Cyclamatic Power Plus

[TruffleShuffle1971]

Hi there, new to electric bikes, new to this community

I got mine last Thursday after a steerable experience with Sports HQ which I fear will continue since I think I have a duff bike.

Apart from there being no instructions on use of the bike and the three modes, I have dabbled and think I have got the just of it.

I am assuming upon initial power on, the bike is in pedal only mode, then a flick of the on/off button seems to put it in straight power mode, I cannot however find the power assist mode.

What I have discovered is that in power only mode, if I remove any throttle, it does (sometimes) kick in with power if I peddle, however this seems inconsistent.

Someone with greater knowledge could perhaps explain how modes are selected, that may alleviate one of my issues.

The other issue being the power only mode.

On the flat it is ok, but a little sluggish, downhill it goes like a rocket, but up hill, and not a very steep one, there is no power at all.

In all circumstances, the second I give it any throttle, the battery indicator on the handle bars goes from three to two, indicating to me that there is an issue with the battery.

However, with no throttle, all three lights show. And, when stationary with the battery turned on, all three lights show, as does the indicator on the battery itself.

The bike arrived, seemingly with a full charge, so I took it out for a spin when I finally got it put together, since then I have charged it overnight, but am still seeing what I would consider sluggish performance.

I have made no adjustments to brakes or gearing as all seemed fair and proper, the only adjustments I have made are taking the front tyre up to 35psi and the back up to 45psi (advised by Halfords). They were both lingering around 20psi. Would that make much difference to performance on power?

Also, I did notice this morning when I rode it to work, the chain slipped off the front cog type things (I am not yet a bikey type guy so things will crop up now and then ). I managed to slip it back on with ease. Perhaps this needs adjustment?

I am happy to take it to a bike shop for a good going over, but not if there is something fundamentally wrong with the bike, I would rather just return it, although Sports HQ have not made that option particularly easy, in advance refusing a refund and stating they will only inspect the bike, even though it is less than a hand of fingers in days old.

Having read all the reviews on Amazon, and taking into account I am just under ten stone in weight, I would have expected this to take me up a shallow hill with relative ease on power only, however, it is so sluggish I start to wobble with only power and no peddling.

Any advice sought and much appreciated from you guys who seem to know the beans on everything bike wise

 

[flecc]

The battery indicator dropping from three to two lights as the throttle is opened is normal, common to many bikes, since it's just reacting to the current drain of the motor dropping the voltage slightly. The fact that it's doing that seems to indicate that all is probably well with the power, but not knowing the incline you are climbing, it's difficult to be specific. In general though, e-bikes are electric assist and not intended to be self powered, especially on hills.

I'm sure some Cyclamatic owners will answer on the power modes shortly.

 

[TruffleShuffle1971]

I think perhaps the reviews I have read were a bit over enthusiastic. Mind you having spoken to a number of cyclists at work they have stated seeing those on eBikes bombing up hills with no peddling, although perhaps more expensive models.

I am hoping the tweaks I made to the tyre pressure will help.

 

[flecc]

There are substantial differences in peak powers, some can be twice as powerful, mainly 36 volt models. The way they are designed influences things too, for example one of the most powerful "legal" e-bikes some while ago was a terrible hill climber since it's motor was geared for speed at hill climb expense. Others are geared the other way, biased for climbing.

 

[Willin']

I think perhaps the reviews I have read were a bit over enthusiastic. Mind you having spoken to a number of cyclists at work they have stated seeing those on eBikes bombing up hills with no peddling, although perhaps more expensive models.

I am hoping the tweaks I made to the tyre pressure will help.

You'll need to up the tyre pressure to about 60-65 psi. I've got a Cyclamatic but haven't been on it for a while - mind you when I did ride it I never used the throttle if at all possible. Riding on the level on pedal assist only you should easily tank along at 16- 17 mph. I can manage hills of about 10% with a lot of rider input( i.e pedalling hard and using gears on pedal assist) but I couldn't tell you whether the bike would go up that sort on incline on throttle alone- thought I doubt it very much (it's only a 24 volt).

It is normal for the green light to go off immediately you start to pedal or use throttle - it's just indicating a drain on the battery and will recover when you stop. You'll get a better idea of battery status by pressing the button on the battery while stopped. You should easily get 16 miles of mixed riding on a charge.

I'll dig mine out and go for a ride tomorrow and try out using combinations of pedal assist and throttle and get back to you ( I am a bit hazy on details at the moment as it was last November since I rode it).

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There's nothing clever about the three modes. You have one switch on the handlebars (throttle) and the key-switch on the battery. Switch off the battery and you're in pedal-it-yourself mode with no assist. Switch on the battery and then you can switch the throttle on or off with its switch. Be careful: It's easy to accidentally switch it when you change gear. You might want to re-adjust the relative positions by loosening the clamp screws and rotating slightly.

Your battery indicator light behaviour is normal.

Regarding the power: It's difficult to comment because we can't see how steep your hill is. The Cyclamatic can pull me (100kg) up a slight hill, but quickly stalls out in a steeper one. There is a modification you can do to get a lot more climbing power, but your battery won't take you as far. here's how to do it. let us know if you need any more help:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/technical/9183-cyclamatic-controller-mod-walkthrough-pics.html
Here's how to turn your Cyclamatic into a beast:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/9857-cyclamatic-beastamatic-dead-long-live-beastamatic.html

 

[morphix]

My first bike was a heavy (27kg) 250W 15Ah battery bike which used to struggle a bit up a steep hill near me on throttle only, it would crawl just before the top but make it up. The bike I have now is 20kg with a self-build 250W 10AH kit and it goes up the same hill much easier and quicker by contrast. Maybe the reduced weight of the bike is a factor and better road tyres I have.. But I think as flecc said, it depends on the maximum output power the motor can deliver. I may have just got lucky with my kit.

 

[TruffleShuffle1971]

Thanks for all the replies, far better than I got from Sports HQ

Ok I am going to get a decent pump/guage tomorrow and get the tyres pumped up as you suggest, I must admit, when riding I did feel a little drift even on the straight.

Would doing something with the gearing (I would have to get a man with a spanner lol) give me better hill climbing? That is predominately when I want to use power anyway.

Not sure of the incline, how can I tell as there are no signs? It is just a long and shallow dual carriageway not too steep when walking, kind of gentle but long.

I guess for the most part it will be getting used to the bike and having it properly tuned as it certainly wasn't out of the box rideable, so definitely get in into a mechanic at the weekend

 

[morphix]

Oh yeah one other thing to consider is the weather which I'm told affects the battery chemistry.. I, like many owners on the forum notice a big difference between riding in cold months and in the warmer seasons..the battery performance difference is very noticeable..I guess it would show more on hills too..

 

[Willin']

Oh yeah one other thing to consider is the weather which I'm told affects the battery chemistry.. I, like many owners on the forum notice a big difference between riding in cold months and in the warmer seasons..the battery performance difference is very noticeable..I guess it would show more on hills too..

Good point.

 

[TruffleShuffle1971]

Again, thanks ever so much guys for fantastic responses. I guess a few more days getting used to it will help a lot and getting the tyre pressure right must be quite a factor since even with mine pumped up a bit they are still far lower than 60-65

I will check out those mods too, thanks very much for the info

 

[flecc]

Ditto on the cold weather point, batteries perform very poorly at low temperatures.

Altering the bike gearing only alters things for your pedalling, it won't make any difference to the way the motor performs, it's gearing is fixed internally.

 

[TruffleShuffle1971]

Ok understood regards the gearing.

Quick question then, will keeping the battery inside overnight help things as at the moment it is outside with a over on?

 

[flecc]

Yes, it will help to start a journey with a battery at room temperature, but it will lose temperature fairly quickly in very cold conditions. Worth doing though, since it will give you a better idea of the power in more normal weather.

 

[TruffleShuffle1971]

Excellent, thanks very much indeed, and to everyone else who replied, fantastic informative community this is, I can see I am going to be happy here, and at least feel a lot happier about my bike and the tweaks I need to do, with more realistic expectations

 

[z0mb13e]

I find the low gear on the Cyclamatic is too high for me on long hills and I have to put more effort in the further up the hill I get. I prefer to have a very low gear to spin the crank faster (as with the Wisper) as I find this balances out my input with that of the motor. This isn't to everyones liking and your mileage may vary, but you could change the gear set for one with a low range gear. This will make it easier for you to assist the motor but won't make the motor do any more work. It will however help keep the speed up. Hub motors seem to have a sweet spot (~8MPH on the 26" Wheeled Wisper and Cyclamatic). If they go below that then the motor struggles.

Also I find the throttle on the Cyclamatic is rarely worth using. It works on the flat ok, but up hill it seems to provide less assistance than pedelec mode. And no chance of getting up all but the shallowest of hills without rider input.

Ignore the lights on the throttle, just keep an eye on how far you have travelled. As Willin' says, 16 miles range is about right. High pressure in the tyres really does make a difference to your range and speed.

With regard to cold weather and batteries I have even noticed a difference in performance between a cold morning and a not so cold afternoon. Interesting to note one really cold morning (~1 Deg) with very sluggish performance, followed by a much warmer afternoon (~ 9 Deg) the performance really picks up and the capacity is still there. Also with an older battery the handlebar lights drop to red almost immediately and stay there.

 

[Fordulike]

Also I find the throttle on the Cyclamatic is rarely worth using. It works on the flat ok, but up hill it seems to provide less assistance than pedelec mode. And no chance of getting up all but the shallowest of hills without rider input.

Strange that you experience this, coz I found the opposite (when it was unmodded).
The throttle gave more beans than the pedelec.
Using the pedelec with the lowest gear on very steep hills, tended to be a bit erratic in power delivery.
Pedaling with throttle on full gave the best assistance.
Now there's not a problem (modded), as it's running on Heinz and not Smart Price beans

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi z0mb13e

If you get the opportunity I would like to hear what you think of the new Wisper motor/controller set up. We believe we now offer a much longer "sweet spot" from 0 to top speed! Hub motors and especially controllers have come a long way in the last few years.

All the best

David

 

[TruffleShuffle1971]

Allright everyone

Just thought I would give a quick update.

Not sure whether it is down to me getting used to cycling again or the advice here, but, things have improved somewhat.

Got the tyres up to 60 PSI for both (they were both below 20) and that made a bit of a difference.

Kept the battery on charge and inside overnight, and took it into the office at work and noticed a substantial difference in speed (but not pulling power).

I am quite keen to do some mods to add torque and have a few guys in work who are quite happy to do so.

I am not worried about noise or battery life, since I will only be using it for a max of 3 miles a day, so, which is the best mod to do for the most uphill torque gain?

I note the two links above but have seen loads of other mods (probably the same I guess) so was just wondering for a definitive one to go for.

As said, not worried about noise or battery life, as long as it will get me three miles between charges, the only thing that does concern me is any damage to the motor or battery.

Happy to get a new fuse and get the guys in work to do the job for me, not keen on a new 36v battery so keen on keeping the one I have (for now at least), given the cost of the battery.

And once again, thanks for the excellent responses, extremely helpful and nice to come somewhere so friendly

 

[Willin']

Pleased you are seeing some improvement in your bike. Apologies about not getting back to you but I haven't been near my bike because of family issues.

BTW - this forum can be very friendly and helpful as well as a great source of knowledge and wisdom- but there are times when the feathers fly!