adlai

It could be an interesting way to do touring. A lot of touring IMO has you pulling around cargo and sometimes trailers so an electric motor could help quite a bit here. Also there are times when like say I have a car repair and the auto shop is like 40 miles away from where I live and getting there on bike would be an adventure but also save some money.

charging of course is a problem but with enough charging breaks it should be doable.

Pop N Wood

Someone once asked who makes a good touring electric bike. I wanted to answer no one, no such thing exists.

Yes, lots of electric bikes that could go on a "tour", but really none with enough range to keep from having to plan every nightly stop around a recharge.

60 miles a day is a nice leisurely tour. 100+ is not uncommon. Even credit card touring often means 2-3 tent camping days between hotel stays. Going a week is not unheard of. Tow a trailer and the charging issue is further complicated.

The longer one tours from civilization the more gear one needs to carry. Remember most people don't carry their charger when they ride.

Seems like the logistic regulates ebike tours to supported tours. At least the way I think of bike touring. the charging issues limits one's ability to just go wherever.

Smaug1

The last time my wife's car needed work, (fixing hail damage) I dropped it off at the shop and took my Lectric XP Lite folder out of the trunk to ride home. It was a nice option.

As for the touring, there are guys that do it, but it is always a Catch-22. The heavier bikes carry more stuff, but also take more power to move. Then, they have heavier batteries, which makes them heavier yet.

I've found my Aventon Level.2 to be a good middle ground. With light electric use, it can go over 50 miles on a charge. When the charge DOES give out, it's not hard to pedal, as it has easy-rolling tires. Hydraulic brakes and front suspension are nice, too. If one were to plan a tour around a place to charge, one could extend it quite a bit. I have the Topeak trunk bag with the fold-down panniers. (each will hold 5 qt. oil jug) I have a seat bag and could add a handlebar bag, frame bag and top tube bag if I really wanted to extend it.

Try this on an 80 lb. fat tire bike and you better plan on not going faster than 10 mph if you have to pedal and hills will be off limits w/o battery.

Pop N Wood

Do you find the front suspension useful on your ebike?

I converted an old mountain bike and kept the front suspension. Went to hope a curb, the front suspension did its job but I bent the rear rim because rear of the heavy azz ebike didn't rotate like it used to. This is a mid drive bike with a Dyad rear rim. I'm thinking about ditching the front suspension since I can't really ride it as aggressively as a lighter mountain bike. Only thing that stops me is finding a fork for the 1" steerer tube. Old bike

I rebuilt the Dyad rim with a Velocity no BS rim. Figured that is about the best I can do.

2old

I purchased a Sunlite I" for my daughter's "e" cruiser, but it's mild steel (fine for someone who rides the streets of Vegas); only other viable choice is used.

Smaug1

Yes, but not for mountain bike-type duty. My city has REALLY bad pavement. 30+ year old concrete, patched with asphalt. Sometimes, there are 2" holes or ledges where the plates don't line up. Then, old asphalt, which is like riding on a washboard. (Paris Roubaix-style) It takes the edge off of these kinds of surfaces. Then I added the Suntour NCX suspension seat post under the seat, as a type of ghetto shock absorption for the rear in the style of 70s mopeds with the heavily-sprung seats.

I do hop curbs now and then, but I just lift the front end a bit and bring the rear slowly up. (< 3 mph) As you say, it's too heavy to lift with the pedals, bunny hop-style. I didn't realize how heavy hub motor wheels are until I tried to put my Level.2 on my strap-on bike rack without the battery in the front. (trying to save that 10 lbs.)

Good luck. This is the part of the challenge of building eBike from mBike frames: making sure the resulting eBike is up to the task for higher weight, (rims, spokes) power (chain stays or forks) and speed. (brakes) There's no way I know of to build a mountain eBike from an mBike and have it be strong enough for more than light duty. On the other hand, you learn a lot.

I never did it because it seemed to me to be a rabbithole full of "Oh, I see now..." moments.

Pop N Wood

Converting the MTB was surprisingly easy. I weight over 220# and drive it like I stole it. I haven't found a limit yet. An aluminum frame cannondale no less.

I did a conversion primarily out of boredom, wanted a project. That and the fact the factory bikes were expensive and underpowered for my liking.

One day I will convert a car alternator into a motor and put it on my wheelbarrow. Getting too old to push those things.

cat0020

Ebike needs & priority depending how many miles you plan for daily riding & total distance for the whole touring trip.

Someone on the LEctric XPedition FB page:

Cross Country E-Bike Trip Update:
Hello everyone. Day 7 here.
Current location: Missoula, MT
Miles ridden today: 80
Total miles: ~550mi
Notes: 7/5 we got a flat. Killed the day.

Saved by a man named outlaw Mike and Kiwi Kristen at the CDA Bike shop.
Only got 30mi that day.


Yesterday did so well, but Google has been AWFUL with their routes.
Brought us to a dead end after a rocky road we shouldn't have been on.




In my teen's, I've pedaled across the N American Continent on a Huffy 10-speed with a group of 11 riders.
10 weeks on the road, averaging 45 miles per day, longest single day was about 60 mi. We carried out tents, cookware, sleeping bags.. all before the time of cell phones.

Smaug1

Seems like you're talking yourself into an Expedition, cat. Me too!

I'd be on the fence between a dual battery Class 3 cargo bike and a dual battery Class 3 full suspension eMoped: Range & cargo capacity of the Expedition vs. comfort of the eMoped.

With the Expedition, one could get a locking tote, permanently attach it with nuts, bolts and fender washers and it would be like the trunk of a small hatchback!

I'm surprised anyone would undertake that kind of journey without the ability to fix a flat en route. What is all that crap they're carrying, if none of it can fix a flat? At least put Slime in the tubes...

cat0020

Nah, long distance, long hours in the saddle means recumbent to me.
XPedition maybe a great ebike for hauling stuff, but I wouldn't ride it for long hours in the saddle.

Pop N Wood

Is that a gas generator in the front rack of that bike?

adlai

I feel like recumbents are best for dedicated trails. I feel really unsafe in a recumbent on roads. It takes up more space on the road and is lower so it is easier for drivers to not see you.

The other thing is that it would make sense to just carry an extra battery or two while touring.

Smaug1

It’s a Jackery electric power station: https://www.jackery.com/pages/how-to-choose

They make solar panels to recharge them, too, but they’re thousands of bucks.

cat0020

My recumbent bike (not trike) takes up less road (narrower) than a road bike, easily filter through cars between the mirrors at a red light, sits at car driver's eye level.
Usually attract more attention from drivers than riding an upright bicycle.
How you operate on public roads is how well the drivers see you on the road, more so than the size of your bike or recumbent.

Pop N Wood

You are projecting a lot of trust onto other drivers.

I prefer my bent to my other bikes, but have to agree with adlai, I feel particularly vulnerable riding a bent in traffic. The top of your head is below the hood line on a typical US pick up truck. Drivers simply can't see you over the other vehicles. Blunt force trauma is greatly reduced when a rider can roll up over the hood of a vehicle in a collision. That is part of the reason why SUVs and pick ups are responsible for something like 43% of bicycle fatalities. But bents are so low even a minicooper might as well be an F150.

Bents are great for a number of reasons, but visibility, either for the rider or the driver, it not one of them.

Smaug1

Pop N Wood - That's probably why a lot of bent riders have a flag. (aerodynamics-be-damned)

Pop N Wood

Just fixed my flag mount yesterday. Always a good idea.

But there are a number of other issues with recumbents and riding in traffic. Just feel way more confident on an upright bike.

Smaug1

The thing that scares me, (I don't know if it's logical) is that if I WERE to get rear-ended by a cager, the first thing to be hit would be my head or neck. Not sure how much better I'd fare if I got hit on the butt instead, but there it is.

STORYTIME/RANT: It really is a shame, the decline of driving skills in this country lately. My 17 y.o. stepdaughter just mowed down two mailboxes Saturday morning while messing with her phone. This is despite being given dire warnings in Driver's Ed., and by us. She lost driving privileges twice already for talking on the phone while driving. She just will not listen. I told her it could have been a pedestrian or cyclist she mowed down, not mailboxes. The cop was a little too cool about it; didn't even cite her for distracted driving since she stopped and honestly admitted to what she'd done. She and her mom just moved in with me in Wisconsin last year; in Illinois, she would have lost her license until age 18, which I think would've been right.

I told her mom we should have the car fixed and sell it. (it's her old car) She can figure out how to buy herself a car after college when she is more mature. But no, her mom is afraid she won't be able to get home from work safely in the dark, so she's going to fix the car for her and just make her pay off the cost of it. I used Google Maps to map out a bike-friendly route to her work and took the family on the ride yesterday evening. It's 6.8 miles round trip, but she doesn't want her daughter riding home at night.

In Europe, she wouldn't even be able to drive until 18, except maybe a moped. The standard would be higher, too and if she had done this, she would lose her license for a good while.

Pop N Wood

That is exactly what I mean. I've read countless reports about the increase in pedestrian and bicyclist deaths since SUV's took over. Lot of contributors, but one I keyed on was the high hood lines knocking people down so they got run over. The latest report I read said a bigger factor is your entire body and head are getting smacked as once, sort of like belly flopping into concrete. Get taken out at the hips and rolling onto a hood is sort of like a crumple zone, the head is allowed to "slow down" more gradually. Take an F150 to the face and it is max G force.

Like they say it isn't the fall that kills you but the sudden stop at the end.

cat0020

40 years of cycling, 25 years of motorcycling, I've been commuting on my (folding) bicycle & e-bike in NYC traffic since 2013.
I've come close many times of getting hit in traffic, only once I got T-boned in the rain, low light visibility by and SUV that ran a stop sign;
killed my folding bike, but I walked away with minor bruises & sore.

How riders make their presence known to others on the road has more to do with how visible they are;
but sample principals apply both for cycling & motorcycling.

Wife & I have been riding recumbents since 2003, longer with upright bicycles.
In our experiences, recumbent attract more attention from drivers & pedestrians than regular upright bicycles.

Recumbents may have less rider visibility due to lower to the ground riding position,
but generally, it's easier to turn your head to look at surroundings without being hunched over the handlebars as most upright bicycles.
Most of my bicycle touring distance don't involve as much urban/congested city riding.

It's true, the current size of SUVs & mega-trucks do offer less visibility to drivers within the immediate proximity.
That doesn't mean that recumbents are any less safe or less suited for long distance touring than regular upright bicycles.
I don't pick which bike I ride because it is safer for giant SUVs ot truck drivers to see me on the road,
but I do pick the bike because it is more comfortable for me to ride over long distance & long hours of pedaling.

campfire

cat0020 , do you have a link to the XPedition page? I am a large fan of ours, especially after it got rear-ended @ 40MP0H. That bike held up much better than I expected.

Our plans to go camping with it were sidelined after the wreck, but we're slowly getting back on our feet. Now that the bike is out of insurance limbo, I have fixed it up and found it still rides well despite the collision.

The bike has its downsides, but frame sturdiness isn't one of them.

cat0020

Solar-powered towable electric bike camper includes bedroom and dinette







https://electrek.co/2023/07/28/solar...e-camper-hupi/

Calsun

I would start by asking what it is you want to accomplish. Might be easier to by a light motorcycle or moped for your trip. New mopeds sell for as little as $1500.

A lot of people cannot manage a full backpack load on the trails and there are companies that but everything on the backs of llamas so their clients only need to carry a daypack and water. I used to pack hunters in on pack horses as these fellows wanted every creature comfort imaginable on their trophy hunting trips.

yeamac 

I'll bet when asked "Why?!?" the answer came back, "Because we could."

KPREN

I have an electric titanium fat bike built for touring. The setup is 26"X4.8" tires, GX 11 speed drive train, 11-46 rear cassette, 2,540 watt hour battery and 52 volt 15 amp charger. On a break I charge at around 13-15 watt hours per minute. I have not blown up anyone's plug pulling as much a 900 watts.
Plugs are much easier to find than people think they are. I never sweat it as I have gotten good at finding them along my routes.
My tours are self supported off road camping.
I am in the process of acquiring another capable bike as I like company and want to do the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. If I don't have a second bike, I can guarantee I will be doing the trip alone.