E-Biking Across Tasmania

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E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby whynotwalk » Wed 17 Jan, 2018 11:37 am

East Coast Bliss.jpg
E-biking along the East Coast

Hi all - last year I finally bit the bullet and bought an e-bike. I ended up getting a Giant Dirt-E bike, an e-mountainbike roughly like this one https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/dirt-eplus-2 It was in part a recognition of my age (I'm in my sixties) and that my strongest riding days may be in the past. But WOW ... hasn't this bike revived my interest in riding! For those who think e-bikes are just a "cheat", or an expensive fad, I recommend trying one out. You still do plenty of work, it just makes it that bit easier. "Further, faster, funner" is my tag line for them.

My first big test of the bike came last November when I joined a group riding e-bikes from Hobart to Devonport via the East Coast. We rode about 380km over 5 days across some amazing country, much of it on back-roads. I've now finished writing up the trip up on my blog, starting here: http://www.naturescribe.com/2017/11/we-travel-in-essence-to-become-young.html (To read more, click on "newer post" at the bottom of the Day 1 post.)

cheers

Peter
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Re: E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby GPSGuided » Wed 17 Jan, 2018 2:26 pm

e-Bike is definitely no fad. The technology is developing very rapidly and making it a very practical personal transport option. The extra power assist is perfect for the extra touring load. Just need to have recharge options along the way. Good on you and thanks for sharing your experience!
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Re: E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby Nuts » Wed 17 Jan, 2018 2:37 pm

I'd heard something of this ride to the conference, well done.
I too was imagining recharge places here you could top up the charge, b&b? campground, generator? spare batteries?
(edit: 'newer posts', I see some are mentioned... and I recall listening to Neville's entertaining podcast: https://soundcloud.com/abcnorthtas/the- ... m=facebook)

Can appreciate the wow factor, they are a revelation for my creaky knees on the hills :)
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Re: E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby whynotwalk » Thu 18 Jan, 2018 11:39 am

GPSGuided wrote:e-Bike is definitely no fad. The technology is developing very rapidly and making it a very practical personal transport option. The extra power assist is perfect for the extra touring load. Just need to have recharge options along the way. Good on you and thanks for sharing your experience!


Thanks GPSG - you're quite right about advances in technology. By the time my battery has reached the end of its recharge life, there will be much lighter, longer lasting batteries to replace it. And yes, I've always resisted having a second car, preferring walking and buses to get to town. Now I have a third eco-friendly option.

cheers

Peter
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Re: E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby whynotwalk » Thu 18 Jan, 2018 11:50 am

Nuts wrote:I'd heard something of this ride to the conference, well done.
I too was imagining recharge places here you could top up the charge, b&b? campground, generator? spare batteries?
(edit: 'newer posts', I see some are mentioned... and I recall listening to Neville's entertaining podcast: https://soundcloud.com/abcnorthtas/the- ... m=facebook)

Can appreciate the wow factor, they are a revelation for my creaky knees on the hills :)


Ta Nuts - yes, the blog covers some of the recharge options. But in short, there were plenty of them. Roadhouses, cafes, caravan parks and even a few council facilities made recharging easy. And having heavy gear, and chargers, carried in support vehicles helped. We averaged nearly 80km per day, so most of us needed to recharge at least once. Technically, if I rode in eco mode, my bike could do 100km without recharge. But in practice eco mode doesn't get you up the hills, so 50-60km of hard riding was more realistic per full charge.

Thanks for linking to Neville's interview. He's a legend! He actually carried a spare battery, which he made himself. He also made his own e-bike, and at age 87 completed the ride without any difficulties. One little secret, however, was that his bike had no power limiting. So while we had to sometimes pedal hard, Neville just seemed to tootle along on his "not-strictly-legal" contraption. :wink:

cheers

Peter
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Re: E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby Lizzy » Thu 18 Jan, 2018 12:03 pm

I need one of these to keep up with my growing boys!!! Great effort- we’ll done
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Re: E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby whynotwalk » Thu 18 Jan, 2018 12:16 pm

Lizzy wrote:I need one of these to keep up with my growing boys!!! Great effort- we’ll done


Good plan Lizzy - I can now (almost) keep up with my son-in-law, who is a gun mountain biker.

cheers

Peter
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Re: E-Biking Across Tasmania

Postby Nuts » Sat 20 Jan, 2018 10:32 am

Thanks Peter, understood.
And i think Neville deserves his cheeky over-amping :)
Interesting stories.
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