Riding a regular bike is often a lot of fun. Sometimes, however, long or more challenging climbs can make this fun difficult for us. These obstacles can be overcome with more intensive training. But there is also an easier way, namely by converting your regular bike into an electric bike.
Tested and wrote: Niky Golavšek
Bike: Romet eMistral Cross
Grounding: Asfalt, makadam
Weather: Soncno, vetrovno
Motor: Sredinski Econo TSDZ2
Battery: Econo Tube M 36V 630Wh
Cycling computer: Garmin Edge 530
Description of the ride and route
It was on this morning's outing that I first encountered a bicycle converted to electric drive. From the center of Slovenska Bistrica, I set off in the direction of Pohorje. With considerable anticipation, I wanted to learn all the tricks this mid-engine Econo had up its sleeve, so I quickly switched to Turbo mode. Quickly and with little effort I reached 25 km/h and the engine shut off. I realized that the Turbo level was too much for this smaller, 3 degree incline, so I reduced it to Speed mode. I went up the first 15 degree hill in Speed mode and my driving speed dropped below 10 km/h, so I switched back to Turbo mode and continued up the hill at 12 km/h. Despite the considerable load, the engine ran surprisingly quietly. The next hill had a 20 degree incline, so I tackled it similarly to the previous one, in first gear and Turbo mode. The electric motor was up to the challenge, but to keep the speed above 10 km/h, I also had to use a lot of my power. The route continued towards Planina pod Šumikom with gradients from 5 to 15 degrees. I reached the top in about 40 minutes and I used 25% battery. Without any experimentation, I cycled the route in Turbo mode.
The further path began to partially descend into the valley towards Oplotnica. Depending on the minor climbs and significant descents, I switched between Tour and Speed mode. After arriving in the valley, I went along the busy road through Tepanje, Žiče and Loče towards Poljčane. The weather was quite cloudy and windy and the headwind made it difficult for me to ride, so I rode most of the time in Speed and Turbo mode. The weather took a turn for the worse and the wind picked up so I switched to Turbo mode and sped home hoping to escape the rain.
I finished the test ride in just over three hours after cycling just under 60 km and slightly more than 1000 m of ascent. At the end of the trip, the battery indicator showed 50% power consumption.
Motor
In the electric bike upgrade with the Econo mid motor, the center of gravity of the bike is concentrated on the ground, which is optimal from the point of view of the bike's stability. The auxiliary electric motor has two properties namely; the motor only works while cranking the cranks and shuts off when we stop cranking the cranks. It also turns off when we reach a driving speed of 25 km/h. Inside the motor there is a speed sensor that detects the rotation of the crank and activates the engine, so that the engine only serves as an additional aid during cycling and riding is not possible without driving the cranks. There are 4 levels of assistance available to us, Eco, Tour, Speed and Turbo, which can be selected on the display attached to the bike's handlebars or on the controller located right next to the handlebars.
Mounting the mid motor is quite simple. We insert the axis of the motor's drive bearing into the opening for the drive bearing on the bicycle frame, install the cranks, battery, display and speed sensor, tighten everything properly and connect it correctly.
Proceeds of the trip
3:11'17
58.17 km
18.2 km/h
46.3 km/h
2444 kcal
1030 m
1033 m
983 m
252 m
Conclusion
The mid electric motor was up to all the challenges I faced on the test drive. Before the test, I was skeptical about the engine's performance on very steep climbs, but the engine responded perfectly on them. It was also interesting that the engine is quite quiet even under heavy loads.
After all this, I could say that electric conversion is definitely a good choice for all those who would not like to shell out high amounts for electric bikes. I would also recommend it to recreational cyclists who want to cycle, but do not dare to embark on more demanding cycling ventures due to insufficient fitness or simply want to cycle to work without much effort.