M
Member 30571
Guest
Today's ride........ Is this a long distance ride ?
Long distance rides?
- Thread starter DubberBubby
- Start date
B Bassett
Well-Known Member
A bobble-head seat post isn't the way to go... frame fit, and mirrors are smart though. If ya need a tachometer it's probably best to just buy a motorcycle.
New item by Brian Bassett
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B Bassett
Well-Known Member
As far a long-distance ebike riding is concerned I disagree with everything you said. 2.5" rubber is the optimal tire size for touring, stable enough on rough surfaces, but at 70 psi still has reasonably low rolling resistance which is of the utmost importance. Anything smaller wants to sink into soft surfaces regardless of how low the pressure. "Big puffy" tires... even 4" fat tires are no substitute for a suspended bike. And for at least the next decade if you want to do "long rides" on an ebike you're going to have to pedal.
I agree for long distance nothing beat's a M/C or E M/C.
As for as M/B and E bikes everyone has their own personal style. Some like big 4" fat tire bikes for going through the sand and serious off road Mountain biking with low tire pressure.
B Bassett
Well-Known Member
How many answers do you want? I just rapid-fire thought of 6 but they were all kinda mean spirited. Ride lots, practice, enjoy the outdoors, learn to take your time, get off the bike, and enjoy the route and the day, relax, enjoy the whole experience. Riding 100 miles on an ebike isn't that hard if you are an avid rider. I'm old and broke and I do it. When I was a kid I took a Continental Trailways 5-star from Portland to L.A., it had a stewardess that served soup and sandwiches. Played cards with her all night while the other cattle slept, I was in love... she took 10 dollars from me playing blackjack. Nowadays I would much rather ride 100 miles then be in a moble petri dish.
FurryOnTheInside
In Memoriam
My emoped is a lump. All the added heft it has, to support the added heft it has, is exponentially hefty and therefore it rides like a big metal 
although i do love it for local errands. I dont think its extra wide seat or the sitting up riding position is enough to make it comfy for four or five hours ride in a day.
It has a maximum 25 mile range on its 60v (5 x 12v SLA batteries), which can of course be replaced with Lithium ion batteries, placed into the lockable battery box when the SLA ones wear out.
The average speed is 20-23mph on an uninterrupted paved level beachside path, using the high power setting, supposed to be 500 Watts.
I am not sure what range those Lithium ion direct replacements would allow at 500W/22mph average. Maybe it'll do the hundred miles, but on a five hour ride it's not all about the batteries and motor, it is mainly about ergonomic fit and comfort, imho!
Numb arse, stiff legs, sore wrists, agonizing back pain, and damn road surface vibration.. 
My emo-ped is okay for 20 miles I reckon, or rather it is okay for sitting on for a maximum of one hour at a time; beyond that it is just too uncomfortable.
Its springer (undamped, a dry spring in a tube) suspension on the front is not effective at anything. Better than nothing? Yeah if you hit a brick I suppose it would be less harsh lol.
The rigid rear frame is totally dead and ludicrously heavy, it's like sitting on a extra wide seat on top of an anvil. I have to keep slowing down to 10mph whenever the sidewalk cycle path is interrupted by side roads and farm entrances, etc. and down to 5mph to roll up a small curb. 
So it has to be ridden on the road itself when the sidewalk is not an official and very good cycle lane.
The automotive standard moped wheels, with 12 gauge or maybe 11 gauge spokes, proper actually automotive rims (can take the tension that 12g requires to be strong) and proper automotive rated tyres are overbuilt even for the 1900's battleship-like vehicle that they put on top of it. Lol. But they are a smaller diameter than most bicycles so they roll up obstacles like kerbs very steeply, and they are so heavy and dead and harsh. It is like they are blocks cut from the trunk of some ancient oak tree, that turned to stone over a million years, and then got made into horrible wheels...
The direct hub drive e-moped is really good on the river cycle path that avoids all the worst roads heading inland.
There are multiple sprung gates with latches. Stop the bike as late as possible, pull gate latch, twist throttle and it pushes through, bouncing the gate!
I would actually consider using the very capable yet somehow lightweight downhill racing equipment to get some ride comfort and high-speed pothole protection without any of that need for heavy and dead feeling wheels and tyres.
I reckon that you want nice lateral stiffness and good long stable geometry for the road, but you will enjoy soft long travel that is adjustable, and oversized plush oil damping.
Oil damping. Springs return almost all the energy when they are worked but damping absorbs the energy and it heats up when it is worked. Open bath damping circulates all around, cools itself on outer walls, and lubricates sliding seals too. How much cooling or heat sinking you need depends on the speed and terrain you want to ride, and how long you need to keep working the suspension hard before it has a rest and gets time to cool down.
Modern mountain bike damping is kept as lightweight as possible for obvious marketing reasons, frequently being only just able to stay within its temperature limits long enough for a particular downhill mtb track it needs to win a race on, or only just enough for a trail centre downhill section before the next slow climb.
Of course that is completely fine for any distance or just about any speed on smoothly paved roads with not too much weight on board, but I expect shocks intended for unpowered bicycles will be inadequate at a motorised 20-40mph on the beautiful cross country, partly dirt/shingle roads, bicycle accessible routes that exist (huge ones in USA wish I could visit!) that last much longer. Like all day.
I have recently purchased a 9" travel frameset (a brand flagship, WC downhill racing frameset from 10ish years ago) and an 8" travel downhill racing fork which already matches the frame specifically, especially because it was factory custom painted for my individual bike frame for racing at the time. I couldn't resist it because it is a generation thing, a local mtb scene thing, with the local bike shop and the brand and prestige having a local mtb champion at the time etc.
☺
but it is what I needed to be able to access the off road paths, the bicycle friendly but unpaved coastal paths, all the beautiful woodlands trails and the mountain bike trail centres that are within about a 60 mile radius of my home.
I didn't get it to build myself a bike that can do 100 miles, only to be street and trail legal, and still fast and reasonably (and adjustably) great range. Still, no harm if it could do 100 miles....
No room for the 2 stroke engine on this downhill mtb frame but it isn't polite to run them on the trails around kiddies, cyclists and e-bikers anyway.
The dropout dimensions are totally incompatible with hub motor wheels so I am sitting around waiting for a (750W rated) Bafang BBS02 mid-mount motor kit to arrive from China.
I think it was February or March that I ordered it. I hope it comes!
I have enough batteries, in pairs so that they can be "slung" on the sides of my (shock absorber cluttered) mountain bike frame.
I have two 48v 17.5Ah, and two 48v 8.8Ah lithium ion soft pack batteries from Enerpower. They look the same as the very cheap blue packs from China.
I have a second pair of those 48v 8.8Ah on order they say are built to order.. which seems to take forever. I think that is about 3384Watt hours in total, then? That should do the 100 miles lol!!
The only question is where to put them and is the speed really worth the weight?
There's obviously probably not room for them all even if they were all caged to the outside of the bike frame. You wouldn't want that. It would look funny, would be extremely heavy, and it would definitely need that plush suspension and high oil volume & circulation that I was going on about above.
And it would be extremely inefficient on hilly routes because 100 miles of batteries weigh the same empty as full!
Sorry very long post, very high on my (necessary) meds right now. need to do editing. I'll come back lol!
although i do love it for local errands. I dont think its extra wide seat or the sitting up riding position is enough to make it comfy for four or five hours ride in a day.It has a maximum 25 mile range on its 60v (5 x 12v SLA batteries), which can of course be replaced with Lithium ion batteries, placed into the lockable battery box when the SLA ones wear out.
The average speed is 20-23mph on an uninterrupted paved level beachside path, using the high power setting, supposed to be 500 Watts.
I am not sure what range those Lithium ion direct replacements would allow at 500W/22mph average. Maybe it'll do the hundred miles, but on a five hour ride it's not all about the batteries and motor, it is mainly about ergonomic fit and comfort, imho!
Numb arse, stiff legs, sore wrists, agonizing back pain, and damn road surface vibration.. My emo-ped is okay for 20 miles I reckon, or rather it is okay for sitting on for a maximum of one hour at a time; beyond that it is just too uncomfortable.
Its springer (undamped, a dry spring in a tube) suspension on the front is not effective at anything. Better than nothing? Yeah if you hit a brick I suppose it would be less harsh lol.
The rigid rear frame is totally dead and ludicrously heavy, it's like sitting on a extra wide seat on top of an anvil.
I have to keep slowing down to 10mph whenever the sidewalk cycle path is interrupted by side roads and farm entrances, etc. and down to 5mph to roll up a small curb. So it has to be ridden on the road itself when the sidewalk is not an official and very good cycle lane.The automotive standard moped wheels, with 12 gauge or maybe 11 gauge spokes, proper actually automotive rims (can take the tension that 12g requires to be strong) and proper automotive rated tyres are overbuilt even for the 1900's battleship-like vehicle that they put on top of it. Lol. But they are a smaller diameter than most bicycles so they roll up obstacles like kerbs very steeply, and they are so heavy and dead and harsh. It is like they are blocks cut from the trunk of some ancient oak tree, that turned to stone over a million years, and then got made into horrible wheels...
The direct hub drive e-moped is really good on the river cycle path that avoids all the worst roads heading inland.
There are multiple sprung gates with latches. Stop the bike as late as possible, pull gate latch, twist throttle and it pushes through, bouncing the gate!
I would actually consider using the very capable yet somehow lightweight downhill racing equipment to get some ride comfort and high-speed pothole protection without any of that need for heavy and dead feeling wheels and tyres.
I reckon that you want nice lateral stiffness and good long stable geometry for the road, but you will enjoy soft long travel that is adjustable, and oversized plush oil damping.
Oil damping. Springs return almost all the energy when they are worked but damping absorbs the energy and it heats up when it is worked. Open bath damping circulates all around, cools itself on outer walls, and lubricates sliding seals too. How much cooling or heat sinking you need depends on the speed and terrain you want to ride, and how long you need to keep working the suspension hard before it has a rest and gets time to cool down.
Modern mountain bike damping is kept as lightweight as possible for obvious marketing reasons, frequently being only just able to stay within its temperature limits long enough for a particular downhill mtb track it needs to win a race on, or only just enough for a trail centre downhill section before the next slow climb.
Of course that is completely fine for any distance or just about any speed on smoothly paved roads with not too much weight on board, but I expect shocks intended for unpowered bicycles will be inadequate at a motorised 20-40mph on the beautiful cross country, partly dirt/shingle roads, bicycle accessible routes that exist (huge ones in USA wish I could visit!) that last much longer. Like all day.
I have recently purchased a 9" travel frameset (a brand flagship, WC downhill racing frameset from 10ish years ago) and an 8" travel downhill racing fork which already matches the frame specifically, especially because it was factory custom painted for my individual bike frame for racing at the time. I couldn't resist it because it is a generation thing, a local mtb scene thing, with the local bike shop and the brand and prestige having a local mtb champion at the time etc.
☺but it is what I needed to be able to access the off road paths, the bicycle friendly but unpaved coastal paths, all the beautiful woodlands trails and the mountain bike trail centres that are within about a 60 mile radius of my home.
I didn't get it to build myself a bike that can do 100 miles, only to be street and trail legal, and still fast and reasonably (and adjustably) great range. Still, no harm if it could do 100 miles....
No room for the 2 stroke engine on this downhill mtb frame
but it isn't polite to run them on the trails around kiddies, cyclists and e-bikers anyway.The dropout dimensions are totally incompatible with hub motor wheels
so I am sitting around waiting for a (750W rated) Bafang BBS02 mid-mount motor kit to arrive from China.I think it was February or March that I ordered it. I hope it comes!
I have enough batteries, in pairs so that they can be "slung" on the sides of my (shock absorber cluttered) mountain bike frame.
I have two 48v 17.5Ah, and two 48v 8.8Ah lithium ion soft pack batteries from Enerpower. They look the same as the very cheap blue packs from China.
I have a second pair of those 48v 8.8Ah on order they say are built to order.. which seems to take forever. I think that is about 3384Watt hours in total, then? That should do the 100 miles lol!!
The only question is where to put them and is the speed really worth the weight?
There's obviously probably not room for them all even if they were all caged to the outside of the bike frame. You wouldn't want that. It would look funny, would be extremely heavy, and it would definitely need that plush suspension and high oil volume & circulation that I was going on about above.
And it would be extremely inefficient on hilly routes because 100 miles of batteries weigh the same empty as full!
Sorry very long post, very high on my (necessary) meds right now. need to do editing. I'll come back lol!
Last edited:
Sidewinder Jerry
Well-Known Member
A bobble-head seat post isn't the way to go... frame fit, and mirrors are smart though. If ya need a tachometer it's probably best to just buy a motorcycle.
New item by Brian Bassett
If you aren't going that fast and/or on completely smooth roads a solid seat post is fine. The faster you're going the more you're going to feel it on rough roads; here an adjustable suspension seat post will save you a lot of lower back pain. A 100 mile trip means you're probably going to encounter a few rough roads.
A techometer/hour counter can let you know if you're in the right gear to maintain max horsepower rpm on a shift kit. This can keep you from over reving.
It can also let you know if you're in the right gear when hauling and/or going up a steep hill if you're maintaining max torque minimum rpm on a shift kit. This can help you from having engine strain.
The hour counter is helpful for maintenance schedules.
Even with a engine single ratio drive system a techometer can help you from over reving and engine strain. Here the hour counter can help maintain a maintenance schedule also. Some prefer to know exactly what they're doing instead of the guess and hope I'm right method.
M
Member 30571
Guest
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FurryOnTheInside
In Memoriam
I have had basic telescopic sprung seat posts on a couple of bicycles and found them imho entirely ineffective, which was just a waste of weight.. and never quite knowing how high to set my saddle! 
If I were to try seatpost suspension again it would need to be something more serious, although it seems these still tend to be just an undamped spring, or an elastomer that changes so much in viscosity (its damping) as it changes in temperature that no matter how carefully you select the elastomer for the days temperature and terrain it still must suck 80% of the time.
I think I would rather try the rigid dropper posts, at least if it makes it easier to alter riding position without even needing to dismount then I am more likely to bother changing my riding position when I need to and not "when I reach the next scenic rest spot".
I haven't ever tried a dropper post. I think I have only one bike that has a modern enough seat tube diameter, that would be wide enough for one of them. I am going to run out of money if I put decent parts on all my bikes though.. Which is why they share their pedals. ☺
Tachometer:
I fitted the cheap "self powering" tachometer, and it was fun and informative, but I dont really need it anymore because I already used it and found out what 5500rpm peak torque sounds and feels like, and that my port timing limits acceleration beyond 7000rpm and limits redline at 8000rpm. Which is great btw, safer for long distance on the generic unbranded Happy Time engine with awful bearings etc. and only very amateur rebalancing of the crank.
Just imho. I am alone and chatty lol.
If I were to try seatpost suspension again it would need to be something more serious, although it seems these still tend to be just an undamped spring, or an elastomer that changes so much in viscosity (its damping) as it changes in temperature that no matter how carefully you select the elastomer for the days temperature and terrain it still must suck 80% of the time.
I think I would rather try the rigid dropper posts, at least if it makes it easier to alter riding position without even needing to dismount then I am more likely to bother changing my riding position when I need to and not "when I reach the next scenic rest spot".
I haven't ever tried a dropper post. I think I have only one bike that has a modern enough seat tube diameter, that would be wide enough for one of them. I am going to run out of money if I put decent parts on all my bikes though.. Which is why they share their pedals. ☺
Tachometer:
I fitted the cheap "self powering" tachometer, and it was fun and informative, but I dont really need it anymore because I already used it and found out what 5500rpm peak torque sounds and feels like, and that my port timing limits acceleration beyond 7000rpm and limits redline at 8000rpm. Which is great btw, safer for long distance on the generic unbranded Happy Time engine with awful bearings etc. and only very amateur rebalancing of the crank.
Just imho. I am alone and chatty lol.
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