Electric Bikes - Supported Tours on a Bionx bike?

I am not a Bionx owner so am putting this question out to those that are familiar with the product. I am wondering how they might do on a supported tour? One of those tours where you pay way too much and they have support with a lag wagoon and mechanic. Usually doing anywhere from 25 to 80 miles a day. I am thinking with an extra battery and the appropriate level of assist the range may work. Any suggestions or comments?

Thanks

Most of those tours are for charity of some sort, are they not? People pledge money for you to endeavor to do something difficult, in this case ride a bike a great distance? By using electrical assistance, you're essentially...cheating. :S

Exit, you should ask Justin if ebiking across Canada was a NO EFFORT, cheat. I've done cross state rides on a Road bike and know it would take more of a different kind of effort to do it on an ebike.

No Exit I was not in reference to a charity ride. I was talking about a tour usually for several days. You pay a private company who has organized the ride and supports it. I apologize if I was not clear. I realize on these forums I have to address all types of personalities and levels of intelligence. It is not my intention to cheat anybody. Thanks for the input.

15rms,

I don't have a Bionx but I do have an e-bike. Depending on the type of terrain you'd be riding, one extra battery might be enough. At least, should you have some kind of system failure you could still ride the bike as a pedal-only bike. On a paid tour, you'd most likely be staying at motels overnight so you'd be able to recharge your batteries--you'd probably want 2 chargers so you can charge simultaneously. I think most non e-bike owners don't realize that many of us e-bike owners pedal most of the time, at least I do. I use my electric motor to assist me on the hills here in the mountainous NW Rockies. I think it would be fun taking a supported, paid tour on an e-bike. Just be prepared for possible snide comments by other envious tour participants.

Greetings from Salt Lake City:

I am a Bionx owner, and I would say that the chief problem with using that unit would be the distance to be covered each day. Using assist level "1" - which essentially just compensates for the additional weight of the battery and motor - the maximum range I have heard reported is around 60 miles.

For an 85 mile leg, that would mean you would do the last 25 miles under your own power: pulling all the dead weight of the Bionx parts.

Another battery would be a possible solution, but you would have to be ready to spend another $1,000.

The second problem involves the concept of Effort. The Bionx system does not reduce Effort ... it increases Speed. Look up any of the posts from the Bionx Tourer (myself) for more discussion of this controversy.

Last Sunday I just completed the Cadilllac Challenge Century (http://web.mac.com/zorbathegeek/Cadillac/Home.html) using a BionX equipped Xtracycle with a total weight of 81 pounds. The total distance for the day was 116 miles over rolling terrain with 7,000' total climbing in fairly inclement weather. The BionX system performed remarkably well, where by using the regenerative mode on all the downhill sections I was able to travel 96.6 miles before the first battery finally quit. The strategy that worked best was to use level 1-3 assistance to climb hills at around 16 MPH, and then switching over to a regen level where I'd have to gently pedal the bike down the other side of the hill. In doing this, I was able to ride 112 miles averaging 16.3 MPH (an al time best for me) on 1.5 batteries worth of charge (the second battery got fairly drained on the climb up Cadillac Mountain). The ride was by no means easy; it was nice having the assist to climb the hills, but it was tiring to have to constantly pedal down-hill. Last year I rode a normal bike through the event averaging only 15 MPH, so the motor helps, but you're definitely going to get quite the work-out. You should be able to cover the distances you're talking about on one battery if you're careful, but you can always carry a back-up...but remember that an extra battery is heavy, and you'll also be hauling more dead weight. You can also check out the following link for a trip report of the ride and some pictures of my set-up: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033310&id=1561942119&l=327e9ce171

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs235.snc1/8221_1213574870476_1561942119_30565680_1880562_n.jpg

Llamero,

Nice bike. Congratulations on the century, especially in such miserable weather.