Cyclotricity Stealth Owners thread.

[Andy Bluenoes]

Hi d8veh,
Oh that would be great if I could smooth the wheel out, it would make my overall experience 100x better.
Thanks, I will go and have a play when I'm back home.
Ian

I had a bit of a play with the settings on the way to work this morning.
P1 on mine default is 46.....
I have taken it up to 50 with no change, and now heading backwards...only got to 45 so far, but no difference.

I should have checked what that range goes from and to as it could be a long excercise......

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Thanks Ian

Ill have a look at them on the way home tonight, Ive still not had a reply from Cyclotricity.

I found these.....

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/clarks-organic-pair-of-disc-brake-pads/

Looks like VX824 is the part we will need

 

[D C]

I recently bought some Baradine sintered pads from Tredz
http://www.tredz.co.uk/bike-brake-pads/search/brake+pads
Very cheap at the moment if you can find the right size, they don't squeal unless they are wet!
I've used them in the past and they work fine, I bought a dozen sets whilst this cheap.
Dave.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I had a bit of a play with the settings on the way to work this morning.
P1 on mine default is 46.....
I have taken it up to 50 with no change, and now heading backwards...only got to 45 so far, but no difference.

I should have checked what that range goes from and to as it could be a long excercise......

The numbers go right up because the controller can be used on a geared motor. I had that roughness on a Q75 motor. The calculated number was 214.4. I tried everything around there, but had the same roughness until the motor got up to a decent speed, then I tried random numbers. At the second attempt, 160 gave perfect smooth running.

The roughness was like vibration, which you get because the pulse timing from the controller is slightly out.

It might be worth trying a harmonic, like 92 or 154 if 46 is the number of magnets.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Wow, wasnt expecting there to be that much range to look over....Ill try a few out on my way home later, cheers

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

I tried 92 last night...no change to the noisy motor, but it messed up the speedo, it said 1 was doing 7mph instead of probably double that...so ive set it back to 46 and given up

 

[aardvark5]

Only just seen this thread.
I had my Stealth about 3 years ago and hopefully the bike itself is better made now because I had a nightmare with components.
The customer support from Zak at Cyclotricity is the best I've ever had and he even travelled 140 miles from Aldershot one Sunday with his chief mechanic to fully repair my bike with new components.
The 'new' Stealth with 500 watt motor was now OK but sometimes you get disillusioned and in the end I bought a 2nd hand Trek 4300 and took all the parts over to that and threw the Stealth away.
I now have the Trek 4300 and Trek 7.5FX both with Cyclotricity 250 watt front motors and the Cyclotricity kit has been superb.
I did have a 500 watt rear motor at one point for 1 month (it is still in the garage if somebody wants to buy it) but the bike became too heavy to pedal on it's own (I like to do most of the work).

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

I tried 92 last night...no change to the noisy motor, but it messed up the speedo, it said 1 was doing 7mph instead of probably double that...so ive set it back to 46 and given up

Well, a couple of days after messing around and putting it back to default....no more noise....just a nice reassuring hum as you buzz along

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Maybe I spoke to soon.
This morning, after about 8 miles or so into my commute, a kind of clacky sound developed from the back wheel. Sounds a bit like the noise if you held a fork against your spokes as the wheel goes round?!
Slowly got louder as I went on, then faded, then came back.....happens either when pedaling or not pedaling, and also when you hand spin the wheel.

Had a quick look when I got into work, cant see any loose spokes or anything obvious....any suggestions welcome....

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Sounds like a loose magnet in the motor.

It can also happen when one or both main bearings wear.

Could also be rust if water got in.

Basically, there's a very small clearance between the magnets and stator poles. For whatever reason, they're probably now touching.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Sounds like a loose magnet in the motor.

It can also happen when one or both main bearings wear.

Could also be rust if water got in.

Basically, there's a very small clearance between the magnets and stator poles. For whatever reason, they're probably now touching.

Ah great

Thanks for the info. Is there anything I can do if any of those are fixable, or is it a warranty job?

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Oh, I should also ask if it is likely to explode or fall apart any time soon!

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

I have sent Cyclotricity a link to a video and they have come back to me.
They believe it may be the freewheel? (Which after some discussion is the rear gears?)
So I have to return the rear wheel, at my expense for them to inspect and repair or replace...

I must admit i am slowly losing confidence in this bike and the support behind it

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can test if it's the freewheel by pedalling it with the motor switched off. If it only makes the noise when free-wheeling, it's the freewheel, otherwise, it's something in the motor. If it doesn't make a noise at all with the power off, it's probably an electrical fault. In which case, check all your connectors.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Thanks for the tips.
The wheel is boxed up now and being collected tomorrow.
I had already taken it off before I saw your message so wasnt able to test that. The freewheel/cogs have a small amount of lateral movement in them...dont know if that is a problem, and when turning the spindle by hand, it did feel kind of rough....but I dont know how it should feel.

Anyway, im now bikeless again until it gets sorted...hopefully sooner rather than later.
Cyclotricity have done their bit I, but its so frustrating having only had the bike since end of October and Ive had these problems, and there's nothing I can do except wait.....

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Turns out the wheel itself was faulty (so I assume the motor), so Cyclotricity are sending out a new one tonight.
Despite my moans, I cant fault the team at Cyclotricity for the work they have done, I guess I just got an unlucky bike...its slowly being rebuilt so hopefully luck will change....

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Nice people, especially the boss. They've also done their bit for the UK by manufacturing something in the UK. I haven't heard anything recently, so perhaps if they read this we can get an update.

 

[Pluto88888]

Hello, Been a long time since I posted anything I need new brake pads for my
Cyclotricity Stealth 250w done well over 1300 miles

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Think about changing your complete brakes to hydraulics. You can buy a used pair on Ebay for about £40. You'll be amazed at how much better they work. The pads will then last forever (5000 miles), so they'll be cheaper than keeping your present brakes in the long term, plus, they never need adjusting or any other maintenance, unlike cable ones, which need constant adjustments.

You don't need new disks, so it's a 5 minute job to change each brake over (3 screws).

You need to get ones which mount the same way as your existing ones: side mount vs post mount, or get the adapters. Used ones often come with the adapters

 

[OvercookedPeacock]

Hi, I'm new on here. I've had a 500W Stealth for about 4 or 5 months now, which I use to ride the 5 miles to work every day. Overall I'm quite pleased with it, but as others have said, it hasn't been without its issues. After a month or so, the hub motor wheel had to be returned (making the 'clacking sound', so I imagine that's not uncommon.

That's been ok since, but it's interesting to see what others have to say. I noted comments about the poor brakes, and quite agree. I'm looking to switch to hydraulics, so if anyone can link me to an ideal set on Amazon, I would be very appreciative. Having to remove the entire caliper to adjust the right pad (as it's obscured by the motor) is also a pain.

Other niggles include the width of the handlebars (which I've since changed for narrower ones) - they made it awkward to navigate through some barriers on bike paths, and also the run of the control cables under the BB. This area is a mud sponge, and I'm sure it can't be good electrically to be constantly scooping out massive cakes of wet earth near these connections.

Those aside, I'm still pleased with the thing. At 45, with practically a 25 year gap since my cycling 'enthusiast' days, and zero exercise in between, it's been brilliant.