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How long does an e-bike battery last? Riding 300km on an e-road bike
This article includes paid promotion on behalf of Komoot
Dave set off for a 300km ride from the West Country to the east of England. He was armed with a Cannondale SuperSix Evo Neo 3 e-bike, but would the battery last the 300km ride?
Dave is no stranger to long rides. But when we got the Cannondale Supersix Evo Neo 3 in for testing, we started to wonder just how far you could ride an e-bike before you needed to recharge? Naturally, there was only one person for the job, so we sent Dave off on a very long ride to find out.
The Bike
Cannondale's SuperSix Evo Neo 3 e-road bike is based on the SuperSix road racer that you'll find the EF Nippo pros using in the biggest races. It's no slouch, and can be ridden just like a normal road race bike.
The carbon frame hides a down-tube battery with an ebikemotion rear hub motor system. With 250w of power and 40Nm of grunt, it isn't as powerful as a mid-motor system, but it is ideally suited to riders that want a bit of help from time to time.
Dave opted for the additional bottle cage battery pack, as the downtube battery would only take him so far, and he then loaded up with frame and bar bags.
The Evo Neo 3 is the most affordable model in the range, and comes with a Shimano 105 R7020 groupset, giving you hydraulic disc brakes with mechanical shifting. Keeping with the road bike theme, the chainrings are 50/34T and the cassette is an 11-34T. When fully loaded with all of Dave's ride snacks and camera gear the Evo Neo 3 is a relatively heavy 16kg, so 160mm rotors front and rear are used to provide extra stopping power over the acoustic SuperSix Evo.
The route
Planning a route for such a long ride is always going to be a good idea so Dave used Komoot to plot a route that was fast and efficient, while making sure that was still as bike-friendly and enjoyable as possible. You can check out his route below and find our Komoot page here with loads of great rides from around the UK.
> How to get komoot routes on your Garmin
As you can see from the elevation profile, just getting out of Bath would be the hardest climb of the day and as a result, the most testing time for the Cannondale's battery.
When you're riding in one direction all day, you're slightly at the mercy of the weather and unfortunately for Dave, it was a headwind all the way.
So, would Dave make it? How bad would his tan lines be after the first proper sunny ride of the year? And was 300km on an e-bike still cheating, because all e-bikes are cheating according to some people? You'll have to watch the video to find out!
Latest Comments
- slc 56 min 4 sec ago
Credit to the author for attending the opposition meetings and trying to understand their concerns, but I agree with hp. There has been significant...
- RoubaixCube 1 hour 56 min ago
I like how youre using a Mojito X to advertise an Mojito 3
- Basemetal 2 hours 17 min ago
The PU dip on the palm and fingers is over the knitted nylon so not chilly in use, and the material is thick enough to provide some cushioning. It...
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“jumped-up, arrogant” cyclists motorists causing “carnage” and posing a risk to pedestrians everyone else. Fixed it ..........
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Given that - at least in UK- we have a mostly flip-flop political system and parties in power eventually run out of credit with the electorate -...
- OldRidgeback 3 hours 44 min ago
If he'd been able to get hold of one of the rarer five speeds, it would've had a better choice of ratios. You can see it's got proper brakes, a big...
- David9694 3 hours 55 min ago
But whAT aboUT thE disable d? (Foreground left - pretty faded)
- belugabob 4 hours 3 min ago
If that's their bag...
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12 comments
Great article!
Have a Giant Road-e+2 for a few years and have started "hypermiling" this year. A couple of years back I'd flatten it on a fast 25 mile commute.
Best so far is 140km, not a patch on Dave's epic ride but I blame it on the Scottish hills.
Have "cheated" off over 3 stone his year, the Giant is 30kg with rack, panniers and the junk I carry (because I can). Now starting to find the weight is holding me back at times.
I'm seriously considering going for one of the "half fat" ebikes based on Fazua or Mahle- Neo 3 is high on the list
Please, please can you do an article on the two of these? The Fazua seems to make more sense. In theory a lower torque motor stands to gain more from a centre drive as it still has the benefit of gearing. The Mahle does seem to work but some say it struggles too much on hills.
I've unsuccessfully tried to hire them to get an extended test as a quick ride isn't going to tell me much. With prices for most ebikes in the £2k- £12k range it's a lot of money to dump on a mistake! You almost need extended test drive at this sort of investment...
I think you picked the key thing out- ebikes aren't cheating, they give you options. I can turn it off and really work myself out with a 30kg lump, go too far and not worry about a lazy ride home, carry bags all the time so I can drop in shops if I want, or choose somewhere in the middle for commuting.
If we lived in Netherlands we wouldn't need the same "levelling", but here (especially up here!) I really think they will make a dent in increasing the types of riding that are a pleasure for many more people...
I would normally give ebike features a swerve as part of my denial of the passing of time, but I'm glad I watched the video. Interesting and well put together. Cheers, fellas.
I have this bike after shattering my hip and damaging my spine and I like it a lot, it handles really well although the e-boost cuts out at 15.4mph which is quite low as I average 16-18 but it is a good help for the big climbs. Would recommend it to anyone that needs the assistance.
Legal maximum though.
Isn't it a very inefficient use of the boost battery to recharge the main battery? If the main battery can't be bypassed wouldn't it be better to have the boost battery on from the start?
I suspect he wanted figures for full main battery on it's own and then the extender help rather then just both together.
As an owner of an Ultegra Di2 road bike, a decent MTB and an ebike conversion that I use to replace the car we got shot of last year, can I just say how much I like the conceit of calling unpowered bikes "acoustic"? That's genius!
Great article and a nice take on e-bikes. I'm in my 50s now and still able to ***mostly*** keep up with my younger cycling buddies, but it definitely gets harder every year. My intention is to try and avoid getting an e-bike until I'm 60, by which time I'll probably be needing it and the technology should be fully sorted by then!
I'm in my 50s too and, though still capable of taking my turn on the front when required, I have a fairly rough degenerative autoimmune nonsense that will only get worse; I am so thrilled by the advent of decent road ebikes. I don't need one yet (though I use my converted Rockhopper for errands/bad days and love it to bits), but it's such a relief to know they're there and that as long as I can keep my balance I won't have to give up my passion.
Best of luck with your autoimmune issue, I really hope that you manage to keep peddling for many years to come!
pedalling..
I'm 68 and have osteoarthritis and both hips having been replaced. Last year I rode LEJOG albeit steady. I may be slower than I was but still using a conventional bike. I was thinking I may need to switch to an e bike in my 70s. These new ebikes look good.