Just received my Quando II

[at221]

My first impression:

- It's bigger than I thought it would be.
- It's power is sufficient to get me up the hill of my journey at reasonable speed.
- Double locking the bike is more tedious than I imagined.

But I am very happy with the efficiency of the bike and how quickly I can get to Uni now.

However, I have one slight problem, does anyone know how to lock the saddle as it is very vulnerable to stealing.

Thx

 

[flecc]

Congratulations on getting your bike. I knew you'd be pleased with it's performance, which will improve slightly as both bike and battery are run in. It's size is deceptive. In photos it looks small, but it's very much a full size bike.

As you say, locking is tedious, but sadly it's necessary these days, and you'll get quicker at it with repetition. I've never bothered with locking the saddle and don't know anyone else who has. Being non-standard, I don't think it's too attractive for anyone to steal.

However, one way of avoiding it's theft is to remove the QD bolt and replace it with an ordinary bolt and nut.

Alternatively, and less drastic, if you get a jubilee clip from a DIY store, line up the lever in the firmly locked position with the frame tube, then tighten the jubilee clip around the frame tube and lever. A strip of pvc insulating tape on the frame first will avoid scratching the paint with the clip.

With those solutions they'd need tools to steal the saddle.
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[at221]

thx for the tip but I think I will leave it for the time being.

About the red yellow and green lights. Is that the battery gauge? It seems to change to red when I go up hill and green on flat.

 

[flecc]

Yes, it is the battery gauge, but like all such devices, it's fairly useless when on the move. This is what I've written previously on these:

I wish manufacturers would do as the long established e-bike makers like Heinzman and Giant do, stick the meter where it can't be seen when riding so it doesn't worry people. You see, there is no way that a battery's content can truly be measured by a meter, the only measure we have for the content is watt/hours, so it can only be measured by using up the content over time.

The meters we have just measure the small voltage drop as the battery content is used up, and that's roughly good enough a measure when the bike is standing still. Trouble is, when on the move and we open the throttle wide, the current drain into the motor also drops the voltage, so that's recorded on the meter as well, nothing to do with the battery content. The equivalent on a car is when we plug the starter with headlights on, the headlights dim due to the voltage drop the motor causes. When the weather is cold, that drops the battery voltage as well.

So my advice is, forget the meter when on the move and just check the level when standing still.
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[at221]

That makes complete sense now. Was wondering what the flutuation in battery content was all about.

The bike is very fast to accelerate from stand still. This I think is one of the strong points of ebikes. Stopping for the traffic light and starting up again at green is effortless.

One more thing, are there anyways to make the bike lighter? This is because I have to carry its up some narrow stairs on entering my house.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[flecc]

I'm afraid not Andy, it's a problem that affects me sometimes when I bring it in, like all e-bikes it's quite a heavy lump. Taking out the battery makes it easier to handle if that's practical, making two trips. If the battery slide is stiff to use, a bit of grease or vaseline helps, or you can be more drastic like me and sand the back edge of the slides on the battery to make the sliding in and out easier.

On the acceleration, you'll generally find you'll out accelerate anything for the first few yards from the lights, and the frantic gear crashing from some drivers as they try not to be shown up can be quite amusing.
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[nigel]

Nigel

Hi everyone
i notice that on my torq when i start out with a fresh battery the light stays green the longest then will go to orange and then red which means i better head home also i find with the extra speed that i eat up those 15 miles very quick but i love that extra speed it does cause some intresting stares going by at 20mph. a happy torq owner NIGEL