A working dongle - at last
- Thread starter RobF
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The Bosch system knows how fast the motor is spinning, but not which gear you're in, so it's got no way of knowing that the Badass dongle is fitted, and the same for any other dongle that re-processes the speed signal.
So I finally ordered and received a new haibike bosch bike... hurray! Its an entry level cross bike, and cos it is end of season it was it was an affordable price.
Initial thoughts.
- The seat which shipped with it was terrible. Quickly and easily rectified, much to my relief.
- The 16.5 mph limit is a hinderance and actually causes you become equally tired as on a normal pedal bike. I have have taken your advice and ordered the bad ass dongle. Will let you know how I get on.
- Also ordered a cheap sigma speedometer and a cycle rack to help.
- I love the sound of the electric motor whirring. Its beautiful! Kills the hills near where I live.
- I had test ridden the SMART ebike, and I thought it was terrible. The ride of the Haibike is much much nicer.
I got a haibike cos I liked the quality of the frame finish, but in order to save a few pounds I ended up with a Bosch Classic+ instead of the newer active line battery and motor.
Appreciate the Active line is slightly smaller and neater (certainly the battery is a lot prettier). But looking at the bosch website, the output / specs of both the Classic + and Active line seem near identical. Both <4kg and max torque of 50nm and 250w. The performance line does allow a higher output, but that wasnt in my budget range. I have read somewhere about how the newer active line senses 1000 times a minute instead of 200 ... but come'on really!? Would I ever have noticed a difference?. Even the battery specs are the same, except I have to take mine off the frame to charge.
Doesn anyone know if in the years to come I was to upgrade my battery to an Active line, would it be compatible with a Classic + motor? The controls seem much the same on both.
Initial thoughts.
- The seat which shipped with it was terrible. Quickly and easily rectified, much to my relief.
- The 16.5 mph limit is a hinderance and actually causes you become equally tired as on a normal pedal bike. I have have taken your advice and ordered the bad ass dongle. Will let you know how I get on.
- Also ordered a cheap sigma speedometer and a cycle rack to help.
- I love the sound of the electric motor whirring. Its beautiful! Kills the hills near where I live.
- I had test ridden the SMART ebike, and I thought it was terrible. The ride of the Haibike is much much nicer.
I got a haibike cos I liked the quality of the frame finish, but in order to save a few pounds I ended up with a Bosch Classic+ instead of the newer active line battery and motor.
Appreciate the Active line is slightly smaller and neater (certainly the battery is a lot prettier). But looking at the bosch website, the output / specs of both the Classic + and Active line seem near identical. Both <4kg and max torque of 50nm and 250w. The performance line does allow a higher output, but that wasnt in my budget range. I have read somewhere about how the newer active line senses 1000 times a minute instead of 200 ... but come'on really!? Would I ever have noticed a difference?. Even the battery specs are the same, except I have to take mine off the frame to charge.
Doesn anyone know if in the years to come I was to upgrade my battery to an Active line, would it be compatible with a Classic + motor? The controls seem much the same on both.
I was disappointed with the new Bosch motor I tried because I couldn't tell any difference.
Not that I was expecting miracles, but an incremental improvement here or there would have been nice.
Can't answer your battery question fully, but you would have to change the mounting cup and locking latch, which probably mount differently on the bike, so I expect it would be more trouble than it's worth.
Spare lumpy batteries are still available, and there is a copy one from China.
Last time I looked they were priced in 10s, but looked cheap enough per unit.
Dunno about duty and so on, but there is scope there for a small buying cooperative.
I trust you've bought a wired computer, not all wireless ones work on Bosch bikes.
Not that I was expecting miracles, but an incremental improvement here or there would have been nice.
Can't answer your battery question fully, but you would have to change the mounting cup and locking latch, which probably mount differently on the bike, so I expect it would be more trouble than it's worth.
Spare lumpy batteries are still available, and there is a copy one from China.
Last time I looked they were priced in 10s, but looked cheap enough per unit.
Dunno about duty and so on, but there is scope there for a small buying cooperative.
I trust you've bought a wired computer, not all wireless ones work on Bosch bikes.
Thanks again for the speedy reply.
So the dongle arrived yesterday! Fitting was not as straightforward as I thought as the dongle kept hitting the spokes on my rear wheel. In the end I had to unbolt the Bosch sensor, remove a plastic grommit / spacer behind it and re-attach. This finally provided enough space to fit the dongle.
It has made a huge difference to my journey time. What was a 55 min journey I can now do in 45 mins.
Yes I did order a wired bike computer (I read your previous posts). Works fine.
Slightly dissapointed that I have this huge shiny Bosch HMI Display which is a bit useless now. Even the range is not accurate. It is telling me I have 12 miles range left on a full battery? Also once this morning it came up with the "Remove foot from pedal" message and I had to turn the whole thing on / off again. Anyone had any similar experiences?
So the dongle arrived yesterday! Fitting was not as straightforward as I thought as the dongle kept hitting the spokes on my rear wheel. In the end I had to unbolt the Bosch sensor, remove a plastic grommit / spacer behind it and re-attach. This finally provided enough space to fit the dongle.
It has made a huge difference to my journey time. What was a 55 min journey I can now do in 45 mins.
Yes I did order a wired bike computer (I read your previous posts). Works fine.
Slightly dissapointed that I have this huge shiny Bosch HMI Display which is a bit useless now. Even the range is not accurate. It is telling me I have 12 miles range left on a full battery? Also once this morning it came up with the "Remove foot from pedal" message and I had to turn the whole thing on / off again. Anyone had any similar experiences?
I expect you will soon learn to multiply by three, after all you only need to know the speed within an mph or two.
The battery indicator bars still works as they should.
I think they are better, because the range number goes up and down depending on the loading on the motor at that time.
The Bosch system does seem to throw up the occasional error message.
From memory, mine did it pre-dongle, so I doubt it is dongle-related.
I take it you know you cannot turn the system on if there's any pressure on the pedal.
The battery indicator bars still works as they should.
I think they are better, because the range number goes up and down depending on the loading on the motor at that time.
The Bosch system does seem to throw up the occasional error message.
From memory, mine did it pre-dongle, so I doubt it is dongle-related.
I take it you know you cannot turn the system on if there's any pressure on the pedal.
Good stuff. Yep the battery bars, seem like a more reliable indicator.
Very happy with it all so far. Very expensive compared to a normal pedal bike... but I guess we are "early adopters" of a new technology (even though Pedelecs themselves have been around for ages) and as such have to pay a premium.
I am feeling fitter and stronger after a week of cycling to and from work. Certainly sleeping like a log too.
Thanks for all the advice.
Very happy with it all so far. Very expensive compared to a normal pedal bike... but I guess we are "early adopters" of a new technology (even though Pedelecs themselves have been around for ages) and as such have to pay a premium.
I am feeling fitter and stronger after a week of cycling to and from work. Certainly sleeping like a log too.
Thanks for all the advice.
I've just fitted the badass dongle today, so far so good. As you say speedo isn't accurate. It seems it gets up to 10mph then drops down to 4mph upwards to about 9 on the unit, can't seem to make it much past that but maybe i need to hit a few downhills. Are we saying after 10mph you X3? so 5mph is actually 15mph?
Does the range lie as it thinks you have more in the tank than actually do?
I guess this won't really decrease battery life, if you're doing less than 16.5mph anyways most of the time you will be using the same battery usage as before?
Does the range lie as it thinks you have more in the tank than actually do?
I guess this won't really decrease battery life, if you're doing less than 16.5mph anyways most of the time you will be using the same battery usage as before?
Whilst we are talking about dongles has anyone tried or heard of a mechanical device ?
I'm thinking out loud hear !
It should be possible to mount the magnet on a rotating disc or something similar! made in a way that there's only two possible positions.
The disc could be turned by a pin mounted to the frame stay, with each wheel rotation the disc moves to one position and then back to the other on the next rotation.
Effectively the sensor only sees the magnet every other rotation and the cutoff speed is doubled.
I'm thinking out loud hear !
It should be possible to mount the magnet on a rotating disc or something similar! made in a way that there's only two possible positions.
The disc could be turned by a pin mounted to the frame stay, with each wheel rotation the disc moves to one position and then back to the other on the next rotation.
Effectively the sensor only sees the magnet every other rotation and the cutoff speed is doubled.
Perfectly feasible but I think much experimenting to get the cam arrangement would be in order. Something similar to the old fork mounted mechanical mileometers.
I'd rather go to work, earn some money and buy a dongle.
Maybe one for the retired folks.
I think most cyclists should be able to estimate their speed within a few mph. The more speedos in the world, the more speed limits.
What follows next is then a host of fines for knowingly ignoring those limits.
Radar guns in a park, whatever next.
The 20mph limit there is a relatively recent event (maybe 3 years or so?). The road is so long and straight that it does encourage drivers to go too fast and if the police hadn't occasionally parked there I think people would just completely ignore the limit. I find cruise control (in the car) to be very useful there - slap it on 20 and I don't have to worry.
Can they prosecute you for speeding on a bicycle? I thought they could only charge you for furious riding. I suspect they wouldn't bother unless you were going ridiculously fast, and it was either downhill or you were on a seriously illegal e bike.
I have no idea John. However they do pull over cars and motorcycles for going too fast and a cyclist overtaking the flow of 20mph traffic would be a bit conspicuous. Mind you, I can only hold 20mph through there on the road bike with a pretty decent tailwind!
mfj197, my misunderstanding. I thought you were talking about a cycle path and not a road.
Loads of 20mph signs have appeared around our area recently. Makes not a jot of difference to motorists. Everyone still drives at 30.
Loads of 20mph signs have appeared around our area recently. Makes not a jot of difference to motorists. Everyone still drives at 30.
I must be miles out here, but how hard would it be to reset the bike for a smaller wheel? If my 29er was set to 26 wheel size for example....