2020 Civante Review, Initial 100 mile Impressions

[FlatSix911]

Well done... I like the retro gum wall tires with the brown saddle and bar tape.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I’m thinking that’s an Urban Rush he’s tricking out... CIvantes are white. Whatever it is, it‘s a nice setup!

 

[WattsUpDude]

I’m thinking that’s an Urban Rush he’s tricking out... CIvantes are white. Whatever it is, it‘s a nice setup!

That’s definitely an Urban Rush. I’d like to know how to get front panniers on the stock fork.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I was rereading this thread this morning for some reason, and I see it is time to toss in the 1200 mile review on my Civante.

All is well. I continue to really like this bike. It’s two or three days on the Giant ToughRoad and the gravel bike paths, then two or three on the Civante and back on the roads. Hunting season is coming up, which will keep me more on the roads, so the Civante will get a nice boost in miles before the real winter shows up and it goes to the basement. I’ll ride the gravel bike every chance I get during the winter, if I do get any at all.

I have been running the Topeak V beam seat post mount rack with one of those really nice Topeak trunk bags, but damn, I’m too old to be kicking my leg up like a Rockette to get over that trunk bag every time I climb on and off! I finally got the extra framework piece that hangs on the rack and drapes the wheel so panniers won’t fall into the spokes. Now I’m running a smallish set of panniers to keep a windbreaker, the tool stuff, spare gloves and everything else. It is much easier to live with, though I hate to see that snazzy Topeak bag sitting on the garage shelf.

Bike itself? Great stuff. Still spending most of my time in the base +Eco, though Eco use is always sort of sneaking up. I can charge along very nicely in Eco, still doing a good bit of the work myself, but covering a lot of ground. Standard assist? Terrific on serious hills. We don’t have a lot of killers around here, but there are plenty of 13 to 15 percent ones around that are a lot of fun to ride up on this bike. I was in New Hampshire the other day riding around a lake and found a private road that was so steep that I just had to try it, and once I got to the top I had a hell of a time getting back down because I couldn’t control the rear tire grip... all the weight was on the front. Almost had to walk down. But going up was pretty astonishing.

No quality control issues, no surprises. The only problem I’ve had was my own fault, the cross chaining event noted earlier. Since then the bike just performs. It is just so much fun to get out on the farm roads all by yourself, especially now with the colder weather. Great, great riding. Three thumbs up to Yamaha.

 

[LarryLegless]

I got 950 miles on my Civante and just love it. I run it alot in High mode because I like going fast. My only complaint is the noisy rear derailer

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I figure if I start running in Standard or High mode I’ll never be able to make myself go back to the lower ones! I still enjoy doing as much of it myself as I can. Won’t last forever, unfortunately.

I do find that it clunks pretty heavily when shifting at higher assist levels. That’s just all that torque hitting the cassette at once. If I back off the pedaling right at the moment of shifting, it damn near goes away.

 

[JoshPDX]

I'm at 500 miles and really have nothing but praise for the bike outside of the stock pedals. Those can be changed. The motor and tuning are just about perfect. I spend most of my time in Eco+. If I spent any significant time in standard I'd never go back. It's just too damn fun.

 

[todbar]

Thanks to all the good insight here, I'm now 3 days, about 75 miles, on a new Civante.. couldn't agree more about the benefits and fun of this bike... another eco+/off rider, except for hills - but I hope I'll be able to stick to that . So far actually haven't seen any difficult shifting in the front derailleur and do prefer having the gear range so I can use the motor less... the battery range has been great so far.... anyway, do appreciate all the info here, thanks.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

Nice to see all the comments and enthusiasm in this one thread here. As one of many dealers for Yamaha, we have all been hankering for a 28 mph version of their nice builds. I really wish it would have included their Cross Connect, that has a more suitable recreational and commuter type build to it, including fenders, rear rack, full light set, and front suspension. Again it’s not that most riders need to hit 28, but rather would prefer not to lose assist right at 20 mph. The Civante’s a nice start though. Just hope it doesn’t take another 2 years of waiting for another model of Yamaha to become Class 3. A step thru model seems out of the question right now... just a very conservative company. Sort of ashame, as they are missing a massive opportunity, that firms like a Giant who use Yamahas motors are just gobbling up more sales that become more references for guys and gals alike.

 

[XS11]

The Civante comes with a kickstand? That's got to be a first for a drop bar road bike on the market today.

Yamaha makes one you can order or if your LBS has it on hand you can buy it there. The same one that works on Giant eBikes works on a Yamaha.

 

[XS11]

Hi,
I have 100 miles now... times 5, and I've noticed the motor seems to be making a lot louder whine in the past few rides. Has anybody else noticed this? Is there something I am supposed to be lubing under the cover?

Also, I never got really great shifting from the Tiagra rear derailleur so I bought a 105 10 speed rear der for $45US and it really made a huge difference in the shifting experience!

Shimano 105 RD-5701-SS 10-Speed Rear Derailleur​

Thanks all!

 

[todbar]

This one on Amazon works fine, just needed to use different bolts -

BV Adjustable Rear Mount Bicycle Bike Kickstand for 24" - 29" Mountain Bike/Road Bike/BMX/MTB​

 

[Oski1997]

Hi,
I have 100 miles now... times 5, and I've noticed the motor seems to be making a lot louder whine in the past few rides. Has anybody else noticed this? Is there something I am supposed to be lubing under the cover?

Also, I never got really great shifting from the Tiagra rear derailleur so I bought a 105 10 speed rear der for $45US and it really made a huge difference in the shifting experience!

Shimano 105 RD-5701-SS 10-Speed Rear Derailleur​

Thanks all!

I got a new Civante too! I look forward to your updates. I hope you figure out what’s going on. The good news is we have a 3-year warranty.

 

[Oski1997]

Appreciate the review, I've been considering a road ebike in the next year or two, and the Civante definitely is interesting. Good spot on the price/performance curve. The Giant would probably be the main other consideration, because I already have a Revolt-E and like my local Giant dealer.

Between the two, the Giant is pricier, but also has much nicer componentry (the Ultegra group on the Giant is up a few levels from the Tiagra on the Civante, and I'd bet the house brand stuff (stems, bars, etc) is nicer on the Giant as well. You also get a carbon fork on the Giant vs alu on the Yamaha. So you do get something for your money. Agreed on the battery (I've discussed at length in other threads). I'd have to figure out how consumption would be on a road bike vs my revolt to decide how much it really matters. If I can't get 50 miles on the std battery at basic assist then I need an extender/2nd battery anyway. Any idea what Yamaha charges for a spare?

Super sharp bike! Definitely let us know how it is as you get more miles on it. I'm super curious about the range you see.

I get 57 miles using the two highest settings.

 

[Oski1997]

I don't know how much has changed on the Civante vs the older bikes but...the bluetooth communication seemed lacking and it was not clear what apps could be used to read the cadence and power data. I've only played around with it very minimally and out of the 10 or so that I tried, only the Wahoo app seemed to read it. But I've not played with it on an actual ride.

View attachment 62998

RTG Cycling also reads the Power. I’ve used the Civante on Wahoo, Zwift, Rouvy, Ride with GPS, to name a few

 

[LarryLegless]

I am using the Garmin 1030+ and the Yamaha computer communicates data to my Garmin via bluetooth

 

[Oski1997]

I am using the Garmin 1030+ and the Yamaha computer communicates data to my Garmin via bluetooth

Oh wow, good to know, THANKS. What the benefit of using the Garmin?

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Hey Oski, can you talk a little about the connectivity stuff re the Wahoo or RWGPS? This has sort of gotten past me but it sounds interesting. Pretend you’re talking to an idiot.

 

[Oski1997]

LoL Dave, I’m new to it too but basically Wahoo and RWGPS are like the bike computer (Display X) that we have on our bikes. But, Wahoo, RWGPS and Kamoot add a Navigation component (using either an app on your phone or a Garmin/Wahoo device) that you can mount on your bike. They’re not just for Navigation, they also give you data that our Display X isn’t giving us (like elevation gain, avg heart rate, calories burned). Apps like Rouvy and Zwift add a gaming component to riding a bike. Rouvy tracks my ride but on the display it shows me pedaling in some carton world on my phone. You can compete on Zwift with riders from all over the world. It really is a complicated set of phone apps and devices. Some apps don’t register the Power transmission on my ebike while others do. Some include heart rate data, while others don’t. I know I’m making it sound confusing and that’s because they all overlap now a days. Some apps like Strava used to just track your rides. Now it also lets you plan rides like Kamoot does. Rouvy actually lets you go on a virtual ride of some (maybe all) of the Tour de France stages. I like that better because it’s not a cartoon. They actually use real Google Maps-like footage so it feels more real on my big screen 4K TV. What do you specifically want to know Dave? The picture is of the Wahoo app on my phone (just for you to see)

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I didn't write the question very well. I've been on RWGPS for several years, used as my bike computer on my iPhone. I'm buying a Wahoo Roam currently for this year to see how that stacks up against the iPhone, and this discussion of feeding data from the Civante to these things caught my eye. That's the part I haven't waded into yet.

However, looking at your answer, I wandered into the other side of the basement where my Civante is sadly waiting out the winter, turned it on, and played with the Sensors setting I found in RWGPS, and lo and behold, I see that I can get the cadence from the bike onto my computer screen, so that's great. I need to learn some more about getting power numbers onto the Wahoo and what is involved with that.

I've been happy with the iPhone's implementation of RWGPS, especially the mapping, the smoothness of the map rendering and the excellent voice nav cues. It seems like some of that will go away with a Roam or Karoo, but on the other hand I will gain gradient as a metric, which I cannot get on the phone, and that is a biggie for me. Much better battery life and the phone can just go in the handlebar bag where it belongs.

Always fun playing with the technical stuff! Thanks for the response. I cannot wait to get that bike back in business again fairly soon now.