Allant+ 7S One Month Update

[Jimfastcar]

I’ve owned my Allant+7 sine May ‘20 and have well over 1k miles and still love the bike. I haven’t noticed any “slap” or odd vibrations. I did ask my LBS to adjust the derailleur after about 300 miles as it felt like it was struggling to shift quickly and quietly into gear when going uphill. It took him about 10 minutes and he chalked it up to wear in. It has worked fine since then.
I added a Bontrager shock absorbing seat post and a Serfas E-Gel seat, which is the perfect seat for me. Also added a Racktime Odin trunk bag that has zip up panniers in the side pockets. Also added a Topeak seat bag. It fits perfectly with the Racktime Lightit rack it came with. Also added bar ends to give me an optional high riding position and a Mirrycle Mirror. I had the (free) Bosch firmwear update done early on which added light on/off capability and E-MTB (replacing Sport mode) mode to the PLCX motor which I really like. I also added OneUp pedals as the factory pedals are a bit slippery.
As for charging, I simply charge to 100% each time and fail to understand this 80% ”sweet spot”. The battery lives inside my house, wrapped in a fiberglass fire mat and kept in a metal toolbox.
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The Fire Mat/Toolbox comment caught my attention Is this really necessary?

 

[Dallant]

The Fire Mat/Toolbox comment caught my attention Is this really necessary?

Of course not. As a volunteer fire dept. photog for years, I saw lots of total destruction fires caused by far less than these batteries. Since I have two of these batts, a small metal tool box is a convenient and safer way to keep them in the house year round. Adding the matting is not only a way of cushioning them but of slowing down a fire should something unusual happen. I use it to carry them in my truck.

 

[Dallant]

The tech's feeling is that it's all about the safety and that Trek likes to have the lights on when riding. Since the LEDs don't draw that much battery current, it just seemed to make sense to me.

Your car‘s lights turn on or off right? I don’t need or want Trek to make that decision for me. You can always leave them on if you want. It’s very easy and quick to turn them on or off so I wanted the option.
Range is an important issue for me and since I mostly ride during the day on trails in wide open spaces, a light is just not really necessary most of the time.

 

[MrLibraryMan]

Your car‘s lights turn on or off right? I don’t need or want Trek to make that decision for me. You can always leave them on if you want. It’s very easy and quick to turn them on or off so I wanted the option.
Range is an important issue for me and since I mostly ride during the day on trails in wide open spaces, a light is just not really necessary most of the time.

You know, on second thought, it makes sense. Next visit to the LBS will be a request to have him turn on this feature.

Speaking of features, are there any other optional features that are available in the latest firmware that bumps up the motor to 85Nm?

Thanks!

 

[JES2020]

I bought Allant+ 7S Staggers for my wife and I about four weeks ago. In the four weeks I have put about 550 miles on mine (20 mile ride every morning except for Mondays).

Very happy with the bike so far. Quality of all the components and overall build is excellent. Getting about 65-70 miles per charge (primarily riding in ECO with an occasional bump up to TOUR or SPORT heading up steeper inclines.

I have added A Mircycle Bar-end Mirror to each bike as well as Bontrager Ion Pro RT Front Lights and Ion Flare RT rear lights. Bought some new pedals for mine (Bontrager Pro MTB pedal set) but haven't put those on yet.

In the four weeks I have had four flat tires on my bike and one on my wife's. Two of the flats sealed up on their own (bike shop put slime sealant in the tubes) but two of the flats (both rear tire) required me to pull the rear tire to replace the tube. The first time I pulled the rear tire off I was quickly able to break the tire bead and replace the tube but navigating getting the rear wheel back on was challenging. I finally ended up pulling the rear wheel center quick disconnect bolt (skewer) off the wheel to make it easier to get it seated back in the cutouts. The second time I could not get the bead to release on the rear tire and had to run to down to a nearby bike shop where the mechanic used a Park Tool PTS-1 Tire Seater to pop the bead off. He replaced the tube and getting the rear wheel back on the bike was a lot easier the second time. I will say though that if you think you can do a tube replacement or even apply a patch to a flat tire on the side of the road or bike path it may be challenging. I had mine up on a bike maintenance stand both times to get the rear wheel off and reinstalled. I have started buying some specific tools to be able to do some basic maintenance myself as well.

A couple of complaints:

1. As others have noted, not being able to turn the lights off from the controller. It appears this can be remedied with the software update or rewiring and will get the LBS to fix when I bring in for 90 day servicing
2. Occasionally get what I would describe as a rattling sound which sounds like its coming from the pedal area (or maybe the motor). Only happens intermittently when pedaling. Will get this checked out as well.
3. None of the Bontrager MIK bags fit on the Racktime Rack. After reading another post, did some research and ordered the correct adapter for fastening Bontrager bags to Racktime racks. People in the LBS were clueless about the whole situation.

Questions to others:

1. Battery charging - do you charge your battery to 100% each time? I was doing some research and found a couple of articles showing that charging to 100% gets you about 500 charge cycles but charging to ~80% gets you more like 1200-1500 charge cycles. You need to charge to 100% periodically to load balance the cells but that can be done every tenth time. Ineterested in what other owners are doing about battery charging. Since I live in the Phoenix AZ area I bring my battery inside after ride because my garage gets up yo 105+ F this time of year.
2. What other accessories/mods (if any) have you done to you Allant+ 7S? Any accessories you can recommend?

Happy riding to all!

After considerable research, there is a workaround to the 100% charge issue. The shortened life due to full charge is due to letting the pack sit for extended time at full charge, and doing top off charges.

So what you can do to get full use out of your battery is "store" it at about 50% charge. When not riding for a few days/weeks, leave it at less than 100% and then top it off just before you go for a ride (ONLY if you need the range on that ride). Otherwise that small% charge counts as a full charge in terms of charge life cycles. So it also helps to not continuously top off your battery, ride it down to 10-15 % charge then do a full charge when ready to ride again.
During the season I do an extra long full charge once a month, (before a ride !), to balance the cells.
Hope that makes sense.

 

[Dallant]

You know, on second thought, it makes sense. Next visit to the LBS will be a request to have him turn on this feature.

Speaking of features, are there any other optional features that are available in the latest firmware that bumps up the motor to 85Nm?

Thanks!

I don’t remember any other options beyond the on/off, 85Nm, and E-MTB mode. My CX was bumped up with the 85Nm option but you’ll need to ask your LBS if it shows up on the list of options for the Speed motor. I don’t think the E-MTB mode is available to the Speed.

 

[Dallant]

After considerable research, there is a workaround to the 100% charge issue. The shortened life due to full charge is due to letting the pack sit for extended time at full charge, and doing top off charges.

So what you can do to get full use out of your battery is "store" it at about 50% charge. When not riding for a few days/weeks, leave it at less than 100% and then top it off just before you go for a ride (ONLY if you need the range on that ride). Otherwise that 20% charge counts as a full charge in terms of charge life cycles. So it also helps to not continuously top off your battery, ride it down to 10-15 % charge then do a full charge when ready to ride again.
During the season I do an extra long full charge once a month, (before a ride !), to balance the cells.
Hope that makes sense.

I try not to do my 100% charge till the day I’m going to ride it. My last real ride of the season was done in snow and I rode it down to approx. 50% which is what it (and my wife’s battery) was at when I packed it (them) away for the winter.

 

[JES2020]

I try not to do my 100% charge till the day I’m going to ride it. My last real ride of the season was done in snow and I rode it down to approx. 50% which is what it (and my wife’s battery) was at when I packed it (them) away for the winter.

Right, that is the idea. Just remember, if you top it off before riding again (when you don't need the full range), that top off counts as a full cycle in terms of battery cycle life.