Review Woosh Rio MTB Review/Initial Impressions

[Damian.Doherty]

Its difficult to say, my commute is very different from your, I only have to go 2 miles to work and 2 miles back.

Level 5 all the time!

I currently have only 67 miles up on the odometer.

The two miles back however is all up (a fairly steep) hill. I charge my bike twice a week now regardless of what the battery indicator says. Sunday evening and Wednesday evening.

There was one occasion where I decided to see if I could go a whole week without charging and near the top of the big hill on Friday I did get down to 1 bar left. (meaning I's only gone about 24 miles since the last charge), however once I got over the hill and started going slightly downhill again it quickly went back up to two bars again.

Even at 1 bar the bike felt like it was still assisting just as strong!

I read somewhere else that the LCD is not so much an indicator of whats left in your battery but a representation of power left in the battery divided by, power your drawing right now. That's why it goes back up when you stop drawing power at level 5 going up a hill.

This makes more sense, compared with the battery indicator on your phone for example....it never goes back up unless its plugged in!

 

[BornAgainCyclist]

Or the phone goes from a cold environment to a toastie one.

Yup I had one of those iPhones that didn't deal with winter at all well.

 

[Nealh]

My 13ah & 11ah Samsung cells were ok for a the first year before capacity started waning.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Mine seems to be slowly decreasing, struggling to hit 35 miles a charge now despite fully depleting the battery and charging to balance it.

Who told you to do that? Fully discharging a battery does more to unbalance it than anything.

 

[Woosh]

I told him that. It fixed his problem the first time a few weeks ago.
Volusia, how long did it take to charge when you run down your battery last time?

 

[Volusia25]

I told him that. It fixed his problem the first time a few weeks ago.
Volusia, how long did it take to charge when you run down your battery last time?

I didnt time it and charged it last night so ill run it down again then time it

 

[Woosh]

I didnt time it and charged it last night so ill run it down again then time it

yes, please check also the voltage before charging and after charging.
power consumption may have increased because you get less fit. I have seen some cases where people put on weight because the electric bike helps too much. I see them after a year or two and notice the weight gain.

 

[Volusia25]

yes, please check also the voltage before charging and after charging.
power consumption may have increased because you get less fit. I have seen some cases where people put on weight because the electric bike helps too much. I see them after a year or two and notice the weight gain.

Definitely fitter now than when I got the bike. I can ride on assist 1 now and rarely go over assist 2 unless the battery is starting to die. Whereas before I couldn't. I was doing zero cardio at all before purchase. That said I have gained weight anyway since despite going to the gym 3 days a week and cycling, i've been lazy with diet and had too many take aways. But i'm still only 12 stone 4. Plan to get back down to around 11 stone.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Hypothetically, when my warranty is up and I decide to try to eek more power out of my motor.....

.......do I simply need a new controller that can handle more amps?

I currently have a Lishui 17amp controller that comes standard with the Woosh Rio. Is there another controller that will go up to say 22 or 25 or 30amps that I can just change out?

(Just change out meaning, it has the exact same connection for my brakes LCD, motor and crank sensor!)

Can the motor handle the extra oommf?

I have confidence that I can throw more power at the motor as I climb home 2 miles every day. And everyday I jump off the bike and touch the motor and never once has it been even remotely warm!

If not, is there a more powerful motor that I can change to that can?

And then, is my 36V 13AH battery up to the task?

 

[Nealh]

You will need a compatible controller the same make usually, though the cheapest and free option is to mod the controller shunt for up to 25/30% more amps. 22a might be about the max the SWX02 will benefit from. Your battery is probably at times working at 75% amps it can handle, so better cells will be better such as Samsung 30Q, Sanyo GA or even Samsung 29E esp in 6p config if you up the amps.

 

[topographer]

Hypothetically, when my warranty is up and I decide to try to eek more power out of my motor.....

.......do I simply need a new controller that can handle more amps?

I currently have a Lishui 17amp controller that comes standard with the Woosh Rio. Is there another controller that will go up to say 22 or 25 or 30amps that I can just change out?

(Just change out meaning, it has the exact same connection for my brakes LCD, motor and crank sensor!)

Can the motor handle the extra oommf?

I have confidence that I can throw more power at the motor as I climb home 2 miles every day. And everyday I jump off the bike and touch the motor and never once has it been even remotely warm!

If not, is there a more powerful motor that I can change to that can?

And then, is my 36V 13AH battery up to the task?

See d8veh's reply to my question:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/diy-conversion-voodoo-marasa.28493/page-5#post-389863
I think it's just the battery that's the problem really. By the way...have you already tried upping the amps from the default 15 to 17? I'm curious about what that does to mileage.

 

[Volusia25]

All you need to do is bump the amps to 17 and remove the speed limiter to 20+ mph (whatever speed you want) which will of course void the warranty but if you buy yourself one of Woosh's 17ah batteries when they come in stock you should get some good range even with the speed limiter removed, and will have a spare, charged battery ready to swap in while the other is on charge

 

[Damian.Doherty]

A Woosh 17ah battery? That is interesting, obviously because of the form factor of the frame and battery I thought it might be difficult (impossible) to upgrade the battery.

I wonder if they are also considering a 48v variation that will fit in the frame.

Just out of curiosity, I was reading on Endless Sphere that some people have reported upping the power to 1000 watts to the Bafang SWX02 and its managed it without any fuss.

48v times 22amps is 1056 Watts! I think that's quite possibly the magic number!

 

[Woosh]

A Woosh 17ah battery? That is interesting, obviously because of the form factor of the frame and battery I thought it might be difficult (impossible) to upgrade the battery.

the 17AH battery has the same casing.
Other than that, it costs £100 more than the 13AH.

The shipment is on this boat:
https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/CMA-CGM-MAGELLAN-IMO-9454424-MMSI-235081888

Just out of curiosity, I was reading on Endless Sphere that some people have reported upping the power to 1000 watts to the Bafang SWX02 and its managed it without any fuss.

You can get a Woosh 48V 17A SWX02 kit from the third week of October with 48V 12AH battery for £569.
Not quite the same league as the 48V 22A but it packs quite a punch nevertheless. Optimized for 14st riders.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

[/QUOTE]You can get a Woosh 48V 17A SWX02 kit from the third week of October with 48V 12AH battery for £569.
Not quite the same league as the 48V 22A but it packs quite a punch nevertheless. Optimized for 14st riders.[/QUOTE]

What do you get in the kit? I'm guessing its a new battery and a new controller?

 

[Woosh]

What do you get in the kit? I'm guessing its a new battery and a new controller?

you get the motor wheel and this lot:

1) SWX02 motor in your choice of wheel with freewheel fitting
2) A pair of sensored brake levers for mechanical brakes
3) Pedelec sensor and waterproof cableset
4) Speed sensor and King Meter LCD with 5 assist levels, speedometer and clock
5) Thumb throttle
6) A pair of torque arms
7) Lishui 48V 17 Amps sine-wave controller
8) 48V 12AH HL downtube battery with Samsung 18650-29E cells
9) Charger with UK plug

The model of speed sensor is selected to suit your bike.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I already have the majority of that kit on my Rio. The only upgrades from that I box I need are the controller and battery.

Actually, I already have a 17amp Lishui controller, is that the same one?

I'm hoping you are planning to package just those as a "Rio Upgrade Kit"

 

[Woosh]

I'm hoping you are planning to package just those as a "Rio Upgrade Kit"

I can't offer the upgrade kit. The Rio MTB is EN15194. Kits are not.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

I'm struggling a little bit to find the perfect fit. I feel like my wrists are taking a bit too much weight and feel a bit sore after a while. I've tried raising and lowering the bars, moving the seat forward/back up and down but still can't get it perfectly dialed in, and dont want to spend a fortune on a professional bike fit.

Anyway on about 290 total miles now, tyres losing pressure again. Rear was at 40 since last fill up, so back up to 57, front was at 52 so put that to 57 also. Wondering if I have a dodgy valve core, will order some spare as one of them takes a while to close.
Rear wheel still reasonably true, front wheel a little out of true, had a go myself but couldnt seem to improve it, but I feel like i may as well let it get worse before getting a bike shop to fix it. None of the spokes are loose.

Also. Just some advice Woosh. But I noticed all the screws in the battery holder on the bike itself were working loose. The heads on them are also made of cheese, lose their shape very easy. But i'd suggest you loctite them all pre-sale, since i noticed another member lost the screw on his bike as it had worked loose. All other fasteners seem well made, its just these that are really soft.
Since tightening them all up the battery clicks in and out much more securely.

The bike has been rattling a bit recently but I put it down to the forks going up and down but this morning it was nosier than usual. When I got to work I had a good look and I noticed the battery case is now very loose.

I won't get a chance to tighten everything up until I get home but I remembered Volusia saying the same thing.

I'm at about 100 miles on my bike so far and Volusia didn't get this issue until he got to 290 miles......I do tend to ride my bike like my hairs on fire though so maybe that's why I've worked mine screws loose a lot sooner.

I'll update later once I've had a look, hopefully I haven't lost any screws and they just need sweetened up.

I will take Volusia's advice and add a healthy dose of Loctite!

 

[Woosh]

Good morning Damian,

Please check that the 4 screws holding the battery are not loose.

You have two M3 screws and two self tappers. The M3 tend to get loose with vibrations, therefore could do with anti-vibration washers. If you don't have any handy, I can post you some. Also, if you have blue loctite, then put some on the M3 screws.
Put also some grease on the battery terminals. The grease will keep the contact clean and prevent sparking.