Simple e-bike

[88V8]

Bloody hell it is fun!

Now you're going to have range anxiety...

I'm going to put a second charger in the office
and see if there's a way to log the app data over time
- it does totalization but it would be quite interesting to see the change in capacity (/usage) over distance/time

Cold weather makes a difference. Apparently one is supposed to keep the battery warm indoors.
And the range supposedly improves after ten full charging cycles, but a full cycle means running it flat which rather defeats the object.
It's not all plain sailing

V8

[servodude]

Bloody hell it is fun!

Now you're going to have range anxiety...

I'm going to put a second charger in the office
and see if there's a way to log the app data over time
- it does totalization but it would be quite interesting to see the change in capacity (/usage) over distance/time

Cold weather makes a difference. Apparently one is supposed to keep the battery warm indoors.
And the range supposedly improves after ten full charging cycles, but a full cycle means running it flat which rather defeats the object.
It's not all plain sailing

V8

Yeah. I've got the problem at the other end of the charging temperature range; I had to take a break fitting the mud guards yesterday as the walls of the shed were 60deg (there wasn't any shade outside). A LiIon cell will charge ok there but you can't be too hard with it as you'll stress everything else around them (charging adding heat above ambient) - I hope they've thought about that well enough. I know I didn't once when I deployed some gear in Montana - who's going to put batteries in a box when it's below freezing for weeks!?

[88V8]

I know I didn't once when I deployed some gear in Montana - who's going to put batteries in a box when it's below freezing for weeks!?

Haha.
A digressive thought... belatedly we are starting to build the battery farms in the UK that are needed to make sense of renewables... those batteries will need to be kept warm in winter... a parasitic load. Batteries, not that simple...

V8

[servodude]

I know I didn't once when I deployed some gear in Montana - who's going to put batteries in a box when it's below freezing for weeks!?

Haha.
A digressive thought... belatedly we are starting to build the battery farms in the UK that are needed to make sense of renewables... those batteries will need to be kept warm in winter... a parasitic load. Batteries, not that simple...

V8

At scale it shouldn't be too hard - if you remember to think of it

[servodude]

First wet morning for a while on the maiden trip to work: so just as well I'd stuck mudguards on the beast (ordered a selection of stainless bolts so I can get the rack on later in the week to save me from carrying a backpack )

It was bloody comfy and is quite mucky at the moment, so I'll need to check what is the best way of cleaning it.

According to the app for the bike I've used 23% of the battery on the way in and knocked about 10 minutes off the trip - it measured 17.5km today
I had it on full auto just to get a feel for what it does when I change the gears; I don't want this to be a scooter, I still need to get some exercise to make up for the rest of the harm I do to myself when not riding

Checking the records for my fitness tracker I was almost sleeping

Here's the last trip on the Old Bike (speed in kph on top blue graph)


and on the New Armchair today


I'll leave it in auto for the way home and probably try manually changing the assist levels on the next ride

I've realised it needs new pedals - the platform things it came with just aren't grippy at all and can't take toe clips; they'd be really good for nipping to the shops in bare feet but not so much a commute that is a mix of gravel and bumpy bike path

Anyways I'm going to call that a win - a simple-ish e-bike is a really fun way to get about.
I think it needs the gears given how I was changing them for the climbs (it's about 120m down 80m up in this direction) so I 'm happy I didn't go for one of the single speed thingys

I now just need to find the level of assist and way to ride it where it doesn't feel like cheating - the lower gears with the auto on make it feel like a Monkey Magic cloud when it takes off

-sd
EDIT: images didn't work in a table

[redsturgeon]

Thanks for including the biometrics. That is very interesting and shows you are still getting significant benefits from the e-bike.

Do you really need toe clips for an e-bike (I am biased, never got on with them myself). Surely some flats like DMR V8s would work.

I was having a chat with a chap at a party on Saturday, he'd bought an e-bike a year ago for recreational use and was extolling its virtues...a Cannondale MTB. It was all going swimmingly until he started talking about what a shame it was that Liz Truss had been forced out by the dastardly machinations of the financial markets when she had so many good ideas...I made an excuse and left.

John

[servodude]

Thanks for including the biometrics. That is very interesting and shows you are still getting significant benefits from the e-bike.

you should have seen them on the way home! - I knocked it down to 40mins travelling and it's more uphill.
What I've realised is I should treat it as if I'm getting the first 25kph for free and get my exercise at the margin above that (and that feels like switching an exercise bike to a heavy setting)
It also opens up some route options that I just would never had considered because I would have nothing left after the climb.

Do you really need toe clips for an e-bike (I am biased, never got on with them myself). Surely some flats like DMR V8s would work.

I am used to them and I did bounce off the flats a couple of times on the rough ground at speed.
I'm not really pulling up on them - just keeping my feet attached in normal gutties; so it's possible something with a bit more grip would work as well.
That said, I would have to undo a lot of muscle memory for pulling my right foot back to take off when stopped (rather than nudging the pedal round with my shin)

I was having a chat with a chap at a party on Saturday, he'd bought an e-bike a year ago for recreational use and was extolling its virtues...a Cannondale MTB. It was all going swimmingly until he started talking about what a shame it was that Liz Truss had been forced out by the dastardly machinations of the financial markets when she had so many good ideas...I made an excuse and left.
John

Just goes to show that an E-bike is simple enough for anyone to use

[GoSeigen]

Just goes to show that an E-bike is simple enough for anyone to use

GS

[88V8]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I've finally given in to my inner sloth and pick up a simple E-bike tomorrow.

Our simple e-bike is simply bust. 99 miles in, the electric assist vanished and the mileage laboriously covered on the unassisted journey - some 6 miles - was not recorded.

Now we come to the downside of dealing with a shade-tree assembler.... service consisted of sending me a trouble-shooting link which I worked through without solution.
Then a video call with a mechanic, after which we were sent a second-hand display that did not work.
The next step may be to replace the controller, which the mechanic says is an hour+ job for an experienced bike mechanic.

It was indeed the controller.
Getting it out and the new one in was ... difficult. Too many plugs and cables to go through a too-small hole in the downtube. Didn't help that it was cold in my workshop and the cables were not keen to bend.
The hour+ job took me all day.
And here I am during the guarantee period doing their labouring for them, foc.

Anyway, as I said, if we buy another e-bike it will be a mainstream item from a dealer.

Bloody hell it is fun!

Yes, even as someone who pretty much gave up cycling years ago, I have to say it is.
It would be hard to go back to a retro bike.
Now you're going to have range anxiety...

I'm going to put a second charger in the office
and see if there's a way to log the app data over time
- it does totalization but it would be quite interesting to see the change in capacity (/usage) over distance/time

This morning I see an Indiegogo campaign for a bike with a claimed 350k range... and a 52V/1500W motor.
350k in English... 220 miles... blimey that's more range than my Land Rover.
No price as yet, but the maker has been in business 12 years, although not over here.

E-bikes coming along in leaps & bounds.

V8

[UncleEbenezer]

E-bikes coming along in leaps & bounds.
V8

Really? If and when I get one, I'd hope for a rather smoother ride!

[9873210]

This morning I see an Indiegogo campaign for a bike with a claimed 350k range... and a 52V/1500W motor.

E-bikes coming along in leaps & bounds.

V8

That's not an e-bike. It's either a motorcycle or a bike shaped piece of art.

Next they'll add a full fairing to keep out the rain, extra wheels to improve balance, and an engine to increase the range. Still won't be an e-bike, but it will recapitulate the history of late 19th and early 20th century transportation.

[servodude]

E-bikes coming along in leaps & bounds.
V8

Really? If and when I get one, I'd hope for a rather smoother ride!

That moment when you realise you didn't properly centre the rear tyre bead?!

[servodude]

It was indeed the controller.
Getting it out and the new one in was ... difficult. Too many plugs and cables to go through a too-small hole in the downtube. Didn't help that it was cold in my workshop and the cables were not keen to bend.
The hour+ job took me all day.
And here I am during the guarantee period doing their labouring for them, foc.

Anyway, as I said, if we buy another e-bike it will be a mainstream item from a dealer.

I had a quick poke about inside mine recently when I discovered there was a tap on the loom for a 6V light
It's pretty well laid out but I feel like I'm missing some magic tools to get at things without damaging stuff (through the ports anyway - it might be something easier done through the battery cavity?)

So I'm going to see if the shop will fit one for me in lieu of one of my "free services" - apparently I get two in the first year
That will give me a running light that I can suppliment with my big off road dazzler for when it's really dark

[Mike4]

I had a quick poke about inside mine recently when I discovered there was a tap on the loom for a 6V light

Really? Is that off two of the cells or have I misunderstood?

That is gonna really mess up the cell balancing if you use it much. Or give the BMS a helluvalot of work to do.

[servodude]

I had a quick poke about inside mine recently when I discovered there was a tap on the loom for a 6V light

Really? Is that off two of the cells or have I misunderstood?

That is gonna really mess up the cell balancing if you use it much. Or give the BMS a helluvalot of work to do.

No it is a regulated 6V out linked to a switch on the controller; there's likely an LDO in there somewhere connected to the JST terminal that's hanging about loose on the loom.

I imagine most of the control gubbins is running at well below the battery nominal voltage - not least because that will vary a good deal with charge and be noisy as ...

[9873210]

No it is a regulated 6V out linked to a switch on the controller; there's likely an LDO in there somewhere connected to the JST terminal that's hanging about loose on the loom.

I imagine most of the control gubbins is running at well below the battery nominal voltage - not least because that will vary a good deal with charge and be noisy as ...

Be careful if you can't find specs for that connection. In my professional life I've had tinkerers connect moderate loads to 5V connectors designed to provide a few mA for a sensor. The boards slowly cooked, then they complain when they had to spend many hundreds for non-warrantee board replacements.

Electronic geekery follows.

If there is a linear it is probably a low power connector not suitable for lights. If it's designed for reasonable power output a switching power supply is better because it is more efficient. The flip side of efficiency is lower internal power dissipation and smaller heat sinks. It may seem ridiculous, but heat sinks are often more expensive than transistors.

When a connector is designed for a particular bespoke load it may be designed for that load, and not be general purpose. It's not just a current limit. An LED connector may be a constant current design. In the '90s I regulated 6V incandescents with a PWM square wave controlled to 6V RMS. A very good light at the time that collected klingons during brevets but it would cook most LEDs in short order.

[Dicky99]

I was having a chat with a chap at a party on Saturday, he'd bought an e-bike a year ago for recreational use and was extolling its virtues...a Cannondale MTB. It was all going swimmingly until he started talking about what a shame it was that Liz Truss had been forced out by the dastardly machinations of the financial markets when she had so many good ideas...I made an excuse and left.

John

One could have justifiably accused him of unnecessarily introducing politics into a discussion about e-bikes

[servodude]

No it is a regulated 6V out linked to a switch on the controller; there's likely an LDO in there somewhere connected to the JST terminal that's hanging about loose on the loom.

I imagine most of the control gubbins is running at well below the battery nominal voltage - not least because that will vary a good deal with charge and be noisy as ...

Be careful if you can't find specs for that connection. In my professional life I've had tinkerers connect moderate loads to 5V connectors designed to provide a few mA for a sensor. The boards slowly cooked, then they complain when they had to spend many hundreds for non-warrantee board replacements.

Electronic geekery follows.

If there is a linear it is probably a low power connector not suitable for lights. If it's designed for reasonable power output a switching power supply is better because it is more efficient. The flip side of efficiency is lower internal power dissipation and smaller heat sinks. It may seem ridiculous, but heat sinks are often more expensive than transistors.

When a connector is designed for a particular bespoke load it may be designed for that load, and not be general purpose. It's not just a current limit. An LED connector may be a constant current design. In the '90s I regulated 6V incandescents with a PWM square wave controlled to 6V RMS. A very good light at the time that collected klingons during brevets but it would cook most LEDs in short order.

All good points thanks!
I've found the service manual on the intertubes and it's a 6v 1.5A supply - to be honest I'll probably speak to the LBS about sourcing a 9W lamp from the manufacturer/supplier rather than run the gauntlet of AliExpress and their fantasy lumens