[ATTACH type=full" alt="DSC_0123_03.JPG]48658[/ATTACH]

Are we doing Retro now ?.

Are we doing Retro now ?.

still does what i want it to do have new cx motor batt and kiox now has a dpx2 rear shock it is under 24kg with a carbon seat post and can hit 40mph on the flat.

 

new bike means no dongle and limited chain ring size and even more waight and more expensive locked down batts.

 

it has lasted 8 years and no reason it wont last another 8 years i want a lighter faster bike with more range so a 15kg bike that can go 50mph for 50 miles is what i would want but not there yet.

All though FS bikes aren't my cuppa nor the looks of the mid drive bikes, SW does know how to look after and keep his bike in tip top condition. He got a cracking deal when he bought it and now all these years later it still looks the biz.

 

A guy at work has bought a new swanky full suss bosh tache bike and god dos it look so ugly.

A guy at work has bought a new swanky full suss bosh tache bike and god dos it look so ugly.

Im afraid we have to disagree there. I've always found the DIY approach to ebikes to be anything other than aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Wires exposed, bits of electrical tape flapping in the wind. Mix and match parts, king of the bargain bins.

 

Fugly is an understatement.

i think he means a bosch mid drive bike but some do look shite and i have never liked the down tube batts 1 because they make the bike even more heavy and they way they are put together means it is impossible to recell them if the bms was not a issue

 

thing is a bafang hd can piss all over my bike speed wise with a throttle can hit over 50mph on the road but the down side is there are wires everywhere but did a pretty good job cable managing them but you can still see it all.

 

off road going down hill it just falls apart and as soon as you hit a bump the chain fly's off.

 

but he uses it for work everyday so it has paid for its self already and rides in any weather tho the bearings need changing as makes a right noise atm but can be sorted cheap and what do you expect doing those speeds it needs to be serviced like any motor with moving parts.

Im afraid we have to disagree there. I've always found the DIY approach to ebikes to be anything other than aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Wires exposed, bits of electrical tape flapping in the wind. Mix and match parts, king of the bargain bins.

 

Fugly is an understatement.

 

Well... at least it didn't cost me £320 to add a light :D:D ( )

 

Have you installed it yet?

 

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/well-that-was-a-bad-idea.44047/#post-660276

 

My handsomeness more than makes up for choosing long-term functionality over form No overcompensation required...

Edited August 28, 20223 yr by guerney

Have you installed it yet?

No, im being extremely lazy these days, I reckon its some sort of depression.

 

I'm thinking this as Ive new Hope pro 4 wheelset, new Hope tech 3 V4 F&R brakes, new USE carbon bars and seatpost, and new XO 10 speed mech and shifter, and they've all been sat there for a few months.

 

Normally I fit new bits the moment i get them home or via post, but with this stuff and this new light im just sitting on it, as if waiting for something.

 

Admittedly, the new rear wheel is a different rotor-center lock to Hope 6 bolt, so that requires a bit of faffing about, plus the different magnet for the sensor will probably need taken on and off to get that right, plus the entire job of fitting new rear brake plus new mech especially as there might be an issue with the replaceable gear hanger going from Shimano to Sram, which i think might be different, so could involve that part being replaced.

 

I've also got to decide on new forks. Either RS Pike ultimate, Lyrik ultimate or maybe a zeb.

 

Unless of course a new fox 38 factory turns up at a remarkable price

 

I think with the light its already plumbed in, i just haven't got round to looking int he space above the battery in the down tube for the end of the lighting rig wire.

 

But im sure I'll get there. Bike is pretty much in daily use, so having it off the road for up to 2 days maybe 3 will be an utter pain in the bum.

If im lucky and all parts go on cleanly with the minimum of fuss, i can have it all done in a day( with plenty of coffee and ciggie breaks.)

No, im being extremely lazy these days, I reckon its some sort of depression.

 

£320 to add a bike light, would certainly depress the hell out of me! And you can't know if "Sabotage light installation by owner" has been enabled.

Edited August 29, 20223 yr by guerney

Cube Kathmandu range would fit your needs. The Pro range have the Bosch Performance CX with 85nm torque that will eat up hills. If you get it with the 625 battery that should give you enough range for a return journey provided you don’t do it all in Turbo, and should be at the top end of your price range. The frame Is mountain bike style and will handle pretty much anything. For comfort you have front air suspension and a suspension seat post.

 

[Edit] As for riding over 15mph, the motor gradually fades out rather than just cuts so it lets you back into non-assistance gradually and there is no drag on the motor. I’ve had mine up to 20mph on the flat and it just feel like a normal bike at that speed.

Edited August 29, 20223 yr by The Silverfox

£320 to add a bike light, would certainly depress the hell out of me!

Well cost of light is what it costs, so any light would be subject to its retail costs, i can hardly include that in any estimate. The work estimate is 4 hours, which ive said is simply ridiculous. But the fitting time is UP TO 4 hours, so i suppose if they poke about, find the wire i believe to be there the whole job could take under an hour. He was I suppose just quoting me outside ball park.

Personally I think if the pre wired wire is there then its a short job.

My other light is an Exposure Toro, which is about £220.

 

And you can't know if "Sabotage light installation by owner" has been enabled.

Well it is Bosch isnt it. So probably first electrocutes the owner before locking the system and sending a report back to Bosch HQ

From there the atuomated letter is send - You've f****d your guarantee ha ha ha ha.

Well it is Bosch isnt it. So probably first electrocutes the owner before locking the system and sending a report back to Bosch HQ

From there the atuomated letter is send - You've f****d your guarantee ha ha ha ha.

 

Does the display activate the light circuit? If the Bosch controller is very sensitive to short circuits, could it shut down if the wires are live right now and they touch? Would you then need a new Bosch controller, or could it be revived? You could leave the battery out for several hours before trying to connect the lights, in case there is some residual current. Alternatively, spending "Up to" £200 and letting the professionals deal with it, gets you the wallet pain you've paid Bosch for.

Edited August 30, 20223 yr by guerney

bikes sold with no lights fitted from new has the light setting default to off and a dealer needs to activate it.

 

if you blow a bosch controller then the only option is a new motor.

Can we confirm what you mean by 'controller' Far as im aware thats the display thingy sits on the bar.

 

A prewired bike is just that pre wired. It will be connected into the motor and should just be a simple case of connecting the wires from it to the wires on the light. Then enabling it via the diagnostic app, whichj i believe you can download yourself and run it so no dealer input is really needed. I've watched a number of vids of people wiring in lights directly, and none of whom were ebike sellers or shops.

 

I honestly do not see a bike costing £5k being something that is going to present problems when in the specs its listing as pre wired.

This is more a case of some cheapo Chinese made hub motor affair..£999 out of the interweb.

Edited August 31, 20223 yr by AndyBike

It's worth taking care no matter how expensive your bike was. If the light is switched on by the display, those wires won't have current until the light is switched on by the display, but it's easy to check for voltage using a multimeter. Avoid cutting both wires at the same time, if your cutting tool is conductive and the wires are live. If the wires have current, cut one wire at a time using a cutting tool with insulated handles, taking care to not touch the conductive part, if you're not wearing electrically insulating gloves.

Edited August 31, 20223 yr by guerney

Can we confirm what you mean by 'controller' Far as im aware thats the display thingy sits on the bar.

 

A prewired bike is just that pre wired. It will be connected into the motor and should just be a simple case of connecting the wires from it to the wires on the light. Then enabling it via the diagnostic app, whichj i believe you can download yourself and run it so no dealer input is really needed. I've watched a number of vids of people wiring in lights directly, and none of whom were ebike sellers or shops.

 

I honestly do not see a bike costing £5k being something that is going to present problems when in the specs its listing as pre wired.

This is more a case of some cheapo Chinese made hub motor affair..£999 out of the interweb.

the controller is the circuit that controls the motor. On Bosch motors, it's the large green board that you see when you open the motor casing. The problem with using prewired lighting system is the accidental shortcircuits that you may inflict on the electronics if your lights fail or their wiring get mangled during a fall. If that happens on a Chinese bike, it may kill the LCD because the on/off circuitry is in the LCD, on a Bosch bike, it's on the controller so the potential repair cost is much higher. If you need powerful front light, I recommend using a separate USB rechargeable light. No wiring is needed.

I hear what you're saying, but im on a number of Emtb forums, and those type of problems, especially affecting the motor is just not something i hear anything about. On here, the main problems people report seems to be with the hub motors, the wiring, the controller(as you say) battery etc. I dont know if its down to the costs, obviously the bosch/Yamaha/etc systems do suffer problems at times, but tbh those probs seem related to water ingress from the nature of their use, going through streams etc.

 

Because of this i would suspect that the mid drive systems are certainly robust, especially given the abuse they go through, which cannot really be compared to the plodding steady commuter types the hub motors seem to favour.

 

Its because of this that i would lean towards there being less of a problem. A pre wired system i have read today in EMTB forums, where the customer watched them fit an expensive(£400) Lupine lamp to a 2020 Scott Emtb, that they just twisted the wires from the lamp onto the wires from the pre wired system, so i would think from that that the procedure of connecting these lights is less fraught with potential problems, and more akin to a 'plug and play' type of set up.

 

I think the only problem i would have to watch out for is the one you mentioned earlier about the ampage for the light 1, 1.5 or 2a. But with the light being 1000 lumen, its going to be a case of setting it at its lowest (1a) and seeing how that goes. I admit to having issues there in that I cant find exactly what he ampage of the light i have is, only its lumen rating. I think i'll probably have to email Exposure to find out. Apparently like Hope, they are amongst the best mtb component companies for customer service.

I think also an email to Scott, possibly in way of chastisement as to their lack of fitting instructions for fitting lamps to their bikes. They make a big play about it being 'pre wired' but the info seems to stop there and theres no instructional vids that would help.

Perhaps they are reckoning that the owner would be employing a shop to do it, but perhaps they havent taken into account what is involved* .

 

* Far as i can see to open the cover, you need to remove a lower motor guard(damn these mtb's needing protection) to access the screws that hold the motor cover on. And im going with a generousness thoughts on the matter. It might actually need the motor to drop down just to access the cover screws- A job ive been avoiding.

If thats the case then that is really dumb and it would obviously cost the customer more.

 

The bike shop i got it from i think is really ripping folk off asking 50/hour. Theres another mechanic i use, possibly one of the most qualified in the country, has the full range of cytech certifications, and was the Olympic mechanic for Shimano a couple of years ago. He's charging about £25/hour. So having the ebike shop asking 50, is just taking the proverbial. Which makes me lean more heavily towards doing the work myself(plus the super qualified chap lends me his tools occasionally, which is certainly handy.

 

So I'll take on what you've all said and try to be careful, but also research a lot more as to what exactly the voltages/amps etc etc actually are before making a goo of it. I've very practical in these things been building bikes for 25 years, i service sus forks, rear shocks, hydraulic systems as well as everything else, so i reckon a light shouldnt present too much of a challenge, especially with the info you guys have supplied.

installation is usually not a problem. The light is off, the cables are factory made, you only have to push in a connector. The risk comes later. As you said, you don't know how many amps the lamp is going to draw, and what would happen if or when the lamp fails.

The issue for many users is how to quantify the risk/benefit ratio whereas if you use a rechargeable lamp, admittedly you will have to reach further for the lamp's on/off button but it would give you peace of mind that you won't have to worry about an £800 motor.

with bosch when the light outputs are turned on it will cut the power to the motor when the batt gets down to 10% so you can still see where you are going.

 

one guy with a brose motor had a light on his bike and had a firmware update refitted the light and it must have been drawing more amps than it was allowed to with the new firmware and bricked his motor.

 

with can bus you cant really bugger about with it with 3rd party stuff and it gets more locked down every year.

 

my kiox now tracks my ride data after a software update but no gps as dont take my phone most of the time but it did not do that b4 the update.

 

as soon as my phone is in range it is sent to the app.

 

with gps as well tracked as soon as it is powerd on thats how they will stop all dongles with new smart motors.

 

and have to pay a subscription fee to use the lights at night.

the controller is the circuit that controls the motor. On Bosch motors, it's the large green board that you see when you open the motor casing. The problem with using prewired lighting system is the accidental shortcircuits that you may inflict on the electronics if your lights fail or their wiring get mangled during a fall. If that happens on a Chinese bike, it may kill the LCD because the on/off circuitry is in the LCD, on a Bosch bike, it's on the controller so the potential repair cost is much higher. If you need powerful front light, I recommend using a separate USB rechargeable light. No wiring is needed.

 

I haven't got around to removing the light I soldered onto the bbs01b wire for lights, but will solder the one connected there to the battery through an inline fuse instead, as I have the others - who needs controller/display burnout hassle when it's easily avoided? But a bbs01b controller costs less than £90, display costs less than that, therefore not a gigantic pain in the Bosch.

 

Does the Bosch controller automatically switch the light on when it's dark or indoors? My C18 display does - easy to be caught out there (if the battery hasn't been removed and time allowed for any residual current to dissipate), when connecting a light to the Bafang controller lighting cable wires.

Edited September 1, 20223 yr by guerney

On my Haibike I have found re-chargeable lights work very well with little hassle. I have a Yamaha system where lights can be enabled but have never bothered. You need to check but somewhere I remember seeing that the power of light you can use if you fit fixed lights is more a be seen light rather than a search light. Definitely something to be sure about. Some of the Riese and Muller models have a built in Supernova M99 Mini Pro, but apart from saying it is powerful do not state figures.

The issue for many users is how to quantify the risk/benefit ratio whereas if you use a rechargeable lamp, admittedly you will have to reach further for the lamp's on/off button but it would give you peace of mind that you won't have to worry about an £800 motor.

 

Yeah, I think its to fraught with possible dangers, and as you say its an 800 quid motor, and thats the last little expense i need. The light is Exposure, one of my favourite manufacturers, and I've already got their Toto at 2000 lumen(3200lmn in reflex mode), which is pretty damn bright, so it would probably be a good idea just to leave it there.

This is what happens when you get a £120 light new for 41 quid, makes you anxious to fit it, which would be good as a constantly on day light, without having to worry about forgetting to remove the big one and that being nicked.

 

From the set up vid you set the amps either 1a, 1.5a or 2a, so once that is set up it shouldnt be an issue, but froom all thats been said, it is slightly offputting. But all that in mind other people riding ebikes have fitted light and they've been running without problems, so is it just a case of needless worry, or worrying about what might happen, even though it probably wont.

the most i got from a 500w batt is 48 miles at normal bike speeds and climbing hills ect.

 

also the batts for these bikes are expensive a new bosch 500w batt is £633

A good point is the price. I have a Chinese Yose battery ( 36 v 15.6 ah) which I think is 561 wh and I get approx 30 miles with hills and mainly eco riding for £200.00 ish.

But this is my first ebike ( kit) and would like to go further on a charge.

A good point is the price. I have a Chinese Yose battery ( 36 v 15.6 ah) which I think is 561 wh and I get approx 30 miles with hills and mainly eco riding for £200.00 ish.

But this is my first ebike ( kit) and would like to go further on a charge.

 

Of those approx. 30 miles, can you give and idea of total ascent ?

Of those approx. 30 miles, can you give and idea of total ascent ?

I'm sorry , Iv'e never taken a record of that. But where I live nothing is flat.