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Ebike v Lightweight Hill Climb Challenge Part 2

Video: e-road bike vs lightweight bike –The Rematch! Longer, harder, further than before

An e-bike's always going to be quicker up a climb, but what about if you throw in some flats and descents too?...
by dave atkinson
Thu, Feb 21, 2019 08:46
3

Not so long ago we pitted a Pinarello Nytro e-road bike against a 7kg lightweight racer up Cheddar Gorge. And it didn't really surprise anyone that the bike with the motor came out on top.

That wasn't enough for some of you: what about if the course was a loop, with all the descents and flat bits as well as the climbs. Would an e-bike still be the best tool for the job then? Or would a lightweight bike outshine it on a mixture of terrain. You demanded to know.

It sounded like an excuse for another day mooning around in the Mendips to us. So we took the two bikes out on an hour-long loop to see which was best. And you can listen to our unscientific findings in the video. Enjoy!

e-road
Pinarello
Boardman
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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CXR94Di2 | 5 years ago
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Until the battery runs out, a electric assist bike with an average fit rider will destroy any lightweight bike and a very fit rider.

 

  You cant get away from the numbers 250W for a few extra kilos.  If you only used 150W of extra power, no human can replicate that boost in performance and sustain it.

 

Electric assist are going to be fantastic for less able riders to (more than)match their fitter riding buddies.

 

 

 

 

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armb replied to CXR94Di2 | 5 years ago
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CXR94Di2 wrote:

Until the battery runs out, a electric assist bike with an average fit rider will destroy any lightweight bike and a very fit rider.

  You cant get away from the numbers 250W for a few extra kilos.  If you only used 150W of extra power, no human can replicate that boost in performance and sustain it.

Electric assist is limited by law to 15mph. If your very fit rider can do more than 15mph on the flat, they can beat the electric bike on the flat.

The more interesting question is on a longer ride, where the battery will run out if you just use the assist on full power the whole time, where is the crossover point of the assist being of benefit overall. And the simple answer is obviously "it depends" - on the terrain, the rider, and the bike.

CXR94Di2 wrote:

Electric assist are going to be fantastic for less able riders to (more than)match their fitter riding buddies.

Absolutely. But not necessarily more than match them at all times on all possible rides.

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CXR94Di2 replied to armb | 5 years ago
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armb wrote:

CXR94Di2 wrote:

Until the battery runs out, a electric assist bike with an average fit rider will destroy any lightweight bike and a very fit rider.

  You cant get away from the numbers 250W for a few extra kilos.  If you only used 150W of extra power, no human can replicate that boost in performance and sustain it.

Electric assist is limited by law to 15mph. If your very fit rider can do more than 15mph on the flat, they can beat the electric bike on the flat.

The more interesting question is on a longer ride, where the battery will run out if you just use the assist on full power the whole time, where is the crossover point of the assist being of benefit overall. And the simple answer is obviously "it depends" - on the terrain, the rider, and the bike.

CXR94Di2 wrote:

Electric assist are going to be fantastic for less able riders to (more than)match their fitter riding buddies.

Absolutely. But not necessarily more than match them at all times on all possible rides.

 

On the flat the assist is switched off around 15mph, that doesnt stop the rider on top putting in more effort to stay with or near the group, extra weight on the flats isnt so noticeable.  But any incline which takes his group below 15mph the assisted rider will easily catch up.  Bigger benefit in gaining  time whilst climbing.   

I might try and borrow one for a club ride.  Im a big rider, who can stay with the pack on the flats but always get dropped on the hills.  It would be a personal interest to see if I could match the fastest club mates at the end of the day with assist- my guess is yes I could.

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