tomarnold

Seeing as our batteries are all affected by cold temperatures, has anybody tried insulating their battery in any way? I wondered about wrapping some insulation material around it on cold mornings to see if I could get the warm-weather performance in winter. Anybody out there tried it?

Rode to my new job this morning on my new Wisper 905e (8ah). It was wonderful! Of course the weather was absolutely beautiful, so that helped my mood, but apart from that the ride was really really lovely. It involved 9 miles each way including some big hills, all along lovely quiet country lanes. It was so good to be able to smell the smells, take in the views, and say good morning to people as I cycled by. Quite a revelation after the 90-mile round trip commute I've been doing for a year now! The bike performed wonderfully, with the 18-mile round trip completed with two lights still on (when on the flat - one light left uphill) after setting out this morning with a full charge. Very impressive considering that I left it on high assist all the way there and back and also that it was only 4 degrees this morning. Can't wait to see how it performs when it's warm!

I weigh 11 stone (70kg ish). The 10 miles without pedalling was all on the flat and the occassional slight incline. It managed up shallow inclines but at a reduced speed of around 10mph (it was around 15 - 16mph throttle only on the flat). And yes, I'll keep a log of my commutes and post my findings if you're interested...

Final report - I got up at 5:30am today to go for a ride to run the battery down before work. It lasted 2 miles before the last light was flashing and going out. So the range I got on high assist and lots of throttle-only, in some very hilly terrain, was almost 24 miles. So I reckon I should get around 26-30 miles with less throttle use and a little more pedalling, and perhaps more than 30 miles if I use more of the low and medium assist settings. Wonderful!

Hardly! I let the throttle and the high assist setting do all the work. In fact, for at least 10 miles I didn't pedal at all. Now the only issue I have is having to get up at 6am tomorrow to try and use up the rest of the battery life before charging up ready for the next long ride!

Right then, I have now got my lovely new Wisper 905e with 8ah battery Just took it out for a little ride to see how it goes. Big smiles and happy Tom! :) I went out intending to go on just a little ride, and came back after 22 miles with 2 lights still showing on the battery indicator. Lots of fairly big hills and on high assist all the time with at least 10 miles done on throttle alone. Going to do some more miles later to run the battery right down as I'm going to do the recommended full discharge and recharge for the first 3 cycles. So going by the 22 miles I've just done on high assist and throttle and with 2 lights still showing, I think my 17-mile round trip commute will be just fine!

Me too, if I had £700-£800 !! I am paying around £550 for my new 8ah Wisper 905e, and that is the top end of my budget.

We'll soon find out - if Somerset County Council sort out my Cycle Scheme paperwork by tomorrow as they promised then I should have the bike after work tomorrow... I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again for the advice.

Thank you for your concern, but I have tried riding the bike unpowered around the streets of Bristol and it was fine, particularly (as you mentioned) with a very low assist setting. I am sure the 8ah battery will cope just fine with the 8.5-mile trip to work and then I'll simply charge it up there before returning home. Basically it's either that or I can't buy an electric bike at all and I'd rather not consider that to be an option! So I'll buy the 8ah version and put aside a tenner a month for the next few years and when I eventually replace the battery I should have enough money by then to buy the 14ah!

Thanks everybody for all the replies. I appreciate that the 14ah battery would do the job better, but of course that kind of goes without saying... a 20ah battery would make it even easier, or in fact a car would be even easier again! However, I am at the very very top of my budget with the 8ah 905e, so my question really was aimed at whether it was better to charge after every 8.5 mile journey or after the whole round-trip. Also, I very much agree with 'd8veh' - I am getting an electric bike simply to help out with hills and headwinds on the way to work. I intend to cycle unaided most of the time (I am a fit, keen cyclist!) and use the power only on hills and into headwinds. So the 8ah battery will be just fine. So I guess the general advice about charging seems to be to charge after every trip to keep it constantly above 50% discharge or thereabouts. Thanks again for taking the time to reply. I'll let you know how I get on...

Hi all, I'm about to buy a Wisper 905 Eco and I have a question about the best way to look after my battery. I will be mainly using the bike to commute to and from work - a 17-mile round trip with some fairly big hills. I guess that the 8ah battery should cope with this length of daily trip, but what would be the best charging routine to ensure long battery life? Should I charge it each evening after the 17-mile day, as this would give me fewer discharge cycles but using more of the battery's range. Or should I charge it at each end of the 8.5-mile journey, thus doing double the number of discharge cycles but using much less of the battery's range? I'd be very interested to hear your suggestions...

So if I were to buy one of these 15ah batteries could I replace the 8ah battery on my Wisper 905e?

I have just ordered a Wisper 905e with an 8ah battery. I have a 9-mile commute to work (one way) and I am wondering if it would be better to ride there and back and charge at home (fewer discharge cycles per year but using more of the battery's range) or to charge after each 9-mile trip (more discharge cycles per year but only taking the battery down to around 50% each time). Any thoughts? p.s. big thanks to Atmosphere bikes in Bristol for the help and advice, but have decided it would be best for me to buy as locally as possible.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll post up what happens on Saturday after I've tried a couple of bikes... I'm very excited!

Good stuff, thanks!