Electric Assist Bicycle

[Catchlight]

JoanP, we're using a 1Up SuperDuty rack on our 2014 Escape 21C and it carries our two 60+ pound e-bikes securely.

To lighten the weight on the bumper I carry the spare wheel in the box of our truck and leave the steel post that holds the spare at home. A friend owns an Escape 5.0 and also uses a 1Up SuperDuty with two slightly lighter e-bikes than ours without problems, sometimes on rougher roads than we travel.

I also had two neighbours who are retired welders look closely at the Escape's hitch receiver and frame and they both said that the 150-pound limit is very conservative. Our bikes and the rack weigh 170 pounds.

If you get a 1UP, having the factory install a "Wheel Stop" on the wheel tray for each bike will eliminate the need to have any contact between the rack and your bikes' fenders.

You will need to loosen two nuts and rotate the handlebars of the bike closest to the trailer 90 degrees to avoid contact with the rear window while in motion, but that would probably be necessary with any rack. Be sure to retighten the nuts before driving off!

The 1Up isn't cheap, but it is well-designed with all-aluminum construction and will give you a lot of peace of mind and eventually a good resale value.
https://www.1up-usa
https://www.1up-usa.com/product/wheel-stop/

[kavm]

Interesting thread. My wife and I have road bikes and ride often. Ours are human powered kind. But, we have not taken bikes for camping trips for two reasons:

• What we have are road bikes. Rightly or wrongly, I don’t think they would do well in the terrain one encounters in the campgrounds. I wonder if those who carry bikes have road bikes or mountain bikes?
• The issue of bike rack. I gathered that 1-up are the best. Do people use heavy duty or super duty? I see that the rack itself is about 50 lbs, regardless of super/heavy duty. Our bikes are light but I do wonder about the weight limit of 150 lbs.

[Jwinfrey]

We went with the 1upUSA Superduty. We carry two Trek Powerfly EBikes. It’s recommended to take the battery out when traveling. With the rack at 47 lbs and each bike at about 47ish lbs, we are right at the limit. I cut the handlebars down for comfort but they are still wide enough that a good bump would probably send the inside bike trough the back window. I didn’t want to mess with turning the handlebars so I came up with a friction-fit foam bumper that fits on the front fork down tube and stops any movement once it hits the spare tire. No problems over 2,000 miles and takes a just few seconds to put on or take off.

[Fender]

Check out 1up. Not cheap but I doubt you'll find a more sturdy, rv rated rack.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by kavm

...
...What we have are road bikes. Rightly or wrongly, I don’t think they would do well in the terrain one encounters in the campgrounds. I wonder if those who carry bikes have road bikes or mountain bikes?
...

My bike is a 'hybrid' (road sized wheels, flat bars, basically what I call a city/urban bike), which when I electrified, I upgraded from 700x32 tires to 700x40 (about as fat as fit in the frame). These are fine on gravel trails and such, they are only a problem in sand over about 1" deep.

the kit I used to electrify mine is torque sensing, so it feels very natural when you ride, the harder you pedal, the more assist you get, and its mid drive, so the power assist goes through the gearing unlike a hub motor.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

My bike is a 'hybrid' (road sized wheels, flat bars, basically what I call a city/urban bike), which when I electrified, I upgraded from 700x32 tires to 700x40 (about as fat as fit in the frame). These are fine on gravel trails and such, they are only a problem in sand over about 1" deep.

the kit I used to electrify mine is torque sensing, so it feels very natural when you ride, the harder you pedal, the more assist you get, and its mid drive, so the power assist goes through the gearing unlike a hub motor.

Thank you very much, John! That's a good idea. We currently have 700C X 28 Mm tires. I am not sure if our bikes would accommodate any fatter tires but it is something I will look into. We don't need the electric assist as yet. My concern has been about the terrain.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Those Vittoria Adventure Tech tires are pretty sweet, they come in 700 x32, x35, and x38, they are reasonably light and have excellent puncture protection. reflective sidewalls in case you are out after dark.

usually the tightest fit is where the tire goes through your chain stays, but sometimes the rear brake bridge is the limit, and sometimes it is the chain line in lowest gears when the chain is closed to the tire..

[kavm]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

Those Vittoria Adventure Tech tires are pretty sweet, they come in 700 x32, x35, and x38, they are reasonably light and have excellent puncture protection. reflective sidewalls in case you are out after dark.

usually the tightest fit is where the tire goes through your chain stays, but sometimes the rear brake bridge is the limit, and sometimes it is the chain line in lowest gears when the chain is closed to the tire..

Thank you! I will look into that. Our main riding still is right where we live - and that's road biking. We run Continental Gator Hardshell and are on the fatter side of where most riders are.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by kavm

Thank you! I will look into that. Our main riding still is right where we live - and that's road biking. We run Continental Gator Hardshell and are on the fatter side of where most riders are.

hah, those Gators were the hardest tires to mount I *ever* put on a bike. I switched over to Vittoria and couldn't be happier, for the road race set, they make some super flexible light very high thread per inch tires, I can't remember what they are called but they had green sidewalls, and were a favorite with the long distance street racers who had to deal with cobblestones and such. ahh, Corsa but I think they only come in x25 and x28. 320 threads per inch is like a magic carpet ride.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

hah, those Gators were the hardest tires to mount I *ever* put on a bike. I switched over to Vittoria and couldn't be happier, for the road race set, they make some super flexible light very high thread per inch tires, I can't remember what they are called but they had green sidewalls, and were a favorite with the long distance street racers who had to deal with cobblestones and such. ahh, Corsa but I think they only come in x25 and x28. 320 threads per inch is like a magic carpet ride.

Very nice observations! I will look into Vittoria. I know Gators are slow but we aren’t exactly racers. I like the fact that they are very resistant to punctures.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by kavm

Very nice observations! I will look into Vittoria. I know Gators are slow but we aren’t exactly racers. I like the fact that they are very resistant to punctures.

Vittoria also has a Randonneur series of touring tires, extremely puncture resistance and long wearing, designed for long distance touring riders. They had one called Randonneur Hyper that was both puncture resistant AND high thread count, but they've juggled the model names again so I'm not sure what its called now. The Adventure's I have on my electrified hybrid are also quite puncture proof.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by kavm

Thank you very much, John! That's a good idea. We currently have 700C X 28 Mm tires. I am not sure if our bikes would accommodate any fatter tires but it is something I will look into. We don't need the electric assist as yet. My concern has been about the terrain.

Very nice John ! We are selling our bikes though which I installed Subaru motors to. The problem , too heavy to carry . So we just ordered the new lite Lectric e bikes to take when we RV. Our Subaru bike setup would go 200 mi and about 30 mph but we wanted to take along which we couldn’t Hoping our new bikes will get us around and some exercise Pat

[John in Santa Cruz]

not cheap, but the Specialized Turbo Vado SL series are about as light as ebikes come. they are true torque sensing pedal assist, no throttle, and they have relatively little power compared with many, but its still enough to add double or triple your leg strength. they feel MUCH more like riding a real bike, but with less sweat and strain. drop the SL, and its a heavier bike with significantly more power and larger batts to offset that.

if you prefer fatter tires (cruiser sized), the Turbo Como SL is the same sort of thing, but with 2.5" wide tires instead of 38mm. and again, drop the SL for more power/battery/weight.

[parfsten]

I recently got a Jupiter Defiant and love it. It folds and fits easily in my Highlander or on the rear rack of my Escape. Costco has it now for $1250 + tax. My knee is very happy with it ☺️

[levi&live72]

My younger brother has All Terrain Scout and he loves it too much.

[emers382]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

My bike is a 'hybrid' (road sized wheels, flat bars, basically what I call a city/urban bike), which when I electrified, I upgraded from 700x32 tires to 700x40 (about as fat as fit in the frame). These are fine on gravel trails and such, they are only a problem in sand over about 1" deep.

the kit I used to electrify mine is torque sensing, so it feels very natural when you ride, the harder you pedal, the more assist you get, and its mid drive, so the power assist goes through the gearing unlike a hub motor.

I just bought a bike similar in style to John's but an original bike not conversion. It's a Hurley Carve which I had only a couple of days with this month before we left on vacation (without bike). I put on 18km and the battery indicator hasn't dropped from full as yet.

[Bobbie54]

Originally Posted by emers382

I just bought a bike similar in style to John's but an original bike not conversion. It's a Hurley Carve which I had only a couple of days with this month before we left on vacation (without bike). I put on 18km and the battery indicator hasn't dropped from full as yet.

How much does that bike weigh?

[emers382]

Originally Posted by Bobbie54

How much does that bike weigh?

About 55 lbs pretty heavy steel frame, single speed but don't need gears with the electric assist. It was a reasonable price us$577 free delivery to ND, bought on ebay. It's a large frame at 5'10 I have the seat at lowest position and can barely touch touch the ground.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by emers382

About 55 lbs pretty heavy steel frame, single speed but don't need gears with the electric assist. It was a reasonable price us$577 free delivery to ND, bought on ebay. It's a large frame at 5'10 I have the seat at lowest position and can barely touch touch the ground.

Hey Adrian
What’s the weight limit on that contraption? I used to be 5’10” but I’ve shrunk. Then the nurse marked me down as 5’2”. You can imagine what that did to my BMI. I’d have to get wooden blocks for the pedals.
Watch out for those RCMP speed traps.
IowA Dave

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by emers382

About 55 lbs pretty heavy steel frame, single speed but don't need gears with the electric assist.....

beg to differ, ebikes need gears to go up long steep hills unless they are somewhere way over 1000 W. You don't need as many gears, nor do you need ultra-low granny gears, but you still want at least 5-7 gears in the medium to high range for pedal assisted hill climbing. I'm running a 46T front chainring, and an 11-32T 8 speed rear on mine. climbing the mile long 8% grade I live up requires a middle gear like 46:24 and quite a bit of pedaling to help the motor along.