General battery weight

[GolfChick]

Hey everyone, my best mate is thinking about buying an e-bike but we're travelling to Whistler soon so have the difficulty of flying with the bike. We're looking to either buy another battery over there or thinking about posting it to ourselves or our apartment owners. Does anybody know the average weight of the e-bike batteres (I know they can differ a little). Has anybody posted one out to themselves yet and how much it did it cost?

(yes he could take his regular powered bike but the idea is this would even the playing field between him only riding 3 times for the whole year and me riding 100 miles a week)

 

[Frank_Denmark]

Have You considered renting an eMTB at Your desitination - Might be at a lower cost ?

 

[Gary]

Hi golf chick

Sorry I missed riding with you and Saz the last time you were up. How you doing? you heading up this way again anytime soon?

Most external batteries are somewhere between 2.5-2.8 kg
eg. My Shimano external 504Wh battery is 2622g
Internal (removable) batteries vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and can be heavier than that (particularly depending on capacity).

 

[GolfChick]

We looked into trying to hire one from a local shop but its $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and that money will be down the drain. At least if he buys one there he can post it back to himself in the UK and have a spare battery or flog it before we leave. Whistler isn't a cheap place by any stretch and especially when it comes to bike hire for three weeks!

 

[Gary]

Have You considered renting an eMTB at Your desitination - Might be at a lower cost ?

lol

maybe if you only ride for a day and a half

 

[GolfChick]

Garrrrrrrrry!!! Shocking state of affairs standing me up pffffft. Yeah I'm up again 22nd and 23rd of June, bringing my new fella this time. We wont be doing Thornie though as it'll scare the sh!te out of him but will probs be riding Yair and the likes.

 

[Gary]

Ordering one to a shop in whistler and arranging collection from the shop and pot back to the UK at the end of the trip sounds the most sensible option. If the shop is Ebike savy they could possibly even advise on how best to send it/who to use etc.

 

[GolfChick]

Yeah I think you're probably right, it's getting them to actually respond now! I've hopefully got him booked a RM demo on one. Saz says you've got a CRC one?

 

[Gary]

Yeah. Sorry. Having a gazillion kids spread around various women in Scotland sometimes makes it difficult for me to get out at sociable times. hopefully manage to get out with you'se in June.
Yair is riding great just now. Was there about a week ago for a quick blast. The Eeb makes mincemeat out of Forbidden fruit climb/push up. the entire thing is rideable
There's loads of more mellow stuff in inners (both sides- The Golfie isn't all anywhere near as gnar as folk seem to think it is)
What bike/s/' is he looking at?

 

[GolfChick]

Yeah I think he'd be okay with some of the golfie trails, maybe not new wolf though. Good to scare a little bit anyways!

He's quite keen on the idea of a Rocky Mountain because he likes getting stuff that isn't too comercialised so although he's read good things about the specialized he'd naturally want to get something else. He's not majorly fussy or snobby when it comes to bikes either. Has to be able to buy on finance though so the new YT is out.

 

[Gary]

Yeah. I have a Vitus Esommet.
it's my second one. (had a 2018, now on a 2019)
Despite being a 170mm enduro Eeb it's actually one of the lighter bikes out there.
angles wise it's not far off my Capra (little bit longer)
I love the intuitivity of the shimano motor and the bike is great everywhere from shralping flat out Enduro/DH to super tight steep tech to dullAF local XC (but on FFWD
I've actually been commuting 10 miles each way on it for the last few weeks and it's way more fun than a roadbike in traffic

I dunno if CRC/wiggle do finance. I'm a cash upfront sort of guy

 

[GolfChick]

Yeah I think with CRC best he could do would be to use paypal credit but then there's interest to pay whereas most shops now do 0% over so many years. You'd think it would be easy getting a battery in Vancouver sorted because that's where RM are based!

 

[Gary]

I don't know much about rockymountains but IIRC the powerplay? is IIRC pretty heavy. (sorry if i'm wrong on this)
Weight makes a massive difference to maneouverability.
you need to be pretty upper body strong to make them work like a normal bike for you. I personally would not want an emtb over 22kg (Esommet is about 22kg stock, mine's just over 21kg) and I can whip it about, table etc just the same as my 14kg capra (well.. .not quite as easily but you get what I'm hinting at)
I've now ridden plenty heavier longer travel Emtbs and pretty much hate riding every one.
The £7k Mondraker Level I was lent to ride was so heavy I just gave it back.

One other consideration RM battery will be difficult to sell (if that's your plan) over here.
Shimano/Bosch/spesh batteries will be easy to sell

When is he thinking of buying?

 

[GolfChick]

We go to Whistler on July 8th so he needs to buy before then and get the battery sorted too. H'ed be happy enough to keep the other battery as a spare in his van as he takes himself off for weekends so could ride two days in a row and use the other battery if he wanted to.

 

[GolfChick]

Oh in fact according to CRC website paypal credit you can do 0% oer 24 months hmmmmm. What size do you ride Gary and how tall are you? He's right on the cusp being 5ft 10.

 

[ccrdave]

just a heads up about posting batteries it can be very problematic, worth checking it out before you buy one

 

[Gary]

My advice is always the same regarding E bike choice.
choose the bike (frame/Geometry/travel) that best suits your (honest) riding/terrain/trails.
Then go for a motor you like the characteristics of.
Componentry wise choose suspension components you are happy with
don't sweat the brakes. most Emtbs come with pwerful 4 pots GuideRE/Shimano are well up to the job
Groupset/drivetrain is really not all that important. Mid range SRAM/Shimano is perfectly adequate and the hop up to XX1/XTR isn't actually going to improve the ride any Emtb groupsets are just marketing bollocks and just fishing for the new money in all honesty.
most bikes own brand finishing kit is decent and most mid level bars/stem etc is absolutley fine.

Lots of folk want local support which generally means buying from an LBS/Spesh dealer
if you're happy working on your own bike and happy sending the motor away for warranty this isn't in reality all that much of an issue other than bike down time (but that's why we all have lots of bikes isn't it? )

 

[Gary]

Sizing is really personal
I'm 5'11"
But ride a SMALL

I'm old skool though. amd like a shorter bike than pretty much everyone my height because of my dirt jump / DH background.

The small isn't short though. it's about the same size as most mediums.
435mm reach (15mm longer than my Med Capra) and it also has longer stays (same length ans my Session DH bike)

I always say don't go *modern* long on Emtbs. as all that extra weight around the BB makes them way more difficult to pop/manual/hop.

I've been on a SMALL ESommet for about 16months now and done well over 2000miles and wouldn't want to go ANY longer
I know folk crave stability of longer wheelbases now but in all honesty the extra weight all low and central adds more stability than going long does.
The Esommet has a nice low BB (most Emtbs don't) so it gains stability there too. Folk moan about pedal strikes but TBH it'sthem not the bike. just stop pedalling like a loon and think about your pedal timing/placement and you'll stop smacking pedals same as any low(ish) bike.
To put into perspective the stability not being an issue riding a small I can first page loads of the most popular Enduro segments down the vally on Strava on my "short" bike.
I set mine to private but do occasionally compare times on the proper leaderboards

 

[GolfChick]

Hmmmm yeah you've sort of hit the nail on the head really, what I'd pick and be happy with is not what he would pick. Local support for me is irrelevent because I'm happy to do it all myself, however, buly doesn't do bike mechanics at all. He takes it to a shop for a service or when its broken.

What I ride is also not what he'd ride, even in Whistler I fully expect some features him to look at and said nah I'm not doing that but I like to always push myself. He would hate Thornie and it would be beyond him, bikes have to be fun for him and not scary or challenging really. I'm not even sure he would enjoy the golfie eithe really.

 

[GolfChick]

Aye you ride like an absolute nutter with bald tyres and no helmet though!

 

[Gary]

I have tread sometimes... I just don't worry about it whenI don't and do actually wear a helmet when I'm going to take calculated risks
There are one or two trails up the golfie even my inexperienced (quite feartie) friends enjoy.

one thing to bear in mind. longer travel/slacker angles on an Emtb does not always equal extra weight or less maneouverability likeit does on non ebikes. ie. XC vs AM vs trail Vs Enduro weights... an 170mm Emtb is generally no heavier than a 120mm Emtb
Length def makes them less nimble though.

Lots to think about, eh?

This is good resource for nerding with lots of knowlegable folks to help

 

[fasterisbest]

Ordering one to a shop in whistler and arranging collection from the shop and pot back to the UK at the end of the trip sounds the most sensible option. If the shop is Ebike savy they could possibly even advise on how best to send it/who to use etc.

Unfortunately, you cannot send batteries of that size outside of the country in which it was purchased. The reason is becuase it it hazardous materials and require a fack ton of paper work, such as MSDS paperwork to 'import' it. I went through this when trying to ship my 504 wH battery from South Korea to Canada. I tried FedEx, DHL, and Korea Post. They all said, "NO". I suppose your could put together all of the paperwork and 'import' your battery, but I suspect it will not be worth the effort for one battery. However, it is possible to send batteries by ground post within your own country. This very well may be different in other countries, however, it is allowed in Canada.

What really needs to happen is for someone to set up some sort of kiosk at major airports near popular biking areas where people with ebikes can rent batteries for their bikes when they travel.