Can You Ebike a 100 Mile Bikepacking Route?

Love the Lording it quote Charlie , having just ridden 22 miles on the Quantocks on my Onza Jackpot while my Orbea Rise is ( still) in the menders 😞 My mate was on his Whyte Electric chariot I can indeed confirm that’s exactly what it felt like ! What a sense of achievement though , at 67 I can still hack it with over 2,700 feet of climbing , no getting off and walking and an average of 6.3 mph 💪
Who needs an E bike 🤔

I read this and thought who cares?
Why spoil bike packing with a load of technology?
I think sometimes simple is better.

@bruce good point. I’ve bikepacked from home to single speed races in Belgium and Scotland. Bikepacked to races in Arizona too. Keeping it simple is a good move. Minimise mechanical risk. Enjoy the ride. Don’t over complicate things. I’m totally onboard with this ethos.

However, in this case, after almost zero riding last year my options were no bikepacking or Ebikepacking. I will hopefully be 100 miles fit in a month or two.

Not everyone is young and fit. E-bikes really are breaking down boundaries, extending peoples cycling life in terms of years and mileage… and also a massive growth area in the industry. I am not aware of anyone doing the Dorset Dirt Dash 100 route on an ebike… hey. let’s find out if it’s doable. Learn a few ebike techniques and strategies… share it with the Singletrackers.

You are right simple is better. But ebiking is better than no biking.

E-biking is definitely better than no biking.

E-biking also means I can go places I couldn't walk anymore.

Of course e-bike packing is allowed. Why wouldn’t it be? OP didn’t do that though 🤔 Just went for a ride, stayed in a hotel & spent all night recharging his batteries, then went for another ride 😀 As long as it was fun though!

I didn't mean to be disparaging or anything.
I don't know how it feels in your shoes. I would much rather see people having fun on a ebike than not at all.
I am not young (69) and far from fit having had a heart attack a few years ago.
I still hopefully have time to get an ebike later:)

No worries Bruce, just felt I needed to say that.

I actually have done some one night e-bikepacking since becoming electrically enhanced this year. I'm enjoying my hammock as tents and bivies are too much scrabbling about for me now. No hotels or charging was involved, just a 960wh battery and tourer mode.

Done a bit of bike packing and touring. And often wished i'd had an e bike, but am too mean to buy one. Also - there's not a lot of space generally so if you're losing your tent for batteries it all sounds pretty finely judged. Or a lot of Voile straps are involved.

I read this and thought who cares?
Why spoil bike packing with a load of technology?
I think sometimes simple is better.

best go for a hike then. bikes are complicated. 😉

Well it's at least 8 years since I met 2 folk doing the Cairngorm loop on e bikes successfullyI'd imagine the tech's only got better

Good read because thinking of doing something similar on something similar. What packs did you use?

I've done several 70+ mile, 6000ft ascent bikepacking rides on my Orbea Rise with the piggyback battery. I'm always a bit nervous about running out and eek the power out so invariably I get home with over 30% left in the tank! It all depends on how fit you are, how hilly it is, and how much you rely on the power. Quite often I ride the first 15-20 miles without assist. I was considering doing the Dirt Dash on it next year (first time I did it was on a singlespeed ffs - thanks Long Covid!). The good thing about a lighter ebike like the Levo and Rise is that if you do run out it can still be ridden without too much pain for the last bit home. I just need to work out a way to hotwire a kettle and toastie maker to the battery and it would be the perfect bikepacking machine...

I currently don’t have an e-bike but at 57 I know they are in my future.

For overnight trips like this a removable battery has benefits. I can see why the lighter bikes don’t have these from an engineering point of view.

It’s probably too niche but a light bike with swappable baterries would be great. A multi charger would be handy too.

I've done a few nights on my e-bike "bikepacking" - well riding from hotel to hotel.

First time was from my home town Consett to Sill YHA on Hadrian's Wall - about 80ish miles stayed in the YHA then back to Consett via Hexham and along the Tyne Valley before picking up the C2C back to Consett.

More recently (a few weeks ago) did the Rebellion Way in Norfolk (Kings Lynn to Sheringham (YHA). Sheringham to Diss (Hotel). Diss back to Kings Lynn). About 75-77 miles per day.

All great fun - charged the battery overnight each time and once in a fish and chip shop while I had lunch on the 1st day just to top the battery up - but to be honest it still had enough juice to get me to Sheringham. Seat postbag on the back with all the usual stuff. The bike has a range of about 105 miles (although it was 117 last year when I got the bike factoring in the 10% ish loss over a year for the battery).

The loss of battery capacity is a major factor. Is it determined purely by age? Or is the number of recharges also important?

I’ve done single nights on the ebike, around 35 miles total.
My bike is a bit older, with a 400wh battery, but manages that distance on eco setting fairly easily.
For me, using an ebike turns the trip into manageable, compared to being at the absolute limits of my physical endurance on a normal loaded bike.

@gordimhor. Battery life is down to many factors:
Amount of charges.
Tempature it is stored at
Amount of charge when stored (apparently 2/3 full is best)
How full it is charged each charge (Specialized has a 90% ish of full charge on 4 out of 5 charges setting to extend battery health)
The Specialized app reports bettary health. Mine is at 100% at 2 years but only 1200km.

There was a chap at the Jennride on a Rise with a spare battery. I'm assuming he made it back...

Hey @charliedontsurf, as you may recall from our chat behind the beer van (Ooerr!) I used my e-bike for this years Dorset Dirt Dash - to great effect.

I've written a little about it on another thread about ebikes - currently the last post on this thread... https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/more-dumb-ebike-questions/#post-12849893

(Is it possible to create a link to a specific comment in a thread?)