Bought Urban Mover UM36

[Jonathan1]

Hi,

thanks for comments on Giant Suede. I test rode it and an urban mover UM36 on Friday. No comparison for me, as a bike to ride for comfort and ride quality the Uraban Mover was much better. Also lighter at 22.5Kg with battery. Seems relatively new, company is based in Cheltenham, but bike probably made in China? Though not most powerful, It seems ideal for my 4 mile (each way) commute in Bristol. Will let you know how I get on with it. Have a look at it if you are interested. Cost = £749.

u r b a n m o v e r

Jonathan.

 

[rsscott]

Hi Jonathan,

looks nice! It should more than cope with your 4-mile commute. The only thing I would change is to fit some decent puncture resistant tyres such as the Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

cheers
Russ.

 

[flecc]

Many thanks for the information Jonathan, fits roughly my thoughts on it. I hope it gives you years of good service, but please let us know how you're getting on with it from time to time.

 

[Jed]

Did you buy the optional torque sensor?

thanks
Jed

 

[Jonathan1]

The tyres on it are claimed to be puncture resistant, described as "UM-T puncture resistant" will have a look to see what they really are.......

I wasn't offered the torque sensor option, I don't think I've got it. Motor just cuts in when pedals are turned. They showed the bike on the Gadget show on channel 5 last night for about 60 seconds. They showed that the pedal is springy, which mine is not. I think they must fit a sprung crank for the torque sensor. Will inquire.

Comments so far.
*** Rides really well
*** Battery died right on queue at about 19 miles.
*** Have fitted proper mudguards to protect myself and the battery from road dirt etc.
*** My heel sometimes catches on the key which sticks out from the battery when on, not ideal, Key head just needs to be smaller.
*** Find I need to put on brakes to change down coming to junctions with hill start ahead. Otherwise the power cuts in and speeds me up when I want to slow down. A button or switch to disable power under left thumb would be helpful to cut off power when desired. Presumably the switches in the brakes are just switches and I could intercept the cable to add a switch for this function?

Otherwise, absolutely storming, but still in honeymoon period, of course.

Jonathan.

 

[flecc]

Yes, that springy crank was the torque sensor Jonathan. I've seen test reports that are critical of them because of the imprecise feel they give, described as an odd sensation.

There are features there in common with the eZee torq. The early Torq had inadequate mudguards and it's key also gets in the way like that. eZeebike have changed the design to a shorter head on the key, perhaps you could cut yours down?

The brake cutout intercept that you suggest would be fine. The brake lever switches are normally in one circuit of the bike's wiring, so additions to the two existing breaks would have no ill effect.

 

[fbm]

Jonathan - interesting post for me that one as I've been thinking about buying a UM36 for a 7 mile each way commute, also in Bristol. I'd been using a conventional bike but the office I work in has just lost its showers so I'm looking for a way of removing some of the sweating in the morning. I've been searching around a bit but haven't been able to find any reviews of the UM36, so I'd appreciate it if you could keep us all up to date with how you are getting on.

I saw the gadget show piece, and they seemed to like it, but they didn't say much.

The other one of interest to me is the eZee Torq, but the price difference seems huge. Did you look at and compare that, or did price rule it out? anyone else got any views as to whether the price difference between the two is waranted?

And was it A Williams in Cheltenham you bought from?

Thanks.

Steve.

 

[flecc]

The price difference is there Steve.

The Torq has a better Shimano 8 speed gearset against the 6 speed which is fitted to cheaper bikes generally, the Torq also has full mudguards, full lighting, a high capacity alloy carrier and some trimmings like the water bottle, and there's the much more powerful motor which can be derestricted. It also has a 36 volt system with a 10 Ah Li-ion battery, against a 24 volt 8 Ah NiMh battery.

Otherwise it's personal choice, whether you value that high performance, and whether the gear range on the Urban Mover will be adequate. Unfortunately their site doesn't give the gear inches or sprockets fitted.

 

[fbm]

Thanks flecc, I guess I just have to give them both a try and see what I think.

 

[Jonathan1]

Hi,

so the supposedly puncture proof tyres are made by "Heng Shin" and called "CST E-BIKE PRO all purpose long life tyres". Will wait to see if I get puncture.

The front sprocket is 40T and the back is a shimano MFTZ06 with 14/28 teeth and 6 speeds. Interesting, because I guess I could change it for one with 11 teeth to go faster, at expense of the low gear, am I right. This said I can do 20mph pedalling fast which is fine for me.

I did not buy it at the Cheltenham dealer, bought at Honeyfield trailer center in bedminster who seems is agent and has full range + ones to try. If you want to try one go there, or email me at Jonathan.Lord@hp.com to try mine, I live in Bishopston. I discounted the torq because since market is changing fast, I don't wan't to spend that amount of money and see something better in a couple of years time. Urban mover seems a good compromise.

Regarding button to cut out power while changing down or manouvering slowly, urban mover said moter may overhead if I do this? Don't understand, because same would happen when appling brake for long downhill road. Any ideas if this is real, since such a switch seems like a real omission to me.

That's it for now. >>> Jonathan.

 

[Jonathan1]

I found out that torque sensor with springy pedal is a brand new option at £49. My first reaction is that I'm wished I had it. But then it's more to go wrong. It's adavatages are that it gives less help (and acceleration) when going slowly, so power take up is controlled. But then I'm thinking you would really want a control to adjust the amount of proportionate assistance you get, which I don't think it has. It would also increase range, but I don't need any more range. For me, the full on power all the time is fine, but I just need the cut off button for changing down and manouvering.

Jonathan.

 

[rsscott]

Hi Jonathan,

those tyres are the same as I had on a previous electric bike. I was unfortunate enough to get a puncture half-way to work on the second day after getting my bike. I didn't really enjoy the 5-mile walk home!

There are a million opinions out there on which tyre to go for, but I've never seen a bad word said about the Marathon Plus. The Cheng Shin tyres are made to a price point - cheap!

A pair of Marathon Plus will set you back £45 or so. Either that or take a couple of cans of CO2 spray with you (the combined slime ones are good).

 

[flecc]

I think they've misunderstood Jonathan. You're right in saying it's just the same as the brake cut-out.

Your present gearing is 36 to 73 gear inches which is low even for an unassisted bike, the top gear particularly low as a result of that restricting six speed range. It may be a sprocket block in which case the small sprocket could not be changed, but if it can, a 12 tooth would give a top of 85" which would suit the bike and enable pedalling at 23 mph with the same cadence as at present for 20 mph. An 11 tooth would up the top to 93" and about 25 mph, but 11 tooth sprockets do wear a bit fast and promote more chain wear.

If yours is not a hilly area, you could change the chainwheel ring to a larger one, the common 48 tooth would give you 87" and 24 mph, and that would raise the lowest gear to 44", still ok for 1 in 10 hills or 1 in 8 with a fair degree of pedal effort.

 

[fbm]

I've just been for a ride on one of these at the place where Jonathan bought his from, and am told (via a phone call to Urban) that the gearing is being changed with a new model (apparantly this new one was the one shown on the gadget show) reaching the shop next week. I'm sure I was told that they are increasing the size of the rear gears, but I dont claim to have any idea what effect this will have, so will go back and have a try of that one when it arrives.

In the meantime, this was, incidentally, my first go on an electric bike and I have to say it was not at all as I expected. The power came on in a far smoother and more controlled way than i imagined it would, and it really did feel like riding a normal bike with just a little bit of help. The style of the bke helps which is very "normal". Pretty positive from my point of view, although I would have liked a bit more help on some of the modest hills I took it up.

I'm having a go on a Torq tomorrow, which I know is no hill climber either, but I'm looking forward to seeing the difference.

 

[flecc]

Thanks for the information fbm. You'll really notice the Torq's power in comparison, and the other thing that you'll find striking is how the gears are very much the opposite, very high geared. These two bikes are very much opposites in some ways, though appearing to be similar in others.

If the Urban is to get even larger rear sprockets, thus lowering the gears still more, it's disappointing, but they might have felt it necessary to cope with the comparative lack of power in hilly areas.

Looking forward to seeing your next report.

 

[fbm]

Flecc - sorry for being thick (you wouldn't believe I was an engineering student once would you), but I'm struggling to get my head round the effect the gearing change will have.

Assuming the pedal gear stays the same size, larger gears at the back mean better hill climbing - is that right or is it the other way round? But what effect will that have on the flat?

I presume this theoretically lowers top speed, but that would be daft wouldn't it as it would certainly detract from the appeal of the bike?

Have I got this wrapped round my head the wrong way?

Steve.

 

[flecc]

That's absolutely right, the hill climbing would be improved, nothing wrong with your working out. My comment of disappointing was in relation to the fact that this is already a very low geared bike. If they change the whole gear block, the top gear would drop further yet, so would become restrictive if wanting to pedal at over 15 mph when conditions permitted. If they only lowered the gear of the lower sprocket(s), that would be ok.

 

[flecc]

Steve

If you'd like to understand the talk of gear inches etc, here's the gen:

The calculation is the number of teeth on the chainwheel, divided by the number of teeth on the rear sprocket, multiplied by the overall wheel diameter in inches. For example, on the Torq:

Chainwheel teeth/ rear sprocket teeth x wheel diameter with current Kendo tyre

52 divided by 25 x 28" = 58.24"

for the 58" bottom gear.

When hub gears are used, it's necessary to know the internal ratios to determine all the gears. On most hub gears the middle gear is direct drive, so the upper and lower ones have to be calculated from that.

The lazy way to do all this is to go to Kinetics website and download their handy gear calculator which includes facilities for some major hub gears.

All this inches business started with the bikes commonly known as Penny Farthings, proper name the Ordinary (as opposed to the Safety Bicycle which is what we ride). An alternative name for Ordinaries used now by competitive riders is the High Wheeler.

Ordinary riders would compare bikes by mentioning their wheel diameter, e.g. "mine's 48", or "mine's 66". Of course the limit was set by the internal leg measurement of the rider allowing for the bit extra for the cranks and fork top clearance, and it was this limitation which meant the cranks were always short on those high wheelers.

The distance an Ordinary would travel for one turn of the pedals was their inch measure times Pi (3.14) of course, but when the Safety Bicycle was invented with it's chain drive, that was no longer valid, so it became necessary to add in the ratio of the chainwheel to the rear sprocket to arrive at the value to multiply by Pi.

Footnote: You may have gathered from the first paragraph above that high wheelers are still in use. They have many fans worldwide, there are international rallies and races, and there's even a world record for the largest number of people on them in a row, holding each other upright with one arm and no-one supporting to the ground. The record last set was way over a hundred in a row, I think it was 137 Ordinaries. I've worked on them and ridden a high one and it was frankly terrifying.

 

[Jonathan1]

Hi,
The urban mover is a 6 speed screw on freewheel with 14/28 as previously stated in thread. I have looked into it all....The chain wheel is an all in one with rotation sensor, so it doesn't look possible to change at all. I checked the Shimano site and there is only one alternative 6 speed freewheel which has 12 teeth going up to gear 5 and the a megger 36 teeth for gear 6. Could be better for me, but not sure about how reliable it will be getting from a 24 onto a 36 or something like that. what do people think? To be honest the current gearing is not so bad, it just needs a little bit more.

 

[flecc]

That Shimano Megarange set would reduce the bottom gear, from 36" to 28", so make hill climbing that was below the motor's capability much easier. The change to the 36 tooth would work if the fitted change arm is long enough reach, but it would be slow. The very heavy Powerbykes use a similar megarange setup, with a huge low sprocket to make pedalling the 40 kilos just about possible.

I think it would be best to live with the bike for a while before doing any mods, since familiarity can change how one feels about things.