After a 6-month test, it’s time to hand back my electric bike – and to find out if it’s still in working order with 750 kilometres on the clock.
It’s my last ever trip with «Tarzan», the e-bike Ego Movement agreed to lend me for a long period of testing. For one final time, I cycle the 14 or so kilometres from Greifensee towards the city of Zurich, riding along bike paths and through the forest on the edge of Zürichberg, before heading downhill towards the Limmat and the Sihl.
My destination is the Ego Movement service centre on Löwenstrasse. Here, at a former optician’s in the centre of town, mechanics at the helm of four work stations maintain, clean and repair e-bikes. After half a year, mine is pretty dirty. I’m slightly ashamed that Tommaso Arzilla, Head of After Sales in Switzerland is getting such a filthy bike to inspect. Cleaning my bike is just one of those things I don’t particularly enjoy doing.
Nevertheless, «Tarzan» is still given a place on the bike stand. Alongside Tommaso and Ego Movement CEO Daniel Meyer, I take a look at how the brakes, chain, cassette and battery are faring – an MOT for «Tarzan».
I’ve worn out one of the brake pads
There it is – the gentle rebuke. I really did almost always use the rear brake when cycling downhill for fear of hitting the front brake too hard and flipping over the handlebars. The right thing to do would’ve been to use both brakes at once. That way, I would’ve avoided wearing out one of the pads prematurely.
Battery maintenance made easy
Verdict: a necessary service
If you’d like to read my previous articles on my e-bike experiences, you can find them here:
Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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It’s not just cleaning bikes that I’m unenthusiastic about. In fact, I don’t go tinkering with them either. This means my knowledge of the parts and functions of a bike is purely theoretical. That being said, I at least managed to twig that something was up with the rear brake when I was cycling. It doesn’t grip properly anymore. Sure enough, Tommaso confirms that the brake pads need to be replaced. I ask if that isn’t a little premature for a bike that’s travelled just 750 kilometres. After all, e-bikes are said to have more stable brake pads on account of their being heavier and faster. The expert tells me that this is true in theory. However, if the cyclist, i.e. me, brakes incorrectly, the pads will wear out more quickly.
A comparison of the front and rear brake pads: it’s clear which one I used more.
Next, Tommaso turns his attention to the chain and cassette. The chain isn’t exactly sparkling clean, but I do get a little praise for the fact that it’s well lubricated, not dry. After all, I did often give it a going-over with the chain spray I received with the bike. The tension of the chain is checked. On an e-bike, this area comes under a lot of strain, as it’s set in motion by the power of a motor, not muscles. In spite of this, these chains can hold out for 3,000 kilometres. That’s if you’re using an e-bike to get to work and not for spectacular feats of athleticism, anyway. Mountain bikes with an electric motor or e-bikes with an assisted speed of up to 45 km/h can sometimes need a new chain after less than 1,000 kilometres.
Pretty grubby: the e-bike’s chain and cassette before being cleaned.
Time for the chain of my «Tarzan» to take a bath. The water is enriched with bacteria, and Tommaso gently sluices down the steel links and cleans them with a brush. Special spray is used to rid the cassette of dirt. Looking at the wear on the chainring, he realises I’ve at least been using the gears correctly. The even degree of wear shows that I’ve been using all of the gears. Other e-bikers, incidentally, tend to ride in the two highest gears, even when setting off. However, this means the power of the motor puts more strain on the chain and chainring, causing it to wear out more quickly. If you cycle sensibly, you can cover up to 3,000 kilometres with the same cassette.
The last components to be checked are the motor and battery. My e-bike contains a battery with a capacity of 672 watt hours, which provides the motor with up to 95 newton metres of propulsive power. This officially gives it a range of 140 kilometres. However, this is more of a theoretical figure, dependent on the assistance level selected, the outdoor temperature and the inclines on the route. At the service centre, my battery can be assessed on a computer. This reveals that I fully charged the battery a total of 17 times. In fact, I’d hooked it up to the power more often than that – the figure only takes full charging cycles, i.e from 0 to 100, into account.
Speaking of which, I only came close to riding the bike at 0 per cent battery on one occasion. And seeing as the pedal assistance automatically drops once the battery falls below 20 per cent, I bitterly regretted it. «That’s how we prevent the battery from becoming drained,» Daniel Meyer explains. That’d be very detrimental to the battery’s lifespan. It’s why I chose to sweat out the last 5 kilometres of my way home on the 25-kilogramme «Tarzan» in July. At that point, the electric motor was just deadweight, as the battery was barely able to power it.
The computer says my battery is almost as fresh after six months of use as it was on day one. Not surprising, given that it’s most suited to temperatures ranging between 10 and 40 degrees Celcius. Winter is when things get critical for e-bikers. If the cold doesn’t stop you getting into the saddle, you’ll know that the battery level drops faster than it does in summer. This means having to charge it more often. And if you don’t ride your e-bike in winter, you shouldn’t leave it outside in the cold – you should keep it indoors instead. Ideally, it should also be charged up to a level of 60 to 80 per cent.
The battery test is designed to find defective battery cells. In my case, everything’s A-OK.
From April to October, I was out and about with «Tarzan» at least once a week. Daniel, the CEO of Ego Movement, reveals that my total of 750 kilometres travelled falls below the average figure set by other e-bikers. Apparently, his customers cover about 2,000 kilometres per year. Basically, he’s saying I could be more active. Someone at my level of sportiness would need to take the e-bike to be serviced once a year, which would cost about 200 francs, depending on any spare parts required. Things get more expensive if the pros at the garage clean the bike completely. This is worth it if you ask me, because a well-maintained e-bike is a lot of fun to ride, not to mention a must in terms of safety. I don’t rely on braking skills alone – and rightly so, as I’ve learned from my rebuke from the pro mechanic.
Background information
E-biking to work – Part 1: which bike is right for me?
by Martin Jungfer
Background information
E-biking to work – Part 2: the first ride is a wet one
by Martin Jungfer
Background information
E-biking to work, part 3: how «Tarzan» motivates me to exercise
