Electric assist e-tandems

Tuesday 30 October 2018
Updated: Monday 1 April 2024
Filed in: General

Are you avoiding the hills? Maybe it's time to consider an electric assist tandem, tempted to try one then read on ....

Here at JD Tandems we have been selling electric assist tandems using mid-drive motors for 6 years. Sales in the first year constituted about 15% of our total tandems sold. But for year 2 this grew to 25% and in recent months the % of customers buying electric assist has continued to rise at an amazing rate. In fact nearly half of our new tandems sold are electric assist.

What's so incredible about riding an electric assist tandem?

For a start it's an amazing amount of fun. Instead of avoiding the hills you can head for them with the confidence that the motor will give you whatever amount of help you need, but it doesn't take over you are still pedalling but at a rate that is comfortable for you.

Our customers are using their electric assist tandems more, we have had many customers back for their 1st free 750 mile service after remarkedly short periods of time. Many of our customers are doing 3 to 4 times the number of miles since switching to electric assist.

Riding an e-tandem feels really natural, because the mid-drive systems operate through your cranks and gears the motor is smooth and it matches your own effort level.

FAQs

Because there are 2 of us do we need more power than the 250w motor provides?

The motors are incredibly efficient, we have never had a customer come back from a test ride and say the power wasn't great enough, and we have some long 25% gradients on our doorstep. In fact most of our customers with electric assist tandems rarely use the top power level.

What is the range of the battery?

That depends upon several factors.
• How hilly the terrain is
• The level of electric assistance you select
• The weight of the two riders and their fitness level
• How windy it is
• How much drag there is from your tyres

Used on the lower power setting with the higher power settings selected only occasionally you might expect as much as 70 plus miles from one charge if riding in undulating terrain. Using the motor on maximum assist in a very hilly area the range might be as little as 30 miles or so.

How long does the battery take to charge?

The Shimano battery takes 4 to 8 hours to charge, depending which size charger you have from fully from empty and the Bosch battery has a 3 hour charge time.

What options are available for transporting our new e-tandem?

We do a really neat roof rack which helps you to load it on the roof with the minimum of effort. For our motorhome owners we have a great rack for the back, which with the front wheel removed allows the tandem to sit within the body of the vehicle.

How do you decide if an electric assist tandem is for you?

Come and try one, we have test ride models of all the different electric assist tandems we sell. Our range includes road tandems, semi recumbent, hybrid, mountain bike and an incredibly versatile smaller wheel tandem.

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