Low cadence, low motor noise, low battery consumption?

[Intermtb]

Hello riders,
new to emtb here, riding with Shimano E7000 motor. unfortunately the E7000 display does not have the chart display like E8000.

I notice on the same climb, same speed, different gear:

high gear, low cadence (like under 60 rpm), motor noise is very low, almost quiet. does it mean using less battery power? I used my leg power more.

switch to lower gear, same speed, higher cadence (above 80 rpm). motor noise is higher (still not bad), am I using more battery ?

trying to understand to find sweet cadence for longer range. I read somewhere cadence should be around 80-100 rpm for better battery range.
thanks riders.

 

[Gary]

If you want to eek out more range, lose weight or climb slower and use a lower assistance mode... It really is that simple.
Despite what you've read, lower climbing cadences do also increase range.. but only a little.

I often climb with my motor switched off... try it... If you're reasonably fit and not running super draggy tyres it's totally managable

 

[Intermtb]

If you want to eek out more range, lose weight or climb slower and use a lower assistance mode... It really is that simple.
Despite what you've read, lower climbing cadences do also increase range.. but only a little.

I often climb with my motor switched off... try it... If you're reasonably fit and not running super draggy tyres it's totally managable

yes got it, that's obvious. but what is the sweet cadence rpm wise? I try to use my leg power more. I lowered the eco mode to medium, maybe I'll try low eco next time.

 

[Gary]

but what is the sweet cadence rpm wise?

There isn't one.
it depends on:
YOU
The terrain
gradient
speed
What mode you're using
What assistance settings you use
your gearing

Cadence is a tiny part of the equation

go with the obvious

 

[Gary]

As you've noticed, assistance starts to drop off at low cadences but also it also does up around 130rpm too

 

[Intermtb]

Cadence is a tiny part of the equation

I see...doesn't effects range that much...got it..
Thanks Gary.
I mainly use eco anyway, and steady speed.

 

[Sapientiea]

The motor limits the toque at lower rpm. There are graphs available. So yes you will save energy. But climing in the lowest gear at recommended rpm (i.e 70-90), you get best of both worlds. Biking up without motor is of course saving 100%, but then you might want to look for an analogue bike.....

 

[#lazy]

I often climb with my motor switched off... try it... If you're reasonably fit and not running super draggy tyres it's totally managable

Doesn’t that defeat the object of having one , dragging a 24kg plus bike up a hill !

 

[Gary]

dragging a 24kg plus bike up a hill !

I don't have a 24kg+ bike.
I wouldn't ever have any bike that heavy.. it'd ride shit!
It's a good 6lb less than that.

Doesn’t that defeat the object of having one

What "object of having one" would that be then?
No one defined set of "rules" for using one.
I'm not massively unfit or weak and the bike has low enough gears to, so if I'm happy climbing with mine switched off I don't really see what it's got to do with anyone else!

 

[Gary]

Biking up without motor is of course saving 100%, but then you might want to look for an analogue bike.....

Not sure what these analogue bikes you speak of are... but I do have 10 other non-motorised bicycles to choose from.

 

[Intermtb]

sure we have the option to turn off the motor whenever we like.

Gary, the graph on you profile picture, do you use it when riding? what's the RPM like before the graph spike up vertically? I don't have that feature in my E7000 display, but I can listen to the motor noise as a reference.

I am assuming a slow steady acceleration will keep the graph on the low side (is it low cadence, low motor noise ? ), and quick acceleration, the graph will spike up.

 

[Gary]

Gary, the graph on you profile picture, do you use it when riding? what's the RPM like before the graph spike up vertically? I don't have that feature in my E7000 display, but I can listen to the motor noise as a reference.

I don't have the E8000 display anymore.
(My Avitar isn't my display but a nod to the "Back to the Future" films )
I don't have a Shimano display at all. I run the EW-100 and just use my Garmin or Tom Tom (depending on the ride) and don't look at STEPs metrics at all.

If by Graph you mean the assist power bar it spikes up differently depending on what mode you're in.
if by spike you mean max (bars) it can be maxed under high (human torque) or high(ish) cadence

I am assuming a slow steady acceleration will keep the graph on the low side (is it low cadence, low motor noise ? ), and quick acceleration, the graph will spike up.

low (steady) cadence and low torque combined gives the lowest motor assistance

 

[#lazy]

I don't have a 24kg+ bike.
I wouldn't ever have any bike that heavy.. it'd ride shit!
It's a good 6lb less than that.

What "object of having one" would that be then?
No one defined set of "rules" for using one.
I'm not massively unfit or weak and the bike has low enough gears to, so if I'm happy climbing with mine switched off I don't really see what it's got to do with anyone else!

calm down sunny Jim , was just saying “ most people wouldn’t buy an ebike and turn off the motor when going uphill “! I understand you can ride with the motor off to save battery just logically thinking you should do it when going downhill or on the flat !

 

[Gary]

calm down sunny Jim

I'm perfectly calm thanks

“ most people wouldn’t buy an ebike and turn off the motor when going uphill “

I don't care. Why do you?

I understand you can ride with the motor off to save battery just logically thinking you should do it when going downhill or on the flat

I still don't care.

"Logic" actually dictates you'll save most battery from switching the motor off while climbing. not on the flat and certainly not while descending.

I didn't actually say I was turning it off to save energy at all though. did I?

 

[sparrow]

I think electric motors are more efficient at "higher" cadences. So I'd suppose most eBike motors would be set up to run at normal cycling cadences. Can't say that's definitive, but seems running "low" chugging cadence would not be the way to maximize battery run time.

What that cadence range is I'd only be guessing a number. I'm on single track mostly, so my spin to win cadence tends to be 90-110rpm

 

[Sapientiea]

I think electric motors are more efficient at "higher" cadences. So I'd suppose most eBike motors would be set up to run at normal cycling cadences. Can't say that's definitive, but seems running "low" chugging cadence would not be the way to maximize battery run time.

What that cadence range is I'd only be guessing a number. I'm on single track mostly, so my spin to win cadence tends to be 90-110rpm

I get about 1200 - 1500m on a full charge. Mainly bike in Eco-mid or Eco-high if the trails are very demanding. Climing slower helps to save battery if that is neccessary. Smoothness of trail up is absolutely one of the larger contributors to battery usage. If the motor has to drag your ass over big rocks, I have the 'feeling'(=not measured) that it more often goes to max power/torque. And if the trail is very rough it has to do this many times, so keeping some speed seems to help there. But I generally havent had any range scares to be honest.

Side note:
What I do notice since my wife has the same bike, but is half my weight, that she benefits more from the available torque and battery capacity then me (obviously). Biggest gain is that we can now actually bike together. On our non-motorised mtb's my power output to weight ratio is much greater than my wife, which leaves her behind a lot or I have to wait. This is less fun. Now she is actually faster uphill in the same power mode than me. I actually have to work harder to keep up .

so,...I dont know, just wanted to share this euhhmm.........