Wisper Wayfarer M7 age and granny gearing

[Kiwi Pedelar]

I picked up a pretty new looking Wisper Wayfarer M7 with the 700 Wh battery via a local auction site for around £1,000. I'm really enjoying it so far!

Is it possible to work out the build date from the serial number? It’s SKMBG201225xx.

Living up a steep drive, more than half a mile of 12% average (1 in 8), I need to be in first gear to get up here and even then with some effort the best I can do is about 9 kph (5 mph). I've been wondering about swapping the chainring for something with slightly fewer teeth. Currently the m7 I have is fitted with a 104mm BCD 44T steel chainring and I'm going to try a Truvativ 42T steel single speed which was cheap as a quick test.

Would people recommend this simple swap (mybe to 40T) or a more extensive change to a 1x10 with a replacement cassette with more teeth on the biggest cog? Top speed is not a great priority, 32 kmh (20 mph) is plenty for me and I can easily exceed that with the present chainring and 300W NZ settings on the flat.

I appreciate for a 1x10 change out that a new chain, shifter, and maybe a long cage derailleur might be required.

 

[thelarkbox]

As long as the chain ring swap over is a simple mechanical job, i say job go for it, it will give you an instant appreciation of the change in gearing and if you dont like it you can switch back easy enough.

Fwiw my not in the same class cycle is fitted with a 36t chain ring with c700 sized wheels and a rear top gear of 12 or 14t iirc 16 mph is pumping the pedals fast.. I dont know the lowest gear tooth count, its a basic 8speed shimmano cassette bought for the lowest no of teeth on top gear.. But ive been happy starting in 1st up all hills and thankful for the pedal assist as soon as its kicked in but prior to conversion the 36t chain ring did allow me to pant and puff up most hills locally much slower.

 

[matthewslack]

The best upgrade I have made to my Shimano E5000 puny 40Nm mid-drive bike is swapping 9 speed 11-36 for 11 speed 11-51. 40% lower bottom gear makes easy work of up to 20% fully laden (150kg), 25% travelling light.

My chainwheel is 38T, your 44T will keep your top speed unchanged whilst still allowing easy climbing of 17% or so.

When I was looking at options, 11 speed was much easier to find than 10 speed. I use Shimano M5100 cassette, long cage derailleur and shifter with SRAM 11 speed chains, which are consistently much cheaper than Shimano.

 

[matthewslack]

I do about 6000 miles a year, so drivetrain is a relatively short term consumable. I keep an eye on ebay, wiggle, chain reaction etc and maintain stock of at least one cassette, one chain.

Ebay has cassettes at £45 and 114 link chains at £12 at present. I buy several 114 chains and swap them every 500 to 1000 miles to stretch the life of the cassette, which is the expensive bit. One chain provides the extra 8 links each in use chain need - you pay through the nose buying longer chains!

Life expectancy - my first cassette is 9,000km old and ready for the bin, but with an old worn chain will keep me going until spring.

 

[saneagle]

I picked up a pretty new looking Wisper Wayfarer M7 with the 700 Wh battery via a local auction site for around £1,000. I'm really enjoying it so far!

Is it possible to work out the build date from the serial number? It’s SKMBG201225xx.

Living up a steep drive, more than half a mile of 12% average (1 in 8), I need to be in first gear to get up here and even then with some effort the best I can do is about 9 kph (5 mph). I've been wondering about swapping the chainring for something with slightly fewer teeth. Currently the m7 I have is fitted with a 104mm BCD 44T steel chainring and I'm going to try a Truvativ 42T steel single speed which was cheap as a quick test.

Would people recommend this simple swap (mybe to 40T) or a more extensive change to a 1x10 with a replacement cassette with more teeth on the biggest cog? Top speed is not a great priority, 32 kmh (20 mph) is plenty for me and I can easily exceed that with the present chainring and 300W NZ settings on the flat.

I appreciate for a 1x10 change out that a new chain, shifter, and maybe a long cage derailleur might be required.

We've had this before, but I can't remember the details. maybe this isn't you issue. I just mention it in case it's relevant. There's something weird about the control system that doesn't give you full power unless you know how to use it, and IIRC you have to use the throttle to get full power. Did you try that?

 

[Kiwi Pedelar]

Thanks both for the suggestions. Will try the chainring first.

@saneagle I did try the throttle but it seems to deliver power in bursts. Something to explore a bit more.

Also, a helpful person on the Wisper support email told me my S/N means the frame was built in December of 2020 and would have shipped in 2021. Hence the 2012 start of the serial number.

 

[PaulM]

Does the Wayfarer have a cassette or a freewheel?

 

[matthewslack]

Does the Wayfarer have a cassette or a freewheel?

The M7 is mid-drive, so cassette. The H7 is hub drive, and I don't know the answer in relation to that one!

 

[Kiwi Pedelar]

The existing cassette is an Shimano Alivio 11-34T Shimano Hyperglide (HG400 I think) and I have a near new Deore 11T - 42T CS-M5100 I found to go in.

I've halfway through upgrading the brakes to Deore M6100 with new Ice tech SM-RT86 rotors. Then I'm trying the smaller chainring then make the final call on migration to 11-speed shifter, chain, and cassette.

 

[matthewslack]

The existing cassette is an Shimano Alivio 11-34T Shimano Hyperglide (HG400 I think) and I have a near new Deore 11T - 42T CS-M5100 I found to go in.

I've halfway through upgrading the brakes to Deore M6100 with new Ice tech SM-RT86 rotors. Then I'm trying the smaller chainring then make the final call on migration to 11-speed shifter, chain, and cassette.

You will probably need to upgrade the derailleur even with 11-42T, plus a few extra chain links.

 

[Kiwi Pedelar]

Yes new chain anyway as it 11 speed, the derailleur I did have to buy new. It’s a RD-M5120-SGS.