Review Woosh Rio MTB Review/Initial Impressions

[anotherkiwi]

Left pannier has a litre of Bacardi, middle storage area has a 2 litre bottle of coke, U lock and multi tool, right pannier has another 2 litre coke, puncture repair kit, pump and inner tube.

You should try some real rum one day, you wouldn't need to lug around bottles of coke...

 

[Volusia25]

I'm pretty sure there is an issue with the battery right now.
On a full charge I'm getting 3-5 miles before the first bar goes off the LCD display. Previously I was getting about 12 miles before this happens, sometimes even completing the 16 mile trip to Leicester still showing a full charge.
Riding style hasn't changed and I use assist 2 everywhere but 2 small hills which I use assist 5, and have always done that.

 

[Woosh]

Volusia, could you check the voltage after the charging is finished?
it should read 41.5V to 41.7V.
Check also the voltage after 10 miles, it should read 39V or close to.
After 20 miles, it should read 36.5V
After 30 miles, it should read 34V.
After 40 miles, it should read 31.5V.

The general formula is:

voltage = maxvoltage - 0.25V * number of miles since last charge

 

[Volusia25]

Ill put it on charge now and check it out

 

[Volusia25]

Ok directly after removing the charger it is showing 42v. Will test again after the miles asked for

 

[BornAgainCyclist]

Interesting, do all 36V batteries report 42 after charging and 36 after 20 miles?

 

[Woosh]

after charge, the voltage tends to stabilize after 10 minutes at 41.5V plus a small calibration difference.

Interesting, do all 36V batteries report 42 after charging and 36 after 20 miles?

The battery on Volusia's Rio should be good for 40 mile range on ordinary flattish roads.
Divide 10V (for a full charge) into 40 miles for this bike, you get 0.25V drop per mile.
Other bikes may have different battery capacity, their voltage drop per mile will vary. The main thing is we know what to expect, if the reading is not what we expect, then we start looking for a diagnosis.

 

[BornAgainCyclist]

So daft question maybe, when the battery is rated 36V what does that mean if it is above 36V for 20 miles?

 

[Woosh]

So daft question maybe, when the battery
is rated 36V what does that mean if it is above 36V for 20 miles?

36V is when the battery is 50% charged.
41.5V is when it is 100% full.
31V is when it's switched off by the BMS.

For Volusia's Rio, his battery's voltage will drop in straight line with the miles travelled.
He should get 40 miles out of the 13AH battery.

 

[Volusia25]

36V is when the battery is 50% charged.
41.5V is when it is 100% full.
31V is when it's switched off by the BMS.

For Volusia's Rio, his battery's voltage will drop in straight line with the miles travelled.
He should get 40 miles out of the 13AH battery.

My best was 52 miles and throttle and assistance 5 was still working, but I like to put a fair bit of effort into my rides. Assistance 2-3 mostly with 4-5 when the battery gets low.

 

[Woosh]

Volusia, if you check the voltage, the discharge curve shape is an 'S' shape,
the drop in the first few miles is something like 0.27V per mile, then the middle section less, 0.23V per mile and the bottom section steeper again, like 0.27V per mile.

discharge curve for Samsung 18650-29E cells (used in the Rio's battery):

 

[Volusia25]

I'll just keep an eye on it, it just seems to be dropping power a lot quicker than it was for no apparent reason.
I checked the voltage just now and its still at 42v. I'll do the first 5 miles today if it isnt raining.

 

[Woosh]

the accuracy increases with the travelled miles.
It does not matter if you check it at 23 miles instead of 20, just add the extra drops for 3 after the 20. It should let you go all the way to 40 miles and still have some juice left in the tank.

 

[Nealh]

Interesting, do all 36V batteries report 42 after charging and 36 after 20 miles?

36v is 10 cells in series so the 36v is a nominal safe rating for storage with lithium. 42 v is the packs safe max capacity.
Depending on the packs capacity measured in Ah or some prefer Wh then after 20 miles batteries will have different voltages, some will be lower or higher.

 

[Volusia25]

So after 4.4 miles using assist 2 on all but 2 short hills, in which I used assist 5 for a total of about 30 seconds, the battery reads 40.2V. Does this sound right? Because i've never gone such a short distance and lost one bar on the LCD so soon. I think the earliest it has ever lost a bar was after 8 or 9 miles. Do you mean over many accumulated miles the LCD will learn my riding behaviour and adjust the readout accordingly even if you recharge the battery?

 

[anotherkiwi]

So after 4.4 miles using assist 2 on all but 2 short hills, in which I used assist 5 for a total of about 30 seconds, the battery reads 40.2V. Does this sound right? Because i've never gone such a short distance and lost one bar on the LCD so soon. I think the earliest it has ever lost a bar was after 8 or 9 miles. Do you mean over many accumulated miles the LCD will learn my riding behaviour and adjust the readout accordingly even if you recharge the battery?

Don't trust the bars, trust a Watt meter... The bars only give a pretty brain dead estimation based on voltage not Amp hours used. There is a "smart" option in some LCDs but only as smart as the chap who programmed it. I am guessing he doesn't ride a bike to work...

 

[Woosh]

So after 4.4 miles using assist 2 on all but 2 short hills, in which I used assist 5 for a total of about 30 seconds, the battery reads 40.2V. Does this sound right? Because i've never gone such a short distance and lost one bar on the LCD so soon. I think the earliest it has ever lost a bar was after 8 or 9 miles. Do you mean over many accumulated miles the LCD will learn my riding behaviour and adjust the readout accordingly even if you recharge the battery?

1V - 1.1V drop for first 4.4 miles: that's about right, so far so good.
can you please keep going without recharge a couple of days to ramp up the miles?
I don't know if the LCD learn anything but I do!

 

[Volusia25]

I suppose the only way I'll know is when I do the usual trip to leicester and back (38 miles approx). Since I have done this trip about 7 times now and always made it back with 1-2 bars (usually 1 with 2 flashing back on sometimes). I always get there using assist 2 the entire way except 1 hill 2 miles from home, then assist 3-5 and throttle on the way back.
Got tonsillitis right now and the weather is bad so i'll test next week.

 

[Electric Bob]

Hello folks, have been lurking for a while... this being my first active post.

Interesting thread. I have just purchased a Rio MTB partly influenced by your review! I hope to post my own review in time, but its early days and the inclement weather has delayed my getting out on the road.

I have little experience of Lithium 18650 cells outside of laptops but quite a bit of experience of high drain Li-Po cells. Its noticeable with these (Li-Po) cells that after a few cycles they often lose their initial "punch" from a fresh charge this is generally linked to a small increase in internal resistance. I wonder if it is the same with these Samsung cells?
Incidentally the pack on the Rio is rated at 13Ahr yet the Cells are rated at 2900 mAhr so how does that relate to the cell count?

 

[Volusia25]

Hello folks, have been lurking for a while... this being my first active post.

Interesting thread. I have just purchased a Rio MTB partly influenced by your review! I hope to post my own review in time, but its early days and the inclement weather has delayed my getting out on the road.

I have little experience of Lithium 18650 cells outside of laptops but quite a bit of experience of high drain Li-Po cells. Its noticeable with these (Li-Po) cells that after a few cycles they often lose their initial "punch" from a fresh charge this is generally linked to a small increase in internal resistance. I wonder if it is the same with these Samsung cells?
Incidentally the pack on the Rio is rated at 13Ahr yet the Cells are rated at 2900 mAhr so how does that relate to the cell count?

All the cell talk is way over my head.
As it stands i've not ridden any further due to illness.
Woosh, what I will do is charge the battery back to full, then do my usual trip to leicester and back, taking the multimeter with me and stopping at various points to record the voltage. If I dont make it back home, i'll know something is wrong, since i've done it so many times now with no issue.