame=mountain&autothrot=false&throt=100&grade=0&cont_b=cust_70_200_0.03_V&motor_b=MCRO5004_Sinks&batt_b=B5220_GA&hp_b=0&grade_b=20&mass=95

Play with the parameters to fit your cases, like grades of the hills around your place, or the amount of work you plan on doing (set to 100W currently, which is decent pedaling, but not too strenuous). Once you play around with it, you'll know more and have other questions.

For the total weight, you should take into account an estimate of the motor and battery weight. Also, if you are really going to ride 90 miles in a day, I'd invest a good amount in a decent seat. My rear end can take about 50 miles before I'm squirming on the seat.

BTW - welcome to the forum :thumb:

Thanks a lot E-HP :thumb:

This link looks fantastic! I'll go play around with it for a bit and come back with more questions I'm sure.

Regarding the seat I went to a store yesterday and tried the Granville E-Excellence 10 (this guy but with a 625W battery: https://www.granvillebikes-france.com/e-excellence10) and it felt very comfortable but I only tried it for a short ride. The seat is called "Granville Grand Confort". Is this good enough quality you think?

I'm expecting my rear end to hurt quite a bit at first but I've been told that one gets used to it after a while (given a good seat) is that not your experience?

Thanks again for taking the time to explain what probably seems super obvious to you guys, I appreciate the help!

That link you read, about how to start, is in my opinion out of date, and mainly applies to builders, These days you can buy a bike in the USA cheaper than building one.

I don't know prices in Europe, but with your budget you can buy a very fine mid drive here, and the only issue for a nomad will be not having it get stolen.

docw009 said:

These days you can buy a bike in the USA cheaper than building one.

Click to expand...

Only if you want one that is a disappointment at any price.

docw009 said:

That link you read, about how to start, is in my opinion out of date, and mainly applies to builders, These days you can buy a bike in the USA cheaper than building one.

I don't know prices in Europe, but with your budget you can buy a very fine mid drive here, and the only issue for a nomad will be not having it get stolen.

Click to expand...

Okay thanks, I'm certainly not planning on building my own ebike but there are hundreds of brands and each has dozens of models so I'm struggling to narrow my search down.

Like I've read that Bosch makes the best motors so I'm leaning towards these but they have various models and they're all fitted on tons of different bikes. Is there an ebike database somewhere with all the specs listed and stuff?

Manoel said:

Like I've read that Bosch makes the best motors so I'm leaning towards these but they have various models and they're all fitted on tons of different bikes.

Click to expand...

Bosch also makes proprietary systems.
Once you are locked into their system then they can charge you anything they want.