What's amazing for someone at Andrew's level, is how after going hard on the 25% section, he can recover so quickly from that to go flat out on the 3% finish - awesome!
This is really exactly what e-bikes are for, getting people through situation they normally couldn't, if that is a steep hill or a longer commute, or a 10 mile round trip to the shops. That is their purpose, functional active transport. Talking about them in performance terms is somewhat irrelevant, longevity, comfort, and low maintenance is more important. People are riding this bike 8 hours a day on an UberEats shift, not on a leisure ride through the Lake District, that said for basic leisure riding this is a great use of an e-bike for the less fit or people who can't easily propel themselves.
All the Uber Eats/Deliveroo/Just Eat bikes round me are chipped and work on a throttle, they only really pedal to get going then it's the whirr of the motor doing all of the work.
As an older amateur rider I really appreciate the extra speed I get from my Eike on steep climbs. On a regular bike climbing a 10% gradient I can manage only around 8 - 9kph, but I can double that on the Eike. At slower speeds I have a harder time maintaining a straight line, which can make it hard for traffic to pass me safely. At the higher speed I'm able to stay over on the shoulder, making it much safer for me. I'm also less fatigued when I reach the top and have the energy to do longer rides with more elevation. I'm 72 and the Eike is keeping me riding and keeping me healthy.
The best part about this is that it makes you feel or reminds us of the times when we were kids and just making up stuff just to compete on our bikes! This is why I love riding my bike. It makes us feel like a kid again. Awesome Vid! Andrew keeps giving us OGs hope that we can keep up with these young cats.
@@crayle9905 A couple of weeks ago I was puffing my way up a really steep hill and an old lady on an ebike whizzed past me, it made me laugh all the way to the top. I love how ebikes open cycling up to almost everyone.
This video was not only enjoyable to watch, but demonstrated to all the ability of e-bikes as a source of enjoyment of outdoor travel. Great comparison. Enjoyed Si’s and Andrew’s spirit and conversation through the video. Yes….please do more. Great way to start the day!
A couple of things come your way mind. 1) I think of e-bikes as a means to open up cycling to a wider audience of people. So, a series of videos showing his “non-racing” people, and groups of people, use e-bikes as a productive means of enjoying the outdoors, riding to the local market, or cafe. 2) Love the videos with Andrew. Would enjoy seeing how he is training for the Hill Climbing Championships. I would also like to see Andrew go head to head against Phil Gaimon, two masters of hill climbing and KOM mastery. 3) Always enjoyed when the different commentators travel to iconic locations and ride, exploring the area, having fun with the locals, and enjoying the sights while riding. Thank you for asking!
Andrew continues to be an absolute beast on climbs. That was incredibly impressive, and also it ended up about where I anticipated too, though I thought Si would have been behind for the entire thing tbh... Very nicely done as well Si.
Loved this video. My Dad recently bought a specialized Creo ebike for our rides together. We're now 32 (me) and 62 (him) years old and he can happily hold my wheel on flats and descents all day but on the climbs the gap was getting a bit bigger, I'd be waiting longer at the top and it was maybe restricting the sort of riding we could do etc. Now he's got the ebike we can race just like this to the top, still mess around and have the sort of fun we've always had together on our bikes. This summer we even managed a 300km hilly ride and a 220km, 7000m elevation ride in the Conwy valley with my Dad's ebike. He's lucky he can afford the Creo, I think this video shows that other people can keep having this fun with their riding partners on a budget too. Well done Si and Andrew!
Excellent race, thoroughly enjoyed. On a recent cycling holiday I had the pleasure to be riding on my unpowered hybrid with two 80 year olds who had been given e-bikes for their birthdays. I was social riding at its best I didn't feel humiliated at all when the lady sailed past me up the steeper hills with a smile on her face!
Excellent video. As an older, less fit and heavier cyclist i really struggle with hills now. I don't think i could pedal up that hill. Now thinking ebike is the way to go to keep me riding the routes i want to do. ** straight on Internet to convert my gravel bike **
Ebikes are amazing. Me+bike+packing is around 170kg and I fly up anything on my ful sus emtb. Even climbs that many would label as hard to walk up. Best daily driver I've ever had.
same here. didn't want to compromise/overspend on the bike or on a proprietary "e-", so i bought a friction drive for my trusty old travel bike - and SOOO happy now. 150km a tour no problem now. best: I can mount the said drive also on my cargo bike.
The biggest inspiration from Feather for me is how incredibly relaxed he looks riding out of the saddle, like a kid on a BMX for what seems like mile after mile. I'm never going to equal his wattage at this point in life but the out of saddle thing is something to work for.
The fact you had to work on these e-bikes is actually really good, they aren't throttle controlled but pedal assisted which is great, you can cover a lot of hills, wind, and distance but still get the exercise in
What a load of BS! This is a motorbike, whether you activate that motor by your feet or your hands is irrelevant, it's also irrelevant whether the motor is limited to a certain speed, or is gas or battery powered. E-bikes/moped and motorscooters have more in common with motorcycles and cars and do not belong on bike paths, MTB trails or sidewalks. You can blow all the sunshine up peoples asses you want, but these things provide no meaningful fitness benefits and believing otherwise is delusional!! They're an insult to cyclist and dangerous to all, including their drivers
Agree. I’m 67, still good on hills on my road bike, but also love riding my Gocycle. I’d got it to commute, but it can give a great workout in any weather and fun. Good for Zone 2 rides also.
This is a pretty great video showing just how capable Feather is - to document it in high definitiion is great because just watching those accelerations is astonishing. What a rider!
Great video! Please do another on a longer climb! E-bikes are created in order to get anyone that cannot or doesn’t wanna do much fatigue going uphill. That 25km/h limits are limiting the competition between the two bikes, if there is no speed limits for e-bikes, the race should go in another way easily!
I took a ride with my FIL on his E cruiser bike, and me unassisted. I had to draft him to keep up, while he was bouncing off his speed limiter. Pretty fun for us to be able to ride together, despite a large age and notable fitness gap.
That’s what I love most about them. My grandad (85) has hung up his Peugeot racer now, thank goodness, but has an ebike and we can still go and ride together, which for me is priceless.
Andrew is a beast and I'm really happy he won that race... I hate e-bikes around where I live with a passion, because they're used by younger people who can't be bothered to put in the work and have absolutely no notion of right of way or simple courtesy.
This! It used to be pensioners but now I see more and more young(ish), healthy men - it is mostly men if it's about "sports" - riding e-bikes behaving like they're king of the road. And I live in a really, really flat city in Germany. It's ridiculous.
That was a cool race! Glad to see you catch and pass him on the steep section to keep him guessing. Reminds me on a commute home we have a 13% section which lasts around 400m. Got passed by an old guy on an e-bike and just to see how fast I would have to go to keep up I jumped behind him for about 25seconds at 450watts. So no chance for us more average riders. And also the fact that e-bikes in NZ are restricted to 32kph I think from memory.
Sorry. But knew this comment was coming. But remember: nearly every KOM is more ore less „cheated“. Wind, drafting behind vehicles, drafting behind other riders. Women especially draft behind men riders all the time. That’s why KOMs have no value for me.
Really enjoyable and entertaining. E bikes definitely have their place especially for older people allowing them to enjoy mountain passes they otherwise wouldn’t contemplate doing, even if it is a bit dispiriting when a 60 year old comes sailing past you on the Stelvio . Not sure Ed will be too happy about sharing that KOM given some of the pacing from the motorbike.
This is really some great content... it just goes to show that e-Bikes at any level have value. All my friends kind of scoff at e-bikes being for little rubber people. But they can and are opening up the fun of biking to a whole world of people who just could not experience it before. This is the beauty of any e-transport, it is getting people out of their boxes and expanding their range of exploration without killing them physically. It is the concept of "enjoyment first" exercise... and it's time is due.
Very enjoyable video.... After too many years away from cycling I bought myself a Decathlon E-st100 bike and rode it for around a year and a half before purchasing a Trek Domane al2. Riding the same routes I've noticed that on the flat I'm averaging around 18mph on the road bike as I was also on the Electric bike. I can cycle faster than this but currently my fitness doesn't allow me to do it for mile after mile. An interesting difference obviously is that the Electric gets me up to 15.5mph quicker before cutting off then the rest is down to me. I can also go faster than 18mph on it however the gearing just isn't enough and my cadence is stupidly fast. On the hills yes the electric is a joy but it is also on the flat. Currently I set myself a lap time on my electric and then ride my road bike with the goal of getting as close as possible to it...... Damned hard for a newbie like me but also so very rewarding. One thing I will say is that on my electric bike I still sweat like a pig but due to the more upright position and reduced physical effort compared to the constant grind on the road bike I find myself struggling more with cold than on my road bike. Also it's taken some time for me to build up my strength again in my legs to get the road bike Up to speed thanks to the electric motor. Great to have one of each......
I have a 36v 250w hub motor bike. It stalls at steep inclines(very hilly terrain). Also the battery looses 20% juice within 2-3 minutes of climb. On regular city roads, I can get 200km on a single charge(6ah) by turning on the motor only on inclined roads. No need to pedal downhill. It depends on the type of terrain you live at.
I get very good range from my electric Boardman gravel bike because most of the time I'm over the speed where the motor turns off. I'd love a bike with an inclinometer which only turned on the motor at a configurable gradient.
@@ColinBroderickMaths You can use the assistance as an extra gear. I think a trick to get the most range would be to maintain 25km plus as much as possible, which is what you're doing.
As I was climbing out of Letchworth Park a couple on E bikes sailed past me. Fast forward 3 miles and now they were on the side of the road with dead batteries and were faced with a short steep climb with heavy bikes. Go Leg Power!
A very well-chosen course I think - the ebike would have won on a continuously steep climb like Winnat's Pass and Feather would have sailed off into the distance on a shallower climb like Haytor or Cragg Vale. The variation in gradient is what made this...
In the hands of a regular E-bike rider I doubt the E-bike would have caught or passed Feather on those steep bits. I think Si was giving more assist to the motor than the motor was giving to Si 😂
One big thing missing in this test. Si's sunglasses that are bigger than a Mini's windscreen!!! Would have been good for another 2mph average and it could have been a photo finish 😎
I’ve been thinking that another 250 watts or so might make the g/f a little more willing to come out & ride, assuming that the basic range & regen are there as well. Some indoor training & an ebike could be the equalizer that some couples need.
We use a tandem for relatively flat rides, and when I want to do some serious hill climbs, I use my road bike and my girlfriend uses her ebike. Our climbing limit on the tandem is about 8%. We find the mileage limit on the ebike is about 40 miles.
As somebody who finally capitulated and converted an old paratrooper 26" foldable MTB to an e-bike so I can commute and not get to work covered in sweat I loved this content. More e-bike vs normal bikes commute videos please!
ssenssel. Yes, it was interesting to see the benefit of the motor on the steep sections. Having finally, at the age of 90, decided the hills where I live were too much, I got elec-assist. Wanting to keep my road bike though, I just added a lightweight, unobtrusive friction drive kit. It works very well and those hills are now possible again. A combination of the steepness of the gradient and gear selection ensures as much of a workout as I want. A 25km/hr limit doesn't bother me at my age.
I would have never guessed a 250w e bike would do that well. I’m from America and where I live we can have up to 1000w e-bikes limited at 28mph/45kph. That would be a wildly different result I’m guessing. 😂
This is what worries me with Strava. At least you changed it to ebike. How many other people are knocking up high scores using ebikes and not changing it in the settings. Especially on the hills for us normal people on cheaper bikes. Great video as always 👍🏻
I would have never thought "I need to see this video" but I enjoyed it!. Now lets see the worlds cheapest E-bike on some iconic climbs. Baggy shorts and all!
Maybe you should do a bakeoff with Feather in the US or Canada, where the 25kmh limit on e-bikes does not apply -- rather it's 20 mph, or 32kmh. (This is great for e-bikes on roads, not so good on trails where you can be easily surprised from behind on a recreational ride). I see from Strava that the Feather went back again a day or two ago and really spiked the ball as well say in North America -- another 27 seconds off the time with a 487 watt average. Should be safe now.
Yep the total mass of a 70kg rider and a 15kg (decent) road e-bike is a lot less than a 120kg chunkster on a creaking 7kg race machine going downhill eh....so shatters the myth of the big heavy e-bike being a danger at speed-silly laws as ever.... they should restrict every single car and motorcycle to 70mph then... no need to go faster than the maximum limit in this country is there??
I was laughing my ass off seeing Feather smoke Si on the last bit there. That was amazing. Does Feather even need a bicycle saddle?! He doesn't seem to ever put his ass on it!
8:59 So in other words, get at least a 1000W hub motor bike, or lower with mid-drive 😛 Which makes sense since most ebike shops would suggest getting that much power if you need to tackle some hills with no pedal assist in your area. But seriously, I was starting to wish I had an ebike when I did my longest ride so far (53km) AND with average 8.8% gradient.
I am surprised how well the e-bike was, clearly speaks for the power of the rider as well. Totally not surprised by the winner, maybe a little bit by the gap.
The video is about comparing a cheap eBike with an expensive road bike. After reading the car focussed comments of the PM of the UK, and thinking about what would a high end racing bike be like with a low weight motor in the bottom bracket? So I thought I would suggest the creation of GCN eBike Channel, to focus on eBikes. I know some will want to race them, they always do. But, I would like to see the flavour of GCN eBike to be about the personal transport role of a bicycle and about combining the amazing bike tech we have with electric motor technology to help people into a real alternative to a car for commuting and shopping and domestic travel and holiday or weekend adventures. There are limits to eBike, you need to plan on averaging around 20kmh with current technology over the kms you travel in a day, so a 200km trip will take about 10 hours riding and a recharge, that is where you need the time to ride for 10 hours or you need a car. I don't see the need to get rid of cars, but by using current technology we can have a lot more fun going shorter distances on a bicycle and we can make cars last longer which equals less expensive over time.
The race was actually quite suspenseful... for about 30 seconds. The ebike I just I bought (which hasn't been delivered yet but I didn't pay much - $955 USD) ) has a 750-watt motor and can do 32 KPH (at least 25 KPH on hills) just on throttle-only (and nearly 50 KPH on peddle assist on flats) so I think you could have beaten him with a good ebike. Anyway, fun race, worth a thumbs up.
In the UK yours would not qualify as an ebike and would be classed and regulated similarly to a motorbike, it would not be a reasonable or fair comparison at all.
@@liamhevo Where I live (Massachusetts), ebikes with 750 watt motors are permitted without registration/license and are classified as a bicycle so long as your ebike on throttle-power alone doesn't go beyond 20 MPH. I guess it's lower in the UK. I may tempt fate and get the accessory controller that allows my ebike to do 28 MPH on throttle (not permitted without a valid license) for a little more oooomph getting up hills but with my luck I'll either crash or get arrested the first day lol
These bike motors shut off at 15 mph for Europe i believe. He was literally limited top speed by the e-bike controller. You take the same USA version of this ebike and race is different outcome.
A Trek Domane e bike would have been cool to see you ride against Feather. I am not certain you can get those in Britain. When are you going to have Mr. Feather ride up Mauna Kea? That would be AWESOME!
What other challenges should Feather and/or the Amazon e-bike take on? 👀 Let us know in the comments below! 👇
mid-drive e-bike on the further & more gradient climbing, i think.
Commute race against a 20mph car from Cardiff Castle to the Sennedd in Cardiff Bay.
Would be very interested to see a reverse rematch. Could Andrew do his 30km on a 20kg bike?
Angliru is waiting for the rematch
Just demonstrates how ridiculous a 25kph limit on the ebike is.
What's amazing for someone at Andrew's level, is how after going hard on the 25% section, he can recover so quickly from that to go flat out on the 3% finish - awesome!
He's quite a beast!
There is no recovery on an all out 8 minute effort. It‘s literally just at around ~115% FTP
That’s without wearing Aero socks! 😊
Es por su capacidad anaerobica
Dude is built differently
This is really exactly what e-bikes are for, getting people through situation they normally couldn't, if that is a steep hill or a longer commute, or a 10 mile round trip to the shops. That is their purpose, functional active transport. Talking about them in performance terms is somewhat irrelevant, longevity, comfort, and low maintenance is more important.
People are riding this bike 8 hours a day on an UberEats shift, not on a leisure ride through the Lake District, that said for basic leisure riding this is a great use of an e-bike for the less fit or people who can't easily propel themselves.
Totally agree. They are work horses, not performance fiends.
All the Uber Eats/Deliveroo/Just Eat bikes round me are chipped and work on a throttle, they only really pedal to get going then it's the whirr of the motor doing all of the work.
@@neildaniel8232plus often 750 W motors…
Yet i saw more able bodied people ride e-bike and mock people like me who ride traditional bicycle
@@yukiko_5051 Having an e-bike doesn't fix stupid...
Love that Mr. Feather. A class act and an inspiring cyclist. I watch any videos with him, no matter how ridiculous.
Have you seen his Everesting film on GCN+? Well worth a watch! 👉 gcn.eu/8848m
@@gcnIndeed I have!
As an older amateur rider I really appreciate the extra speed I get from my Eike on steep climbs. On a regular bike climbing a 10% gradient I can manage only around 8 - 9kph, but I can double that on the Eike. At slower speeds I have a harder time maintaining a straight line, which can make it hard for traffic to pass me safely. At the higher speed I'm able to stay over on the shoulder, making it much safer for me. I'm also less fatigued when I reach the top and have the energy to do longer rides with more elevation. I'm 72 and the Eike is keeping me riding and keeping me healthy.
The best part about this is that it makes you feel or reminds us of the times when we were kids and just making up stuff just to compete on our bikes! This is why I love riding my bike. It makes us feel like a kid again. Awesome Vid! Andrew keeps giving us OGs hope that we can keep up with these young cats.
Wow, I think this is the first time I’ve seen Andrew laugh and smile. He is usually all business
Thats the excitement a pure roadie gets whenever he beats an e-bike on a hill - I can relate
@@crayle9905 A couple of weeks ago I was puffing my way up a really steep hill and an old lady on an ebike whizzed past me, it made me laugh all the way to the top. I love how ebikes open cycling up to almost everyone.
Hahahaha you don't become the climbing machine that is feather from messing around 😂 Eurobike winning people over AGAIN!
This video was not only enjoyable to watch, but demonstrated to all the ability of e-bikes as a source of enjoyment of outdoor travel. Great comparison. Enjoyed Si’s and Andrew’s spirit and conversation through the video. Yes….please do more. Great way to start the day!
Thanks so much! What else would you like to see us do, either with Andrew or e-bikes!?
Great video and ebikes like this allow folks like me without a large budget and with bad knees to still get out and get cycling!
I would love to see a redo but with you on a quality road ebike
A couple of things come your way mind. 1) I think of e-bikes as a means to open up cycling to a wider audience of people. So, a series of videos showing his “non-racing” people, and groups of people, use e-bikes as a productive means of enjoying the outdoors, riding to the local market, or cafe. 2) Love the videos with Andrew. Would enjoy seeing how he is training for the Hill Climbing Championships. I would also like to see Andrew go head to head against Phil Gaimon, two masters of hill climbing and KOM mastery. 3) Always enjoyed when the different commentators travel to iconic locations and ride, exploring the area, having fun with the locals, and enjoying the sights while riding.
Thank you for asking!
Andrew continues to be an absolute beast on climbs. That was incredibly impressive, and also it ended up about where I anticipated too, though I thought Si would have been behind for the entire thing tbh... Very nicely done as well Si.
There dosn't seem to be a climb that Feather can't smash! We were very impressed by the little Ebike too though 🙌
Loved this video. My Dad recently bought a specialized Creo ebike for our rides together. We're now 32 (me) and 62 (him) years old and he can happily hold my wheel on flats and descents all day but on the climbs the gap was getting a bit bigger, I'd be waiting longer at the top and it was maybe restricting the sort of riding we could do etc.
Now he's got the ebike we can race just like this to the top, still mess around and have the sort of fun we've always had together on our bikes. This summer we even managed a 300km hilly ride and a 220km, 7000m elevation ride in the Conwy valley with my Dad's ebike.
He's lucky he can afford the Creo, I think this video shows that other people can keep having this fun with their riding partners on a budget too. Well done Si and Andrew!
Always a joy to watch Mr. Andrew Feather, what a nice person and an absolute beast of a climber. Legend
He's a legend! Check out his Everesting film we made on GCN+ 👉 gcn.eu/8848m
Do the same climb but get Si on his climbing bike and the Twig on that E-Bike, now that would be interesting 🤔😂
Yes, this would be great!
I feel like the results may be quite clear 😂
@@gcn True..... Mr Feather has no chance 😬
Excellent race, thoroughly enjoyed. On a recent cycling holiday I had the pleasure to be riding on my unpowered hybrid with two 80 year olds who had been given e-bikes for their birthdays. I was social riding at its best I didn't feel humiliated at all when the lady sailed past me up the steeper hills with a smile on her face!
Si has a real ability to bring out the best in whoever he presents with.
Excellent video. As an older, less fit and heavier cyclist i really struggle with hills now. I don't think i could pedal up that hill. Now thinking ebike is the way to go to keep me riding the routes i want to do. ** straight on Internet to convert my gravel bike **
Sub sub-compact chainrings are a lifesaver. They turn granny gears into great granny gears.
Ebikes are amazing. Me+bike+packing is around 170kg and I fly up anything on my ful sus emtb. Even climbs that many would label as hard to walk up.
Best daily driver I've ever had.
Ebikes are amazing! keeping people cycling or bringing people onto two wheels is never a bad thing 🙌 We hope the Ebike hunt goes well!
@Frostbiker do they come in great great granny gears 😂
same here. didn't want to compromise/overspend on the bike or on a proprietary "e-", so i bought a friction drive for my trusty old travel bike - and SOOO happy now. 150km a tour no problem now.
best: I can mount the said drive also on my cargo bike.
I am a Feather fan! He should be an inspiration to all of us working guys that ride!
This fit and a fill time job... it's very impressive!
Doping test required
The biggest inspiration from Feather for me is how incredibly relaxed he looks riding out of the saddle, like a kid on a BMX for what seems like mile after mile. I'm never going to equal his wattage at this point in life but the out of saddle thing is something to work for.
He reminds me of Alberto Contador, who could dance on those pedals forever it seemed without tiring.
Every video Feather's in is a banger!!
We're glad you agree! What else would you like to see him do with us?
@@gcn just send him to interesting hills and let him eat. I'm always interested in his bike set up content as well.
Si looks back and sees this velociraptor of a KOM hunter coming after him “Oh God!”
Utterly incredible race! Bravo chaps!
Hahhaha is did have a Jurassic park feel to it!
The fact you had to work on these e-bikes is actually really good, they aren't throttle controlled but pedal assisted which is great, you can cover a lot of hills, wind, and distance but still get the exercise in
They're such a great tool!
What a load of BS! This is a motorbike, whether you activate that motor by your feet or your hands is irrelevant, it's also irrelevant whether the motor is limited to a certain speed, or is gas or battery powered. E-bikes/moped and motorscooters have more in common with motorcycles and cars and do not belong on bike paths, MTB trails or sidewalks. You can blow all the sunshine up peoples asses you want, but these things provide no meaningful fitness benefits and believing otherwise is delusional!! They're an insult to cyclist and dangerous to all, including their drivers
Agree. I’m 67, still good on hills on my road bike, but also love riding my Gocycle. I’d got it to commute, but it can give a great workout in any weather and fun. Good for Zone 2 rides also.
This is a pretty great video showing just how capable Feather is - to document it in high definitiion is great because just watching those accelerations is astonishing. What a rider!
Feather is a beast! We might need to bring out the big guns to beat him uphill! 👀
Si's crys of desperation were hysterical. Yes, want to see more of Andrew and his hill crushing abilities.
We've done some great challenges with Feather in the past, brompton racing was fun 👉 th-cam.com/video/CCAwg9OMa84/w-d-xo.html
Great video! Please do another on a longer climb! E-bikes are created in order to get anyone that cannot or doesn’t wanna do much fatigue going uphill. That 25km/h limits are limiting the competition between the two bikes, if there is no speed limits for e-bikes, the race should go in another way easily!
I took a ride with my FIL on his E cruiser bike, and me unassisted. I had to draft him to keep up, while he was bouncing off his speed limiter. Pretty fun for us to be able to ride together, despite a large age and notable fitness gap.
That’s what I love most about them. My grandad (85) has hung up his Peugeot racer now, thank goodness, but has an ebike and we can still go and ride together, which for me is priceless.
Andrew is a beast and I'm really happy he won that race... I hate e-bikes around where I live with a passion, because they're used by younger people who can't be bothered to put in the work and have absolutely no notion of right of way or simple courtesy.
This! It used to be pensioners but now I see more and more young(ish), healthy men - it is mostly men if it's about "sports" - riding e-bikes behaving like they're king of the road. And I live in a really, really flat city in Germany. It's ridiculous.
That video was worth it just for the banter when Si overtook Andrew on the steepest bit 😂 Wasn’t surprised with the outcome though!
That was a cool race! Glad to see you catch and pass him on the steep section to keep him guessing. Reminds me on a commute home we have a 13% section which lasts around 400m. Got passed by an old guy on an e-bike and just to see how fast I would have to go to keep up I jumped behind him for about 25seconds at 450watts. So no chance for us more average riders. And also the fact that e-bikes in NZ are restricted to 32kph I think from memory.
What other races should we do??
what a fun video. That's an interesting comparison. Thanks Si R and Andrew F 👏
Amazing really that Ed got the KOM without drafting from a motorbike at the bottom and top. Respect.
Sorry. But knew this comment was coming. But remember: nearly every KOM is more ore less „cheated“. Wind, drafting behind vehicles, drafting behind other riders. Women especially draft behind men riders all the time. That’s why KOMs have no value for me.
Really enjoyable and entertaining. E bikes definitely have their place especially for older people allowing them to enjoy mountain passes they otherwise wouldn’t contemplate doing, even if it is a bit dispiriting when a 60 year old comes sailing past you on the Stelvio .
Not sure Ed will be too happy about sharing that KOM given some of the pacing from the motorbike.
That was AWESOME! Yes - more please!!! I was rooting for Andrew - so glad he won! It was incredible to watch him. Also always enjoy Si's humor!
Thoroughly enjoyed that race. Feather obviously wanted the KOM but so nice to see the humour as well
Wow!!! I ❤ Andrew! What a hell of a climber! I wish I could do half his power climbing. Go Andrew! I 👍 ✊️
This is really some great content... it just goes to show that e-Bikes at any level have value. All my friends kind of scoff at e-bikes being for little rubber people. But they can and are opening up the fun of biking to a whole world of people who just could not experience it before.
This is the beauty of any e-transport, it is getting people out of their boxes and expanding their range of exploration without killing them physically. It is the concept of "enjoyment first" exercise... and it's time is due.
Very enjoyable video....
After too many years away from cycling I bought myself a Decathlon E-st100 bike and rode it for around a year and a half before purchasing a Trek Domane al2.
Riding the same routes I've noticed that on the flat I'm averaging around 18mph on the road bike as I was also on the Electric bike. I can cycle faster than this but currently my fitness doesn't allow me to do it for mile after mile. An interesting difference obviously is that the Electric gets me up to 15.5mph quicker before cutting off then the rest is down to me. I can also go faster than 18mph on it however the gearing just isn't enough and my cadence is stupidly fast.
On the hills yes the electric is a joy but it is also on the flat.
Currently I set myself a lap time on my electric and then ride my road bike with the goal of getting as close as possible to it......
Damned hard for a newbie like me but also so very rewarding.
One thing I will say is that on my electric bike I still sweat like a pig but due to the more upright position and reduced physical effort compared to the constant grind on the road bike I find myself struggling more with cold than on my road bike.
Also it's taken some time for me to build up my strength again in my legs to get the road bike Up to speed thanks to the electric motor.
Great to have one of each......
That was fascinating. Never expected you would win, but amazing to come so close on such a cheap, heavy E-bike., though you are a pretty good rider !
Nice time From Ed Laverack. Same time as Andrew, while Andrew got a tailwind and motorbike pacing/drafting.
The intensity and suspense made this video one of your best and hilarious to me, well done, Amazing Andrew!
Glad you enjoyed it! Anyother races we should be tackling with Feather?
What a race!!! More Andrew, please 😎💯👍
What should we get him doing next??
In the meantime, you can check out his Everesting film on GCN+ 👉 gcn.eu/8848m
haw a bout the same race race as this video but Andrew vs a mid range road e bike or say £1500 -3500 i recon the e bike who'd win @@gcn
I have a 36v 250w hub motor bike. It stalls at steep inclines(very hilly terrain). Also the battery looses 20% juice within 2-3 minutes of climb. On regular city roads, I can get 200km on a single charge(6ah) by turning on the motor only on inclined roads. No need to pedal downhill. It depends on the type of terrain you live at.
I get very good range from my electric Boardman gravel bike because most of the time I'm over the speed where the motor turns off. I'd love a bike with an inclinometer which only turned on the motor at a configurable gradient.
@@ColinBroderickMaths You can use the assistance as an extra gear. I think a trick to get the most range would be to maintain 25km plus as much as possible, which is what you're doing.
@@ColinBroderickMathsSo that isn't actually the range then, is it?
More Feather 🙌 He is just incredible
As I was climbing out of Letchworth Park a couple on E bikes sailed past me. Fast forward 3 miles and now they were on the side of the road with dead batteries and were faced with a short steep climb with heavy bikes. Go Leg Power!
You could put a mid drive ( kit ) and a small battery on a fast road bike with wideish grippy tyres 😊 that'd be interesting
I would love to see Andrew's brand new SSE Lab71 review and also to see he smashes the new KOMs 😍
Always great to see The Twig, knew he'd win it 😍
There's not many things he doesn't win! 👀
That's true 🥰@@gcn
Absolutely brilliant race.
Nice to see Andrew happy there, he doesnt usually smile and laugh but he loved that race!
A very well-chosen course I think - the ebike would have won on a continuously steep climb like Winnat's Pass and Feather would have sailed off into the distance on a shallower climb like Haytor or Cragg Vale. The variation in gradient is what made this...
Perhaps this was an opportunity for Si to practice riding up out of the saddle!
In the hands of a regular E-bike rider I doubt the E-bike would have caught or passed Feather on those steep bits.
I think Si was giving more assist to the motor than the motor was giving to Si 😂
I think you are right. He said 700 watts, so Si was putting out 450!
I love Feather videos, inspiring... even if i am crap at climbing
One big thing missing in this test. Si's sunglasses that are bigger than a Mini's windscreen!!! Would have been good for another 2mph average and it could have been a photo finish 😎
I used to have a specialized levo with the blevo app so my motor was unrestricted that would blow anything up hill. You could pedal at 30mph uphill
That was really fun to watch, thanks y'all!
It's fun climbing with the 2020 Giant Road E+ Pro 1.
I’ve been thinking that another 250 watts or so might make the g/f a little more willing to come out & ride, assuming that the basic range & regen are there as well. Some indoor training & an ebike could be the equalizer that some couples need.
We use a tandem for relatively flat rides, and when I want to do some serious hill climbs, I use my road bike and my girlfriend uses her ebike. Our climbing limit on the tandem is about 8%. We find the mileage limit on the ebike is about 40 miles.
Get her a 1000w mid drive. She will never want to get off the bike.
Andrew Feathers is just freakin’ awesome, he made that challenge look effortless.
This totally calls for more videos like this one! :)
Neat, when the ebike pulled away from Feather it looked like a scene from Cancellara.
Amazing how certain athletes have the perfect name for their sport and skill. I mean Feather...come on!
This was very fun to watch.
Yes, we would love to see more videos with Andrew, he is the "man" - always a pleasure to watch him in action. Enjoyed the competition.
man that was a good video. I love all the Andrew feather videos.
oh boy, Andrew, Ed and Harry Mac all taking KOMs from each other during Hill Climb season. This would be a great series!
Excellent video team, more Andrew Feather please and where was his victory jam sandwich?
As somebody who finally capitulated and converted an old paratrooper 26" foldable MTB to an e-bike so I can commute and not get to work covered in sweat I loved this content. More e-bike vs normal bikes commute videos please!
ssenssel. Yes, it was interesting to see the benefit of the motor on the steep sections. Having finally, at the age of 90, decided the hills where I live were too much, I got elec-assist. Wanting to keep my road bike though, I just added a lightweight, unobtrusive friction drive kit. It works very well and those hills are now possible again. A combination of the steepness of the gradient and gear selection ensures as much of a workout as I want. A 25km/hr limit doesn't bother me at my age.
@@vincekerrigan8300 Keep on riding, Sir! Kudos from Brazil. 🚲🚲👏👏
One of my favorite vids. I think a high quality E bike wins easily.
What a good presentation on the low level Shimano equipment. It all functions pretty well it seems. Even for 25% incline and 700+Watts put into it
Excellent video. How about comparing one of the (relatively few) stealth high grade road/gravel e-bikes with their analogue cousins?
I would have never guessed a 250w e bike would do that well. I’m from America and where I live we can have up to 1000w e-bikes limited at 28mph/45kph. That would be a wildly different result I’m guessing. 😂
Watching Si in those shorts on that bike! I'm still in hysterics! So good guys ❤😂😂
Great race, the Myatu must have given Feather a good carrot to chase to get the KOM (joint). 👌
It was the race result I was hoping for. Well done Mr. Feather!
This is what worries me with Strava. At least you changed it to ebike. How many other people are knocking up high scores using ebikes and not changing it in the settings. Especially on the hills for us normal people on cheaper bikes. Great video as always 👍🏻
Andrew you are the best!!! Don’t understand why don’t get a call from a team
I would have never thought "I need to see this video" but I enjoyed it!. Now lets see the worlds cheapest E-bike on some iconic climbs. Baggy shorts and all!
Be interesting to see a rematch but with Si on a light weight E bike like a pinarello nitrate
Maybe you should do a bakeoff with Feather in the US or Canada, where the 25kmh limit on e-bikes does not apply -- rather it's 20 mph, or 32kmh. (This is great for e-bikes on roads, not so good on trails where you can be easily surprised from behind on a recreational ride). I see from Strava that the Feather went back again a day or two ago and really spiked the ball as well say in North America -- another 27 seconds off the time with a 487 watt average. Should be safe now.
What's interesting is that power bikes are restricted to a lot less speed than a unpowered one
Yep the total mass of a 70kg rider and a 15kg (decent) road e-bike is a lot less than a 120kg chunkster on a creaking 7kg race machine going downhill eh....so shatters the myth of the big heavy e-bike being a danger at speed-silly laws as ever.... they should restrict every single car and motorcycle to 70mph then... no need to go faster than the maximum limit in this country is there??
I was laughing my ass off seeing Feather smoke Si on the last bit there. That was amazing.
Does Feather even need a bicycle saddle?! He doesn't seem to ever put his ass on it!
We definitely need more Andrew Feather content
Noted! What else would you like to see him do with us?
@@gcn Him Vs Si but he's on the cheapest e bike in baggie clothes and Si's on the most expensive e bike in lycra
Def let's see you and Ollie, and Dan! doing climbs in the lycra with 'super bikes' and then with the ebike. Keep the lycra on.
I okay you and feather on your regular bikes …..love Andrew Feather GO FOR IT BOYS!!! I think e bike are for much older people!!!
E-bikes can be for anyone!
8:59 So in other words, get at least a 1000W hub motor bike, or lower with mid-drive 😛
Which makes sense since most ebike shops would suggest getting that much power if you need to tackle some hills with no pedal assist in your area.
But seriously, I was starting to wish I had an ebike when I did my longest ride so far (53km) AND with average 8.8% gradient.
That was intense. I just switched to an eMTB, but I will keep my mind open to a super light MTB and make an honest man of myself
I am surprised how well the e-bike was, clearly speaks for the power of the rider as well. Totally not surprised by the winner, maybe a little bit by the gap.
Feather is and will always be a Legend 👏🏾✊🏾💪🏾👌🏾
The video is about comparing a cheap eBike with an expensive road bike. After reading the car focussed comments of the PM of the UK, and thinking about what would a high end racing bike be like with a low weight motor in the bottom bracket? So I thought I would suggest the creation of GCN eBike Channel, to focus on eBikes. I know some will want to race them, they always do. But, I would like to see the flavour of GCN eBike to be about the personal transport role of a bicycle and about combining the amazing bike tech we have with electric motor technology to help people into a real alternative to a car for commuting and shopping and domestic travel and holiday or weekend adventures. There are limits to eBike, you need to plan on averaging around 20kmh with current technology over the kms you travel in a day, so a 200km trip will take about 10 hours riding and a recharge, that is where you need the time to ride for 10 hours or you need a car. I don't see the need to get rid of cars, but by using current technology we can have a lot more fun going shorter distances on a bicycle and we can make cars last longer which equals less expensive over time.
I love Andrew's white jersey.
Always great to see ‘The feather’ do his thing 💪🏻
He does his thing pretty well in the Everesting film we made on GCN+! Check it out here! 👉 gcn.eu/8848m
Andrew needs to come to my area and claim a few KOM's, Spain ( Almeria) is nice this time of the year.
As someone who now owns a road e-bike (Orbea Gain) .....I suspect that would win out.....new video maybe? 🤔
The race was actually quite suspenseful... for about 30 seconds. The ebike I just I bought (which hasn't been delivered yet but I didn't pay much - $955 USD) ) has a 750-watt motor and can do 32 KPH (at least 25 KPH on hills) just on throttle-only (and nearly 50 KPH on peddle assist on flats) so I think you could have beaten him with a good ebike. Anyway, fun race, worth a thumbs up.
In the UK yours would not qualify as an ebike and would be classed and regulated similarly to a motorbike, it would not be a reasonable or fair comparison at all.
@@liamhevo Where I live (Massachusetts), ebikes with 750 watt motors are permitted without registration/license and are classified as a bicycle so long as your ebike on throttle-power alone doesn't go beyond 20 MPH. I guess it's lower in the UK. I may tempt fate and get the accessory controller that allows my ebike to do 28 MPH on throttle (not permitted without a valid license) for a little more oooomph getting up hills but with my luck I'll either crash or get arrested the first day lol
His face when he went past Andy 😂 classic ha ha
If i see andrew feather on the thumbnail of a gcn video. Gotta drop anything im doin. Im going to watch 😂
More comparison videos using the ebike please
These bike motors shut off at 15 mph for Europe i believe. He was literally limited top speed by the e-bike controller. You take the same USA version of this ebike and race is different outcome.
A Trek Domane e bike would have been cool to see you ride against Feather. I am not certain you can get those in Britain. When are you going to have Mr. Feather ride up Mauna Kea? That would be AWESOME!
Oooh Andrew, if your clip in was a little quicker, you would of taken that kom.
What a machine though 👏
Go the Feather what a rider.. living legend 😃😃👍🥇🚴🏻🚴🏻🚴🏻Pete
I love these challenges...that goodness it wasn't a Gravel bike thing.