What is your AVERAGE trip speed?

[Russell]

I know there are a lot of folks on this board with fast ebikes but how does that fast top speed translate into the average speed for a trip of say 10, 20 or 30 miles? Do folks with fast ebikes get to where they’re going that much faster or are they on the brakes so often their average speed suffers more than someone on a slower bike? For example my top speed on the flats is 21.5 mph with a 36V Bafang and 15 cell LiFePO4 battery and on my routine 31 mile ride I do often my maximum average trip speed is 19.2 mph. For a shorter 18 mile course where I don’t need to conserve the battery my maximum average trip speed is 21.3 mph, recorded today in fact, which is what got me to thinking about this. I wonder is there such a thing as an optimal speed for bike travel.

So what is your best average trip speed as reported by your cycling computer for trips over 10 miles in length?

(no short blasts up and down the street or guessing...just what the computer says the average speed was after a longer ride).

-R

 

[amberwolf]

On CrazyBike2, the best average speed was a bit above 15mph, for a two-way trip length of about 18 miles, but there are only 4 stops at one end of the trip, and three at the other, each way, and a long 8-mile stretch along the canal path with no stops at all (goes under the roads). Top speed on the flats on that trip was about 17MPH or so, IIRC. That was when it was 36V with the 4-pole motor and 2QD controller. Top speed it is capable of in those configurations on the flats if I push it and pedal hard is about 23MPH, as it is only geared for 20 (legal limit to operate it at).

On DGA mkII, average tends to be 11mph for most trips, even when I have top speeds of up to 18mph, because of all the stop-and-go in traffic, having to stay slow for certain places so I can wait for a string of cars to pass so I can move over a lane, left turn, etc. without passing the point I need to do it at, slowing down for really bad road edge areas, and so on. I don't remember if I've gone more than about 12 miles on it so far in one trip. I think the very top speed of this version, with the 36V Fusin front hubmotor using 9Ah NiMH pack is about 23mph as well, though I might be able to pedal hard and fast and get it a couple above that. But that max speed could take a mile or more to reach. I don't normally have it switched beyond the Low setting, which only goes up to around 13-15mph, depending on wind conditions, especially.

 

[dogman dan]

Yeah, 10 mile minumum makes it a meaningfull number. Testing out the bike I'm taking to the death race, I saw an average speed of 34 mph. Oh yeah, pushing that big crank for all I could, I could post a high average speed like that for about 2 miles. Make it 4 miles and the average speed is more like 29 mph.

Riding the same bike to work one morning, I did the 14.5 miles in 35 minuites shaving 10 minuites off my best time on the normal bike, but I never looked at the average speed on the speedo. So I guesstimate about 22 mph? 30 mph would have gone 17.5 miles. Tons of stop signs, corners, and long red lights on the route.

Typically the ride down the hill to town is 50 min for the 14.5 miles, and back up tends to run 65 min. So even though I run 20-25 mph all I can, the average speed of my commute is still way under 20 mph. More like 15 mph.

 

[Demosthenes]

Top speed 45km/hr. Average speed on trips 26km/hr. Pretty big difference, I pedal a lot though, like most of the trip. Lot's of power and speed for when I need it, often I'll zip down one or two of the nice straight sections (about a kilometre long) on my way to work at full throttle then pedal at normal bike speeds for the rest of the ride. Just cause I have the motor doesn't mean I need to use it!

 

[tycreek]

My daily commute is now 9.9mi (sorry not quite 10) with average speed between 20 & 25mph. On days where my ave speed is lower the wh/mi is higher. My max speed is usually between 31 & 33mph (low speed jumper limited).

Stuff that slows down the ride; 8 stop signs, 6 stop lights, 10 speed bumps, a large drain wash, wind and of course those cars that go slow! I don't actually have to always stop at all stop signs and if the gutter is clear I can rip right on by some of the speed rollers where it's flat right next to the curb.

 

[Salix]

My average speed , using 48 V system and drawing a max of 1800Watts with a max speed on flat of 45 Kph is usually 30 kph over a 10 mile trip. The average speed in my car over several months in the same traffic conditions is 32 kph so really not significant difference. The shorter trips on the E-Bike to the city of Sydney are much quicker than the car and also no parking problems or expenses. I love my electric bicycle.

 

[icecube57]

If im going for distance on my local level paved trail AVG trip speed is between 17-18mph and thats for like 30-60 mile. I matched my cruise with a comfortable pedal cadence. For trips where im tearing up the streets I have a peak speed of 43mph and an average speed of 27mph in real world conditions with less than 15miles.

 

[GrayKard]

I wonder is there such a thing as an optimal speed for bike travel.

So what is your best average trip speed as reported by your cycling computer for trips over 10 miles in length?

(no short blasts up and down the street or guessing...just what the computer says the average speed was after a longer ride).

-R

Maybe not just one optimum speed. It might be more contingent on the actual conditions of the route you take. I notice that at my higher speed motoring, vs. my old slower speed when it was a pedal only bike, that I hit more lights green now. If I mod the bike and go even faster will I start hitting red lights again?

If I recall correctly, I average about 15.7mph on my 22.3 mile commute. I haven't checked it in a while so my trip meter hasn't been reset in 380.8 miles. The average speed for those miles is 15.4. I ride WOT as much as I can and my top speed is just over 18mph on the flat.

Haven't done a 2 direction test to verify true top speed. It might be a hair less in reality.

Gary

 

[Russell]

I guess the main thing I wanted to find out by asking the question was to discover really how fast people were riding their E-bikes. The average trip speed reveals this better than simply asking how fast someone rides which invariably results in something like “I can go 35 mph!”. Of the folks who have responded so far it appears many average right around "normal" cycling speeds most of the time.

-R

 

[Zoot Katz]

I guess the main thing I wanted to find out by asking the question was to discover really how fast people were riding their E-bikes. The average trip speed reveals this better than simply asking how fast someone rides which invariably results in something like “I can go 35 mph!”. Of the folks who have responded so far it appears many average right around "normal" cycling speeds most of the time.

-R

Yep, I noticed that too.
The log from the first 4129 km on le Béte says the average top speed is 46.85 km/h. The top top speed was 57.6 km/h
The average of the average speed over those 56 charge cycles was 17.68 km/h which is just about right for a fat tire Xtracycle.
Avg Wh/km = 8.73
(Crystalyte 5304, 48V, 18Ah NiCd, 40A controller)

The absolute highest average speed was two weeks ago when I rode EBII out to UBC along SW Marine Drive. It has a wide uninterrupted paved shoulder/bike lane for much of the trip. That one was 34.3 km/h for the 25.24 km round trip.
Max.spd = 52.2 km/h. Wh/km = 14.5.

I repeated the trip last week but took a longer route home so I could stop do some shopping. That round trip was 27.11 km.
Max spd. = 50.8 km/h, Avg spd. = 28.4 km/h, Wh/km =14.6.
There was a vicious head wind for most of the way home plus rush-hour traffic on narrow streets. That last kilometer was mostly pedal power as the battery was bumping the LVC set on the CA.

Today was a typical trip through the city on EBII.
21.45 km at an average speed of 21.6 km/h, 4.59 Ah, 10.1 Wh/km.
(EBII, 2806 9C hub, 48V, 10Ah LiFePO4, 35A controller. More aero riding position than le Béte.)

 

[Mark_A_W]

I average 38-40km/h.


To do that, I need to cruise continuously at over 50km/h. The stops just kill your average speed.


And you didn't say what you mean by "average". Most cyclists use trip computers which stop counting below~4km/h (and when stopped). This inflates their average speeds - it's their average "rolling" speed.

Mine are true average speeds, total distance over total time.


No lycra has ever even come close to overtaking me.

 

[amberwolf]

Of the folks who have responded so far it appears many average right around "normal" cycling speeds most of the time.

Although you'd have to take at least 5-7mph off of my speeds if you want them to equal my non-motor-assisted speeds. Possibly more, depending on how my knees feel that day.

 

[docnjoj]

I'm not sure I could make 10 miles on my trike unassisted, even removing the 35 lbs of battery and motor. That Serbian steel pipe is strong but heavy. We do 14-15 miles average trip and speed is about 10-12 on city streets.
otherDoc

 

[Kingfish]

I travel on average 20+ miles almost every day with big hills, and I like to ride like there’s no tomorrow! I am generally pushing around 24mph; lows on the hills can drop to 18, but the highs on the flats are at about 28. It’s a good workout on my P0.

 

[John in CR]

Before my last speedometer reset I went 473km at an average speed of 37.2kph and a top speed of 94kph . The vast majority of that is very short trips of 1-3 miles and includes anything where the magnet turned past the sensor. I typically cruise around 60kph by myself and under 50kph as the daily school taxi carrying our kids. I did the reset just before my once a week run to our local Sam'sClub-like store. That's a 17.7km circuit with a scenic route there returning on the highway with just a few stop signs and 2 stoplights. I didn't race for fastest time, but I didn't screw around either and I didn't get slowed at all by traffic. My average speed was 62.4kph with a wind aided top speed of 97.2kph, though I did chicken out and back off the throttle while still slowly accelerating. Very soon some new mods will increase the average speed for that run by at least 15kph.

 

[Kingfish]

Addendum:
In the Pacific Northwest we had a sun-break today, and this morning I modified the ASV file for the Infineon EB806 (6FET) and set Speed 1 % = 110; the freewheel instantly went from 31 to 35 mph/50 to 56 kmh. Then went for a do-or-die test on a long rural ride with P0 was configured as 10S9P; 80 miles/129 km with boatloads of hills. I live at sea-level – the tallest pass climbed today was 1375 ft/419 m over Tiger Mountain on SR18. My new average speed on a flat is now 29 mph/47 kmh – I kid you not! ...and rocketed up steep inclines at 26 mph/42 kmh!

It was Kick-Ass!

But just like Kick-Ass in the movie, my range got its ass-kicked and I was outta juice at 70 miles/113 km and ended up pedaling home the last 10 miles/16 km at a pokey 16 mph/26 kmh. It felt like ½ Impulse Picard. Bummer

Nonetheless I am very happy. I just need to tweak the Rated/Phase current to be a bit lower and save some of that Di-Lithium power for the flats…
Top speed didn’t change much due to the wind resistance and gearing; tops out around 34mph/55 kmh. What can I say? It’s a 19-yo MtB

 

[cell_man]

I've been running dual high rpm Mac geared hub motors. Now upped the volts to 48V and on a stop start trip through Shanghai (not rush hour) I just averaged 40kph. Max speed 68.6kph but that's just a short slight down hill section. It does about 65kph on the flat. Gets up to about 62kph quite quickly but the last few ks takes a little time. Running about 65A total between the motors so pulls about 3KW.