New e bikes with small ah batteries

WheezyRider

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 20, 2020
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Thanks! I'll buy one. I've missed using my new soldering superpower. I'll have to figure out how to mount it to the handlebar - it's very crowded with two headlights, a backward pacing torch, a cellphone holder, horn, horn switch, headlight switch and DPC-18 display.

It is not waterproof, so bear that in mind in wet weather. Also, I did get one that was drawing current even when the controller was not connected. I got a refund on it from eBay. Not sure why that happened, but the others I've had have been fine. You just need to solder on some XT60 connectors and off you go.

I have not bothered mounting on the handlebars, I only look at it occasionally. Otherwise you need long cables from the battery, which is not good. You can hack it for remote operation, but I do worry if it's on the handlebars I'll be too distracted and bump into something :)
 
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guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
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It is not waterproof, so bear that in mind in wet weather. Also, I did get one that was drawing current even when the controller was not connected. I got a refund on it from eBay. Not sure why that happened, but the others I've had have been fine. You just need to solder on some XT60 connectors and off you go.

I have not bothered mounting on the handlebars, I only look at it occasionally. Otherwise you need long cables from the battery, which is not good. You can hack it for remote operation, but I do worry if it's on the handlebars I'll be too distracted and bump into something :)
I've soldered the battery wires directly to the controller plus one 1800lm headlight via a microblade fuse and handlebar switch, might solder on another headlight at the same time. I was just thinking DC over long cables would probably be a bad idea! I'll find or make a waterproof spot for that meter near the battery...
 
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Nealh

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Aug 7, 2014
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West Sx RH
Get a power meter and connect it in between your battery and the controller. Then you can see in Wh etc what you have used.
Or get A tsdz2 which will tell you all sorts of of info with OSF installed.
My one will be config'd to show motor temp, batt V's, motor power, cadence, human watts & consumed wh.
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,390
3,234
Or get A tsdz2 which will tell you all sorts of of info with OSF installed.
My one will be config'd to show motor temp, batt V's, motor power, cadence, human watts & consumed wh.
All that sounds useful, but I'll stick with my CS'd bbs01b, because TS'd motors sound as though I'd have to put in more effort than my knees are capable of. Adequately waterproofing that meter with some sort of hard clear case, such that the screen remains legible, is going to be a small puzzle to solve.
 
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soundwave

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May 23, 2015
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:p
 
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guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
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So THAT is how fast I need to cycle, for raindrops on my action camera to be blown off? Very informative video, I've downloaded it from Youtube for reference. If any of my bike's action cam footage looks that fast, I'll look into installing wings, because that surely is takeoff speed.
 
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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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it was a porotype of this



you need to do 6 laps to win so at that speed the bat is done in one lap
 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,446
1,264
Surrey
I've soldered the battery wires directly to the controller plus one 1800lm headlight via a microblade fuse and handlebar switch, might solder on another headlight at the same time. I was just thinking DC over long cables would probably be a bad idea! I'll find or make a waterproof spot for that meter near the battery...
Now that you have your soldering iron, you need to be careful not to head down the road of too many accessories............Sainsbury ebike 5 IMG_20220503_163005_1CS.jpg
 
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Bonzo Banana

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2019
805
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It's a bit more nuanced than 'all the time' and 'complete waste of power'. Only throttle equipped bikes assist all the time, and if assistance reduces journey time by increasing speed, who's to say that's a waste?

The rider chooses the level of assistance 'in the moment', and if it suits them to have assistance when they could manage without, they are just using the machine to it's full capability. Keep an eye on range, no harm done.

Going faster than necessary in a car is orders of magnitude more wasteful. 10Wh per km is easily achieved on an ebike, which compared to calorific value of petrol is like doing 4,300 mpg.

Ebike use needs to grow, and that will largely be people who at least at first need assistance most of the time.
Why would a throttle assist all the time? Seems a very strange thing to write when the whole point is you control assistance very precisely with a throttle. Once any ebike is turned on it takes I guess a baseline amount of current just to power the electronics but the whole point with a throttle is you only twist it when you need it. It could be set to provide a very low amount of assistance or no assistance at all until turned. I have seen something written at Grin Technology where a trickle current is used to remove a direct drive motor's drag to create a freewheel effect and then the throttle operates to assist above that but other throttles provide no assistance or very low assistance when not operated. Despite what many people claim the drag on direct drive motors is quite low only a few watts and its pretty easy to ride a direct drive motor on the flats or up slight inclines unassisted. No reason to need the throttle all the time especially with a small geared hub motor that freewheels when unpowered.
 

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,446
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Surrey
My two old Oxygen Emate city bikes of 2011 vintage cannot have no assistance chosen. Once turned on you have a choice of low, medium or high, but not "no assistance". They both have unrestricted throttles that I find very useful in all sorts of ways.

Probably most modern ebikes do have a no assistance choice with their systems turned on.
 

matthewslack

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2021
1,854
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Why would a throttle assist all the time? Seems a very strange thing to write when the whole point is you control assistance very precisely with a throttle. Once any ebike is turned on it takes I guess a baseline amount of current just to power the electronics but the whole point with a throttle is you only twist it when you need it. It could be set to provide a very low amount of assistance or no assistance at all until turned. I have seen something written at Grin Technology where a trickle current is used to remove a direct drive motor's drag to create a freewheel effect and then the throttle operates to assist above that but other throttles provide no assistance or very low assistance when not operated. Despite what many people claim the drag on direct drive motors is quite low only a few watts and its pretty easy to ride a direct drive motor on the flats or up slight inclines unassisted. No reason to need the throttle all the time especially with a small geared hub motor that freewheels when unpowered.
I was responding to your sentence towards the end of #8 "Many ebikes assist all the time, which is a complete waste of power", and where you go on to say "I don't see the point of assisting where..." etc..

My generalised response is think more widely than your own riding! My impression is that you are perhaps somewhat younger than I, and perhaps not yet feeling the slowing down effects of declining lung function as years advance! Low level assistance all the time below 15.5mph is exactly what I want and need, and given what it lets me achieve, I don't see it as a waste.

Using different assistance levels as needed - as low as possible on a long trip, as high as I like for shopping and commuting - means that the energy is used in a targeted way, I am faster than without assistance, I never have to work harder than I can manage, and I no longer need my car, despite my youthful vigour having receded.

Ebikes as transport rather than just sport are a huge step forward in sustainability, as potentially are (dare I mention them?) Escooters. Users have different needs, and it is not for me to tell another rider their approach is wrong.

What I was getting at with my previous response is that both cadence and torque sensor control systems only assist if the rider pedals, so not all the time. Throttles are different, but you are right, I did not explain it clearly enough. What I meant - and perhaps I am generalizing now - was that most pedelec riders who want a throttle don't want to pedal at all, they just want to use the throttle. Which if the requirements to have that capability have been met, is fine by me. Again, it is extending affordable and sustainable transport to more and more people.
 

WheezyRider

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 20, 2020
1,690
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If someone wants to ride around on the throttle all the time and not pedal, it doesn't bother me. It's one less car on the road and you don't know what disabilities they might have. In some ways, it's just being more honest than ghost peddling a PAS sensor (Flecc - please make sure I have used the right spelling, I never know which is right :) )

When I had to have some leg operations a few years ago, I could hardly pedal at all. I could not drive a car either. Walking was painful. I was extremely glad to have the throttle on the bike so I had some mobility.

Now I like the throttle for start/stop riding. With PAS it can be tricky to know exactly when and how it will kick in when you start off, while you can be a lot more precise with a throttle. You know you will get power when you need to move off quickly. Plus, you have to make sure you are in the right gear when pulling away without a throttle. Once moving I let go of the throttle and the PAS takes over. The throttle is also handy for going around corners when you might ground a pedal.
 
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Bonzo Banana

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2019
805
464
I was responding to your sentence towards the end of #8 "Many ebikes assist all the time, which is a complete waste of power", and where you go on to say "I don't see the point of assisting where..." etc..

My generalised response is think more widely than your own riding! My impression is that you are perhaps somewhat younger than I, and perhaps not yet feeling the slowing down effects of declining lung function as years advance! Low level assistance all the time below 15.5mph is exactly what I want and need, and given what it lets me achieve, I don't see it as a waste.

Using different assistance levels as needed - as low as possible on a long trip, as high as I like for shopping and commuting - means that the energy is used in a targeted way, I am faster than without assistance, I never have to work harder than I can manage, and I no longer need my car, despite my youthful vigour having receded.

Ebikes as transport rather than just sport are a huge step forward in sustainability, as potentially are (dare I mention them?) Escooters. Users have different needs, and it is not for me to tell another rider their approach is wrong.

What I was getting at with my previous response is that both cadence and torque sensor control systems only assist if the rider pedals, so not all the time. Throttles are different, but you are right, I did not explain it clearly enough. What I meant - and perhaps I am generalizing now - was that most pedelec riders who want a throttle don't want to pedal at all, they just want to use the throttle. Which if the requirements to have that capability have been met, is fine by me. Again, it is extending affordable and sustainable transport to more and more people.
I'm 55 and was in hospital 4 times with covid as I have a aggressive immune dis-order that means I over-react to infection this resulted in my body clearing out covid completely on multiple occasions so I never tested positive but being left with lung damage and needing oxygen. Last September I was assessed with having 64% capacity of expected lung function. I feel I have massively improved since then and I am returning to normal levels of lung function. I've only recently been able to increase the level of exercise so I can do fast spurts of activity and then recover. I find going between high and low intensity exercise has been of huge benefit to take me close to a full recovery.
 
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matthewslack

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2021
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I'm 55 and was in hospital 4 times with covid as I have a aggressive immune dis-order that means I over-react to infection this resulted in my body clearing out covid completely on multiple occasions so I never tested positive but being left with lung damage and needing oxygen. Last September I was assessed with having 64% capacity of expected lung function. I feel I have massively improved since then and I am returning to normal levels of lung function. I've only recently been able to increase the level of exercise so I can do fast spurts of activity and then recover. I find going between high and low intensity exercise has been of huge benefit to take me close to a full recovery.
I'm glad to hear you are getting back to where you were. I was fortunate that my bout was very mild, probably Omicron, and a couple of weeks going easy on myself has me back to the same state as before. The lungs don't like being hurried, so those efforts up the hills from times gone by have to be avoided.