Cyclamatic Power Plus Owners club

[Eddie F]

Hi all, after reading the whole thread again after wipeing the smile off my face, on reflection i may have been, (was) in a very bad mood when i posted at the start and not rearly expressed myself wel.l ok lets let the thread die.

Sorry

 

[flecc]

No problem Eddie, no hard feelings I'm sure. The Cyclamatics seem to be gaining lots of sales in the forum, so the old saying that there's no such thing as bad publicity holds true still.
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[eddieo]

all part of the cut and thrust.......enjoy your bike

 

[clckn2000]

Hi all if you don’t like this `cheap or as i like to call it BUDGET e bike.
go away.

know there are snobs on the forum who spend over £1200 on an e bike and have many different ones and have built up experience over the years.

I am, like most people who have a Cyclamatic Power Plus, on a tight budget but wont to get into ebikeing. Hopefully this will lead me into more higher spec bikes with spares and service advice.

I have got mine today and it took me around an hour to put together. I have to admit i got mine at a discount but will review as if full price and the higher level of expectations.

Got on and rode, wow not what i expected, the pedal assist was good and i shot along. The power lights went to low under power but the gauge on the battery pack says full. Putting it on charge tonight and will go out for a longer ride tomoz. 12 month warranty on the battery 24v 10ah

I invite all owners to post good and bad in this thread and hopefully get more people on the road on there ebike.

Eddie

I got mine Wednesday (14th April 2010) and it took longer to unwrap it than to assemble the bits and peices. Two problems. The seat had a small rip in it. The retailer, offered to replace or repay £30. I opted for the 30 quid, having dished a spare out. The other is the front brake. I cannot stop it squeaking. No doubt I'll manage it but it's still annoying. I git the bike because my old bones won't let me pedal up the local hills any more. The power assistance is just enough, and on the flat bits I can have a rest wilst still moving. The 15 mph cut off of power is a bit annoying. Not the bikes fault, it's the law.

Very pleased with the bike.

 

[clckn2000]

There is some bias against cheap e-bikes Dave, but it has been born of long experience. There's been a long succession of them throughout the past decade, time after time they appear and rapidly disappear, leaving no spares and battery availability. The ability to scrap them due to their low cost is a curse, not a benefit.

What doesn't seem to be realised is the harm that does to e-biking. Literally tens of thousands have tried a cheap e-bike, scrapped it after a year or so due to failure of some sort and given up the notion of e-biking altogether. That does our movement no good.

It's absolutely true that some expensive bikes have reliability records no better than some cheap e-bikes due to early failures, but the crucial difference is that when someone's paid well over £1000, they don't just scrap the bike, they get it fixed. And because they paid that much, the spares and service support to do that are usually available, so they end up with something reliable and e-biking is done no harm.

I am not against all cheap e-bikes by any means, the Synergie bikes and especially the Mistral are very cheap, but I've often recommended them to those who can't afford more. That's because they've shown themselves to be serious about the business, have stayed the course and give some backup service.

So "long live Cyclamatic" indeed, a sentiment I applaud, and if they stay the course and for once a sports shop doesn't show itself to be just out for a quick buck from e-bikes, I for one will be delighted.

Until that happens, I see nothing wrong with warning prospective purchasers of the potential difficulties and strongly object to the sort of responses to that from EddieF and Blew it, who it seems prefer to censor by abuse or exclusion.
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The issue about spare batteries and other general maintenance issues is a worry. Who can tell me and all the other Cyclamatic owner how to find the bits and the knowledge.?

 

[Fordulike]

clckn2000, glad you like yer new bike.
Firstly, it's unlikely that you will completely stop the front brake from squeaking.
After a bit of detective work on mine, i found out that it's the suspension forks that resonate. This is probably due to the fact that they're not the best quality.
I did change the pads to Jagwire ones which were a little better, but didn't cure it completely. Slightly less binding on the rim!
They now only squeak for the last second before the wheel stops completely.
As for the battery, it's probably unlikely that you will be able to buy a direct replacement.
Depending on your skills, you could either buy a rear rack mounted aluminium cased battery, from the likes of Goldenmotor. Then connect the battery's output to the controller with some suitably rated cable.
Or integrate a LiFePO4 battery (Ping) into a suitable container with connections for charging and to the controller. Also a switch to cut battery power to the controller whilst charging. Possibly an inline fuse too. Other more experienced members can help you with this.
The former would be the easiest, as the battery packs already have a charging port, fuse, BMS and battery on/off key switch built into the casing.
As for the rear hub motor, it has a male/female connector which allows the whole wheel to be removed. I haven't checked, but i assume that it can be replaced with a standard 24v rear hub wheel.
Again, the more experienced members can give you guidance if you ever need to do this.
Most of the other components are standard fare and any good bike shop will be able to help you out with fixing or sourcing parts.
Hope this helps

 

[flecc]

The issue about spare batteries and other general maintenance issues is a worry. Who can tell me and all the other Cyclamatic owner how to find the bits and the knowledge.?

One good thing is that these have obviously sold well as a result of the low prices and special offers, so there will be an accumulation of experience in here available for repairs etc in future. This is unlike most cheap examples which just sell a small batch and disappear. Batteries can be worked around as Fordulike says, so as a forum member you don't need to worry. The only people who might be troubled are those who've bought one and are unaware of this forum and it's access to help, and its primarily those I wrote about.
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[Old Timer]

I purchased a spare battery direct from sports hq for my wifes Cyclamatic plus no problem.

 

[Fordulike]

Thanks for the info Old Timer.
When did you buy the battery?
I e-mailed them recently and they weren't sure about obtaining the batteries.
I assume that your wife's is the folder. Any idea if there's a difference between the folder battery and the MTB battery?

 

[Johnalwyn]

Hi Clckn2000,
I checked with SportHQ where I suspect most of us bought our bikes and they told me thay could supply spare batteries at £200 a shot. Expensive (half the cost of the bike), but then it's a cheap bike. I'm sure if we opened up the battery container it wouldn't be that difficult to find a replacement.
John

 

[Johnalwyn]

Squeaking Brakes? Try a drop of oil.
Only joking. I have this with my tandem. Not much you can do about it, sometimes it goes away with wear. I think it's to do with the materials they use now, old rubber blocks didn't do it but they weren't effective in the wet.

John

 

[Old Timer]

Thanks for the info Old Timer.
When did you buy the battery?
I e-mailed them recently and they weren't sure about obtaining the batteries.
I assume that your wife's is the folder. Any idea if there's a difference between the folder battery and the MTB battery?

No! my wifes is the MTB and the folder batteries do not interchange. I think that Sports hq has just had some more bikes in so they probably have batteries.

 

[Fordulike]

Hi Clckn2000,
I checked with SportHQ where I suspect most of us bought our bikes and they told me thay could supply spare batteries at £200 a shot. Expensive (half the cost of the bike), but then it's a cheap bike. I'm sure if we opened up the battery container it wouldn't be that difficult to find a replacement.
John

Good thing with SportsHQ is that they always seem to have some kind of promotional discount on. I'm sure once you notice that the battery is not performing as it should, that a discount code will come along.
Bought my bike with a 20% discount and also earned £17 in reward points off my next purchase. Not sure if these can be combined with a percentage discount but hey it seems like a good company. They get my thumbs up

 

[Old Timer]

Good thing with SportsHQ is that they always seem to have some kind of promotional discount on. I'm sure once you notice that the battery is not performing as it should, that a discount code will come along.
Bought my bike with a 20% discount and also earned £17 in reward points off my next purchase. Not sure if these can be combined with a percentage discount but hey it seems like a good company. They get my thumbs up

They can be used with discount code, I got one of our folders with discount and points when they were cheaper for £311 which is about the going rate for an average battery. The folders are not the most powerful thing in the world unless you put a different crank and chainwheel on (mine is 57Tooth front now) and then it transforms the bike. All in all they are fun, they don`t break the bank and when/if you move up to a more substantial bike they are a good spare(something to leave at your caravan for instance.)
I`m sure on our folders if the rear hub gives up I will maybe source a new wheel or a new front hub wheel and spend fun time sorting it out. You`ve seen my videos of the coast, you can park up away from the madhouse and ride in a mile or so and to be honest if the motor gave up the ghost they are light enough to ride around as a normal bike.

 

[flecc]

£200 is a great price for a lithium battery anyway. There's very few around that price, £395 to £515 is where many are at present.
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[clckn2000]

Thanks to all who offered advice. It's good to see an active group who want to ensure that we all get the best out off what we have.
I've thoughly enjoyed using the Cyclamatic and have found support from "SportHq" quite good. I asked them via email for some documentation to help with maitenance of the bike. I exampled what to do if I needed to replace the rear inner tube. I received a pictured reply with some details of how to change the inner tube . As luck would have it, that evening I got a rear tyre multiple puncture off a thorn twig. I had to push the bike home about two miles trying to take care of the weight on the rear wheel. Taking the rear wheel off if a delicate exercise. The power cable is connected via an enclosed connector encased in a shrink wrapped plastic sheathing. The instructions advised cutting this to get at the connector. Delicate. The wheel axle has keyed washers that act as torque reatainers, one each side. The rear brake drum fell open. It all went back into place and plenty of black insulation tape was used, and by some miracle worked as befor. The rear brake seems to want bedding in again.
The front brake squeal I've sorted by getting some new bigger blocks from Halfords and toeing them out at the front. OK yes, this is against advised practice but I'd tried the other solutions and this one worked.
I think we are a big enough user group now to put some pressure on the distributors to offer support such as proper manuals and on line technical advice, beyond that which this excellent forum offers.

 

[geostorm]

Cyclamatic

Cyclamatic are these anything to do with the cyclemaster, or as anyone experienced this make. no its, not the engine in the wheel of the 50s

 

[flecc]

Cyclamatic are these anything to do with the cyclemaster, or as anyone experienced this make. no its, not the engine in the wheel of the 50s

I've never heard of Cyclemaster outside of those '50s motor, and Google only brings them up too?

Cyclamatic just appears to be a name coined for some fairly standard Chinese e-bikes, the sort that appear under a variety of names at different times.
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[geostorm]

Cyclamatic

they appear to be based in staffordshire, i think use american motor

 

[Old Timer]

I've never heard of Cyclemaster outside of those '50s motor, and Google only brings them up too?

Cyclamatic just appears to be a name coined for some fairly standard Chinese e-bikes, the sort that appear under a variety of names at different times.
.

To be honest Tony having both the folder and the MTB cyclamatics I haven`t seen them in any other name. They are obviously the cheaper end of the Chinese market but as I say they do seem to be not a clone of anything. I think Onmebike tracked the parent sports company down to the states at one time so it might have been a bike made for that market originally. The folder is really just a run around fun bike but Annes MTB plus bike is proving to be a fairly decent road bike(not as fast or as powerful as her 36V Synergie Breeze) but more than adequate for 20-25 miles of assisted use and we did opt for a spare battery for £190 so she should be set for a while. The big saving grace of the bike is it`s 17" frame and fairly light weight that fits in nicely with Annes size.

As a point of interest I noticed that the Cyclamatic folder has a pedelec magnet wheel that has many holes around it that would make it ideal as a project