Revising software on Panasonic motor in ProConnect?

[flecc]

Really you lot.
If it aint broke, then dont try to fix it!
The pro connet has beaten any hill that I have throw at it.

Exactly what I said at the start of this thread:

There should be no problem with the Pro Connect though, in it's lowest of the eight gears you should be able to tackle just about anything. Numerous old age pensioners in the UK ride the Panasonic motored bikes in some of the UK's hilliest areas like Cornwall for example, and they think nothing of tackling 20% hills with them. In most cases they have the older unit without a high power mode, so the Pro Connect with that mode will be much better.

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[Fecn]

Really you lot.
If it aint broke, then dont try to fix it!

Now really - what kind of an attitude is that for any self-respecting kind of techno-geek to have

It's not broken, but that doesn't mean there's no room for improvement. Higher cadences mean the rider can put more power in, but those higher cadences are exactly when the onboard system decides you don't need it's help anymore. In the lowest gear ratio on really steep hills (20-33%) I find myself alternating between trying to get more power from the motor by using a really low cadence, to trying to speed up my pedalling a bit to help the poor straining motor out, at which point it decides I'm pedalling fast enough that I don't need it's help anymore and makes me sweat instead. At the maximum-assist cadence I'm going so slowly and pressing the pedals so hard that it's hard to stay balanced and as soon as I speed up it reduces the help it's giving.

Laziness is the mother of all the inventions that necessity never got around to (washing machine, dishwasher, remote control, power steeting etc).

 

[swinnerton]

Hills and old age pensioners

My wife and I both have Pro Connects and are aged 61 and 60 respectively.We are retired and live in the Welsh countryside ( incidently lots of spring lambs in the fields and snowdrops in the hedgerows ) and have been able to tackle all of the hills we have so far found .I don't feel the need for a higher top speed as tootling along the lanes enables one to enjoy the cycling experience much more.My recent birthday present of a bike computer tells me I have managed 27 mph tazzing downhill which is about my safe limit !

 

[burncycle]

No-one has commented on if they think the bikes would be better with a little tweak to the low and high settings.
Medium setting is so functional, though the others seem to always be missing something in the real world.

 

[Fecn]

No-one has commented on if they think the bikes would be better with a little tweak to the low and high settings.
Medium setting is so functional, though the others seem to always be missing something in the real world.

I rarely use the middle setting - only max, min and sometimes none at all.

However, with the none-at-all option there's a catch. When you switch the power back on again you have to give the system a couple of seconds to calibrate the torque sensor before it can start to give assistance and sometimes that's too long to wait - For this reason I would like something lower than the 0.5x assistance mode... maybe around 0.2x... enough to overcome any extra resistance from the chain going round the motor pinion, but not enough for any significant battery draining.

I think that 1.3, 0.7 and 0.2 would be my optimal settings.. but of couse, I may revise that opinion if I ever get the chance to try it.

 

[burncycle]

I guess your terrain is flattish.
Isnt that funny how you mainly use low and high and I always stay on medium.
Horses for courses.
Interesting Fecn and thanks for the return reply.

I rarely use the middle setting - only max, min and sometimes none at all.

However, with the none-at-all option there's a catch. When you switch the power back on again you have to give the system a couple of seconds to calibrate the torque sensor before it can start to give assistance and sometimes that's too long to wait - For this reason I would like something lower than the 0.5x assistance mode... maybe around 0.2x... enough to overcome any extra resistance from the chain going round the motor pinion, but not enough for any significant battery draining.

I think that 1.3, 0.7 and 0.2 would be my optimal settings.. but of couse, I may revise that opinion if I ever get the chance to try it.

 

[Fecn]

I guess your terrain is flattish.

Quite the opposite... Big big hills everywhere around me. I'm at the very top of the North Downs. Wherever I go it's downhill (minimum assistance or none) and whenever I come back it's big big uphills (max assistance required)

 

[burncycle]

Quite the opposite... Big big hills everywhere around me. I'm at the very top of the North Downs. Wherever I go it's downhill (minimum assistance or none) and whenever I come back it's big big uphills (max assistance required)

Sorry Fecn.
Dont know Surrey, but then I think Surrey, Think flat !

 

[flecc]

Sorry Fecn.
Dont know Surrey, but then I think Surrey, Think flat !

Fecn is in the same area as me, but for me it's up at first and down on the return. South of London all the way to the coast it's hilly (North Downs), then flattish (The Weald) and finally hilly again (South Downs).

I'm a medium with very occasional high on the Kalkhoff, not liking low which I find of little use, preferring no power instead. I also used only standard or no power on my Lafree, never bothering with low.

David at A to B seems to prefer low and medium most of the time, so I guess there's a number of personal patterns of use.
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[Intex]

Thanks for all the input everyone.
What I meant, was trying to get more assist to tackle the hills in my town.
Yes, I did order thew ProConnect-S, but I can't tell you how it compares to the regular ProConnect, since I have never driven either, bought them sight unseen, as there are none in France or where I am now in the U.S. I assumed that the "S" model would have have power for hills.

I can use all the help I can get on the hills, I ride for pleasure, not obnly for the excercise, but do not need to get a full blown workout everytime I try to go uop a 2 mile climb to my home, from town !

O course I will advise how it works, as soon as I receive them.

Thanks again.