Several readers have written in with some version of the following question:
I want to go cycle touring on an e‑bike, but there are obstacles. Firstly, nobody makes electric touring bikes. Secondly, other types of e‑bikes are too heavy to fly with, and airlines won’t carry e‑bike batteries. And finally, how can I possibly keep an e‑bike charged on a cycle tour? Help!
Thanks for all the questions! Straight up: I have never toured on an e‑bike, and I don’t own an e‑bike, so the following advice is theoretical.
That said, I’ve received enough similar-sounding questions to make it worth looking into more deeply. What follows is a collection of thoughts on the topic of e‑bikes for cycle touring – and ultimately on whether or not it’s viable.
Context helps when exploring any question, and for this one I want to share a personal anecdote.
It was August 2014, and I was cycle touring in central Europe with my wife and a couple of friends when I realised our route would intersect with the annual Eurobike conference in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Eurobike is, for the uninitiated, one of the biggest bicycle industry conferences on the planet. Everyone is there, from Giant manufacturers (pun intended) to solopreneur startups.
Each year has a theme, and the theme for 2014 was e‑bikes. How – the global bicycle industry’s top representatives had been asked to demonstrate – can we market and deliver e‑bike technology to the masses?
It’s worth reminding ourselves that in 2014, e‑bikes were practically unheard of – the domain of crackpot inventors tinkering with inherently problematic technology that seemed to have little chance of crossing over to the mainstream.
A decade later and everyone has a reason to buy (or build) and e‑bike.
This is no accident. The e‑bike is one of the most successful industry-led trends in cycling we’ve seen since… well, to be honest, since ever.
This is in spite of the fact that replacing human power with stored electricity comes with inherent challenges, as anyone considering using an e‑bike for cycle touring almost immediately realises… hence the volume of questions I’ve received in recent months.
I relate all of this because I think it’s worth asking whether your desire for an e‑bike is genuinely the result of a considered, logical thought process which concludes with an e‑bike being the only way you can go on a bike tour, or whether it’s a result of the bicycle industry’s sustained and intentional efforts to persuade you that this is true.
Put simply: are you being sold something you don’t actually need?
If you suspect so, I implore you to consider the KISS principle. Remember that the freedom engendered by the humble bicycle stems largely from its ability to transform the body’s exertion into movement. The price is getting a bit sweaty on the way up a hill. Tying it into the power grid, however, will inevitably compromise that freedom.
Still curious? Welcome to a technology craze so fast-moving I barely know where to start…
Until this year, I would have said that the biggest problem with using an e‑bike for cycle touring is that nobody is making touring e‑bikes.
But now they are.
If you have a spare $6–7,000 lying around, for example, you may now spend it on a top-of-the-range Koga E‑Worldtraveller.
The classic Koga Worldtraveller was already one of the most expensive and revered expedition-grade touring bikes on the planet. Now, as of 2024, you can buy a purpose-built, pedal-assisted, electric version of it, with or without front suspension, and with all of the touring-specific touches of the original.
At 31kg almost no airline will accept it. And it costs about as much as a shoestring traveller would spend cycling round the entire planet.
But it exists.
Or if you’d prefer your electric touring bike to be German rather than Dutch, why not splash out on one of Tout Terrain’s new E‑Expedition bikes?
The Pamir starts at a cool €7,849, and features not just a Pinion e‑drive internal gearbox but also a Gates Carbon Drive belt-driven drivetrain. It’s hard to think of a more expensive way to make your bike as unserviceable as possible when, for example, riding the actual Pamir Highway.
Okay, okay – I apologise for any sarcasm you may have detected.
In any case, I suspect these are showcase products, designed to make a splash and demonstrate what’s possible when you put the best engineering minds in the business to task. And it’s a taste of things to come: I have no doubt that more touring e‑bikes are being prototyped as I write, and will begin to surface sooner rather than later.
The bikes above are not a sensible choice of touring bike on which to head off round the world. I believe the manufacturers would, if pressed, admit this.
But I can easily see bikes like this scooting between lodges in the European Alps, or meandering down the Donau Radweg between B&B (that’s Bett+Bike) accommodation. And it’s a sure bet that charging infrastructure in such places will develop to meet demand.
Because if all you want is to tour somewhere you can transport your bike to by land, you know you’ll be able to charge your e‑bike regularly, and you’ve got money to spend on all of the above… then why not?
(This goes for using any e‑bike on a cycle tour, whether or not it cost you the same as a new car.)
The alternative for the determined and possibly cash-strapped DIYer is to build your own electric touring bike using a relatively affordable e‑bike conversion kit.
I would like to thank Dustin – one of the readers who originally wrote in about e‑bikes for cycle touring – for sharing his ongoing process of converting a touring bike using an e‑bike conversion kit from Amazon. You can find a full description of his project on Hackaday.
Because I don’t have any personal experience converting a touring bike into an e‑bike suitable for long-distance touring, I’m going to refrain from speculating about the nuts and bolts (pun also intended) until I have done it myself.
But if this ends up being a starting point for you to tackle your own DIY electric touring bike project, and you think the results are worth sharing, please do write in and let me know – I’d be very happy to feature it here for the benefit of the community.
Beyond the question of how to actually buy or build an electric touring bike, all else is detail. On a regular touring bike, you’re already looking for places to charge your phone. On an e‑bike, you’ll be plugging in the bike as well. The charge time might be longer, but otherwise, it really is that simple.
And as for how to fly with an e‑bike to go cycle touring if the bike is overweight and/or you can’t take the battery on the plane?
Simple. Don’t. Either ride somewhere closer to home, take the train/bus/ferry, or fly out and buy the bike (or battery) at the other end.
This is part of my “No Stupid Questions” series, in which readers write in with questions about cycle touring or bikepacking and I attempt to answer them. Check out more recent posts in the series or ask one of your own.
Something to add?