Aurora Limited Edition Mid-Drive Review

[MuttonChops]

@Don Adams ; ? ? ?
". . . have the bar end mirror to add but the grip is incredibly thick and so not sure I should cut it. Might have to just drill a hole to get a razor knife to work.
. . . We bought a Galaxy the same day and that one had a plug"

Don't the Limited have a removal plug like shown on the Bike Info page:

My bike was ordered with the Comfort Package so the grips are different from factory standard.

 

[Don Adams]

Thanks. Changed out the grips which required moving the brake lever and the gear control but all easy. 15 minutes and all is well. Thank you for your quick response and opinion. Perfect!

 

[Don Adams]

No, my AE Limited came without the plug but I did buy the comfort package, but that came in a separate box. Those are the new grips I installed. Forgot I had that box!

 

[Aurora Maven]

Not the OP, but I own this bike, as well. I am male, 5'-10" and currently weigh 270lbs. I would say "Yes!" -- it was one of the reasons I purchased this (it handles more weight). Plus, the features I wanted are all included - racks, step-thru, fenders, hidden cables for direct-powered lights (not batteries), more upright seating position, Gates drive, etc. You may wish to call Evelo for final reassurance. They really did their research on this one, in my opinion.

What kind of mileage are you getting on a fully charged battery? I weigh about 210 and I'm only getting about 25 miles before the red LED on the battery comes on and I ride on flat asphalt roads. The battery level on the display is almost useless because it underestimates the remaining charge. Also, my battery label says 14Ah 672Wh when it is supposed to be 14.5Ah at 696 Wh. I need to contact Evelo to learn why there is a discrepancy between what they advertise and what we received. Any thoughts?

 

[Don Adams]

I live in Seattle area with a lot of cold rain right now and so just haven't gone far. I bought an Aurora LE and a Galaxy for my wife. I assembled and then charged the batteries overnight as recommended. Both bikes have gone 14.5 miles with a mixture of flat and steep hills I had trouble riding a regular bike up. Neither has been recharged as both show 4 bars of charge remaining. Clearly that will drop by we will most certainly get more than 25 miles! I have been playing with the assist and using lots of assist as I play with it. We will most certainly get a lot more than 25 miles. Yes, time to check with Evelo.

 

[MuttonChops]

What kind of mileage are you getting on a fully charged battery?
. . . battery label says 14Ah 672Wh when it is supposed to be 14.5Ah at 696 Wh.

Battery Size; My bike was part of the 200-unit introduction build last year. It has the same battery as yours, 14Ah 672Wh.

Battery Range / Mileage; really depends on your riding style . . . how much assist you use.
I'm 180# and run the tires at 19psi front 20psi rear, a bit higher than the suggested fat tire psi.
I use 35 miles as my distance planning limit. Have done several rides in the 35'ish mile range.

In a Nov-2019 post to the main Aurora Limited Edition thread, noted:
. . . have "not run the battery to dead but frequently get to One Bar on Display and Only the Red LED on the battery pack, always in the 28-30 ODO Miles range. Have continued riding up to 35 miles but don't know the "it's dead" limit."

Side Note, Warning.
Battery state-of-charge gauge is not linear. Same Nov-2019 post included:
. . . "lithium battery experience on an i2 Segway (much larger battery pack) the Display Power Bars are far more linear on the Segway. It has 8 bars. The shift from 8 to 7 is slow as it takes more miles than typical while the shift from 7 to 6 or 5 to 4 is very linear. That has not been the case on the E-Bike; 5 to 4 takes miles and miles, then almost without warning it is at 2 or 1 bar.

 

[smorgasbord]

What kind of mileage are you getting on a fully charged battery? I weigh about 210 and I'm only getting about 25 miles before the red LED on the battery comes on and I ride on flat asphalt roads. The battery level on the display is almost useless because it underestimates the remaining charge. Also, my battery label says 14Ah 672Wh when it is supposed to be 14.5Ah at 696 Wh. I need to contact Evelo to learn why there is a discrepancy between what they advertise and what we received. Any thoughts?

• 35 miles seemed to be the limit, riding on PAS 1, sometimes 2. This is with some decent hills and 150lb rider.
• PAS level 3 quickly sucks the life out of the battery.
• Evelo told me the battery labels were incorrect and that the watt-hours were as advertised.
• The bars are not close to linear. You could get 10 miles on the first bar, but once you hit 3 bars left you would hit 2 bars left much more quickly.
• Note that new batteries need to go through several full charge cycles so that the BMS can do internal balancing. That may improve range a bit.

 

[Aurora Maven]

• 35 miles seemed to be the limit, riding on PAS 1, sometimes 2. This is with some decent hills and 150lb rider.
• PAS level 3 quickly sucks the life out of the battery.
• Evelo told me the battery labels were incorrect and that the watt-hours were as advertised.
• The bars are not close to linear. You could get 10 miles on the first bar, but once you hit 3 bars left you would hit 2 bars left much more quickly.
• Note that new batteries need to go through several full charge cycles so that the BMS can do internal balancing. That may improve range a bit.

[/QUOTE
I have range anxiety so I may eventually buy an extra battery to carry along because my trips are sometimes in the 40-mile range. I was able to get about 40 miles on my old 2015 fully-loaded Aurora that had a 500W Tonaro canister motor. But because I also have tire-puncture anxiety, I then replaced the 1.95 inch Kenda tires on the 2015 Aurora with higher pressure 1.5-inch Schwalbe Marathon tires and I got a 20% increase in mileage so I was almost able to go 50 miles on a full charge. I'm aware that the Dapu motor on the ALE is 750 watts and will eat up more battery juice but I was also led to believe the new motor was more efficient than the older motors, which would have offset some of the battery consumption. In any case, I will need to do some more test riding with the bike to know what my anxiety-free mileage will be. I may consider replacing the 2.8-inch Innova tires with the 2.4-inch Schwalbe Moto-X tires and see if that helps. And losing weight is out of the question

 

[smorgasbord]

The motor may be more efficient, but the Nuvinci enviolo hub is much less efficient than a derailleur drivetrain.

 

[Aurora Maven]

The motor may be more efficient, but the Nuvinci enviolo hub is much less efficient than a derailleur drivetrain.

Understood. But my old Aurora had the manual version of the NuVinci 380 and still got 40 miles on the original setup. The Harmony version is likely even less efficient than the manual version. I contacted Enviolo and they said that the battery drain by the Harmony electronics "should not make a big difference" whatever that means. In the meantime, Evelo said I should try tracking my riding using the Strava app and send them the results. I guess the app records terrain in addition to speed and distance. Evelo also confirmed that the label on the battery is incorrect, it should have read 14.5 Ah.

 

[smorgasbord]

Understood. But my old Aurora had the manual version of the NuVinci 380 and still got 40 miles on the original setup.

Are you riding at the same speeds? The Limited setup is very nice and perhaps you're finding yourself traveling faster than on your old Aurora, especially since many of the other Auroras are hub drive.

 

[Aurora Maven]

Are you riding at the same speeds? The Limited setup is very nice and perhaps you're finding yourself traveling faster than on your old Aurora, especially since many of the other Auroras are hub drive.

I probably am riding at a faster speed, which is one reason I miss the average speed readout that the old Aurora had. My "fully loaded" Aurora was mid-drive; you can't have a NuVinci and hub drive on the same bike

 

[smorgasbord]

you can't have a NuVinci and hub drive on the same bike

Duh on my part, sorry!

 

[Aurora Maven]

Duh on my part, sorry!

I also wanted to confirm that the 700C wheel size on the display setting that you suggested will give you slightly more accurate mileage reading than the default 26-inch wheel size value. But, after doing some riding on both settings and comparing it to GPS values from an app on my phone, I found that the 26-inch setting will give a mileage of about 4% less than the actual mileage whereas the 700C setting will give a mileage about 3.5% more than the actual mileage. This was on 2.8-inch wide tires. The bottom line is if you want to feel good about how far you have ridden, use the 700C setting; if you want your odometer to show a conservative mileage reading then use the 26-inch wheel setting.

I also wanted to thank you for suggesting using the PAS 2 level for normal riding because on that assist level I was able to get about 35 miles before my battery started blinking. On my old Aurora, I had to use PAS 3 to feel that I had enough assist to overcome the weight of the bike but on the ALE, because of its more powerful motor, you can achieve the same performance using PAS 2.

 

[@AubergeSanDiego]

I also wanted to confirm that the 700C wheel size on the display setting that you suggested will give you slightly more accurate mileage reading than the default 26-inch wheel size value. But, after doing some riding on both settings and comparing it to GPS values from an app on my phone, I found that the 26-inch setting will give a mileage of about 4% less than the actual mileage whereas the 700C setting will give a mileage about 3.5% more than the actual mileage. This was on 2.8-inch wide tires. The bottom line is if you want to feel good about how far you have ridden, use the 700C setting; if you want your odometer to show a conservative mileage reading then use the 26-inch wheel setting.

I also wanted to thank you for suggesting using the PAS 2 level for normal riding because on that assist level I was able to get about 35 miles before my battery started blinking. On my old Aurora, I had to use PAS 3 to feel that I had enough assist to overcome the weight of the bike but on the ALE, because of its more powerful motor, you can achieve the same performance using PAS 2.

I'm consistently getting around 50 miles to a charge at the 700C setting without running the battery all the way down. Tires at 19psi, mostly flat asphalt, manual Enviolo mode, and always PAS 1, so probably about as conservative as I can get with battery usage. I'm so glad I got this bike before the virus lockdown so I have some sort of outlet. Can at least ride laps around my neighborhood and wave to all the people I know. Would hardly see as many neighbors by walking on foot. The bike has had the beneficial side effect of helping me lose extra weight - down 9 pounds since the beginning of the year to 164 now. Like others have noted, the battery display does not show charge dropoff in a linear way. The time from 5 bars to 4 bars seems forever, while the time from 3 bars to 2 bars is quicker, and 2 to 1 seems to go in the blink of an eye.

 

[Aurora Maven]

(Note: some of this post is on another thread, but I thought it good to include all my experiences here)

Symptom: A "skip" or "blimp" when pedaling slowly but forcefully, typically when starting up. This happened to my wife a few times (I could hear it 100' away), and then it happened to me on ride.

Cause: I was pretty sure it was the Gates belt jumping a tooth. Read the Gates manual (that came with the bike - props to Evelo!), and what it described as symptoms of too loose a belt matched. So set about increasing the belt tension.

Fix: See photo below:
View attachment 39825

The basic procedure is to loosen the 5mm hex head screws (2 on each side of the bike), then loosen the lock nut (10mm) on the red hex head screw. Then turn the red hex head screw in or out to move the dropouts to the front or rear of the bike. Here's a close-up with the wheel removed:
View attachment 39826

Problem: The paint job on the frame is pretty decent, but the paint thickness in the open oval prevents the dropouts from moving. What I actually had to do was to remove the blue screws completely and then file/sand the paint away from the open oval:
View attachment 39827

I don't have a photo, but the adjustable drop-outs are aluminum and have a protrusion that rides in the oval. With the paint this was an interference fit. After sanding away the paint, the dropouts were able to slide in the oval. I still left them a tight fit.

Anyway, I re-installed the wheel (here's a photo of the axle in the proper location in the drop-out):
View attachment 39828

tightened the axle nuts (15mm) to a torque of about 45Nm, and then was able to use the red screw to slide the drop-outs to get the right belt tension and to keep the wheel centered in the frame.

I used "feel" on the belt tension, and then found the Gates phone app, which basically uses the phone microphone to measure the harmonic frequency of the belt when you pluck it like a guitar string. I used the Gates manual to determine the acceptable tension and I was close enough to not mess with it anymore.

With the Gates belt, too little tension results in the skipping we had. Too much tension wears other components out. The tension recommendations for an IGH (Internally Geared Hub) like the enviolo are lower than for analog mountain bikes, so you don't have to worry about the belt itself having too much tension. I ended up at the upper range of tension.

One thing that will be interesting is if I have to change out a tube in the field. The 15mm axle nut is not a large size, and I expect to carry a box wrench for it. The question is whether when replacing the wheel whether I can still get the axle all way into the drop-out, since that means the belt has some tension on it. I think that once the axle is mostly in place that sitting on the bike would apply enough force to re-tension the belt (it's actually not that tight, but it is tighter than any chain which only has a derailleur spring for tension).

I had a question about the belt skipping I was hoping you can help with. After about 120 miles of riding, I began to hear a snapping or loud clicking sound occasionally when I pedaled. I never heard these sounds when I used the throttle only. I can't quite tell where the sound is coming from but I think it is the back hub. Was this the type of sound you heard when your belt skipped? I have not yet tried re-tensioning the belt because I'm waiting to receive the KriKit gauge I ordered; I don't trust the phone app. By the way, you mentioned something earlier about replacing your tires. Evelo told me that the thinnest tire that would fit and give a good seal on these rims is 2.25 inches. I was thinking of getting Schwalbe Super Moto-X HS 439 tires 26" x 2.4", which may have better puncture-resistance than the Innova tires.

 

[MuttonChops]

. . . question about the belt skipping I was hoping you can help with. After about 120 miles of riding, I began to hear a snapping or loud clicking sound occasionally when I pedaled. . . .

I've also experienced what I assume is Belt Skipping.
It most often occurs from a Dead Stop with [1] High Right Pedal Force when the [2] Pedal is in the 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock position and [3] NuVinic in a high gear.

So of course I try to avoid that combination . . . teaching myself to downshift at stops, moving pedal to 4 o'clock, using throttle instead of muscle to start early movement.
Very High muscle force with pedal in 'green shaded area' seems to lead to belt skipping.

 

[smorgasbord]

I've also experienced what I assume is Belt Skipping.
It most often occurs from a Dead Stop with [1] High Right Pedal Force when the [2] Pedal is in the 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock position and [3] NuVinic in a high gear.

Yeah, with high pedal force, high assist, and in high gear you should expect to have skipping. Even a chain/derailleur drivetrain can skip with that combo.

It's particularly easy to do with the Aurora Limited since the Nuvinci enviolo is electronic and it's just so easy to twist the shifter all the way to high. And if you ask me, they have the rotation direction backwards to boot (that should be programmable at least).

I'm not sure the Krikit gauge is better than the phone app, at least if you have a really quiet room in which to use the phone app. But, as I no longer have the Aurora Limited, I'm going to be putting my Kirkit gauge up for sale in the Classified section here - along with a bunch of other stuff - pretty soon.

 

[MuttonChops]

. . . no longer have the Aurora Limited . . .

Care to share why you have changed rides?

 

[Aurora Maven]

I've also experienced what I assume is Belt Skipping.
It most often occurs from a Dead Stop with [1] High Right Pedal Force when the [2] Pedal is in the 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock position and [3] NuVinic in a high gear.

So of course I try to avoid that combination . . . teaching myself to downshift at stops, moving pedal to 4 o'clock, using throttle instead of muscle to start early movement.
Very High muscle force with pedal in 'green shaded area' seems to lead to belt skipping.
View attachment 51420

The snapping sound I'm hearing can actually occur when I'm simply doing easy pedaling or cruising. It is very disconcerting. Evelo suggested I reseat the axle and retension the belt. I will try that in a couple of days. I'm also eager to hear why Smorgasbord no longer has his ALE.