Newbie - on the verge of purchase
- Thread starter BossBob
- Start date
Well ...... it arrived !!! 
Had it delivered to work today, battery went on charge at 11.30 and was "green" by 1.00 so hopefully that implies it was stored reasonably well charged and in good nick.
We built it late on in the afternoon, and it took a bit more than I was expecting, but, it was all there and in perfect nick - no complaints.
It has an on/off switch on the bars for the throttle...... is that a pretty standard thing?
The motor kicks in as soon as you pedal with very little lag and is obvious right away, my home run starts with a pretty long climb and I played with the gears etc on this, it seemed slow but if I tried to go faster I was left on my own, I eased off and lowered my expectations of speed and found it much easier. By the latter part of the climb I had got the hang of it, very low gear pedaling gently got me the most assistance so I settled for what I considered to be a very slow but almost effortless crawl up the last bit.
Onto a very shallow gradient, the first half of the bridge itself, the motor could pull without assistance from me but ever so slowly, again a low gear and a very light pedal kept me going somewhere just below its max, so I guess about 10-12 MPH ..... I think I'll have to get used to that.
On the last of my steep climbs I made no effort to keep the momentum up but waited till it had dropped to assistance speed, kept pedaling lightly dropping down the box as I slowed .... worked a treat, not quick but not nearly the effort my racer is.
It's clearly going to take time to get to know it, I think it may even take a bit longer to get to work, but if I get there in better nick it will have done its job.
Later, I'm off to check the charger!
Rab
Had it delivered to work today, battery went on charge at 11.30 and was "green" by 1.00 so hopefully that implies it was stored reasonably well charged and in good nick.
We built it late on in the afternoon, and it took a bit more than I was expecting, but, it was all there and in perfect nick - no complaints.
It has an on/off switch on the bars for the throttle...... is that a pretty standard thing?
The motor kicks in as soon as you pedal with very little lag and is obvious right away, my home run starts with a pretty long climb and I played with the gears etc on this, it seemed slow but if I tried to go faster I was left on my own, I eased off and lowered my expectations of speed and found it much easier. By the latter part of the climb I had got the hang of it, very low gear pedaling gently got me the most assistance so I settled for what I considered to be a very slow but almost effortless crawl up the last bit.
Onto a very shallow gradient, the first half of the bridge itself, the motor could pull without assistance from me but ever so slowly, again a low gear and a very light pedal kept me going somewhere just below its max, so I guess about 10-12 MPH ..... I think I'll have to get used to that.
On the last of my steep climbs I made no effort to keep the momentum up but waited till it had dropped to assistance speed, kept pedaling lightly dropping down the box as I slowed .... worked a treat, not quick but not nearly the effort my racer is.
It's clearly going to take time to get to know it, I think it may even take a bit longer to get to work, but if I get there in better nick it will have done its job.
Later, I'm off to check the charger!
Rab
Quite a few e-bikes work this way Bob, The Panasonic motor famously used in the Giant Lafree Twist being like it.
The logic is that if your pedalling slows down, it's seen as you needing help, so the motor contributes more.
Conversely, if your pedalling is faster, it's seen as you getting on perfectly ok without help, so the power is cut in the interests of economy.
I believe it's because the E-assist market is seen as mainly older people, true in fact, and they usually use lower cadences. Unfortunately it doesn't suit experienced cyclists like many of us who want to get assistance at higher cadences, and it's one reason why I prefer throttle only bikes where I have the full control.
You'll get used to it though, I did on the Twist and used it for well over four years.
.
The logic is that if your pedalling slows down, it's seen as you needing help, so the motor contributes more.
Conversely, if your pedalling is faster, it's seen as you getting on perfectly ok without help, so the power is cut in the interests of economy.
I believe it's because the E-assist market is seen as mainly older people, true in fact, and they usually use lower cadences. Unfortunately it doesn't suit experienced cyclists like many of us who want to get assistance at higher cadences, and it's one reason why I prefer throttle only bikes where I have the full control.
You'll get used to it though, I did on the Twist and used it for well over four years.
.
Remember this old nugget !! well it was way back on page 5 .... you guys can yak
Anyway, yet another update now it has done a few runs and I have got more used to it.
It has a "spec" of up to 15 miles which worried me a wee bit as my run is 13 miles round trip. NO need for concern, I can crank the throttle open on departure and keep it there for the entire trip in both directions and it still doesn't run out of power, that is of course with constant assistance which I would class as pretty light.
I am getting used to the rolling resistance but would very much like to reduce it, I may look at different tyres in due course, but, what I have found is that top gear is too low and I run out of it's range on the downhills and am left pedaling in thin air. Perhaps a feature of it being a MTB style which are inherantly low geared, well, much lower than a racer.
It's strength is the long drags, the 2% for a mile or 2, on those it has a good speed, is quick to get up there and takes very little effort to keep it at or near top assisted speed.
It's weakness is a steep hill, and those damn MTB tyres, it just doesn't have the guts to keep up the momentum, I have to wait till the speed has dropped off, get down into a low gear, pedal lightly but quickly, and settle for a slow crawl to the top.
Worth it? Oh yes, my journey time is the same, just on 30 mins, but with far less effort and I arrive in better nick.
The recharge time is 4 hours, from a 1.8A charger implying about 7A/h of my 8A/h used which more or less confirms the 15 mile range.
later
Rab
Anyway, yet another update now it has done a few runs and I have got more used to it.
It has a "spec" of up to 15 miles which worried me a wee bit as my run is 13 miles round trip. NO need for concern, I can crank the throttle open on departure and keep it there for the entire trip in both directions and it still doesn't run out of power, that is of course with constant assistance which I would class as pretty light.
I am getting used to the rolling resistance but would very much like to reduce it, I may look at different tyres in due course, but, what I have found is that top gear is too low and I run out of it's range on the downhills and am left pedaling in thin air. Perhaps a feature of it being a MTB style which are inherantly low geared, well, much lower than a racer.
It's strength is the long drags, the 2% for a mile or 2, on those it has a good speed, is quick to get up there and takes very little effort to keep it at or near top assisted speed.
It's weakness is a steep hill, and those damn MTB tyres, it just doesn't have the guts to keep up the momentum, I have to wait till the speed has dropped off, get down into a low gear, pedal lightly but quickly, and settle for a slow crawl to the top.
Worth it? Oh yes, my journey time is the same, just on 30 mins, but with far less effort and I arrive in better nick.
The recharge time is 4 hours, from a 1.8A charger implying about 7A/h of my 8A/h used which more or less confirms the 15 mile range.
later
Rab
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