find_bruce wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:09 pm
ironhanglider wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 10:32 am
Overall, however my speed on the ebike is no different to my speed on the regular bike - 1hr 05 going in, 1hr 15 coming home, the ebike is faster uphill and less sweaty (if I don't try to exceed 25km/h). As Bruce has observed, riding alongside a person on an ebike is a lot like doing interval training. The easy bits are easier and the hard bits are harder. If you ignore the other person however, you will end up in pretty much the same place at the same time.
Cheers,
Cameron
Challenge accepted Cameron, I'll ride the e-bike to work tomorrow, go as hard as I can & see if it makes any difference.
Oh dear. I am suddenly reminded of the time that the Rt. Hon. James Hacker MP was chided by his Permanent Secretary over the omission of the word "significant". I should have stated that my speed is not
significantly different. For "no different" a difference of any magnitude would make me a liar. For "not significantly different" however, any difference can be waved away as "not significant".
My ride to work is mostly downhill with the final third being flat. The fastest I have ridden that is 50min (which took a long time to recover from). On the other hand I have hundreds of trips logged between 1:00 and 1:10. The few trips I managed on the ebike before lockdown were all within an ace of 1:05. I haven't tried riding the ebike as hard as I can but it's riding position does not favour record attempts. I suspect that there is at most 10 minutes to be gained by riding hard over a regular ebike ride. It kind of defeats the purpose of having an ebike to be riding it like a TT.
My regular ride home time is more variable on my regular bike. I have managed it under the hour by going flat out, but the majority of my rides were from 1:10 to 1:25 depending on conditions and fatigue. My ebike times are consistently 1:10-1:15. If I tried hard I might be able to squeeze a bit of time out on the flat (good for a minute or two perhaps), but my regular efforts will keep me close to 25 up the hills, so there is not much time to be gained up the hills compared to a regular ebike ride. I'd be a bit surprised if I could get down to 1:05.
One of the great advantages of an ebike for commuting is that (with appropriate tyres) your commute time is really consistent. Pretty much regardless of conditions you have a good idea of how long it will take.
Cheers,
Cameron