Ariel Margalit
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- oct. 2018
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I have a friend who will be doing the camino on an e bike in September. He had wanted to do the camino for many years and had to postpone it a couple of times due to bad health. The only way he can do it now is by ebike and he will cycle from SJPDP to SDC. I hope he is entitled to a compstella as it is something he will treasure for the rest of his journey in life
I would think that it would be easier to walk than to deal with a heavy bike in areas where you have to push it.With bad health, I wonder how doable it will be using an E-Bike. Most weigh over 50 pounds. Camino Frances will definitely require a lot of dismounting and the pushing of that heavy bike up significant inclines. I don't know how someone in bad health would handle the physical effort required; it is certainly far more effort than just walking up those same inclines
And then there is the issue of recharging.
As to the Compostela, t2andreo has addressed this issue in the thread Michelle has posted. From my reading of that thread, and a couple of older ones, there is no certainty that a Compostela or Certificate would be given. Being a pilgrim with a disability allows leniency with mobility considerations, like assisted wheelchairs, but with an E-bike the Compostela qualification may still be uncertain.
An ebike isn't a totally motorised vehicle. They are pedal assisted. If you don't pedal, they don't move.
More effort is needed than people think and definitely more than riding a horse, which is a traditional way of progressing along the Camino. Do horseriders qualify for a Compostela?
I would think that it would be easier to walk than to deal with a heavy bike in areas where you have to push it.
An ebike isn't a totally motorised vehicle. They are pedal assisted. If you don't pedal, they don't move.
More effort is needed than people think and definitely more than riding a horse, which is a traditional way of progressing along the Camino. Do horseriders qualify for a Compostela?
Only Spain? France too ?Hello Ariel Margalit ....This company..........https://www.cyclingthecamino.com ........... hire out E.bikes and will deliver to wherever you wish to start from , but be aware, according to information from the above website , that you will not be entitled ( if it is important to you ) to a Compostella at the end of your pilgrimage .
Ariel, you give very little information about your plans and since you already have the information you seek, I'll just post some suggestions for you, or indeed anyone else considering an e-bike.I'll make the trail from St. Jean To Compostela by e bike.
Please help me to find a company which I can hire such a bike for 21 days.
Thank you
It is my fervent wish that ALL cyclists will eventually stay on the right side of the roads, instead of sharing the same trail with walking pilgrims...but I digress...
I have just completed on June 7, 2018 an E bike ride from Burgos to Santiago. The mountain bike E bike was rented from bike Iberia for approximately $400 for two weeks.The bikes were excellent and the service was also professional and responsive. Bike Iberia delivered the bikes to our hotel and collected them at the hotel when we completed our journey. Their email address is bikeiberia.com. I would strongly recommend that you obtain mountain bikes rather than touring bikes because of the terrain. Should you desire additional information you can contact me at kengregor@gmail.com.I'll make the trail from St. Jean To Compostela by e bike.
Please help me to find a company which I can hire such a bike for 21 days.
Thank you
Have you operated an e-bike up the steep parts of the camino like the pyrenees, O Cebreiro or cruz de hierro. Do they have enough torque to go up the hill with human pedaling? If you've been on the camino, how did the albergues react to allowing you to charge the bike?The throttle operated ebikes are not legal in Spain unless you have specific insurance and they are registered. A pedal assist bike is allowed the same as any other cycle.
Btw my e-mountainbike can do around 90km on one charge, as long as I keep pedalling!!!
I had the opposite experience with bike iberia. The bikes were delivered with a torn saddle, front wheel with the bolts untightened which could have caused an accident because we only discovered it after we were riding. The panniers were missing the straps so it made it a hassle to carry them into the albergues. They sent the wrong size helmet so I had to get another one. they wouldn't answer my calls to complain or my e-mails. Then the bearing went out in one of the pedals and we went to a bike shop to get it repaired and found out the brakes were worn out too and had to pay to have that repaired and again they didn't answer our phone calls or e-mails. The bike shop ran the serial numbers on the bike and told us they were SEVEN YEARS OLD.I have just completed on June 7, 2018 an E bike ride from Burgos to Santiago. The mountain bike E bike was rented from bike Iberia for approximately $400 for two weeks.The bikes were excellent and the service was also professional and responsive. Bike Iberia delivered the bikes to our hotel and collected them at the hotel when we completed our journey. Their email address is bikeiberia.com. I would strongly recommend that you obtain mountain bikes rather than touring bikes because of the terrain. Should you desire additional information you can contact me at kengregor@gmail.com.
Anyone inclined to use ANY sort of bicycle should know that at least the Camino Frances has a system of adjacent roads that essentially parallel the route. It is actually not necessary to use bicycles on the same Camino trails as pedestrians and horses use.
These road-routes are frequently less steep as modern roads must be engineered to specifications that limit grades and pitches. This is also why some road based routes are actually a few km longer than the foot trails. One prime example of this is the famous "790 km to Santiago de Compostela" road sign just outside Roncesvalles.
EVERYONE KNOWS this is farther than the actual walking distance. That is because roads pass around many hills. However, as a walking pilgrim you KNOW that the Camino trail usually takes you more or less straight up and over the hills, usually passing the local church.
It is my fervent wish that ALL cyclists will eventually stay on the right side of the roads, instead of sharing the same trail with walking pilgrims...but I digress...
If you choose to use an electric assist bicycle on the Camino, the extra weight and slight additional distance will not be a problem if you remain on the secondary or tertiary roads. There are even 'road only' bicycle Camino guides for this purpose.
Hope this helps.
I suppose their ebikes are junk models.Here are some problems with e-bikes that cyclingthecamino.com discloses about their bikes. After reading this disclosure I am no longer seriously considering an e-bike for our 2nd camino frances this coming march. This is a direct quote from their website.
TIPS
- "E-BIKES ARE EXTREMELY FRAGILE
- TURN ON BEFORE EVERYTHING
- PUT THE PEDALS ON THE RIGHT SIDE RIGHT AND LEFT (GREEN AND ORANGE)
- TURN CAREFULLY THE HANDLEBAR | DISK BRAKE ON THE LEFT | READ THE LABEL HOLDING ON THE HANDLEBAR
- DON'T SPIN THE PEDALS BEFORE TURN ON
- BE CAREFULL WITH THE WIRES
- NEVER LEAN ONE BIKE OVER EACH OTHER
- 80% CHARGE 2,5HOURS | 100% 5 HOURS
- MODE (ECO-NORM-BOOST) CHANGE ON LEFT LEVER | TO GET ASSISTANCE CYCLE AT LEAST, ON ECO MODE
- MORE POWER = LESS RANGE | LOWER GEAR = LESS RANGE | USE THE CHANGE OF GEARS AND POWER TO HAVE MORE RANGE FOR THE JOURNEY
- NEVER TRANSPORT THE BIKES BY TAXI OR BUS
- ANY ELECTRONIC PROBLEM BECAUSE ONE OF THIS POINTS CANNOT BE FIXED THE SAME DAY, SO BE CAREFULL WITH THE E-BIKES
- ECO or NORMAL modes to cycle the hills, BOOST only mountains.
- Play with the gears and modes to get more range of kms. What can happen? If you always goes on BOOST mode and LOWER gear, the battery will finish in less than 50 kms.
- Downhills only for OFF or ECO mode. What can happen? Acceleration after spin the pedals and fall down.
- NEVER change more than 1 gear in a row. What can happen? Brake the rear dropout and NO POSSIBLE FIX."
I would love to see one of the road only guides, can you please share where?Anyone inclined to use ANY sort of bicycle should know that at least the Camino Frances has a system of adjacent roads that essentially parallel the route. It is actually not necessary to use bicycles on the same Camino trails as pedestrians and horses use.
These road-routes are frequently less steep as modern roads must be engineered to specifications that limit grades and pitches. This is also why some road based routes are actually a few km longer than the foot trails. One prime example of this is the famous "790 km to Santiago de Compostela" road sign just outside Roncesvalles.
EVERYONE KNOWS this is farther than the actual walking distance. That is because roads pass around many hills. However, as a walking pilgrim you KNOW that the Camino trail usually takes you more or less straight up and over the hills, usually passing the local church.
It is my fervent wish that ALL cyclists will eventually stay on the right side of the roads, instead of sharing the same trail with walking pilgrims...but I digress...
If you choose to use an electric assist bicycle on the Camino, the extra weight and slight additional distance will not be a problem if you remain on the secondary or tertiary roads. There are even 'road only' bicycle Camino guides for this purpose.
Hope this helps.
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