45kph Ebike Rocketship - Scott Solace eRIDE 2023

[OtterSpace]

I now have 500 miles on the bike and will soon have the TT bars fitted so I thought I'd post a general update before the look of the bike drastically changes with the TT bars. The bars are deda jet one purchased from starbike.

The current weight of the config shown below is 11.96kg with pedals which is lighter than the 13k usd after tax top spec of this bike. I also have a tracking spreadsheet of weights that show a path to 10.45kg without TT bars so this bike likely will end up a bit over 11kg when I'm done.

Wheels are on order but will take 2-4months to build. They will be lightbicycle WG44 flyweight 44mm deep 40mm wide 28hole extralite hubs with berd spokes.

I marched the stem down as far as I could safely with the stock expander plug for the current steerer height. Comfort wise I could go lower but dont want to do so until I cut down the steerer tube and I don't plan to cut the steerer until I purchase and recieve the final stem which will be an oversized darimo ix2 which has a higher stack height at 46mm. However, I'm holding off on ordering until I see what finish I want after I install the TT bars. Until then I'll have to live with the 20mm stack of doom.

I'm still a little on the fence for 1x vs 2x but am in no rush to change.

[byunbee]

I just bought the same bike - Solace eRide 20. Can you please link all the upgrades you made, where you purchased them and the price? Thanks.

[gurk700]

Sweet ride man. I haven't commuted since 2016 but sometimes I want an ebike so that I can ride endurance pace around where I live. Right outside the door is a 15% hill and any realistic 1+ hour route I make have at least 20 mins of climbing so it would be nice to switch the motor on for those. Hate easy rides on the trainer. Funny enough if it's hard intervals I prefer trainer and I don't get bored but 150 watts for 2 hours is a definite bore-fest and I end up not doing them on the trainer.

Anyway. Never really looked into ebikes but if I do, this scott looks hot IMO. And 100% agree for your size it looks a ton better than that trek.

[OtterSpace]

I just bought the same bike - Solace eRide 20. Can you please link all the upgrades you made, where you purchased them and the price? Thanks.

Below is my tracking spreadsheet for my planning. I haven't modified the tracker much since initially weighing parts and comparing price/g of upgrade options to
see what it would cost to achieve to max out to focus my upgrades. Many of the parts I list as $0 which are carry over from my past commuter or parts bin and it doesn't list what I can expect to make from selling takeoff parts.

Scott Solace eRIDE 20 2023 49cm (XS).xlsx

I'm at nearly 1,000 miles now and decided to stick with 12 speed instead of moving over my 11 speed setup for a smoother flow between gears which helps a lot with so much total power on tap.

I'm still unsure of 1x vs 2x which is my big debate and I've tried both setups as I swap between waxed chains. Thankfully both 1x and 2x are good at high gradients at max boost so you really can't go wrong. In 1x you loose efficiency in 50f-34r while in 2x the easy gears are too easy to use when using the small ring even at 20%+ gradients. I would change the chainrings to bigger ones if I could which may or may not be a limitation of the trek.

I tried tt bars and the bike is too fast to use them well for my commute conditions. There are portions where I dont wan't to be off my handlebars to be safer and there are sections where I can be on the bars when running in protected bike lanes. However at this speed transitioning from hoods to ttbars is too frequent to be worth it.

Given that I don't plan to run tt bars I don't need to clamp on a round bar so I no longer plan to go darimo for the cockpit. For me extra weight in the cockpit is worth it for better aero and stiffness at elevated ebike speeds. Unfortunately options are limited due to the overdrive 1-1/4 sterrer tube. Of the options available the scott bars are too wide with a min width of 38cm so I ruled those out but I would go that route if they had narrower bars. The farsports seems to be the most reviewed non OEM bar in 36cm that fits overdrive sterrers so I am leaning towards them. After I cut the stack and confirm final fit I'll likely place an order.

[OtterSpace]

Sweet ride man. I haven't commuted since 2016 but sometimes I want an ebike so that I can ride endurance pace around where I live. Right outside the door is a 15% hill and any realistic 1+ hour route I make have at least 20 mins of climbing so it would be nice to switch the motor on for those. Hate easy rides on the trainer. Funny enough if it's hard intervals I prefer trainer and I don't get bored but 150 watts for 2 hours is a definite bore-fest and I end up not doing them on the trainer.

Anyway. Never really looked into ebikes but if I do, this scott looks hot IMO. And 100% agree for your size it looks a ton better than that trek.

Thanks.

Something I didn't expect before buying is that ebikes like this are extremely good for base riding while they are kind of meh for max surging efforts. It rewards keeping steady power and you can get tons of climbing and descending in for the same time and effort while easily passing all other riders on your route. Basically it makes boring rides way better and it is very easy and rewarding to get prescriptive endurance riding in on platforms like this.

Even 20% is nothing for this bike at max boost and the battery holds for 1.5hrs for me at max without an extra extender battery.

Unfortunately outside the USA bikes like this are significantly limited and likely not worth it.

[gurk700]

Sweet ride man. I haven't commuted since 2016 but sometimes I want an ebike so that I can ride endurance pace around where I live. Right outside the door is a 15% hill and any realistic 1+ hour route I make have at least 20 mins of climbing so it would be nice to switch the motor on for those. Hate easy rides on the trainer. Funny enough if it's hard intervals I prefer trainer and I don't get bored but 150 watts for 2 hours is a definite bore-fest and I end up not doing them on the trainer.

Anyway. Never really looked into ebikes but if I do, this scott looks hot IMO. And 100% agree for your size it looks a ton better than that trek.

Thanks.

Something I didn't expect before buying is that ebikes like this are extremely good for base riding while they are kind of meh for max surging efforts. It rewards keeping steady power and you can get tons of climbing and descending in for the same time and effort while easily passing all other riders on your route. Basically it makes boring rides way better and it is very easy and rewarding to get prescriptive endurance riding in on platforms like this.

Even 20% is nothing for this bike at max boost and the battery holds for 1.5hrs for me at max without an extra extender battery.

Unfortunately outside the USA bikes like this are significantly limited and likely not worth it.

Yeah this sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Unfortunately can't get it before I move overseas but I'll be visiting often and it seems like a good thing to buy here and take it to new home.

[mike]

How long is your commute? Mine is 15 miles one way and takes me about 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs one way on a heavy pedal bike

[OtterSpace]

How long is your commute? Mine is 15 miles one way and takes me about 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs one way on a heavy pedal bike

My commute is 9 miles (~14.5km) each way on main suburban roads through Los Gatos and South San Jose with 18 stop lights and 3 stop signs one way and 17 stop lights and 2 stop signs the other way. Total ascent on this route is .1km (.06miles) and uses ~24% battery at max assist for each one way trip.

Given the time it takes to put on and take off commuting gear I haven't tracked exact rolling time. However, when I still had the trek I checked average speed at the end of rides so including time stopped at lights I would average 20-21mph (32.2 - 33.8km/h) from when I turned on the bike to when I plugging it in for charging from what I recall.

[OtterSpace]

Around three weeks ago I had my first safety issue while riding. Becasue of this incident I will be riding with a bell on this bike.

On part of the commute a two lane road was reworked to a 1 lane road in the last month so everyone is adjusting to this change and not totally used to it yet. See the photo below for better context. This photo was taken a week later at roughly the same spot.

The issue I ran into was a barely awake home owner walking from his house to pickup his trash cans without checking the cycle lane that he was crossing very well. I was going at 28mph (45kph) and saw him a second or two before I had to nearly full lock the brakes. While he was half way from his driveway to the bike lane he saw me but for him it didnt register how fast I was going and that he was walking directly into the bike lane traffic or something so he continued forward. If I had a bell I would have rang it at that time but instead I stopped pedaling and hoped he wouldnt continue walking into the bike lane before I saw him continue and had to hard brake to avoid plowing into him.

I have a spurcycle bell on my sub 9kg 7speed brompton, purhapse I should post that bike one day, so I purchased another given that I found it had the best sufficently loud, firm but pleasant tone, and build quality of any bike bell. I also saw that an aftermarket bar end 3dprint exists so I went that route for this bike.

[OtterSpace]

Some more updates including new photos of the bike after the first round of chopping the steerer tube. The gold chain is one of three YBN waxed chains in rotation with the other two being oil slick and black so that I can keep track of the chain rotation plan easily. I use the same master link between chains and track its usage with tick marks on a sticker on my wax pot so I know when to swap the master link. I'll update with photos of the other chains if I remember as I swap them.

I decided to stick with 50/34 front instead of going single front 50 so I bought a 11-30 cassette of which I only use the 30 if I don't want to temporarily shift down to the small ring. If the frame didn't limit me I would go 54/40 in the front.

Shimano released new firmware that finally tracks gear usage so attached is my usage from a 60/40 mix of commuting/hill climbing all riding is at max assist. As you can see by the usage I really would prefer a bigger front ring. I usually shift to somewhere around the 16t when stopped at lights which is likely why it has more time than others near it.

My wheelset is built and will be added to the bike in two weeks or so.

Scott fenders designed for this bike will be here soon in time for whatever minor winter might happen this year in California.

I also upgraded to the Silca UDH DM for even better shifting.

I'm still finding final position before buying handlebars but at this point I'm confident they will be EXS Aerover Integrated Handlebar in 360mm width but am unshure between two lengths so that update wont happen for awhile yet. Currently I'm running a Giant 90mm stem to try out different fit on my 81mm reach bars.

[OtterSpace]

Finally finished my WG44 Flyweight 28 hole Extralite Berd wheel build 1.205kg in total. Thats 523g saved over the stock Scott wheels not including any savings from moving from center lock to 6 bolt rotors.

This is my third Berd wheel build but first light bicycle rim build.

Rims both came over the max weight stated but they emailed me to confirm they are acceptable.

Took three months from ordering the hubs from Europe, the rims from China, getting all the parts to CA, then to MN, then back to CA.

I decided to go super wide because the downtube is so wide, and a super unaero shape, so I doubt wheel width impacts overall speed too much. However the 40mm wide external 30mm wide internal WG44 should match well with 38 or 44mm tires for a smooth tire to rim transition.

[romanmoser]

This is so good
Thanks for all the details and precise metrics you've provided us

Agree about 45kmh ebike making Z1Z2 boring riders, commute, much more fun at these speeds
Wished the european union will modifiy their stupid rules about e bikes 45kmh, ( you need specific e bikes helmets, gloves, insurance, plate like a car etc)

I agree it's not to put in everyone hands but think for experienced riders with average skills it's no probs

[OtterSpace]

This is so good
Thanks for all the details and precise metrics you've provided us

Thanks.

The bike is now 11.25kg with pedals and the bell after changing the wheels. Only major item left that I plan on changing is the stem & handlebars.

Update pic:

The berd wheels are exactly what I expected after owning two other sets but I'll do a deeper write up after more miles with this specific wheelset.

Small parts and consumables wise the 38cm tires come in at 42.1cm on the 40cm wide wheels at the pressure I run which seems nice so I'll likely order a set of rene herse 700C x 38 Barlow Pass extralight casing in black for when these tires are done. I might try tubeless later but wouldn't run the rene herse tubeless from what I've read so I'll need to find a 38cm tubeless tire which might just end up being the Schwalbe one I'm running now.

I also have a dura ace rear deraillure cage on order as I've heard its a bit shorter than the ultegra so it might improve shifting along with reducing weight.

I recieved the scott mud guards / fenders so I'll be ready for whatever globally mild winter California throws at me and plan on optimizing lighting going into the time change.

[OtterSpace]

A few more updates today as the bike is rapidly reaching the end of my planned upgrades for it. No bike is ever truely done but upgrades will be far less frequent next year.

I purchased EXS aerover handlebars and Ti mount now that I am confident in my reach on this bike, attached all mud guard / fender mounts, and have Ti shift clamps ready for when I swap bars.

I also decided not to update to Dura ace, because of high $/g, but I am incorporating any shifting improvement or cheaper weight saving parts I can from Dura ace that can be found second hand.

The update I'll detail today is a swap from the ultegra rd cage and pulley wheels to Dura ace cage and pulley wheels. The main reason I opted for this particular update is that I am running the smaller 11-30 cassette and I heard that the Dura ace cage is shorter so shifting should be very marginally better. This assembly is also a bit over 1/2 the reduced weight from ultegra to Dura ace in the rear derailleur and came in at a high, but not super high, $3.42 / g. I'll report back later if I can tell if shifting is improved or not.

The spreadsheet I posted earlier was also heavily edited but I have no idea how far off the assumed weight of the initial bike is so no idea yet on weight after this surge of upgrades.

Scott Solace eRIDE 20 2023 49cm (XS).xlsx

Lastly I am trying out a bar end mirror and will soon have rear radar and a front and rear camera to see what I like for commuting. So far I only have one ride on the mirror and am not used to checking it. I can say that you want at least 380mm wide drops if you have a wide q factor though.

edit: After months of riding I almost never used the mirror. It kind of worked but is so low down and can get knocked easily so required frequent attention if I cared to keep it working. Radar is more than enough and then check to confirm when needed. I took this part off and added it to my Brompton instead where its higher position makes way more sense.

[OtterSpace]

The surge of upgrades is now complete. No bike is ever fully done but all planned work on this bike is now over and my tweaking attention has shifted to my Tarmac SL6 rim that I hill climb with once a week (see signature for link).

Although my attention has shifted to another bike this one gets most of my time in the saddle and I've ridden 2,000 miles on it since purchasing.

Below is a pic showing the current state of the bike, and for a change of pace, two screenshots of rides using this bike at 300watt max assist up to 28mph, one commute (~25% battery use for the total 9 mile ride that I only captured the middle of for privacy reasons), and one hill climbing (100% battery use).

After riding this bike I don't think I'll ever purchase a current high end non ebike in the future. I just dont see any $4k+ current non depreciated non ebike making sense for me given that the UCI has no say in how I ride given that I don't race and this ebike is a game changer for me with how much more climbing and descending I can cram into a lunch ride.

Current weight: 11.22kg (24.75lbs) w/ pedals, bell, mirror, and bike mounted fender fixing hardware. Expected weight when I replace the tires after this set wears out: 11.11kg (24.49lbs) for the same setup otherwise.
Stated weights do not include rear light/camera/radar & mount, front light/camera, and bike computer.

Sorry for the imperial distance in the images below.

If there is enough interest I might upload some of the videos of riding with data overlay to youtube. However, I still need to figure out how to output garmin bike computer data into an overlay in DaVinci Resolve.