I installed a Cyclotricicty front wheel kit with a 11Ah rack battery to my old steel framed Raleigh a few weeks ago, yesterday was the the first 'proper' run with a couple of friends, mostly county lanes and cycle track.
Previously I'd only covered 40 or 50 miles on short trips as a shakedown test.
I used the Bosch ebike map to plan the trip and was surprised how accurate the forecast was.
I used the 'pedaling without sweating' level in my profile, although it seemed with my current level of fitness, I was working quite hard at times !. I was not expecting the battery to last the whole trip, I'm glad it did 'cause I was pretty knackered towards the end. I will admit that the last couple of hills were on throttle only, the 'range anxiety' having diminished. I will be using this facility to plan further trips.
A couple of observations and questions:-
Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have fitted the kit to this bike, but it was laying around doing nothing. Compared to my other bike, the Ancheer MTB, it's not nearly as comfortable but probably has a much better range.
Fitting a kit and a rack battery changes the handling, feel and weight of the bike more than I expected.
Despite being a regular cyclist until last year (rheumatoid and advancing years have taken their toll), there's no way I could have kept up without the motor. In biking terms it's given me a new lease of life.
There are three green lights and one red light on the battery, I had one green light left at the end of the run. Battery voltage after resting was 36v, I know the state of charge compared to voltage is not linear, but would 20% remaining charge be a reasonable guesstimate?.
What happens when the battery charge is used up, does the power reduce gradually or does the bms or controller cut the power suddenly.
Previously I'd only covered 40 or 50 miles on short trips as a shakedown test.
I used the Bosch ebike map to plan the trip and was surprised how accurate the forecast was.
- Predicted / Actual
- Dist. 46 miles / 49 miles (Sat nav)
- Time. 3hrs 39mins / 4 hour
- Bat. used 70% / 80% (est)
I used the 'pedaling without sweating' level in my profile, although it seemed with my current level of fitness, I was working quite hard at times !. I was not expecting the battery to last the whole trip, I'm glad it did 'cause I was pretty knackered towards the end. I will admit that the last couple of hills were on throttle only, the 'range anxiety' having diminished. I will be using this facility to plan further trips.
A couple of observations and questions:-
Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have fitted the kit to this bike, but it was laying around doing nothing. Compared to my other bike, the Ancheer MTB, it's not nearly as comfortable but probably has a much better range.
Fitting a kit and a rack battery changes the handling, feel and weight of the bike more than I expected.
Despite being a regular cyclist until last year (rheumatoid and advancing years have taken their toll), there's no way I could have kept up without the motor. In biking terms it's given me a new lease of life.
There are three green lights and one red light on the battery, I had one green light left at the end of the run. Battery voltage after resting was 36v, I know the state of charge compared to voltage is not linear, but would 20% remaining charge be a reasonable guesstimate?.
What happens when the battery charge is used up, does the power reduce gradually or does the bms or controller cut the power suddenly.
