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Your opinions on ebike transition to road bike

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Your opinions on ebike transition to road bike

Old 11-29-21, 09:44 PM
  #26  
seypat
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About that getting used to clipless pedals. Get yourself a set of pedals with clipless SPD on one side and flat on the other. Ride around with one foot clipped in. Practice clipping in/out. Switch feet. Repeat and repeat. Go for real rides doing this until you are comfortable with clipless.
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Old 11-30-21, 12:09 AM
  #27  
SoSmellyAir
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Originally Posted by Defy Dene
Locally, they want 160-180 for a pro bike fitting. I’ve YouTube the subject to death and I don’t think it is real rocket science to do yourself. Seat height, seat fore/aft, stem length and angle plus spacers, handlebar rotation, etc are the main things. Then play with feet positioning in the clips. I’m a cheapo and would like to try playing with the Defy for a few hundred miles on my own.
CAN $160 is not too bad for a proper bike fit, which takes a couple of hours, but I agree that it is not absolutely necessary. It really depends on how thoroughly you were measured for, and test rode, your road bike so that you are at least starting off with the frame size closest to what your body needs. (Before I ordered my first road bike, the bike technician at REI measured me for around 20 minutes, and setup the model I wanted in both sizes 54 and 56, and made adjustments to the saddle position based on my comments after each of multiple test rides of both bikes, so it felt like half a bike fit.) If that is the case, you can patiently make incremental adjustments to fine tune your own fit yourself.

As you gain fitness and familiarity with your new bike, your position will change, so you have to further adjust your fit.
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Old 01-17-22, 05:43 PM
  #28  
Defy Dene
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Originally Posted by 79pmooney
I'm not so sure this is the best approach. I'm guessing the work the shop that sold you the Roam did to fit it to you was less that they would spend to get a regular bike to fit you simply because, with that big source of power, your output (and your comfort putting out that much) is less important.

I'd go after this new bike like it was a whole new adventure. A good fit from a pro would be very worthwhile. I applaud going clip-less, I've been a fan of foot retention (and used it on all my bikes) over 50 years. But - I second the poster above - start with flat pedals. Otherwise too much information, too much learning all at once. And one little "oops" and you have just slammed your 61 year old body on the pavement. When you are used to the handlebars, the much lighter steering, shifting is beginning to come naturally - then is the time to master to master those pedals.

Congrats! I'll see you out on the road. (I forgot to see if you show your location before I hit QUOTE so that might be figuratively.)
I’m quite glad I took up the advice and try regular flat pedals first and get used to the bike.
It is a handful.
They say you never forget how to ride a bike but let me tell you haha…..
The ebike upright position is very forgiving on the road, with a drop bar bike I find if even I take my hand off the bar to signal a turn you have to bring your “A” game.
Very twitchy steering and an all round uncomfortable riding position that will get addressed by a fit after knee replacement.
Not ready yet to go clipless pedals so I’m hoping that will help with power output when I do.
Amazing how the Roam E made mince meat of hills or headwinds.
I take my hat off to each and every non Ebike rider.
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Old 01-17-22, 06:34 PM
  #29  
PeteHski
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A mate of mine has recently gone the other way i.e. road bike to e-road bike. He had a rough season last year for various reasons and lost a fair bit of fitness. He's really enjoying the e-bike and it's allowing him to put in more hours on the road without causing excessive fatigue. He's planning to return back to his normal road bike in spring, but I can see the attraction of winter base training on an e-bike. He's also a big guy and lives in a very hilly part of the country, so lower intensity base/recovery rides are difficult for him on a regular bike.
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Old 01-18-22, 09:03 AM
  #30  
shelbyfv
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Originally Posted by Defy Dene
Amazing how the Roam E made mince meat of hills or headwinds.
I take my hat off to each and every non Ebike rider.
Yep, this apparent to most regular cyclists but seems to escape many ebikers. Eyes roll when they start in on their speed or mileage. Happy we have a separate ebike section!
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Old 01-18-22, 02:13 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
Yep, this apparent to most regular cyclists but seems to escape many ebikers. Eyes roll when they start in on their speed or mileage. Happy we have a separate ebike section!
Yep, e-bikes remind us how feeble we humans are as "motors", even elite riders. I'm a sub 4 W/kg rider, but on an e-roadbike I'm instantly pushing a sustained 7 W/kg riding a pro-peloton off my wheel. LOL!
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Old 01-19-22, 10:37 AM
  #32  
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Amazing how the Roam E made mince meat of hills or headwinds.
Motors tend to do that.
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Old 02-17-22, 11:06 AM
  #33  
Chandne
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They are amazing for recovery rides and for taunting race teams in training.
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Old 02-17-22, 01:40 PM
  #34  
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There is a wide range of road e-bikes available ranging from commuter type with wider tires and racks and flat bars and including Class II ones that can run on battery power alone and at the opposite end are the Class III that allow for motor assist at speeds up to 28mph but only activate the motor when the pedals are in use. Range is a function of battery and motor but also how much the rider contributes to the bike movement with the pedals.

Bike weights range between 27 lbs and 70 lbs which makes a great deal of difference in the bike rack that can be used and whether the rack will require a hitch mount and adding a hitch to a vehicle that does not have a factory installed one. My Trek weighs in at 27 lbs and the lightest Trek weighs 37 lbs. The Trek has more power assist and potentially more range. The Specialized Turbo Creo looks and rides much like a non e-bike and is light enough that I put our two bike inside our SUV (with both wheels left on) without need for a dedicated bike rack for our local area rides.

The Class III bikes allow for motor assist up to 28 mph and I like to go faster than 20 mph on the flats and to gain speed in the hills and power over them as much as possible. The Class I bikes will have the motor cut out at 18 mph and riders comment about it feeling like they brakes were applied. Not a fun experience in my opinion. Yamaha is producing a Class III bike with an excellent drivetrain and selling for $3500 but they have been very difficult to find in the U.S. and so we went with the Turbo Creo bikes instead.

We started with Class 4 e-bikes that weighed 70 lbs and for which we needed an expensive heavy duty bike rack and a motorcycle ramp for loading. Fine for trail riding but not for general use on the roads and open highway where we do most of our riding.

A separate concern is theft and a $7,000 road e-bike is far more likely to be stolen than a $2,000 regular road bike. Also our standard bikes are covered by our auto and homeowners insurance policies but the $7K e-bikes would cost us $900 per year for a special bike insurance policy. That is why ours are not insured and why I prefer to put them inside the SUV and no on an external bike rack where they can be stolen in seconds.

Last edited by Calsun; 02-17-22 at 01:44 PM.
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