Collection: Long Range E-Bikes

Australians love their cycle tours. Whether that’s winding down the 100KM beach road or taking off through our beautiful mountain ranges, we treasure our time on two wheels. However, as devout cyclists, we know that cycling is about more than just exercise. Beyond being a practical and fast way of getting around, it’s an adventure. It’s fun.It’s exhilarating. It’s peaceful. Time flies past as fast as the countryside.

However, the limit on our adventure isn’t the bike. It’s us.

We get tired and worn out. Our muscles begin to hurt, and the further away from home, the more we have to worry about turning back before our adventure becomes a chore.

That’s where long range electric bikes come in.

When you get tired of riding, you can just switch on the electric motor or increase the Pedal Assistance and suddenly, you’re moving again with half the effort. And the further your electric bike can go per charge, the further you can go too.

Ride longer. Ride farther. Ride more.

The most notable benefit of a long range electric bike is, somewhat obviously, the long range.

Electric bikes are a unique form of electric transportation in that they can be used even when the battery is flat. Jump on an e-scooter or in your shiny new Tesla and it’s more-or-less useless without a charge.

An E-Bike, however, can still be pedalled.

But even so, e-bikes are heavier than their pedal-driven counterparts. The electrical componentry and batteries take their toll on the weight of the e-bike, which in turn exacts a toll on the effort you have to put in to cycle it.

A long range ebike mitigates this risk by lasting longer in between charges, meaning you can go further per charge, or you can complete more trips without having to recharge your battery. This improves the general convenience of owning an electric bike, which is the second benefit of owning one.

A good range for an e-bike is probably going to be the range you need the e-bike to cover at any one time. For example, if you cycle around 20 kms per day, ending your ride at a charging point, then a good range for you is about 20 - 30 kms.

However, we’d consider that ‘short range’, so long range e-bikes can generally cover 60 km+, with bonus points for every kilometre over 100 km.

The maximum range of any electric vehicle, whether that be a scooter, car, skateboard, or bike, is produced under ‘perfect’ conditions. The vehicle is placed on a special, perfectly flat treadmill in a room with an ideal ambient temperature plus a rider or driver well below the weight limit of the vehicle. There is no wind. No luggage. The screen brightness is turned down, and the pedal assist is on its lowest level. All superfluous features such as lights are switched off, and the tyres are inflated above their recommended maximum to reduce road friction.

That’s because all of these things can impact range. If you’re a heavy-set rider, your range goes down. If you turn up the screen brightness and ride everywhere with your lights on, you’re using battery power, which reduces range. If you’re going up a hill, your motor is working harder, which draws more power. This reduces range.

Cycling into a headwind? Reduced range.

Carrying luggage? Reduced range.

Cold day? This impacts the battery performance, and guess what? Reduced range.

So there is a list of things you’ll encounter every day that can impact range. This isn’t something unique to Fiido or Aventon e-bikes - this impacts every electric bike in the world.

So how do you, as the rider, apply that information to find the right bike? Simply put, you need to know exactly what type of riding you’re going to be doing.

If your daily ride is going to take you up hills in the dark, you’re going to be carrying 20KG of bags, panniers, and luggage, and you’ll be cycling about 40 kms per day, you need to choose the highest range you can find. Even an e-bike with a maximum range of 100 km will start to tap out at ~65 kms under these circumstances.

If your ride is going along the predominantly flat cycle track into the CBD during the day, you can choose something with considerably less range. Your e-bike won’t be working as hard, and you’ll be able to go further.