Got my Aurora today

[Streethawk]

Very impressed so far. The speed is very good, but it's the grunt of the thing up steep hills that really makes an impression. Range still unknown, the one small issues I have is with the battery, the gasket seal is slightly damaged where it wasn't seated correctly. I'll probably just seal it with some instant gasket or silicon though.

Getting the cheap Tyres off was surprisingly tough, but with Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tours on I shouldn't have to touch them for a very long time.

I dumped the steering damper thing and swapped the front mudguard for an SKS, but the back SKS wouldn't fit. Gears needed a quick tweak, the high end point was out.

I like how low/medium/high assist each assist to a different RPM. It seems I get about 10mph on low, 16mph on medium and 20mph on high. Medium is *slightly* slower than the Cyclamatic, but it gets up to speed much more quickly.

I'm going to take her out in the morning and see if she'll ride the 6 or so miles to Holcombe Hill, up it, (brew and sandwich here) then home again. I'll see if I can take a video or two on my iPhone.

EDIT: just remembered, the cable discs were great, noisy to begin with but quiet and powerful within a couple of miles. Almost as good as hydraulic discs, which I've used on my mountain bikes for years. I am seriously impressed with them, I didn't need to alter their setup at all.

 

[Streethawk]

For those of you not familiar, the image below shows Holcombe Hill, with the tower on top. Its 1100 feet, and you can see the track up the side below and to the left of the tower. Its about the limit if what i can ride on my mountain bike. If the Aurora can make this effortless i'll be very happy indeed.

 

[Marky T]

Hi Streethawk,

Glad to hear you like your new bike, have a nice and safe ride in the morning, I'll probably be out on my Saturday morning run. Enjoy and it will be nice to see some pics' and video, watch out for slippy stuff, it's certainly cold enough.

Marky T

 

[jbond]

And another one! Congrats and enjoy.

Even if you do nothing else, I'd strongly recommend:-
- Swapping out the pedals for ones with real bearings
- Trueing the wheels
- Checking the tightness of the front wheel bearings.

See several threads here about other mods, including moving the rear rack as far down and forward as possible.

 

[Streethawk]

Brrr, it's cold, -6 seen on my speedo this morning. I am sat in a cafe at the bottom of the big hill, just to warm up a bit. Just over five miles done and the battery is showing halfway to flat! I'm hoping that's because it's so cold and the battery is new, because I've been mostly on medium assist!

jbond, wheels are true and all spokes are tight. The pedals are Wellgo, and seem fine, maybe they changed these? Hub bearings I'll check, I have cone spanners, feels quite free and smooth though.

Ah, signing off, my bacon sandwich is done!

 

[stevebills]

I hope u have a spare battery

 

[Streethawk]

Well, it made the climb, and ran out halfway home after descending again. 11 miles exactly, and 1200 foot climbed, at times up to 20% (1 in 5), which dropped me to 5mph and the very bottom gear, but still very little effort.

11 miles isnt too bad, considering it was mostly off road, very cold and involved a lot of steep climbing. Also this is only 1.5 cycles on a new battery. I'm expecting the range would be closer 20 miles on more normal terrain.

Photos and some very wobbly (riding one handed over very rough terrain) videos to follow!

 

[Artstu]

I had a walk up to Peel tower in the summer, great photo

 

[Streethawk]

A couple of Aurora pics:


Alien Aurora eBike by steve.howley1, on Flickr



Alien Aurora eBike by steve.howley1, on Flickr

 

[Alan B]

Great pictures.

Is that the standard saddle, or one you've fitted ? Comfy ?

Hoping to join the Aurora club shortly.

cheers,

Alan

 

[Streethawk]

Thanks Alan, the saddle is my Brooks, which i move from bike to bike, the one that came on it is a very bulky, but very padded seat. I never actually tried it, as it wasnt on the bike when it was delivered i just put the Brooks straight on.

 

[Old Timer]

Nice one Streethawk, enjoy

Dave

 

[BLACKPANTHER]

Getting the cheap Tyres off was surprisingly tough, but with Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tours on I shouldn't have to touch them for a very long time.
I like how low/medium/high assist each assist to a different RPM. It seems I get about 10mph on low, 16mph on medium and 20mph on high.

It sounds like you're having a blast on it. My Brother had a go on mine yesterday, he said he'd have a quick go around the block. He came back 45 mins later, and had done 8 miles!!!
I didn't have any probs getting my tyres off, but the rear one was a pig to put on. I did go for a 2 inch wide Tour Plus though. I agree with you about the modes, medium is brilliant for range, but it's when you up it to high (or naughty level) and you get the extra kick (especially uphill) that you start to grin like an idiot. I'm also amazed at how well it pulls a trailer full of shopping.

Have you managed to banish all the squeaks and rattles yet. I found that a strip of velcro to pull the rear of the battery up works a treat, but doesn't affect battery removal.

 

[Streethawk]

I took it out again today, riding with a couple of normal bikes on a dirt section of the Trans Pennine Trail across the Cheshire Plain. Very flat, 16 miles on almost exclusively low assist and the battery was still showing full. A huge difference from the 11 miles to flat yesterday! It seems low assist has got a little faster, when I got the bike it seemed to do 8-10mph now it seems to do 11-12?!

Both the Tyres I chose were the 2" versions, but mine seemed reasonably easy to get on.

 

[Artstu]

So why the anrgy face?

 

[banbury frank]

Battery

I found the same It seems to take the BMS about 6 full charge discharge

Cycles to optimize the battery pack

The Bike sounds GREAT



Frank

 

[Streethawk]

So why the anrgy face?

Accidental! I typed the post on my phone, sorry.

Frank, I'll try and get the video up tonight too.

 

[Streethawk]

The battery has just turned green, recharged in slightly less than two hours. I reckon a full charge should take just over 5 hours, so in low assist on flat-ish terrain I should see almost 40 miles on a charge, which should improve anyway with warmer weather and a few more cycles on the battery. I don't think Alien's claim of 25-50 miles is too far from the truth.

 

[Streethawk]

oops, already answered that...

 

[jbond]

The most range I've seen is 28 miles with 2 LEDs still on when the motor is unpowered. Range is very dependent on how much you use the power (doh!) Clean tarmac, mid power, go slow up the hills (perhaps on low power) and it shouldn't be hard to push the range well over 30 miles. Use pedelec on fast mode everywhere, throw in some unmade tracks and it's not hard to get the range below 20 miles.

For the rattles, I made up some rubber bumpers where the battery almost touches the rack. I also put some foam in to stop the controller rattling in it's box.