StephanieLyn

Hey guys, my husband and I were thinking of going down the great divide next year. I have been in the process of trying to find a new bike. I was looking at the trek womens powerfly 5 which is an electric bike. does anyone have experience touring a trail like the great divide on an e-bike?

jefnvk

Before the e-bike hating starts, I'll pose one practical point: how are you going to charge it? The second the battery starts to die, you're lugging around another 25# of dead weight.

StephanieLyn

we already own solar panels for when we go hike that we would be able to plug the batteries into. I am already aware that I will get a few haters on this topic. But I would like to get input from both sides.

Leebo

Wow, first post, nice. Going to plug into a tree? Good luck with that. Build some cardio and endurance, repeat as needed. Fuel with 3 squares a day. Probably going to get some " divided " opinions. Really, you're way out in the middle of nowhere. Charging how? E bike touring might be better in an urban environment. Uggg. Try for a less hard ride. How much weight are you going to carry? And how? How much does the " bike" weigh? Do they allow motorized vehicles on all sections of the trail? Cheers.

veganbikes

Doing that distance with an e-bike wouldn't really be easy without some way to charge. Even the Riese and Muller SuperCharger (which is not currently available in the US) or even the Charger with two batteries while a very capable touring machine wouldn't be able to last the entire trip and wouldn't be as fun to ride with two batteries. Also with the higher torque motors you will have a lot less speed so going past 20mph isn't as fun. I know you can spec an R+M with the 28mph Bosch motor but they are a more "custom" builder whereas with Trek you are stuck with whatever comes on it though luckily they use Bosch.

I would suggest spending the money to build up a nice mountain touring bike that isn't electric for distances like that. Put it towards nice components and really solid frame. E-bikes are cool and all but for distances like that away from charging they aren't as practical.

Edit: Solar panels aren't going to cut it for charging an e-bike.

jefnvk

Aren't ebike batteries something like 48-52V? That is some decent amount of solar panels to carry, on top of having to charge in the day when most folks are actually riding.

boomhauer

solar panels???
NO way....

At some point you will be on the wrong side of the mountain range to get any sun. You will be dragging a dead battery.
At some point you will need to go uphill for 2-3 hours. Not enough watts.

mstateglfr 

I would for sure figure out how long it will take to charge the battery based on power banks being filled from solar power each day.
If the math doesnt work out, then that alone stops the possibility.
If the math does work our, then there is reason to continue looking into the possibility.

indyfabz

Subscribed.


Any portions of the route off limits to powered vehicles?

tyrion

I HATE E-BIKES!

Just kidding. Maybe there is a segment of the divide trail that has a sequence of towns/facilities spaced within the range of an e-bike. It would be interesting if you figured this out and documented it. Or maybe you could have a support van to supply fresh batteries at key junctures.

But solar power alone seems impossible.

dashely

Hi I know this may not be very relevant but my father Robert bicycled from Kansas to Utah using an electric trike with solar as the only charging. The solar panel on this bicycle is approximately 2 1/2' x 7'. I believe that he commented that he put together 2, 24 Watt panels they're very lightweight and they were a sunroof above the trike. In this configuration he averaged between 13 and 15 mph the entire way and was pulling a heavy trailer of about 100 pounds while doing this.


So it is possible to take an electric bicycle and not charge it outside of solar power but the size of the panels are probably too large to be practical to be really doing this on a standard bicycle. If you're looking at a trite it becomes very very logical and doable because you can have the solar panels up above your head as a roof.

alan s 

The laws of physics will prevent you from getting too far.

PedalingWalrus

You can only charge during great exposure to the sun and since it's the sun that would mean during the day. An E-Bike battery takes at least 2 hours to charge, most take 4 hours... so when would you be riding the bike if you were stuck charging it during the day?

Then there are rainy days when you can't charge, and days when the terrain is so rough to drain your battery much faster than the optimistic ratings the manufacturers put on their e-bikes. Their ratings are basically riding around a flat track until the battery runs out. Once You add in hills and then rough riding hills your battery will drain much faster.

Basically, I guess, it could be possible but it won't go without some suffering... and once you accept some suffering ... then you might get a piece of mind by just riding a regular bike.

BikeLite

The charging will be the limiting point on whether this will work. Some stores may also let you plug in.

saddlesores

wowza very first post almost designed specifically
to cause inflammation.

else why not post this in the e-bikes sub-forum?

https://www.bikeforums.net/electric-bikes/

Aushiker

Google would be a good starting point for various fora and experiences from people who haved toured on e-bikes or at least explored the concept.

msbiker

A lot of negativity on this post.

To the OP, I have ridden the GD from Banff to Jackson, WY on a regular mountain bike. My wife has a Haibike and I am familiar with range issues on ebikes. I think riding the GD on a superfly is certainly doable, but I believe you would probably need to carry a backup battery. Carrying two 500 wh batteries should allow you to have a total assisted range of about 100 to 120 miles, depending on the range factors discussed below. There is alot of downhill, as well as uphill, on the GD. You will be able to turn off the assistance when its not needed, which will help extend your range.

The range issue will depend greatly on the total weight of you, your gear and the bike, the level of assistance you would be using, the road conditions (which can be unpredictable) and the amount of climbing you would be doing between opportunities to charge your battery.

As part of your trip preparation, you should do a few 2-3 day loaded tours with 3,000 to 4,000 ft of daily elevation so you will know what your range will be in similar circumstances with the level of assistance you anticipate using on the GD. You can then plan your daily rides on the GD accordingly. In my experience, 40 to 50 miles a day on the Divide is generally what most loaded riders shoot for and what McCoy suggests in his book.

I doubt that using a solar charger would be sufficient to keep the batteries charged. But you will find numerous opportunities to charge your batteries in the many small towns you will go through. You could also get a quick charge at gas stations, lunch spots, etc. Charging a battery for an hour will help significantly, but it won't be a full charge. Some campgrounds have electricity and some don't. So it would be important to factor in charging speed/capacity and anticipated electricity availability into your planning, just like you need to factor in food and water resupply locations.

You may have a couple of days in some of the more remote sections where you might run out of electricity, but, IMO, that would be the rare exception, for at least the north half of the route. The south half it might be different, but I doubt it. You should carefully plan the NM section since I believe it may have some of the longer remote sections. I also think you will need to camp less and motel more than you might otherwise plan to in order to keep your batteries charged. Pre-trip preparation and planning your days carefully will be the keys to a successful tour.

While challenging on several levels, the GD is a great trip. Ignore the naysayers and do the ride. You will have a blast.

djb

If the possibility of having to ride with a dead battery, as someone who has climbed a lot on bikes weighing upwards of 85lbs, your bike most likely doesnt have a really low, low gear. My tough touring bike has a mountain bike crankset, with a 22t small front gear, often referred to as a granny gear. My largest rear cog is 34t, so with my 26in wheels, this gives a very low first gear of 16.7 gear inches, which I have used many many times touring in mountainous areas.

bottom line, be prepared for having to ride with no electric assist, and at least try it out on as steep hills as you can find, with your panniers on your bike, so you have an idea of what you are dealing with.

what is the gearing on your bike, or if you dont know, what is the name and model of your bike?

a friend of mine did the divide last year, and there are sections where you have to push your bike up stuff, so be aware of that also and be realistic about what you can do.

comes down to the old " hope for the best, prepare for the worst" adage.

jon c. 

How soon are you planning to take the trip? If you can wait 5 or 10 years, improvements in battery technology would make it much more practical. Right now it might be possible with careful planning, but as others have noted the current limits of battery capacity would make it tough. Your entire trip would revolve around the battery and I'd think that would sap some of the fun out of it. OTOH, some folks might relish the difficulty and find the challenging nature of the journey even more fun.

unterhausen

when I first saw this, I thought it was a misprint. Then I realized it wasn't. Wow, that's a lot of solar panel, but probably about the minimum needed. That's a pretty cool trip, even though it isn't something I would do.

To the OP, I think you want a mountain bike for the great divide. Or maybe what is being called "all-road," but I don't think anyone is making an all-road ebike. I think the major brands are coming out with mountain ebikes, but they are going to be oriented to downhill, so probably not what you want. There are plenty of Chinese mountain ebikes, so some research is going to be needed. I really doubt it's a practical trip the whole way because of charging. Either that, or it will be far harder than just using a non-ebike.

indyfabz

And there are forested areas where you won't be in direct sunlight.

Trek's response to a battery life question re: the model the OP mentions:

"The 500Wh battery on the Powerfly 5 has an approximate range of 100 miles in Eco mode, and 37 miles in Turbo mode. Actual range will depend on various factors such as terrain type, incline grade, and individual riding style."

BigAura

Stick to the paved roads that allow motorcycles and you'll be OK.

You don't want to get fined:

linus

I don't know how much solar panels can help, but as long as you can get to the next outlet, it doesn't matter.

Give it a go and let us know. Either way you'll have fun.

alan s 

BA, that’s a great letter from the USFS. Nice to see they recognize the obvious, that an “e-bike” is a motor vehicle.

linus

They should differentiate E-bike and E-assisted bicycles. Basically Throttle or no Throttle?