Oxygen E mate MTB13AH

tsmtih01

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 15, 2015
11
3
61
Hi just a quick review on this bike, I have know had it around 10 weeks, I use it for both work and pleasure. I travel about 15 miles 3 times a week to work, I quite enjoy passing other cyclists as they struggle up hills and keeping up with the road bikes ( sad I know), finally arriving at work not covered in sweat.
On the leisure side it is brilliant, when I am of road it can reach speeds of around 23 to 27 mph!! You cannot help smiling to yourself as it just keeps going, obviously the charge from the battery does not last as long.
Overall this bike is fun to ride has a range of 50 miles ( have had almost 70 when being sensible), I was lucky with the price I bought mine for £1200 when they were retailing for £1795 I see they are around £1400 now, I would reccomend this bike to anyone who wants a MTB but also needs it to commute.
 

Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
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Warwick
I've just bought mine off RonnyUK OTP. First impressions are very favourable. I've been out for a 6-7-mile spin on it and in the Power mode it goes like stink. I tried the Normal mode next and it still pulls like a train. Next I put it into Eco mode and it's still more powerful than my converted ebike. The gear range is great and changes smooth. I'll be trying it out on my commute tomorrow and I'll see how it performs on that rather more demanding route.

I've ordered some Schwalbe Land Cruiser Plus tyres for it, as the OEM ones are rather too chunky for the mainly tarmac route it'll mostly take. The Land Cruisers are a bit of a hybrid tyre with a smooth, raised centre tread, but knobblies on the side. I also put my rack on it, so I can get my stuff to work. There are also some SKS Beavertail mudguards on the way to round off the package.

All in all, a very accomplished machine is my initial impression.
 
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Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
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Warwick
Thanks for that. I'll have a play with the different settings over the next few days to and from work. whilst it has the knobblies on I might even take the cross country route home before the clocks change.

Update: Settled for Eco Mode, PAS level 5 this morning and it's still faster than the old bike.

Going for the cross-country route via Kenilworth Castle this afternoon.

I suspect the brake discs or pads have been contaminated as the braking performance isn't great. I cleaned the discs with meths yesterday, but they're not much better today.
 
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Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
731
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Warwick
A question: Which setting would use most power/battery:
  1. Eco mode level 5
  2. Normal mode level 3?
I'm finding the bike quite powerful enough with 1), but wondering which would be optimal. Until I sort the brakes out, I don't want to go any faster...
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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It depends how fast you go. 2 will use more power from a start, but you won't use any power when you go over the cut-off speed. 1 will use power nearly all the time, but not very much.
 

Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
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Warwick
On ECO setting 5 I did 9.7 miles in 33 minutes today. That's an average speed I'm very happy with.

Once the Land Cruisers are fitted I should be able to be even more efficient. The battery conked out on the way home today, but only after 35 miles of similarly rapid riding.
 
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Deleted member 4366

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Yes, be careful. The battery goes down very slowly at first, but when the display shows half-way, there isn't much left.
 

Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
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Warwick
That's something you learn quickly :)
 

Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
731
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Warwick
I took it on a couple of bridleways on the way home the last two days. It handled well, although at muddy stretches it showed its weight.

Yesterday I got a puncture, so had a good excuse to swap the tyres over to the Land Cruisers. It sailed along very quickly and much quieter today due to the thinner, higher pressure tyres. How they perform off road remains to be seen. I can heartily recommend the Land Cruisers; especially now they have some added puncture resistance.

I'll do a few seating position tweaks over the weekend and fit the SKS Beavertails as well as the bar end grips, then my work is done. For a while at least :)
 
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Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
731
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Warwick
Right, since dropping the rear wheel out and reinstalling it I'm having alignment problems. My fault, as I didn't make a note of the fastener positions before removing the wheel. (In my defence, it's a heavy lump and fell out of position whilst up on the stand.) Any chance someone could tell me the order and alignment the bits go, please?
 
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Deleted member 4366

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It's a lot easier to install the wheel with the bike upside down. Normally, the anti-rotation washers go inboard of thr dropouts and normal washers go outboard.
 
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Warwick

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Jun 24, 2015
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Warwick
(Offensive language? Hopefully you pressed the wrong button...)

Thanks for the advice. I'm assuming the anti-rotation washers have the lug between the axle and the dropout? Or does it go the other side of the axle?
 
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Deleted member 4366

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The lug goes into the drop-out on the inside.

I haven't a clue where that offensive language flag came from!
 
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Warwick

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Jun 24, 2015
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Warwick
:)

Fixed now and no brake rub. A short test ride saw everything working as it should. The mudguards & bar ends will have to wait until tomorrow!
 

Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
731
225
Warwick
I've had the bike almost two weeks now, so have had time to get used to it in the 250 miles I've done on it since buying it. I should add that it was bought secondhand, so I can't vouch for the battery's care since new, but it seems OK. It had only c.120 miles on the clock when bought.

It's a very well built bike. It's also very well thought out. That wasn't the case with my previous off-the-shelf e-bike, so this comes as a very pleasant surprise. The saddle is a quality item, as is the Shimano gearing. No Tourney bargain basement stuff here. The one initial qualm I had proved well founded when I got a puncture on an off-road section of bridleway. The Schwalbe Smart Sams having very limited protection in that regard. They were also a little too off-road for my commute. They've been swapped for Schwalbe Land Cruisers, as I mentioned above. So far those have stood up to the same route without incident, although the grip is not as good as the more knobbly Sams.

The power settings are easily adjusted and the display informative and clear. It's easy enough to move up and down the power settings on the move - even in winter gloves, but a change of mode needs more fiddly adjustments. Talking of settings, I seem to have settled on Eco mode, power level 5. That means the motor is on more than off, but not with such a kick as with the Normal or Sport modes. That suits my commute, as the 27-speed gearing gives plenty of choice to find the optimal gearing for a given bit of terrain.

With the caveat of the battery not being in my hands since new, I'm getting 35-40 miles on a charge. That was with a fairly rapid ride on an undulating 8-10-mile commute and me being 90Kg with clothing. I suspect if I stuck to 15.5MPH I would get significantly more range and I may well use that setting if I get round to touring on the machine.

I've made some additions to the bike. As well as the tyres, I've fitted some SKS beavertail mudguards and a disc-specific Tortec rear rack that I had awaiting use for the panniers I use for work gear.

Postives: It's a superbly competent machine on and off road. Despite the weight at the rear it has handled the bridleways I've thrown at it with ease. The ride is comfy and the front suspension fork is very good at soaking up the bumps. The range is very good given the average speed I've achieved. I can now get two days of commuting on one charge where I'd struggle to get one at such speeds out of my converted bike.

Negatives: I'm hard pushed to name any, but the motor is louder than my other machines. Being a RWD machine the noise is behind me though and isn't all that intrusive. The battery level meter isn't very reliable. the first segment (of 5) takes a good while to go out on the meter, but the next few go out rather too quickly for the unwary. Early on I was caught out on one off-road ride when I thought three bars meant I'd plenty of power left.

Potential additions: It's a hardtail machine, so no criticism of it, but I'm contemplating fitting a Suntour NCX seatpost to iron out the inevitable bumps when off-road. That's a compliment to the Oxygen though, as I didn't buy it as an off road machine, but it's proving so good on the trails that I am looking for more to use on my trips out which are now more frequent.
 
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Deleted member 4366

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That reflects exactly my findings. For riding on the road and light trails, it's my favourite bike. I can't think of any others that I've tried that come close. Handling and braking are superb. It just feels so planted all the time, and, of course, it can be adjusted to go very fast for commuting. My only negative point is the throttle. The throttle's speed is tied to the PAS levels, so you have to be on level 6 to get full speed from it.

I can't understand why this bike isn't more popular. I'm sure if you lined it up with nine other similar ebikes and asked people to test them with blinkers on so they couldn't see what they were riding, most would choose the Oxygen.

One other thing: These motors usually last forever, or at least the lifetime of the bike. When the battery eventually wears out, for less than the cost of a replacement battery on other bikes, you can buy one of these, which increases the power by 66%:

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/784-48v116ah-case-08-bottle-panasonic-battery-pack-battery.html

or this one for 78% increase in power:

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/680-48v116ah-bottle-09-panasonic-battery-pack-battery.html

Stick with the 36v versions if you don't want extra speed or if you do a lot of off-road with low speed. They give 20% and 33% more power. Choose the more expensive versions with Panasonic cells if you can afford it.
 
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Warwick

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 24, 2015
731
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Warwick
Forgive my ignorance, but are these 48V batteries plug and play, or are any other mods needed?
 
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Deleted member 4366

Guest
The motor doesn't care what voltage you give it. 48v means 33% more speed. Your controller is part of the battery carrier, so to change the voltage, you need a new controller and battery.

The above batteries have their own controllers, which is what gives some of the extra power. The connector for the motor is the same. The controllers have their own LCD, so you take the old one off and thread the cable through. In fact it might work with your existing harness, now that I think about it, so just change the LCD and leave the brakes and throttle the same. IIRC, the PAS connector is the same. All in all, should be a very easy conversion.
 
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