LIFT-MTB mid drive motor kit performances
Since the creation of the LIFT-MTB (2012) mid drive electric motor system for mountain bikes, the sensations on the various bikes have been very conclusive.
Our numerous articles, photos & videos should have convinced you that the LIFT-MTB is a powerful & fun climbing system.
We think it is important to publish some figures so that you can see the possibilities offered by the LIFT-MTB electric motor.
Below is a series of very interesting tests that we carried out in part using the STRAVA application (precise figures and methodology).
Here is a video compilation of the LIFT-MTB ebike motor kit
Strava is a free smartphone application, launched in 2009. This application uses the GPS data of your phone to provide a number of information during your outings: the route, the distance, the average speed, the time, the altitude difference, etc.
The main advantage of Strava over other performance measurement systems is that the cyclist can then upload his or her performance on typical routes defined by the cyclist or other users.
We can compare not only our own performance from one ride to the next, but also our performance against other cyclists of all levels.
XC – Road
Enduro – Downhill
Mountain bike / All mountain
Race
Engine performance: Test course type: XC / Road
The course
To test the LIFT system and to give us an idea of the pure climbing performance without any notion of battery saving, we have sectioned a road already completed by a large number of users (revealing test).
We have chosen the ascent by road of the Col du Perier in the Var (category 2 pass), with about 2,500 record attempts by STRAVA users; it is a coherent choice.
The top times were set by professional road racers; they usually spend the winter in the sun in the south of France, so it’s an ideal course for comparison.
We plan:
A first run with a high end carbon road bike (without the LIFT system of course) to get an indication of the rider’s performance.
Then a second run with an enduro bike: 16.5 kg in running order, 160 mm of travel with slick tires. This
The bike is totally unsuitable for record-breaking but it is equipped with the LIFT system.
Reference time:
On the top of the table are:
– 1st Thomas Vaubourzeix ( biography here), 15 minutes 48 seconds, pro runner 44th in the world in 2014. This local lives right next to the pass.
– 2nd Laurens Ten Dam (biography here), 15 minutes 57 seconds, Dutch professional road racer since 2002. Among others: 9th in the Tour de France 2014, 8th in the Tour de Califorrnie in the USA 2014.
– The slowest runners took just under an hour.
HERE all Strava numbers
Engine performance:
1 / Basic figures in road cycling :
Time: 29 minutes 58 seconds
Average speed: 14.1 km/h
Maximum speed : 28,1 km/h
Strava ranking: 1 042nd out of 1181 ranked
2 / Figures with the pedal motor LIFT-MTB on MTB :
Time: 11 minutes 42 seconds
Average speed: 36.2 km/h
Maximum speed : 48,2km/h
Strava ranking: 1st out of 1,181 ranked
3 / Road pros figure :
Time: 15 minutes 48 seconds
Average speed: 26.8 km/h
Maximum speed : 33,6km/h
Strava ranking: 1st out of 1,181 ranked
Conclusions:
– Time improvement of about 19 minutes on the same route.
– 4 minutes ahead of the best professionals on the road.
– Multiplication of the performances by approximately 3.
– The average speed with the LIFT system is higher than the maximum speed of the PRO.
Engine performance: Test course type: Downhill / Enduro
The course
This is a regular DH or enduro special training track, so no reconnaissance time is required.
Difference in height of about 100 meters, time about two minutes, no uphill part, very few pedaling zones (about 20 seconds in total over the two minutes).
The first part is very slow and technical with very short downhill runs.
The 2nd part is faster, DH type with almost no restarts.
Each run was made to the maximum of the pilot’s possibilities (in short, to the maximum!).
We plan:
A total of 15 runs to make an average:
- 5 runs with a bike equipped with the LIFT-MTB electric motorization system using the motor.(to see what it gives against a time).
- 5 runs with a classic enduro bike.
- 5 runs with the same bike equipped with the LIFT system without using the motor (in general, we never use the motor on downhill).
NOTES:
We performed 3 runs per day (1 with each configuration per day) over 5 days.
We will keep the average of the 4 best runs with each configuration.
Engine performance:
1/ Medium-sized vehicles equipped with the LIFT system using the engine :
– average speed : 22 km/h
– max speed : 41,12 km/h
– downhill time: 1 minute 47.3 sec
– motor operating time : 8 sec
– gap: 6 seconds faster than a conventional bike
2/ Medium size classic mountain bike without LIFT :
– average speed : 20,85 km/h
– max speed : 39,6 km/h
– downhill time: 1 minute 57 sec
– gap: 6 seconds slower than with the LIFT system
3/ Averages with LIFT without using the motor:
– average speed : 20,35 km/h
– max speed : 42,34 km/h
– downhill time: 1 minute 56 sec
– gap: + 2.45 seconds gap compared to the classic bike
Conclusion:
– The best time (-6 sec) is achieved with the LIFT system despite the lack of recovery.
– The time trial verdict confirms the feeling on the bike in favor of the LIFT.
– The difference in tbetween a conventional mountain bike and a bike equipped with the electric LIFT system is not significant (only 2.45 seconds on average).
Engine performance: MTB / All Mountain test
The course
To finish, a small classic all mountain loop of 4,1 km, difference in altitude of 128 meters, a varied course which mixes rolling parts, climbs and more or less steep descents; in short a classic mountain bike loop that many of us do.
We made the same trip with and without the LIFT system.
Important: we have used the system in such a way as to obtain a good compromise between performance and consumption.
We could use the engine more in order to go faster (consuming more), or conversely, save more to do more kilometers.
We plan:
– 1/ a loop with a classic enduro bike
– 2 / a loop with the same bike equipped with the LIFT system using the engine (to see what it gives against a time).
Our Performance :
1/ Classic mountain bike without LIFT :
– total time: 22 minutes 44 seconds
– average speed : 11,4 km/h
– maximum speed : 37,8 km/h
– motor operating time: 0 minutes 0 seconds
– consumption in amperes of the battery: none
– estimated km remaining on the battery : none
2/ Loop with LIFT system:
– total time: 13 minutes 14 seconds
– average speed : 18,8 km/h
– maximum speed : 37,8 km/h
– engine operating time: 6 minutes 54 seconds (out of 13 minutes more than 50% of the driving time)
– consumption in amperes of the battery: 1.038 amperes / hour
– Estimated mileage with a 10 a/h battery: about 43 km at the same pace (almost twice as fast) or about 86 km if you take the pace of a classic bike (but forcing twice less).
– we consider an autonomy of 4.3km per ampere consumed
Conclusion:
– Almost doubled speed (with reasonable consumption)
– Only 1/10th of the battery capacity used (with speed almost doubled and 10Ah battery)
– Estimated autonomy between 40 and 90 km or 1200 to 2400 meters of D+ in 2 to 5 hours (10Ah battery)
– If you are doing 40 km rides in general: with the LIFT system, by forcing the same way, you will do 80 km or the same 40 km two to three times faster.
Details:
– In order to be sure of the reliability of the figures announced by STRAVA, we systematically doubled the times with a classic bike computer indicating total time, distance, maximum speed, average speed, etc.
Even if the results are not formulated to the hundredth of a second, the indications are sufficiently precise and usable for informative comparison.
– Please note that the electric bike times have not been published on Strava in order not to distort the rankings.
Engine performance: Test course type: Race
During the first and second round of the French mountain bike enduro cup of the 2015 season, the organizers had included an electric challenge.
The EAB competitors have been removed from the scratch ranking. It was interesting to compare the times of the VAE pilots with the best in the world:
For the Blausasc race:
If we include the electric bikes in the ranking (see below), there would be 4 electric bikes in the first 20 places of the general ranking (out of about 350 participants, including about 20 E-bikes) for round 1 in Blausasc.
In
blue
the best electric bike times; in
green
the best classic mountain bike times.
Note the scratch victory in the special 3 by an electric mountain bike in front of Nicolas Vouilloz (10 times mountain bike world champion).
For the Millau race :
On a very technical track which does not favor the EAB (because very little pedaling), Nicolas Vouilloz, 10 times world champion in mountain biking and winner of the first round of Blausasc on a classic bike, had decided to ride an electric bike this time!
He would have finished 3rd in the scratch race with a common classification and winner of the 1st special stage.
In
blue
the best times for electric bikes; in
green
the best times for classic mountain bikes.
Conclusion:
On the cumulative time of the 4 stages, we note a very small difference; which confirms the validity of our Strava tests (despite a limited power and a higher weight of the bikes).
Knowing that the EAB competitors have been riding with bikes limited in power to 250 W and weighing 21 to 24 kg, we let you imagine the result with a system LIFT where we equip enduro bikes at about 15 or 16 kg for a power of 450 W…
For official results round 1
—- click here —-
For official results round 2
—- click here —-
