Electric bikepacking: lessons learned over four days and 250 miles

“Electric bikes are for cheaters” is the refrain sung by cocksure men successful lycra, disquieted their play hobbies volition beryllium invaded by unfit neophytes connected battery-powered gravel, mountain, and roadworthy bicycles. 

It reminds maine of the aboriginal net erstwhile AOL users were considered inferior to the online elite who did the hard enactment of subscribing to a determination ISP. Back then, losing an statement with an aol.com email code was crushed capable to merchantability your modem. Now, the eventual humiliation is being overtaken by idiosyncratic successful thoroughfare shoes casually pushing a throttle. 

But marque nary mistake, electrical athletics bikes are becoming progressively communal connected trails and roads, conscionable arsenic electrics are dilatory replacing regular bicycles successful cities astir the world.

To recognize the appeal, I decided to prime conscionable 1 electrical athletics motorcycle — the Specialized Turbo Creo 2 Comp — to trial connected steep asphalt, rutted trails, escaped gravel, mud, sand, and immoderate greenish mushy worldly that smelled of doom. And to genuinely trial its limits, I loaded the motorcycle down with an absurd 50 pounds (23kg) of cogwheel for a 4 time e-bikepacking trip.

And to trial the show of the e-bike, I was joined by an avid roadie who is presently grooming to thrust implicit 800 miles (1,300km) from Amsterdam to Venice, Italy. He’s not lone 10 years younger than maine — he’s besides fitter and carried conscionable fractional the value connected his acoustic roadworthy bike.

What follows is my e-bikepacking acquisition implicit astir 150 miles (400km) and 4,265 feet (1,300m) of elevation change. It covers my evolving charging strategy, favourite gadgets and motorcycle cogwheel tested, and lessons learned from implicit 600 miles (1,000km) of in-the-saddle testing. 

Spoiler: I’m not a convert, but I tin admit however e-bikes marque cycling sports accessible to much people, adjacent bikepacking if you unrecorded successful the close places.

Charging

The Veluwe is simply a sprawling wood strategy successful the bosom of the Netherlands, affluent successful woodlands, heath, and wetlands divided by sandy hills chopped by glaciers. It’s not a spot you’d expect to find an extended web of e-bike chargers. Yet, I recovered them to beryllium truthful plentiful connected my four-day travel that I was capable to shed my archetypal scope anxiety. 

Each of the 3 campsites I stayed astatine outgo astir €10 to €15 (about $11 to $16) per nighttime and offered escaped e-bike charging. The charging facilities ranged from a luxurious covered store — important for keeping the charging ceramic adust erstwhile it rains — to a elemental hold cord that snaked retired of a solar-powered tent. 

Wild camping distant from authoritative sites — which isn’t allowed successful the Netherlands — would person made the charging logistics much difficult. But it was surely possible: 3 of the 4 cafes I randomly stopped astatine during the circuit offered escaped nationalist chargers tally by companies similar Ion and Laad. 

The Specialized e-bike I rode (more connected that later) takes astir 3.5 hours to afloat complaint some the main artillery and 1 scope extender utilizing the included 164W (54.6V/3A) charging brick. My days would usually extremity with astir 20 percent (out of 150 percent) of artillery powerfulness remaining, which would person meant scheduling 3 hours of charging breaks on the way had I been chaotic camping. That’s surely doable if dispersed implicit aggregate nutrient stops, particularly connected the agelong summertime days recovered successful Northern Europe. Nevertheless, charging successful 1 spell each nighttime astatine a campsite was much convenient and required little planning.

Frankly, I was amazed by each the charging options I recovered on my way — but really, I shouldn’t person been. The Dutch are rightly lauded for their bicycling infrastructure. In the past fewer years, e-bikes person outsold regular bikes crossed the Netherlands, and a caller survey suggests that electrical bikes are present the bulk of bikes ridden. But agelong earlier VanMoof helped marque e-bikes trendy for young Dutch riders, it was the over-60s you’d spot being propelled on bicycle paths. These are the aforesaid radical who present strap a brace of e-bikes to RVs parked astatine campsites successful the forests. I tin lone surmise that this distant charging infrastructure emerged successful enactment of boomer demand.

You mightiness not beryllium capable to replicate my multiday e-bikepacking acquisition wherever you live, but you volition eventually, particularly successful Europe with its shorter distances and accelerated complaint of e-bike adoption. It’ll instrumentality a spot longer successful the US with its monolithic standard and dominating car culture.

The bike

For this trip, I rode the $6,500 / €6,000 Specialized Turbo Creo 2 Comp drop-bar gravel / roadworthy e-bike. My European reappraisal motorcycle was capped astatine a apical velocity of 15.5mph (25km/h) and 50Nm of torque from the company’s ain 250W / 330W mid-drive motor. Buyers successful the US volition person a faster Class-3 e-bike with a apical velocity of 28mph.

There are respective reasons wherefore I chose the Creo 2 Comp for my archetypal e-bikepacking adventure. First, it’s lightweight for an e-bike astatine conscionable 14.47kg (32 pounds) making it astir 5kg (11 pounds) lighter than DJI’s attention-grabbing electrical upland bike. Impressively, the Creo 2 Comp is conscionable 1.3kg (almost 3 pounds) heavier than my ain hardtail MTB.

The Creo 2 Comp besides features aggregate attachment points for each the cages and racks needed to haul tons of gear, and a beforehand daze built into the handlebar stem that allows for 20mm of travel. That’s not a batch of dampening compared to upland bikes, but my hands decidedly benefited aft respective hours of regular riding implicit unsmooth gravel, histrion roots, and bumpy azygous track.

Specialized’s two-wheeler besides supports steadfast tyre volumes, including the chunky 29 x 2.2-inch assortment commonly fitted to upland bikes. My reappraisal motorcycle came with the company’s smaller 700 x 42 Pathfinder Pro tubeless tires. They proved to beryllium creaseless rollers connected pavement and gravel and plentifulness susceptible successful sections of soil and muck that stopped my person who rode connected thinner tires.

But the main crushed I selected the Creo 2 Comp was for its artillery expansion. The electrical gravel motorcycle features a main 320Wh artillery that tin beryllium easy supplemented with $450 160Wh scope extenders. Specialized sent maine 2 extenders for a full capableness of 640Wh. The institution besides sent maine a Y-cable for dual-battery charging. 

Unfortunately, that main artillery is afloat integrated into the framework and can’t beryllium removed for charging. Specialized did this to assistance support the value down. But the Y-cable tin lone complaint the main artillery and 1 scope extender simultaneously — not 2 scope extenders — ruining my program to support the motorcycle securely by my structure portion the 2 smaller batteries were charging elsewhere. That meant leaving Specialized’s precise costly motorcycle and 1 scope extender charging extracurricular successful the rainfall connected 3 occasions — doubly overnight, and a fewer 100 meters distant — protected lone by a lightweight fastener and rainfall alert made from a trash bag. Not ideal.

Another intriguing diagnostic of the Creo 2 Comp is Specialized’s astute artillery control. In Smart Control mode, you tin participate the region and duration of your planned travel, and the motorcycle volition set the pedal assistance to guarantee you don’t tally retired of power. I ended up not utilizing this mode for a fewer reasons. First, Smart Control requires tracking the thrust successful the Specialized app, and I didn’t privation to drain my phone’s artillery unnecessarily (the motorcycle doesn’t person a USB charging larboard for motorcycle computers and phones). The 2nd crushed I didn’t usage Smart Control is that I was easy getting astir 68 miles (110km) from the interior artillery and scope extender combo, adjacent with each that cogwheel and riding successful Sport mode — Specialized’s mean setting, which nicely balances pedal assistance with artillery conservation. Without each the gear, I was getting person to 93 miles (150km) from the artillery positive extender. 

And let’s look it: the existent crushed I chose the Specialized Creo 2 Comp for the travel is that it hardly looks similar an e-bike. But the motor’s audible whir made it evident to anyone adjacent that I was getting an electrical assist.

Planning

For this tour, I upgraded to the Komoot Premium ($59 / year) work to entree its multiday cycling travel planner. My program started with a premade gravel circuit called the Green Divide created by Erwin Sikkens, which I segmented into a customized four-day travel that extended to my location successful Amsterdam. Komoot besides helped maine adhd cafes and campsites on the way. I past exported the maps to my aged Garmin 530 motorcycle computer. 

When booking each campsite, I called up to corroborate the availability of e-bike charging since I wanted to campy successful the much isolated backpacking sections of the campsites, distant from the engaged charging poles utilized by each the parked RVs. Little did I cognize that this was a communal amenity offered by each campsite I contacted successful the area. 

Komoot Premium besides displays elaborate upwind reports on the route. It showed mostly tailwinds for my dates of question allowing maine to program a quicker-than-average pace, but the rainfall forecast meant packing further protection. 

I brought on a $270 Spinshift overgarment from Gorewear to combat backmost the acold upwind and rain. My reappraisal overgarment kept maine lukewarm and wholly adust and packed down tiny into the jacket’s zip pocket. It acceptable snuggly with my arms extended connected the Creo 2 Comp e-bike, particularly erstwhile afloat stretched into the drop-bar position. But that besides meant that the stiff (thin and lightweight) Gore-Tex cloth bunched up a spot erstwhile conscionable lasting astir — a tradeoff I’m ever blessed to marque successful a cycling jacket. The Spinshift performed acold amended than my friend’s rainfall jacket, which rapidly filled with aerial (slowing him down) and caused him to overheat much frequently. The Gorewear Spinshift overgarment isn’t cheap, but it’s worthy the price.

If you’re successful the US, you’ll besides privation to cheque if the trails on your way let for e-bikes, particularly if you’re connected a accelerated and almighty Class-3. Europe’s little almighty pedal-assisted e-bikes person less specified restrictions. 

Baggage

The 14.47kg (32 pounds) Creo 2 Comp weighed a staggering 37kg (82 pounds) aft loading it up with 1.5L of h2o and everything I needed for 4 days of camping successful the rainfall and cold. For food, I lone needed to battalion breakfasts and vigor snacks since lunches and dinners would beryllium recovered astatine markets and cafes on the way. 

Ironically, the heaviest items were each related to keeping the e-bike’s centrifugal running. This included the 2 outer scope extenders, the monolithic charging brick, and the heavy-duty Y charging cable. I besides brought on a CEE-to-Schuko adapter cablegram conscionable successful lawsuit I needed to complaint the e-bike from 1 of those bluish charging poles astatine campsites (I ne'er did). I besides ne'er utilized the 2nd scope extender battery, but I was blessed to person it successful reserve.

To enactment each that value and volume, I had to acceptable the Creo 2 Comp with a rack and pannier bags. For this, I chose a carbon-fiber AeroPack rack and enactment strategy from Tailfin to review. That 50 liters of waterproof on-bike retention proved to beryllium fantastic, albeit expensive, astatine astir €1,000 (almost $1,100). 

The AeroPack rack I reviewed attaches to the spot station and to an extended rear axle I had to instal connected the e-bike — a process that took astir 30 minutes. Tailfin’s 16L Mini Panniers and the full rear rack that includes an integrated 18L apical container are designed for speedy attachment and detachment. That was ace adjuvant since I wanted my cogwheel astatine my structure portion the motorcycle was charging acold away. 

I utilized Tailfin’s Packing Cubes to assistance support things organized wrong those heavy retention bags. Most of my apparel went into the 6L Cube, which acceptable snugly into the AeroPack apical bag. All my cables and tiny electronics went into the 2.5L Cube, and the toiletries and microfiber towel successful the 3.5L Cube. Both of those organizers went into the waterproof panniers alongside items similar my trusty JetBoil camping stove I’ve had for thing similar 15 years. All my stored cogwheel stayed wholly adust contempt 3 days of on-and-off rain. 

The remainder of the bags were my own, including 2 provender bags for speedy entree to snacks, my lock, and a h2o bottle; a partial framework container for my tools and archetypal assistance kit; and a tiny top-tube container for a USB artillery pack, wallet, and miscellaneous items needed during the ride.

I’ve ne'er carried truthful overmuch cogwheel connected a bikepacking travel before, but I ne'er had a centrifugal to assistance transportation the load, either. Still, the Tailfin bags remained firmly successful spot with zero sway, which has ne'er been my acquisition erstwhile utilizing those elongated saddle bags that often spell limp aft a spot of unsmooth riding and extremity up dragging connected the rear wheel. 

Tailfin’s setup is wholly worthy the price, successful my opinion.

Sleeping

The different prima of the travel was the $500 Hubba Hubba Bikepack 1-Person Tent MSR sent maine to review. It’s tiny and weighs lone 2 pounds 1 ounce (0.9kg) but has a agelong database of precise astute features for bikepackers. Notably, it comes successful a waterproof handlebar container / worldly sack with plentifulness of attachment points for add-ons. It features heavy spacers that springiness country for the bike’s cables and a compartment for structure poles that are shorter than mean to not interfere with steering.

The waterproof and nicely ventilated structure and rainfly kept maine wholly adust successful tons of rain, adjacent a thunderstorm. The azygous rectangular signifier made it casual to acceptable up and provided plentifulness of headroom to beryllium upright. The Hubba Hubba structure besides features plentifulness of interior pockets to store cogwheel and a ample vestibule extracurricular the broadside introduction to support my shoes, helmet, bags, and different bits retired of show and adust portion I slept. I besides made bully usage of the interior and outer clotheslines to adust my gear.

The Hubba Hubba Bikepack structure is hands down the champion lightweight structure of the dozens I’ve tried implicit the past 3 decades. It’s intelligibly been designed by radical who walk a ton of clip cycling distant from civilization. Still, $500 is precise expensive. My friend’s $110 NatureHike Cloud structure (which I besides own) is lone somewhat heavier, and helium seemed conscionable arsenic comfy and dry. You don’t perfectly request the Hubba Hubba for bikepacking — but you’re close to privation it.

Rounding retired my slumber cogwheel was a precise comfy and lukewarm $200 NeoAir XLite NXT four-season aerial mattress that Thermarest sent maine to test. And contempt measuring a heavy 3 inches (7.6cm), it packs down tiny and airy astatine 13 ounces (370g). I appreciated the WingLock Valve that fto maine inflate (and deflate) it rapidly without exhausting myself utilizing the included pump sack and immoderate bully ol’ Bernoulli physics. 

Thermarest besides sent maine a down-filled Vesper 32F/0C Quilt to review; $400 for a way broad is expensive, but it weighs conscionable 15 ounces (425g) and packs down into an impossibly tiny ball. Despite being lightweight, it was a spot excessively lukewarm erstwhile falling dormant successful 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius), but I was blessed to person it erstwhile temps dropped down to 48F (9C) a fewer nights — Thermarest says the quilt’s saccharine spot is astir 41F (5C). It’s silky brushed to the interaction and stretches astir the NeoAir XLite NXT to forestall slippage and drafts.

I slept reasonably good with this setup oregon astatine slightest as good arsenic I bash astatine home. But I conscionable can’t get comfy with immoderate inflatable pillow I’ve tried. Someday, I’ll find the cleanable pillow, but the Trekology Aluft Pro I bought connected Amazon isn’t it.

Gadgets

As a nerd, I brought acold much gadgets than a emblematic idiosyncratic would. That meant bringing respective USB powerfulness banks on to support everything charged implicit a play of 4 days: 2 10,000mAh (40Wh) batteries and 1 27,000mAh (100Wh) behemoth. That’s acold much than I’d usually bring, but again, I had a centrifugal and tons of storage. 

Some gadgets I ever bring with maine connected bikepacking trips. These see my iPhone successful a QuadLock bike-mount lawsuit and my Apple Watch — some acceptable to low-power modes. I besides brought a GoPro with other batteries that I ne'er adjacent used. My aging but formidable Garmin 530 motorcycle machine provided turn-by-turn navigation. To my delight, it was capable to work power, cadence, and velocity information disconnected the Specialized Turbo Creo 2 Comp aft I manually added each motorcycle sensor.

I besides had to bring the small SRAM AXS artillery charger that came with the motorcycle conscionable successful lawsuit its wireless physics shifter died. Something that astir happened to maine earlier during 370 miles (about 600km) of mentation for the trip.

Naturally, I besides brought on plentifulness of gadgets to review.

I tested a brace of $60 Baseus Eli Sport 1 open-ear Bluetooth headphones to beryllium definite that I could inactive perceive everything astir me. Most riders similar bone-conducting headphones for this purpose, but I’ve ne'er been a instrumentality of the level sound. With the rain-proof Eli Sport 1, I could gaffe connected conscionable 1 of the 2 over-the-ear slugs for the duration of the thrust to perceive the navigation. They’re truthful lightweight and comfy that I’d hide I was wearing 1 by the extremity of the day, and it ne'er fell disconnected my ear, adjacent connected the roughest trails oregon erstwhile taking disconnected my helmet and sunglasses. At night, I could popular connected the 2nd slug and perceive to euphony oregon ticker videos with existent bass, though anyone adjacent could perceive the audio bleed into the quiescent adjacent astatine humble volumes. The lawsuit besides kept the headphones charged for the duration of the travel contempt dense all-day usage. For the price, they proved to beryllium outstanding, but I should enactment that Amazon says it’s a often returned product. 

I besides tested a brace of Milo Communicators. I’ll person a afloat reappraisal coming later, arsenic these request to beryllium tested successful a fewer much scenarios. My archetypal impressions are mixed. They were invaluable successful uncovering retired that my person had fallen disconnected his motorcycle successful a gnarly soil spot a fewer 100 meters down me, but they often failed to intelligibly present insults and warnings erstwhile some of america were riding afloat retired implicit noisy gravel, wind, grunts, and woo-hooing. We had the Milos mounted connected the bikes, and that mightiness person been excessively acold distant to decently isolate our voices (the institution offers respective mounting options). It’s promising tech, truthful much connected this later. 

I’ve besides been investigating a HoverAir X1 drone for the past fewer weeks. And honestly, I deliberation I emotion it. It’s truthful casual to drawback and acceptable aloft without needing immoderate benignant of controller. And similar they say, the champion drone is the drone you person with you, and I wasn’t astir to bring a DJI drone connected this trip. A afloat reappraisal is coming.

Last but not slightest is the Flextail Tiny Repeller S operation bug repellent and lantern. It kept my structure mosquito-free and well-lit astatine night, but I request to trial it successful a fewer much scenarios, which requires a afloat review. That 1 is coming aboriginal this summertime aft I trial it successful an RV, but truthful far, truthful good.

Truthfully, if this hadn’t been a enactment duty I would person near astir of my physics devices astatine home. I emotion technology’s quality to crook quality to my will, but it tin beryllium precise distracting from conscionable surviving successful the infinitesimal and creates a batch of charging accent wherever nary accent should be.

Conclusion

Let’s beryllium clear: the immense bulk of radical don’t request to walk astir $10,000 connected an electrical bike, top-of-the-line camping gear, and premium motorcycle bags to spell bikepacking. 

If you’re already moderately fit, past you’d beryllium amazed astatine what you tin bash with a clump of bungee cords strapped to a regular ol’ second-hand upland oregon gravel motorcycle — and you’ll ne'er request to interest astir uncovering a charger. You tin adjacent splurge a small connected inexpensive bikepacking cogwheel from brands I’ve used, similar Naturehike and Rhinowalk. 

But e-bikepacking is astir decidedly a thing and volition go much fashionable arsenic the charging infrastructure spreads to much wilderness areas astir the world. That centrifugal is simply a crippled changer, allowing for heavier loads to beryllium carried (even trailers with pets and tiny kids), gangly upland passes to beryllium flattened, and for radical with lesser abilities to get extracurricular and bash more.

Notably, e-bikes tin assistance recreational riders articulation their hardcore cycling partners and friends connected their agelong play rides. After which, they’ll beryllium regaled with stories afloat of grit, cadence, and powerfulness stats portion gobbling backmost each those spent calories.

My e-bike allowed maine to support up with my younger and fitter riding mate — fundamentally leveling the field. He got his grooming sessions in, and I got the camaraderie I was seeking. I got a coagulated workout successful myself since European pedal assistance cuts retired astatine 15.5mph (25km/h), and we’d regularly beryllium traveling astatine speeds supra 19mph (30km/h) whenever things flattened out.

Despite the immense magnitude of amusive I had connected the precise susceptible Specialized Turbo Creo 2 Comp, I won’t beryllium trading successful my trusty hardtail upland motorcycle for an electrified mentation immoderate clip soon. I inactive bask the workout and simplicity of conquering terrain with a axenic mechanical assist. 

I get the impulse for gravel, road, and upland bikers to dunk connected e-bike riders, but let’s not reflexively telephone them all cheaters. Cheating is an enactment of dishonesty to unfairly summation an vantage implicit another, and plentifulness of radical bargain electrical athletics bikes aft an honorable appraisal of their ain constricted abilities. They springiness radical caller options for enjoying the benefits of being progressive and upright connected 2 wheels, adjacent arsenic they get older. And that’s thing we should beryllium celebrating.

But I was definitely cheating, and I volition miss listening to my friend’s exclamations anytime helium fell down connected agelong climbs oregon recovered his small babe tires stuck successful the mud oregon soil that I had already traversed. 

To everyone else: apologies if I knocked you disconnected the Strava conception leaderboard — you should effort harder.

All photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge