5 separate punctures on a 14 mile journey home

[soundwave]

Pardon our interruption...

only way to pop that is to snap the rim in half or jump off a mountain

 

[Northmale]

You check it with your fingers, not with your eyes. When you locate puncture on inner tube you know more or less there tyre was punctured. Put fingers inside tyre and check gently (so you won't hurt yourself) for presence of any unwanted objects like thorns etc. I check while wearing rubber glove first.

Everyday is a school day. I’ll add some gloves to my on the road kit.

I did have a feel and given what other local cyclists have told me when I mentioned it, it would appear I rode on a notorious section of industrial estate that everyone swerves to avoid punctures.

Genuinely excited to try the commute again today which is different to how I feel driving the car.

 

[RollingChunder]

Everyday is a school day. I’ll add some gloves to my on the road kit.

I did have a feel and given what other local cyclists have told me when I mentioned it, it would appear I rode on a notorious section of industrial estate that everyone swerves to avoid punctures.

Genuinely excited to try the commute again today which is different to how I feel driving the car.

My 12.5 mile commute is quicker by car so I really have to make the effort to cycle. It is much more exciting but it depends if I have the time/energy and also depends on the weather because my cycle route is mostly small country lanes through a floodplain to avoid the main A road. I imagine it's the same for you at 14 miles? How did it go today?

 

[Nealh]

Stick a bit of 4" x 3" 100 grit sand paper in your puncture kit and rub it inside the tyre to save yor fingers from any potential cuts. The first thing I do with a puncture is to check for an object in the inner tyre that may have penetrated.

 

[AndyBike]

19.5 mph puts him in the "advanced cyclist" category.

 

[Northmale]

My 12.5 mile commute is quicker by car so I really have to make the effort to cycle. It is much more exciting but it depends if I have the time/energy and also depends on the weather because my cycle route is mostly small country lanes through a floodplain to avoid the main A road. I imagine it's the same for you at 14 miles? How did it go today?

No punctures on the way in and a bit more awareness of my route home to avoid the industrial puncture hell.

My commute is 15-25 minutes quicker by car but since an office move it's £12 a day parking and even though it's only a 2 day a week job that's a grand a year that easily justifies an alternative.

Still trying to work out the feel of the bike and how to pedal in a gear that feels natural but lets the motor do the majority of the work on the journey in but every time i'm on a bike my mental health boost is unreal and it's hard to not just eat up those exercise dopamine and endorphin hits on offer.

 

[Northmale]

@Northmale Did you buy the Whyte Hybrid in the end?

Sorry totally missed this. No I'm sticking with the Eplus Commute I was given for Christmas until an employer signs up with a Wisper reccomended cycle to work scheme.

 

[saneagle]

Still trying to work out the feel of the bike and how to pedal in a gear that feels natural but lets the motor do the majority of the work on the journey in but every time i'm on a bike my mental health boost is unreal and it's hard to not just eat up those exercise dopamine and endorphin hits on offer.

That's not very easy with your speed control controller. It's much better with a current control controller, where you can set the assist power to whatever level you want, then pedal as hard or easy as you fell happy with. It's about £80 and a bit of wiring to convert.

 

[Northmale]

I have £80 and perfunctory wiring abilities. Please tell me more.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

Am I correct it is the mxus front hub motor ? Possibly the xf07 ? You might be able to increase the assist speed limit on it , at least to the 15.5 + 1.5 mph allowed

My mxus on 700c wheels (rear xf08c hub) unrestricted would do 19mph pedal assisted on a full battery

 

[saneagle]

I have £80 and perfunctory wiring abilities. Please tell me more.

All controllers work the same. have a look at some wiring layouts:

ebike controller wiring - Google Search

They have different connectors and even when they have the same connectors, the wires can be in a different sequence. some have connectors for lights, accessories and other weird things. Some have connectors that have two single wires that connect together to make a switch that switches on/off some optional feature like reverse direction, cruise control, EABS, regen, etc.

When you get a replacement controller, all you have to do is connect up the relevant wires, then do some settings in the LCD. It's pretty straight-forward if you can solder and are not colour blind.

With a KT, the things you need to look out for are:

• Speed sensor. Do you have one in the motor or a separate wheel magnet one. If your present LCD shows speed when the motor is free-wheeling, you definitely have a speed sensor somewhere.
• Pedal sensor. The settings for 12 magnet ones are complicated, but all others work without much trouble.
• Throttle. All throttles work the same with three wires, but some have additional features like battery LEDs, switches, speed display, voltmeters and other things. All those extra things are optional. You only need to connect the three wires. Even if you don't want a throttle, you should get one for testing.
• Phase angle and sequence. Very rarely, the motor won't work when you join the wires colour to colour, so you have to go through all 36 phase wire and hall combinations to make it work, and some motors have a different phase angle that needs to be set in the LCD.
• These controllers come with either sealed waterproof connectors or the block type. It's nearly impossible to get at the wires in the sealed ones if you need to test anything, so I recommend the block type.
• The only other thing is where you're going to put it. With the block connectors, you do need a bit of extra room for them. If your bike has a compartment for the controller, you need to make sure the new one will fit or find somewhere else to install it.
• If you already have waterproof connectors, they probably won't work with a KT controller even if they fit, apart from the motor cable.
• You don't need connectors. if I ever find any that don't match, I cut them off and solder the wires, which is the cheapest, quickest, most reliable and most convenient solution. It also gets around the problem of not enough space for the connectors or cutting the wire to the correct length for a neat installation.

 

[Northmale]

Am I correct it is the mxus front hub motor ? Possibly the xf07 ? You might be able to increase the assist speed limit on it , at least to the 15.5 + 1.5 mph allowed

My mxus on 700c wheels (rear xf08c hub) unrestricted would do 19mph pedal assisted on a full battery

It’s definitely a MXUS front hub motor, not sure if model, can’t see any markings but looks like a couple of black stickers that may be covering up model info.

will have an investigation tomorrow.

is it a simple job to adjust the assist speed?

 

[Northmale]

All controllers work the same. have a look at some wiring layouts:

ebike controller wiring - Google Search

They have different connectors and even when they have the same connectors, the wires can be in a different sequence. some have connectors for lights, accessories and other weird things. Some have connectors that have two single wires that connect together to make a switch that switches on/off some optional feature like reverse direction, cruise control, EABS, regen, etc.

When you get a replacement controller, all you have to do is connect up the relevant wires, then do some settings in the LCD. It's pretty straight-forward if you can solder and are not colour blind.

With a KT, the things you need to look out for are:

• Speed sensor. Do you have one in the motor or a separate wheel magnet one. If your present LCD shows speed when the motor is free-wheeling, you definitely have a speed sensor somewhere.
• Pedal sensor. The settings for 12 magnet ones are complicated, but all others work without much trouble.
• Throttle. All throttles work the same with three wires, but some have additional features like battery LEDs, switches, speed display, voltmeters and other things. All those extra things are optional. You only need to connect the three wires. Even if you don't want a throttle, you should get one for testing.
• Phase angle and sequence. Very rarely, the motor won't work when you join the wires colour to colour, so you have to go through all 36 phase wire and hall combinations to make it work, and some motors have a different phase angle that needs to be set in the LCD.
• These controllers come with either sealed waterproof connectors or the block type. It's nearly impossible to get at the wires in the sealed ones if you need to test anything, so I recommend the block type.
• The only other thing is where you're going to put it. With the block connectors, you do need a bit of extra room for them. If your bike has a compartment for the controller, you need to make sure the new one will fit or find somewhere else to install it.
• If you already have waterproof connectors, they probably won't work with a KT controller even if they fit, apart from the motor cable.
• You don't need connectors. if I ever find any that don't match, I cut them off and solder the wires, which is the cheapest, quickest, most reliable and most convenient solution. It also gets around the problem of not enough space for the connectors or cutting the wire to the correct length for a neat installation.

Thanks for this comprehensive reply. As soon as the weather permits me to do fiddly jobs without my hands freezing and seizing, I shall investigate.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

It’s definitely a MXUS front hub motor, not sure if model, can’t see any markings but looks like a couple of black stickers that may be covering up model info.

will have an investigation tomorrow.

is it a simple job to adjust the assist speed?

I was thinking in combination with @saneagle s suggestion of a controller and LCD capable of current assist levels rather than speed levels, but could you photograph your existing controller with connections

 

[Nealh]

Best upgrade to any hub bike is a KT controller system, typically one can replace every thing for plug and play for about £80 - £90 and the bike will be a completely different ride and much more relaxing and controllable regarding power selection.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

On some old bikes there was a (usually !) white speed limiting wire that you could disconnect - I suspect your bike might be too new

e.g. https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/remove-15mph-speed-limiter.15449/post-417580

 

[MikelBikel]

Fancy new tyres fitted.will see


Checked as best I could in the dark. Just shite luck I guess but the Marathon Plus have just been fitted and if it happens tomorrow, I’ll short the battery and give the bike a Viking funeral.

Sorry if stating the obvious, but.. Look for shards of broken glass and other sharps hiding *under* the tread (small entry holes/slits). Glass and such can break up and migrate further in to cause delayed punctures! :-(

 

[Chainring]

First proper commute for work this morning and even though the forecast was wrong and I was soaked it was 52 joyous minutes to do 13 mile to work this morning.
However it was 2.5 hours on the way back due to 5 separate punctures (4 front, 1 back) Needless to say I have ordered a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Slime inner tubes to fit before I try again on Thursday.

Now to search for clothing and footwear that balances breathability with waterproofing.

Bloody love riding a bike again.

If it's any help, I mark the wheel, tyre and valve with Tippex or similar. When you get the tube out and find/fix the puncture, you then line it up with the tyre which gives you an idea where the cause is. Thorns are very hard to find. I also use OKO fluid, which has helped me many times on a manky day, coming home from work. Yes, I've had problems with the little hairy bits clogging the valve core, but spare cores are easy to keep in the kit, and clean the clogged ones at home.

 

[lenny]

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