Long time, no see! How time flies. I have had the Ribble SLe for a few months now and would like to share some of the experience riding and looking after it. The learning curve has been quite steep and is still ongoing, of course. One of the biggest questions is how to manage the battery charge level to ensure a long battery life. There are varying recommendations on battery charge management and on the best storage temperatures. Generally, though, the recommended temperature range is 10 deg C to 40 deg and the battery charge level between 20% and 80%. Keeping the charge level in this range is proving very difficult! The other area of learning is how to use the batteries on the road to preserve charge, as far as one can. Anyway, here are my thoughts and experiences, so far.
The hub motor, battery charger and control system is made by Mahle – a very big German maker of car parts. It can deliver 250 watts from the 36 volt battery in the down-tube. Maximum speed allowed for the assistance to operate is 15.5 mph or 25 kph. This is a legal limit but there is a 10% margin allowed by the law on the power delivery limit, I think – must study the legal limits in more detail! The battery has a capacity of 245 watt-hours. All very complex but the overall conclusion is that I am finding this to be a great help. One worry is that I am becoming too reliant on the motor and losing fitness. However, you can put as much effort in as you like and just increase the speed!
There are three levels of assistance, selected by the single control button on the cross bar. The colour shown by this button changes from green to orange to red as the assist level is increased. I normally use the first level of assistance at 83 watts when required and switch the battery off when the going is easy. The top level of assistance I have only used a very few times and the “push” is quite alarming. However, on very steep hills, the top level is very useful.
I have also bought a range extender battery of 245 watt-hours capacity, at ridiculous expense, to avoid charge anxiety – which electric car drivers suffer from, I am told. Although I did a test the other day, of a 30 km route from Ulverston and was able to prove to my satisfaction that I can ride the SLe without battery assistance, despite the increased weight. So, I am not losing the ability to ride at 10 mph or so in hilly South Lakes.
More on the subject of the electric bike in future.
Alex Menarry's blog, "thoughts from a 89 year old athlete" 
Hi Alex here is the link to the GCN show I was telling you about. If the Ribble SL bike can make it up the Stelvio I don’t think you should stress about battery life too much. Fred “the bad workman”
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