best wisper for uphill.......

[dmcgoldrick]

hi,could anyone from wisper give the latest update on up hill performance of their products please.
have a new 705se with 8 ah battery. performs well for about half the discharge and then falls off dramatically. when quarter still showing, uphill assist almost non existent.
its very hilly where i live ....getting about 10 miles of good uphill assist.

alpino ? (better gear ratio for uphill) ?
bigger battery 14ah needed for my bike ?
newer, more powerful batteries coming for 2011 ?

very much like the bike, but uphill range much less than i was expecting......

every direction back to my home means a final uphill journey....so if battery has already reduced to quarter then it will mean pushing the bike on the final leg home !!!!!

regards

 

[Mussels]

It's probably the battery size rather than the bike, could you recharge it more often?

 

[dmcgoldrick]

It's probably the battery size rather than the bike, could you recharge it more often?

hi mussells, yes i think you are probably correct re battery.
i am now charging up before every trip. its the times that i want to travel a little further which takes battery level down below half. up hill assist then falls away and the final mile is uphill whichever direction i am coming home from....
its the fall off in assist (up hill) when still showing half full which has surprised me.
its very hilly here in perthshire and i am in a small town on the highland line so i guess quite a bit different than most of england. think of lake district for something similar to the terrain where i am.....

regards

 

[AndyOfTheSouth]

Have you asked Wisper directly? They are usually very good at supporting their users. Otherwise, Mussels's is comment is surely correct?

 

[dmcgoldrick]

Have you asked Wisper directly? They are usually very good at supporting their users. Otherwise, Mussels's is comment is surely correct?

yes, as you can see this is posted on clinic page for wisper and david at wisper has taken some more detail and i await his comments. i have also arranged with a wisper local service centre to try the 14ah battery, and to also test the alpino bike for comparison.
the 14ah comes with both a weight penalty and large price difference should it be the fix.
alpino is considerably more expensive than 705se.
a technical answer as to why a brand new half full battery does not pull very well up hill and when quarter full is effectively no assist at all up hill would be interesting.
the terrain where i am is obviously a big test for a battery bike.
i am confident that wisper will do their best to find a solution for me. as it stands at the moment the new bike has very limited short range use where i live. hoping its not going to be too expensive to find a fix.......

 

[allen-uk]

I've got a 905se with the 14Ah battery. The bike is heavy, sure, but once you get past 15kg or so of bike, another couple of kilograms makes little difference.

I am 115kg+. I live in NW London, so it's hardly the highlands, but there are lots of hills which without electrical assistance I would find next to impossible.

But with the 905, I can get up them. I DO have to pedal, pretty hard on the worst ones, and quite vigorously on the lesser ones, but the battery and motor carry on grinding away for 20-25 miles before I recharge*. The capacity drops from '4 lights' to 3 then to 2, but it still gets up the hills. I can feel the difference, of course, and I've never had the confidence to take it down to '1 light'.

(*I often recharge at 15 miles or so, on the 'little and often' principle).

I think the other comments are spot on. Unless you are a lot fatter than me, or have another problem with the bike (duff motor?), then it has got to be the battery capacity that's giving you problems.


Allen.

 

[dmcgoldrick]

I've got a 905se with the 14Ah battery. The bike is heavy, sure, but once you get past 15kg or so of bike, another couple of kilograms makes little difference.

I am 115kg+. I live in NW London, so it's hardly the highlands, but there are lots of hills which without electrical assistance I would find next to impossible.

But with the 905, I can get up them. I DO have to pedal, pretty hard on the worst ones, and quite vigorously on the lesser ones, but the battery and motor carry on grinding away for 20-25 miles before I recharge*. The capacity drops from '4 lights' to 3 then to 2, but it still gets up the hills. I can feel the difference, of course, and I've never had the confidence to take it down to '1 light'.

(*I often recharge at 15 miles or so, on the 'little and often' principle).

I think the other comments are spot on. Unless you are a lot fatter than me, or have another problem with the bike (duff motor?), then it has got to be the battery capacity that's giving you problems.


Allen.

thanks allen. this is very useful information....i am only about 73 kg and even with pannier bag , lock, laptop on board probably not a load of more than 80kg. the first 10 miles of uphill assist is great , so i dont think the motor is suspect. i think it is all connected to non linear discharge of the battery and thats what i am trying to investigate. until i can try another battery i will not know if its a function of the battery type or if my battery is not performing as it should.
in either event, looks like i need to upgrade to the 14ah......
regards

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Rick

I have forwarded on your email to our tech bods and am awaiting their reply.

I would suggest that you upgrade to the 14A battery it really does make a huge difference especially if you are using maximum power or throttle only for any of your journey.

We have achieved over 40 miles on a single charge using medium power with no throttle on the 8Ah battery so it really depends on riding style and terrain. .

It may be worth taking your battery to your supplier just to check it is holding a full charge. They will also double check your tyre pressures

I will answer your email in full next week.

All the best

David

 

[dmcgoldrick]

wisper have been very helpful on this issue.
unfortunately for my wallet, the excellent service centre in dundee (Lawntech-yes they sell and repair lawnmowers !!!) had an alpino 706 in when i visited and on riding this i could not resist purchasing and trading in the very good 705se.

alpino is simply a brilliant electric cycling experience. its on its way.......

thanks david at wisper for facilitating my meeting at Lawntech and thanks john at Lawntech for doing a deal.....

regards

 

[TylerD]

Hi, I have a 705se, I'd be interested to know how it compares with the Alpino

 

[dmcgoldrick]

Hi, I have a 705se, I'd be interested to know how it compares with the Alpino

hi, the alpino is a larger framed bike and gave a very comfortable riding position. 705 also comfortable but for me alpino suited better. i chose the 26 inch wheels. it also comes with 28 wheels but this was a little too big for me,as i like both feet on the ground whilst sat on the seat (only 5 5 ).

controller more sophisticated on alpino . 6 assist levels and lots of extra functions including speedo, trip and total distance recorder, riding time and power indicator. some of these are just nice to have , but the 6 assist level function is excellent.

alpino has very smooth gear change...in fact so smooth i have never been on a bike where going uphill gear change is seamless. also no need to pedal whilst changing down many gears at once...... if that makes sense. gear ratio seems to be more suited to hill climbing and also has a higher top gear to achieve more top speed.
the gearbox was perhaps the biggest difference between the bikes and the most important for the terrain where i live.

not sure if the front wheel motor is also contributing to this improved uphill performance but assume the gearbox/motor is a better combination.

excellent brake levers on alpino.

alpino has auto sensing lights front and rear.....how cool is that !

throttle is on left on alpino which i found much more convenient for right hand signal.

front suspension forks are upgraded on alpino . will need to ride more to get the benefit. went down a cobbled street and performed well.

these are early impressions. i have enjoyed riding the 705se which got me back to cycling and think that the move to the alpino 706 will give a hard to beat riding experience. there is a large cost difference but in my opinion the improved performance is well worth it.

i think if you can get a ride on an alpino you may find it hard to resist !!!

regards

 

[Wisper Bikes]

wisper have been very helpful on this issue.
unfortunately for my wallet, the excellent service centre in dundee (Lawntech-yes they sell and repair lawnmowers !!!) had an alpino 706 in when i visited and on riding this i could not resist purchasing and trading in the very good 705se.

alpino is simply a brilliant electric cycling experience. its on its way.......

thanks david at wisper for facilitating my meeting at Lawntech and thanks john at Lawntech for doing a deal.....

regards

Sorry about the wallet! But thanks for ordering the Alpino, and thanks for the kind words. We think the Alpino is very hard to beat, much like the xc Tourer it has a perfect balance between motor and gearbox. We have tried hard to retain a true bike riding experience whilst offering all the advantages of a pedelec, comments like this make the effort totaly worth while.

Many thanks again for buying a Wisper!

Best regards

David

 

[TylerD]

Thanks very much for that, sounds as though the Alpino would suit my area, which can be quite hilly, I can feel a trip to Lawntech coming on!