Bike riding around Big Rock

On Labor Day, after our brunch was completed and everyone left and we got everything moved back to the RV, we decided to go out for a bike ride too. Carl had done a ride last week on some paths we had not tried on our conventional bikes -- we're more adventurous on the e-bikes to go further and on more challenging terrain.

The trails we were on were mostly just mowed grass... a bit tough for us on conventional bikes as the resistance of the trail is greater than on a harder surface (dirt, asphalt, concrete). 

Pretty paths and views

Carl coming across one of the bridges over the stream.

On our e-bikes, we have a number of different modes of riding. Most commonly, we use "pedal assist" or "PAS". Our bikes have 5 levels of pedal assist, each providing a bit more help when the bike senses that you need assistance. I generally start at PAS-1 (the lowest) and that is great for getting me going from a stop and when I'm going relatively slowly or on hard surfaces where I don't need much assistance. It is pretty near impossible to ride the bike with no pedal assist (PAS-0) - the bike is a good deal heavier than our conventional bikes (about 75 pounds) and the aggressive tread on the tires produces a bit of rolling resistance too. 

I was trying to stay in PAS-1, challenging my muscles a little, making sure that I was still getting exercise. I found that I was doing well with that level of assistance, even going up hills and on the grassy terrain. Carl and I sometimes check with each other for what we've got our bikes set on -- we can set the PAS level (1-5) and the gears (1-7). When we're starting out, we are usually at 1-2 (PAS-1 and gear 2). We have both been using PAS-2 and PAS-3 quite a bit... but... I was trying to stay at PAS-1. When I told Carl, he said that he wasn't getting much help with PAS-1, so he was at 2-2 (PAS-2 and gear 2). We were riding relatively slowly - 5-8MPH.

About halfway through our ride, we swapped bikes - Carl has a new seat, and I wanted to try it out to see if I want to get one like it. I was trying to use PAS-1 on his bike but found that it was not helping much at all -- it helped me get started, but then, nothing. I set the display to show "Current" usage -- to see how much current the electric motor was using, and, just as it felt to me, Current was 0 - no electric motor assist after it got me started.

So, we stopped and compared settings on our bikes. There was one setting that Carl had changed on his bike... there is a governor set by default that will prevent any power assist from helping you if you riding above 20MPH. This actually is a setting that makes our bikes qualify as "class-2" e-bikes (some trails are limited to bikes that are class-1 or class-2). Configuration to remove this governor makes our bikes "class-3" -- meaning that they can have power assist up to 28MPH. We don't have plans to go 28MPH (really not 20MPH either!), but he had just been playing around with the settings.

Once we changed so both of them were configured as traditional "class-2" e-bikes, both had the same behavior on PAS-1 -- it helped starting off, and helped with other times if we were going uphill or "working hard" (torque-sensing assist).

Carl had wanted to see if he could get the bike up to 28MPH, so we went to an asphalt road that was not at all busy and he gave it a try (after re-configuring the setting to make the bike a Class-3).

There he goes!!!

I took a time-lapse movie -- look fast:

He found that he could get up to 26-27MPH; he just wanted to know that he could! He then reconfigured the setting to make it a class-2 e-bike again.

I should mention one more mode of riding -- our e-bikes also have throttles -- this is what makes them class-2 e-bikes; class-1 e-bikes have pedal assist, but no throttle. 

We don't usually use the throttle, but we have used it when needing to start from a stop so we get going more quickly (like to cross a street), or to catch up if the other person has gotten further ahead, or... if we're tired, to get home or to the end of the trail without having to pedal! 

The presence of the throttle also allows us to put the bike into "walk-mode", which will power the bike at a walking speed so we don't have to push it when walking it from one place to another (again, 75 pound bike -- it is nice to have help!). It also allows us to use "cruise control" - we can use the throttle to get the bike to a certain speed, and then hold a control button down and it will hold that speed until we hit another button or the brake on the bike -- very nice when your bottom is tired and your legs are tired and you want to be able to stand up on the pedals to relieve your bottom and not have to pedal!

We're still learning about our e-bikes, and still very satisfied with our purchase.