Ebike touring and camping

[DiannneBulosan]

Actually, this thread is the most interesting read I’ve found recently. I’ve always been a fan of bike tours, but I’ve never tried an ebike. I think it must be a really great journey. Though I’m 56, I think I can still have such an adventure. Btw, guys, what ebike would you recommend to buy? I hope the fact that I’m a beginner doesn’t actually matter. Anyway, I’ve already found a flashlight https://www.amazon.com/Vont-Flashlight-Flashlights-Water-Resistant-Accessories/dp/B089T8HDBV that I could use for my night rides, you know. Anyway, I’ll be waiting for your suggestions. Thanks in advance. Best wishes.

 

[Cephalotus]

For me efficency is the key to success.

Start with a lightweigt bike, add tires with low rolling resistance, try to keep air resistance low, try to keep the weight low.

I now use a 13s9p battery made from LG MJ1 cells, that's around 1.4kWh

Drive is a BionX D which is lightweight cmpared to its power and regen works very well for me.

Some ultralight camping gear helps to keep volume and weight down, so incl some food and repair stuff for the bike (I even carry a spare BMS and a small bhutane powered soldering iron) usually easily fits into 40l of storage today.

Our ebikes for long distance travelling are "speed pedelec" with a motor that supports up to 45km/h.

In real use consumption is typically around 7Wh/km, which gives a distance of up to 200km. Amazingly it's quite similar in mountainous and flat terrain. On mountain roads we need more human power, do benefit from regen downhill and are usually slower, in flat terrain speed is higher and so is air resistance.

In Europe you will almost always find a plug within 200km. As I get older I do prefer a shower before sleeping, so often we use camp sites for camping anyway and they almost always do have electricity.

We use cycle satiators and 360W is good enough to charge overnight (and often the evening is enough), but for quick charging a small and lightweight 1000W charger would be more interesting to us.

Weight of the e-bike is around 17kg, battery is around 6kg, charger 1kg+, spare parts and repair stuff around 1kg (needed only 1x for 2 people), lock is 1kg, camping geer depends on weather and type of travel is around 3-8kg/person and then you have some spare clothes and some food and water.

So overall the vehicle usually weights less than 40kg fully loaded.

the weight (incl rider) is low enough that the motor usually does not overheat, as long as you can maintain 20km/h+

To make the vehicle better for long distance a more areodnymanic 2nd grip option would be wise and a more aerodynamic way to store the stuff comapred to rear panniers (which are very pracitcal otherwise)


Bikes without luggage:





Bikes with lots of luggage (different tour):



Building the 13s9p battery for the BionX system. Also the battery has been optimized for minimal size and low weight:



From the star: Always try to use the samllest on most lightweigt option that is still usably to you and that you can afford. Driving around a 40kg ebike fully loaded usually make things a lot less complicated than touring with a 100kg setup and huge air resistance.

 

[potna]

powered campgrounds

informal "hey can I plug in? "

forget solar unless days' charging for hours riding appeals

i have six 22.2v 22ah lipo packs in a 18s2p config for 3kwh. i have three 1200 watt ac to dc 24v psu's and those power six isdt q8max lipo chargers. i can charge all six packs in about 20 to 30 minutes and still charge at might be about 1c to 1.5c.

the problem i run into is that my psu's all need to be on their own breaker, or i trip them. this can be a pain, especially if i am sneaking it from a park with one outlet.

at home this isnt a problem as i charge off of solar but thats another story

 

[calab]

Meanwell has a model, I think its the rsp 48v 1400w and 1500w, it sat right on the edge of the 15a breaker limit, but would do a 21 amp charge rate, on the 120v system. If you are lucky, you can find two buildings next to each other, with a parking lot ajoining, in the middle has a nice bench, big tree shading ya, ash tray, water fountain, foot rest, vending machine, atm, 4' one way is one buildings parking stall engine block heater outlet, 4' the other way is the other bulldings, heaven.... if their activated :thumb: Imagine, dumping 2kw into a battery an hour, times two.... thats 4kw's in an hour, or 100 miles, in one hour :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: lovely, absolutely lovely, sign me up for that Unicorn.

Only hope is to integrate into the ev charging system.




https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=RSP-1500
https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=RSP-1600
Input AC Current - My guess is it probably spikes, but for how long until the random breaker trips, then your s.o.l. for that location in the future.
1600w is 15A/115VAC 8.5A/230VAC 33.5a charge rate 48v
1500w is 17A/115VAC 8A/230VAC 32a 48v
Interesting, 15a 17a. Inrush looks high, but for how long, breaker trip time vs inrush time.

https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=RSP-1000
1000w is 12A/115VAC 6A/230VA 21a 48v

Get the people over at BMSBattery to make you a spec charger, say 14a input for 120v system, have a 26a 48v charge rate on pots for 60v or 58.80v or 52v nominal (14s), preferably digital calibration not pots.

I could be wrong but I think the outlets that have the additional dash on the prong, have a higher amperage rating, like a 25a or 20a. So the ability to up your dc charge rate to 32 or 33a while keeping your input amps to 25a or 20a whatever the outlet will take. Is it worth the risk if its a safety net outlet, or you dont care, and roll with it, outlet trips who cares right as your onto the next and its the outlets next guys problem.

I've done 90 miles in one day and never left the city, but I've been 10 miles out of the city into the next township south and north. You'll just run into sections of a town or city that have no outlets, or have outlets in odd locations. The one today I found active was behind a pillar in a cove fountain outdoor mall, was a good smoke break area in a mall I never been able to find an outlet in. Depends on the time of day, this certain location today, office personal I could see through the window, medical or blood. Likely a 9-5'er type deal there. No markings on the biz sings, but awesome, awesome, awesome smoke break site, heavily used route. Used a standby yesterday, nearby, stonethrow, inside train station but bums man, the tunes drowned out my care and the smoke with the night lights.

 

[Belkis]

Hello,
I was searching the forum for an answer to a question I have relating to electric bicycle motors, and I saw your message. I cycled Europe in 2016-2017 with an electric cargo bike. Solar powered. Let me explain. I am Belgian, and I live in Portugal. I wanted to bike to Scandinavia and back with my 40kg white shepherd dog. He doesnt like to sit in a trailer behind me, so I bought an electric cargo bike.
When I left Portugal in 2016, I was 55 years old. The total distance of my journey was around 15.000 kms. It took me 14 months. I had on average 1 rest day per week. I was always camping in the wild. I had a trailer behind the cargo bike with a total of 100 watt solar panels, a small Victron solar MPPT charger, a Victron 300 watt inverter and a 60AH AGM 12 volt battery. The trailer was originally a dog trailer that I rebuild into a cargo trailer to carry the solar system and other supplies. The trailer could carry a load of maximum 80 kilograms.
My average daily distance was around 50 kms, except when I drove in the mountains. On average I rode the bike 4/5 hours per day. My average speed during the whole journey was 12kms per hour. I could have driven faster but then my bicycle batteries would have emtied sooner. And I like slow travel.
These are some of my experiences.

1. The cargo bike had a 250W motor in the back wheel. At that time it was not available with a mid motor. I had two 400wh bike batteries. One was always in the trailer charging, the other one was in use. When you are carrying heavy loads on the bike, never choose a back wheel motor. I think I changed more than 50 broken spokes in the back wheel during the trip. The cargo bike was made of steel and wood. It weighed 75 kilograms bare. The trailer with the solar system, 15 liters of drinking water and 10 kg of dog food weighed around 60 kg. And on the back of my bike, I carried around 30 kg of food, clothes, camping stuff etc. So the total weight was 75kg+60kg+30kg+75kg(my own weight)+40kg(my dog's weight) = 280kg. All my friends and family said it couldn't be done, but in the end I did it. And I enjoyed the trip. But I would definitely choose now for a mid motor with a higher torque. And I would probably choose an all aluminium cargo bike. In Europe they are available now and they weigh around 30kg. Unfortunately they are double the price of a steel/wood cargo bike.

2. I carried these heavy loads because I wanted to be able to travel as long as possible without visiting shops to buy food etc. I was able to travel up to 14 days without visiting a shop. In this way I was able to bike through some fantastic nature in Portugal, Spain, France and especially Scandinavia without worrying too much about food. And I didnt travel always on asphalt roads, probably half of the roads I did were dirt roads. When I would do a similar journey again, I would definitely do it the same way.

3. I didnt have a road plan. I just had a rough idea of the direction I wanted to go. I never knew where I would end up in the evening. Every day was an adventure, just finding a suitable wild camping place. I had a bike GPS. But I only used it to find shops nearby.

4. Before you start a journey like this, know your bike. I had never travelled with a cargo bike, but I took two weeks to know and understand every part of it.

5. I used a hobo wood cooker. I really loved it. I had a spare 0.5 litre bottle of alcohol with me for worst case scenarios, but when I came back to Portugal, it was still half full.

6. Camping in the wild in Europe is not easy, but I didnt use a tent. I had a hammock with a tarp and a bivy bag when I couldnt find 2 trees to install the hammock. If you use a hammock for long distance travel, take a long one. Mine is 3,20 meters, almost 11 feet long, and I can lie flat in it (very important if you want to have a good night's rest). And it has a mosquito net.

7. When you travel in such an unconvential way, with a very friendly dog, all doors open for you. I don't even remember how many times people gave food and drinks to me. Sometimes I had to refuse because I couldnt take any more load on the bike. During these 14 months I never met an unfriendly person. Oh just mentioning, I didnt have a phone with me, and I was without internet for 14 months. It felt great. And I didnt even have a photo camera. The photos I attached are mad by people that I met on the road and sent it to my email address. I dont like to be in photos.

Well I could still write a book about all my experiences, but I just wanted you to know that if you really want something very much, you already have gone halfway. I wanted to take my dog. Traveling without my dog was no option for me, he has been with me from birth. My wife and I raise white shepherds, she takes care of the 3 females and I take care of the male. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that if you have a relationship, be sure that your partner joins you, or in my case, that my partner agreed that I was gone for 14 months.
Sorry for my bad English, but I hope I added something to this discussion. I know this journey may seem a little extreme. I am not the fittest of persons, but I still did it. I spent 4 euros per day on food and around 100 euro's on ferry crossings etc. It was the best experience of my life. Ciao Rudi

 

[99t4]

I think I changed more than 50 broken spokes in the back wheel during the trip.

That shows some real dedication! Did you just happen to carry 50 spare spokes? If not, where did you get them? Seeing as they were probably oddball size for rear hubmotor?

 

[glend]

When I left Portugal in 2016, I was 55 years old. The total distance of my journey was around 15.000 kms. It took me 14 months. I had on average 1 rest day per week. I was always camping in the wild. I had a trailer behind the cargo bike with a total of 100 watt solar panels, a small Victron solar MPPT charger, a Victron 300 watt inverter and a 60AH AGM 12 volt battery. The trailer was originally a dog trailer that I rebuild into a cargo trailer to carry the solar system and other supplies. The trailer could carry a load of maximum 80 kilograms.

1. The cargo bike had a 250W motor in the back wheel. At that time it was not available with a mid motor. I had two 400wh bike batteries. One was always in the trailer charging, the other one was in use. When you are carrying heavy loads on the bike, never choose a back wheel motor. I think I changed more than 50 broken spokes in the back wheel during the trip. The cargo bike was made of steel and wood. It weighed 75 kilograms bare. The trailer with the solar system, 15 liters of drinking water and 10 kg of dog food weighed around 60 kg. And on the back of my bike, I carried around 30 kg of food, clothes, camping stuff etc. So the total weight was 75kg+60kg+30kg+75kg(my own weight)+40kg(my dog's weight) = 280kg. All my friends and family said it couldn't be done, but in the end I did it. And I enjoyed the trip. But I would definitely choose now for a mid motor with a higher torque. And I would probably choose an all aluminium cargo bike. In Europe they are available now and they weigh around 30kg. Unfortunately they are double the price of a steel/wood cargo bike.
Ciao Rudi

My goodness Rudi, 280 kg. That's an herculean effort. Well done. Pity you not into chihuahua dogs, they so much lighter!