I think one would be very surpised to see 85/90% efficacy at the wheel, typically most hub manufacturers give a much lower % rate.
Argos £245 folding Bike Improvements
- Thread starter saneagle
- Start date
Yes, Going by the simulator site our XF07 maxes out at 82% (with the parameters I gave it that's at 18mph) and by the time it's at half speed efficiency has dropped to near 50%.
Motor Simulator - Tools
Our ebike motor simulator allows you to easily simulate the different performance characteristics of different ebike setups - with a wide selection of hub motors modeled, and the ability to add custom batteries and controllers and set a wide variety of vehicle parameters you'll be able to see...
I never ride this little bike without a sense of joy and a grin all over my stupid face.
Just did a 12 mile ride and 1081 feet of climbing on the under-powered Argos folder. That makes a total so far of a hundred miles. I have kept a log since there is no odometer on the bike.
What a laugh. You just need to relax and be happy at 11 miles an hour. I climbed some ferocious slopes and still arrived home with plenty of volts. The battery was starting to tire a wee bit, but there was more to be had.
Just did a 12 mile ride and 1081 feet of climbing on the under-powered Argos folder. That makes a total so far of a hundred miles. I have kept a log since there is no odometer on the bike.
What a laugh. You just need to relax and be happy at 11 miles an hour. I climbed some ferocious slopes and still arrived home with plenty of volts. The battery was starting to tire a wee bit, but there was more to be had.
Oh My God!
Does that mean I might start looking like Guerney?
I've hit a hundred miles on mine. I love it - for all its foibles.
EDIT:
To be fair, my niece rode 15 of those miles.
Last edited:
My 20" wheeler causes laughter to erupt from women everywhere I go. Louder when they're in groups. Presumably some of that is joy.
Women never laugh at me. They run after me waving their underwear - especially when they know I buy my transport at Argos.
Did I never tell you that I live in a special village that is an institution for the insane?
I did wonder how long before you completely lost your shizz and replaced everything electrical but the motor. Speed based controller sounds awful, shunting would have made initial lurches forward larger - good for hill starts, but crap and unsafe everywhere else.
Last edited:
I liken taming an Argos speed control beast to mastering a Maico 490 from the 80s. Real men (and women) need only apply
Cheap and nasty clip design on handlebar riser.
I've been noticing a strange creaking noise coming from the front end of the folder for a while, which I thought might be something to do with the fastenings on the steel mudguard, but inspite of spraying WD40 on the mudguard attachments and the wire braces, it continued.
Today, while bumping along a rough track, I noticed that if I lessened pressure and load applied through my hands to the bars, the creaking disappeared and seemed to be in proportion to the leaning force I was applying to them.
I also noticed that when pushing hard on the pedals on an uphill stretch and bracing myself on the bars, the creaking was worse.
I have now identified the issue. It comes from the strange clip which secures the handlebar riser in its locked position when unfolded for riding. The tightness of this clip varies according to how hard it presses down on the small wheel in the mechanism. The length and force applied is adjustable by turning the short light coloured rod ( red spot on rod) shown in this photograph below.
To tighten the clip, you need to screw the rod slightly inward, towards the locking wheel (yellow spot) and to loosen the clip, unscrew it.
The rod bears on a small wheel on the other part of the clip and shown on the right side of the photo. When locked, the rod pushes over the wheel and dips down on the inner side. The degree of force applied by the rod length, secures or loosens the clip. The hinge is marked with a blue spot.
There is a badly formed slit in the end of the rod which I was able to use to turn the rod in the threads and alter its length.
Not a great design feature I think. I would hate to be riding the bike if that clip came undone. Now, better adjusted, and lubricated, it seems much more secure and is now silent.
I have now ridden the bike 112 miles.
I've been noticing a strange creaking noise coming from the front end of the folder for a while, which I thought might be something to do with the fastenings on the steel mudguard, but inspite of spraying WD40 on the mudguard attachments and the wire braces, it continued.
Today, while bumping along a rough track, I noticed that if I lessened pressure and load applied through my hands to the bars, the creaking disappeared and seemed to be in proportion to the leaning force I was applying to them.
I also noticed that when pushing hard on the pedals on an uphill stretch and bracing myself on the bars, the creaking was worse.
I have now identified the issue. It comes from the strange clip which secures the handlebar riser in its locked position when unfolded for riding. The tightness of this clip varies according to how hard it presses down on the small wheel in the mechanism. The length and force applied is adjustable by turning the short light coloured rod ( red spot on rod) shown in this photograph below.
To tighten the clip, you need to screw the rod slightly inward, towards the locking wheel (yellow spot) and to loosen the clip, unscrew it.
The rod bears on a small wheel on the other part of the clip and shown on the right side of the photo. When locked, the rod pushes over the wheel and dips down on the inner side. The degree of force applied by the rod length, secures or loosens the clip. The hinge is marked with a blue spot.
There is a badly formed slit in the end of the rod which I was able to use to turn the rod in the threads and alter its length.
Not a great design feature I think. I would hate to be riding the bike if that clip came undone. Now, better adjusted, and lubricated, it seems much more secure and is now silent.
I have now ridden the bike 112 miles.
Last edited:
I think this was mentioned on the hotukdeals thread for this bike and its a common issue for some folding bikes. Fuji-ta is the biggest folding bike manufacturer in the world and also supply a huge amount of frames and forks to assembly plants around the world. They supply brands like Tern and Dahon as well as their own Battle brand and many other brands. The point is that is a common fix on fuji-ta sourced folding bikes where you rotate the metal shell that the bolt goes into to take up the slack as the metal wears etc. The trouble is the Argos bike likely has completely inadequate instructions without any important servicing information.
Maybe its a design issue with the stem which is supplied by a third party and needs it owns instructions but again Argos don't provide it. Argos make minimal effort in the way they sell bikes. Ideally their should be an Argos forum for all such products they sell where owners can discuss issues and Argos can drop in important information from the factory etc. That is time and money though.
You are right I think. I was looking for an online manual yesterday and there isn't one, inspite of the fact that there is the appearance of a form for getting manuals on tehir website. Nothing is returned. I do have the paper manual, but not where I am at the moment.
However - at the price I paid, I am not complaining.
A forum would be a good idea.
I have oiled that mechanism to slow down the wear. I doubt any of those parts are hardened steel, so they will wear if that clip is used often. Mine won't be. There is scope for adjusting it though, but many users would not notice the cause and would not know what to do.
Another bike from Argos.
24v folder
EPlus 20 Inch CH22 Folding 24V Electric Bike
24v folder
EPlus 20 Inch CH22 Folding 24V Electric Bike
At least it has gears as many similar ebike are single speed. It does have a fixed height stem so getting a good bike fit may be difficult. Sub £300 still a very good deal for what you are getting but not comparable to the value of the ebike of this thread which is 36V and has a much larger capacity battery pack roughly twice the capacity. Something like 156Wh vs 300Wh. Although from what Saneagle has stated the ebike of this thread doesn't seem to have a controller that is much different in current delivery.
One feature on the little Argos folder that is annoying me is the awful squawking and screaching that comes from the brakes whenever it is wet. It happens all the time , but gets really loud when there is any rain or even mist.
I might upgrade, but will it be the pads, the disk, or just the brake mechanism itself which is the problem?
I don't want to install hydraulic calipers and find that the noise was coming from the disk after all.
I might upgrade, but will it be the pads, the disk, or just the brake mechanism itself which is the problem?
I don't want to install hydraulic calipers and find that the noise was coming from the disk after all.
I did a bit of googling and numbers of cycling sites mention contamination of disks by dirty hands or oil spray as an issue, so I might try some naptha on a clean cloth to try and remove residue. I've never put oil anywhere near them, but who knows what went on at the Indian factory?
That is a quick and easy solution. I have a gallon of naptha in a cuboard here. It is pretty clean stuff I think. If not, elsewhere I have some 99% isopropyl alcohol if that doesn't work.
I wouldn't waste money on pads. Hydraulic brakes can be had for £20. By the time you've bought pads, you're half way there and it probably won't solve your problem.
Cable brakes have to bend the disc to press it against the fixed pad. You can see that when you look from the top while you operate the brake. In the period between the bending starting and the disc reaching the fixed pad, the moving pad is just rubbing on the disc without any braking force. The whole concept is fundamentally flawed. As the pads wear, the bending of the disc becomes more extreme, so it's vital that you make regular adjustments to the fixed pad to keep it as close to the disc as possible. Without doing that adjustment, the lever on the caliper will eventually over-ride its stop and jam in that position. You can see it happen in this video at 4:54.
Last edited:
Related Articles
-
MTF Enterprises announces acquisition of EMU Electric Bikes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Wisper 806T folding bike wins Which? ‘Best Buy’- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Sustrans calls for protected cycle lanes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Amazon launch their first UK e-cargo micromobility hub- Started by: Pedelecs
