Article - Yes, You Can Ride an E-Bike All Winter Long

[Boatinbear]

Saw this article.   Has a Radwagon in the picture and talks about using it in winter months.   I thought it was good. 

Treehugger Voices
Yes, You Can Ride an E-Bike All Winter Long

https://www.treehugger.com/you-can-ride-e-bike-all-winter-5095699

[Altema]

That was a good article, and I was surprised by the "death wish" references in the comment section. Oh well!

[John Rose]

From the article:

When I took my e-bike on a particularly icy snow-packed shortcut last week, I found that using just the throttle worked better than pedaling with the electric assist, since every time I pushed down on the pedals it caused the tires to spin a bit.

Yeah. I went out for my first winter e-bike ride today. (brand-new RadExpand 5 with 20"x4" tires, inflated to 30 psi)  Temperature was a fairly pleasant -5?C. A few inches of loose snow on grass was no problem, but on patches of hard-packed snow or ice I resorted to throttle-only. Even with minimum pedal assist the slight delay before the motor kicks in makes it unpredictable, which is worse if you're turning.

The oddest thing was trying to ride it on a walking/biking trail (a former rail line) where pedestrians had already made quite a few footprints. It was so unpleasantly bumpy that I just turned around and took the paved road home.

In the Rad owner manual, it's all about protecting the battery from extreme temperatures.

Summary: Battery recommended temperatures
The temperatures listed below represent ambient temperatures. Internal battery temperatures are likely to be higher than ambient temperature during charging and use. The battery will automatically turn off to prevent damage when its internal temperature reaches below -15?C (5?F) or above 55?C (131?F). Please see the preceding sections for more information.

• Recommended operation (riding) range: -15?C to 40?C (5?F to 105?F)
• Recommended charging range: 5?C to 25?C (41?F to 77?F)
• Recommended short-term storage range: -10?C to 25?C (14?F to 77?F)
• Recommended long-term storage range: 5?C to 25?C (40?F to 77?F)

When I got home today I waited at least an hour before putting it on the charger (in the basement, where the bikes live).

[handlebar]

From the article:

Yeah. I went out for my first winter e-bike ride today. (brand-new RadExpand 5 with 20"x4" tires, inflated to 30 psi)  Temperature was a fairly pleasant -5?C. A few inches of loose snow on grass was no problem, but on patches of hard-packed snow or ice I resorted to throttle-only. Even with minimum pedal assist the slight delay before the motor kicks in makes it unpredictable, which is worse if you're turning.

The oddest thing was trying to ride it on a walking/biking trail (a former rail line) where pedestrians had already made quite a few footprints. It was so unpleasantly bumpy that I just turned around and took the paved road home.

I thought my Radrunner would be great on snow or mud: just find a suitable tire pressure. The Electric Bike Review video I saw, featuring the Radpower founder, indicated that reducing pressure was fine; he ran his with an adult passenger at 18 psi. To the contrary, the manual said you must maintain the pressure on the sidewall, no more, no less. That's 30 psi.

That's rough on bumps. I discovered that the round cross section would ride up sideways on snow, mud, or sand, which meant no steering control. I made it rideable by reducing pressure to 10 psi, which flattened the tread and created a sort of corner against the sidewall. Unfortunately, those tires are 30 threads per inch. Besides giving less puncture protection than 60, it's less flexible. Low pressure is hard on the tire and eats up a lot of watts. I knew of no option for the Radrunner's 20 x 3.3 tires.

They ride more conventional bikes all winter in places like the Netherlands and Finland. Some switch to studded front tires for steering control on ice.

[Hania]

Yeah, you are right. The article is pretty helpful.