A Bit Slow!

Dogwheel

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 8, 2019
12
2
Hi,
I've recently bought a Freego Martin City, yes I did get a good deal! It's a great bike but I do have a naughty hankering to go maybe 20 mph with PAS, any suggestions?
Cheers,Robin.
 

Dogwheel

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 8, 2019
12
2
Thanks LeighPing, over the moon to get such a quick reply, but, I'm a dummy here, how do I go about finding/getting a dongle? My bike has a Bafang mid-drive motor.
 

Nealh

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soundwave

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LeighPing

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anotherkiwi

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Jan 26, 2015
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Hi,
I've recently bought a Freego Martin City, yes I did get a good deal! It's a great bike but I do have a naughty hankering to go maybe 20 mph with PAS, any suggestions?
Cheers,Robin.
Pedal harder? 32 kph is my flat route speed unassisted, easy to attain because I don't have to work much between 0 and 25 kph. If you use a high level of assist on the flat the motor will slingshot the bike to about the speed you want with very little effort and once there it is easy enough to maintain. You will start to feel air resistance around that speed however.
 

cyclebuddy

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Nov 2, 2016
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My bike has a Bafang mid-drive motor.
As your bike manufacturing dates from 2016/17, you can probably change it from the LCD display without using a programming cable. The passcode on those older Bafang MaxDrive set-ups is/was 0512 to access that part of the settings to change the maximum assist speed (you can google to find the installation manual if you need help). That may no longer work on the newer Bafang (M400) displays/motors.
 
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Dogwheel

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 8, 2019
12
2
Pedal harder? 32 kph is my flat route speed unassisted, easy to attain because I don't have to work much between 0 and 25 kph. If you use a high level of assist on the flat the motor will slingshot the bike to about the speed you want with very little effort and once there it is easy enough to maintain. You will start to feel air resistance around that speed however.
I wish!
It seems that once I've gone beyond 15.5mph the Ebike gets much harder to pedal compared with my "conventional" hybrid Dawes, even on the flat with no headwind, I guess there must be some drag due to the motor?
 
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anotherkiwi

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Jan 26, 2015
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My bike is heavier but the motor (GSM) has no significant drag. Of course there is a little drag, all those extra gears and bearings eat a little bit of energy, but not significant enough to be felt - a 2-3% increase is not like a 10% increase. You can however feel the extra weight especially if you take the battery of and ride without - 4 kg is about a 16% increase in weight.

At times when I am unwell or less fit I tend to get stuck in the 25 kph rut and have difficulty pedalling beyond cut off.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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I wish!
It seems that once I've gone beyond 15.5mph the Ebike gets much harder to pedal compared with my "conventional" hybrid Dawes, even on the flat with no headwind, I guess there must be some drag due to the motor?
You are hitting the max speed assist so after that what you conceive as drag is simply the dead weight of the motor you are trying to rotate faster with only leg power, not forgetting it is usually 3kg - 4.4kg of mass centred in the middle of the wheel a lot harder then if the mass was evenly distributed on the outer edges of the wheel.
 

Dogwheel

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 8, 2019
12
2
Thanks for those replies, it's a mid-drive motor, but I guess thete still must be some effort needed to spin it when it's not "motoring", yes I'd love to pedal harder, but at 77 and with C.O.P.D that is a bit of an ask.
I only posed the original question because 15.5 mph is significantly slower than I'd pedal during all those years when I was younger, fit and healthy, also I've still got some motorbikes, so I suppose I'm a bit spoilt for speed!
I'll have a go at resetting the default speed via the display, failing that I'll sweet talk a guy "in the trade" that I know.
Again, thanks for all the helpful suggestions.
Robin.
 

lutin

Pedelecer
Jul 4, 2019
28
14
My electric bike (gtech escent) feels significantly harder to pedal than an equivalent non-electric mountain bike of the same weight (19kg). There's definitely a lot of drag with mine.
 

cyclebuddy

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 2, 2016
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Beds & Norfolk
Thanks for those replies, it's a mid-drive motor, but I guess thete still must be some effort needed to spin it when it's not "motoring"...
I'll have a go at resetting the default speed via the display...
I have the same/similar MaxDrive motor/LCD (but a lighter battery and frame make) - although labelled as 250w, it came as the 33.350 350w version. I find very little "drag" when unpowered. The motor weighs about 3.9kg and your battery likely about 3.5kg - but the Freego Martin weighs in at a quite heavy 26kg in total (my e-bike is a shade over 20kg total), so that extra dead-weight is going to need a bit more effort when unpowered.

My MaxDrive is set to 20mph from the display... IIRC, one guy here got about 30mph+ from his MaxDrive having used a larger chainwheel to avoid spinning-out, and a high-capacity battery so he could rinse the thing.
 

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