New Wisper 905 SE Sport

[Extra Cold]

Firstly, Hi to everyone on here.

I'm fairly new to biking (in the commuting sense), having not ridden for a about 7 years.

I've had my new Wisper Sport for a couple of weeks now and have so far used it every day to work and back (a 25 mile round trip). So far, I have to say I love it. It's much better than my old hack and doesn't shake me to bits on bumpy roads like that did.

I am quite concerned though, that the battery is down to one light and not a lot of power after that sort of mileage. I expected it to last at least double that.

To be on the safe side, I only use the "High" mode pedal assistance (no throttle) to get to work, so I have enough juice to get back home again. The hills aren't that steep along the route and I generally average 15 miles per hour. On the last three miles home I've been using throttle only to give 100% power and got that grinding noise that I've also read about on here. Which I understand is down to low power on hills.

When I collected the bike from TETS in Cambridge, the battery was fully charged, run down, then fully charged again. I carried on this routine another couple of times to make sure the battery was ready to go. But the life of it hasn't improved. I did read on here that someone was getting over 40 miles using throttle, before needing a charge. Could I just be unlucky and have a faulty battery?
And is running it right down like this going to cause damage to it in the long term?

Thanks for any help.
Chris

 

[Mussels]

Which lights are you looking at, handlebar or battery? Are you looking at the lights when it is stationary and under no load?
The two week old 905 city I have uses about half a battery in 20 miles but that's with me pedalling fairly hard and the power on max the whole way.

 

[Tim]

Tyre pressure can have an enormous effect on range, keep 'em pumped up!

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Firstly, Hi to everyone on here.

I'm fairly new to biking (in the commuting sense), having not ridden for a about 7 years.

I've had my new Wisper Sport for a couple of weeks now and have so far used it every day to work and back (a 25 mile round trip). So far, I have to say I love it. It's much better than my old hack and doesn't shake me to bits on bumpy roads like that did.

I am quite concerned though, that the battery is down to one light and not a lot of power after that sort of mileage. I expected it to last at least double that.

To be on the safe side, I only use the "High" mode pedal assistance (no throttle) to get to work, so I have enough juice to get back home again. The hills aren't that steep along the route and I generally average 15 miles per hour. On the last three miles home I've been using throttle only to give 100% power and got that grinding noise that I've also read about on here. Which I understand is down to low power on hills.

When I collected the bike from TETS in Cambridge, the battery was fully charged, run down, then fully charged again. I carried on this routine another couple of times to make sure the battery was ready to go. But the life of it hasn't improved. I did read on here that someone was getting over 40 miles using throttle, before needing a charge. Could I just be unlucky and have a faulty battery?
And is running it right down like this going to cause damage to it in the long term?

Thanks for any help.
Chris

Hi Chris I am pleased you are enjoying the Wisper.

You should be getting at least 40 miles per charge so I imagine there is something not quite right.

Tim is absolutly correct in saying that tyre pressures are the biggest culprit sorting out low ranges. Please make certain the tyres are pumped up to 60PSI, I use 65PSI on my bike.

Other factors are as follows;

Weight. Not just the weight of the rider but also the weight of any luggage being carried or towed, effects the range you will get from your bike.

Wind resistance. Have you ever wondered why road racers wear Lycra? It’s not just to show off muscles! The fact is that if you were to wear Lycra on your electric bike (I don’t suggest for a moment that you do!) your range would be much higher than if you were wearing a huge overcoat and a nice big set of panniers!

Tyre Pressures. Always keep your tyres pumped up to the correct pressure, if you have ever had a flat tyre you will know why.

Air temperature. You will get about 15% more range on a warm sunny day than you would in deep winter.

Road conditions. A smooth flat road is much more efficient than gravel or grass for long range.

Hills. I realise you can come down the hill you just went up without using any power but you would have used a lot less power if you covered the same distance on the flat.

Throttle. If you are lucky enough to live in an area that allows throttles without pedaling, you can use masses of power getting from start to cruising speed on the throttle alone. So try always to pedal up to a comfortable speed before you transfer to throttle.

Battery age. As batteries get older they start to lose the ability to hold a charge for as long as they did when they were new. If you are using a 5 year old battery you will not get the same range as when the battery was charged for the first time.

There are of course other factors such as maintenance, the number of times you stop and start during a journey and wind speed but these are the most important points to remember.

If you continue to get poor results please contact Norman at service@wisperbikes.com

All the best David

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Or me!

Or of course me on miall@aol.com or through Pedelecs.

Best regards David

 

[Extra Cold]

Which lights are you looking at, handlebar or battery? Are you looking at the lights when it is stationary and under no load?
The two week old 905 city I have uses about half a battery in 20 miles but that's with me pedalling fairly hard and the power on max the whole way.

I'm looking at both the lights on the handlebar when under load and also when pressing the button on top of the battery, it shows one green, then goes to red, under no load. After the first leg of 12 miles, the battery lights show three out of four greens, which would have me thinking I'm not quite half way.

I'm only 5' 7" and weigh 78 kilos, so I don't consider that a problem. Also, I make sure the tyres are upto 60 psi each time. (I was amazed they lost some pressure after just three days!) Just wearing shorts and a t-shirt so far due to the good weather. With a small rucksack on my back with a clean shirt in it, so nothing massively restrictive.

I'll continue to monitor the mileage and if I can't squeeze a few more miles out of it, I'll take up David's advice and be in touch with Wisper.

Many thanks
Chris

 

[rog_london]

Firstly, Hi to everyone on here.

I did read on here that someone was getting over 40 miles using throttle, before needing a charge. Could I just be unlucky and have a faulty battery?
And is running it right down like this going to cause damage to it in the long term?

Thanks for any help.
Chris

That might have been me just over a week ago - I tend to use plenty of throttle and put in as much effort as I deem reasonable in order to get a good average speed. I did around 42 miles on Sunday and the second light was out after about 30 miles so I think I'd have got close to 60 before the battery gave out. I didn't push things as I didn't fancy pedalling it any distance with no power at all.

I assume you know how to 'read' the lights. It's not completely obvious. You need to have the power off. For that purpose coasting with the throttle closed and no pedalling will do, or just look while you're stationary. You'll find that most of the time on even a modest rising incline with the throttle open you'll often only get the red light even if the battery is almost fully charged. This is because the lights work on voltage, and it goes down as you use more current. If no current flows, the unloaded battery voltage gives a rough guide to how much charge is left. I stress it's only a rough guide though! Also if you take a rest the battery will recover a bit and you might find the yellow light is on when you resume, even though it was out when you stopped.

I'm talking about a Wisper 905SE which has a *large* battery.

Rog.

 

[the_killjoy]

Generally round town I reckon to get 25miles before the green light on the handlebar goes out under no load.

I usually charge after 25 miles but while conditioning I had 40 miles a couple of times and I think the battery was pretty low at that point.

 

[rog_london]

Generally round town I reckon to get 25miles before the green light on the handlebar goes out under no load.

I usually charge after 25 miles but while conditioning I had 40 miles a couple of times and I think the battery was pretty low at that point.

The green light on mine doesn't last long at all - probably around 10 miles - which doesn't prove much except that as I mentioned above these things are a rough guide, and I guess the best way to read them is to find out exactly what happens on YOUR bike. I've never managed to run out completely and I would hope to plan not to do so, other than to satisfy a perverse and morbid curiosity.

No change there, then....

Rog.

 

[OneWayTraffic]

Firstly, Hi to everyone on here.

I'm fairly new to biking (in the commuting sense), having not ridden for a about 7 years.

I've had my new Wisper Sport for a couple of weeks now and have so far used it every day to work and back (a 25 mile round trip). So far, I have to say I love it. It's much better than my old hack and doesn't shake me to bits on bumpy roads like that did.

I am quite concerned though, that the battery is down to one light and not a lot of power after that sort of mileage. I expected it to last at least double that.

To be on the safe side, I only use the "High" mode pedal assistance (no throttle) to get to work, so I have enough juice to get back home again. The hills aren't that steep along the route and I generally average 15 miles per hour. On the last three miles home I've been using throttle only to give 100% power and got that grinding noise that I've also read about on here. Which I understand is down to low power on hills.

When I collected the bike from TETS in Cambridge, the battery was fully charged, run down, then fully charged again. I carried on this routine another couple of times to make sure the battery was ready to go. But the life of it hasn't improved. I did read on here that someone was getting over 40 miles using throttle, before needing a charge. Could I just be unlucky and have a faulty battery?
And is running it right down like this going to cause damage to it in the long term?

Thanks for any help.
Chris

If you really want to know you could buy a Watts up or a cycle Analyst and wire it into the battery. But what I'd do is pick a nice circular trip that doesn't leave you more than a couple of miles from home and ride round in circles until the battery gives out. That would waste a cycle, but you will know what your range really is. Try to pick a route with similar characteristics to your commute.

You also might want to buy an additional charger and charge it at work. That will be kinder to your battery long term.

 

[wibble]

I only get 20-25 miles on my Wisper. I can only assume that the advertised 40 miles is for people that live in a velodrome.

 

[rog_london]

I only get 20-25 miles on my Wisper. I can only assume that the advertised 40 miles is for people that live in a velodrome.

Obviously it depends on your weight, how you ride, traffic conditions, hills - etc. Are you talking about full throttle, off-road mode and no pedalling at all? I've certainly not yet managed to run out though as I said earlier I don't plan to do so, but I think the published range seems reasonable based on my experience so far. I think you should be doing a lot better than that for normal riding.

I suppose it's fair to say I don't really want to reach the limit of the battery, even to find out what that might be. Phoning the wife to come out in the 4x4 to pick me up isn't an option - no wife, and definitely no 4x4. Sad, ain't I? This is not an advert, it's a joke

Partly that's because of the obvious practical reason that these things are not really designed to be pedalled without power uphill - you can do it, but you would not WANT to do it.

The other thing is that giving the battery an easy time by not running it completely flat will prolong its life, and my choice of bike was influenced by that consideration too. I don't commute, but I want to be able to just get on and go with no particular distance or purpose in mind, get my fill of it (maybe a couple of hours riding) and not be worried about running out of power.

The Wisper is excellent from that viewpoint. Some of the others definitely would not fill that bill for me. I'm not knocking any of them - in fact quite a few of them do appeal in different ways. Changing the subject a bit:

I'd love an electric road bike - that e-motion sport deluxe would be my second choice if I were in the market for running two e-bikes. It would certainly be easier to ride home if the battery went flat too. Maybe as I'm getting fitter I could kid myself that it might be a logical progression, but we all know that retail therapy works at many levels, so I'm not going there.

Rog.

 

[wibble]

Obviously it depends on your weight, how you ride, traffic conditions, hills - etc. Are you talking about full throttle, off-road mode and no pedalling at all?

I don't use the throttle too much and I'm not a heavy guy. If I lived on the coast then I'm sure 40 miles would be possible.

I think it's simply a case of if you live in a hilly area then don't expect 40 miles. As David suggests in his post - the hills really do suck out the energy.

 

[rog_london]

I don't use the throttle too much and I'm not a heavy guy. If I lived on the coast then I'm sure 40 miles would be possible.

I think it's simply a case of if you live in a hilly area then don't expect 40 miles. As David suggests in his post - the hills really do suck out the energy.

Fair enough. I can't remember where you live, but I know there are many parts of the country where there are no flat bits at all - parts of Wales and Yorkshire spring readily to mind - usually areas described as 'scenic' are difficult for cyclists with or without motors.

Round here (the London area) I look upon as fairly average terrain. You can't go far without a climb or two but there are some good flat stretches too. The south east as a whole is fairly forgiving.

Rog.

 

[wibble]

Fair enough. I can't remember where you live, but I know there are many parts of the country where there are no flat bits at all - parts of Wales and Yorkshire spring readily to mind - usually areas described as 'scenic' are difficult for cyclists with or without motors.

I'm in Lancashire. and yep, it can be very scenic around here, which is both a blessing and a curse. Take the damned hills away and you take the view away.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Range

The Wisper ranges are taken from road tests on the industrial estate which is flat. The rider weighs 73kg and is told to stop as few times as possible. We also test in New Zealand along the coast road on the North Island where you can keep going for miles without having to stop. In both cases the bikes are ridden to flat.

On both test routs we have achieved more than 120km nearly 70 miles but as you quite rightly say Wibble in near Velodrome conditions.

As you know I am fat (20 stone) and unfit and I get about 25 - 30 miles in and around Sevenoaks which is basically one big hill and I live on the top so half my riding is down hill and the other..... guess what....... is up.

My point is that even with our superb 500+ Wh battery there will be a great deal of variance in ranges achieved.

All the best David

 

[rog_london]

I'm in Lancashire. and yep, it can be very scenic around here, which is both a blessing and a curse. Take the damned hills away and you take the view away.

Born in Salford myself - but moved down here when I was 19, which was a LONG while ago. Haha! I wouldn't describe Salford as scenic even back then though from what I hear it was a nicer place to live than it is now.

Rog.

 

[torrent99]

Born in Salford myself - but moved down here when I was 19, which was a LONG while ago. Haha! I wouldn't describe Salford as scenic even back then though from what I hear it was a nicer place to live than it is now.

Rog.

Years ago when driving into Salford, I saw a sign it said:

"DANGER!
City of Salford
KEEP OUT!"

At the time [living & working in Manchester] I thought it was very apt. And OK it was next to a building site.

(The saying at the time was "Salford where the dogs go round in twos...")
Of course that only applies to a few areas of Salford, many parts of which are very nice.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Voltage

Our batteries should charge up to around 42V if anyone feels that there is a problem the first thing to check to see if the battery is charging properly. If a new fully charged battery falls short of the 42V mark it is certainly worth getting in touch.

All the best

 

[Extra Cold]

Our batteries should charge up to around 42V if anyone feels that there is a problem the first thing to check to see if the battery is charging properly. If a new fully charged battery falls short of the 42V mark it is certainly worth getting in touch.

All the best

I'll give that a check tonight, just to be on the safe side.

Cheers