Cycle analyst/(Edit)Eggrider V2 over Bafang display? 52 volt battery….

[Mando]

I’ve been doing some research on 52v vs 48v for my new build. I’ve been reading that the current bafang display can be used with 48/52 but you don’t get an accurate reading of your battery usage? I was wondering if this was still an issue. I’ve also seen that some are using alternative displays to get a better battery readout.

Some have recommended the cycle analyst to remedy the battery read out issue. From my brief research it seems the cycle analyst can actually control the entire motor? What’s the advantage of using the cycle analyst over the standard bafang display? Is it simply a better medium to display battery consumption or are there other areas of advantage? I like the small color display by bafang (500c) on my other rigs, kind of curious about alternatives. Thanks in advance guys!

 

[JRA]

To be honest it seems like any of the displays have issues showing accurate battery status. The caveat here is as you say a CA3 but as much as I like mine that I have used over the years they really do need to pare it down into a more svelte unit or just go to an App based system. But basically the advantage is a CA3 will track your wh/mi usage so that with a bit of maths you can estimate your range left at any given time depending on if you are going to maintain your desired speed over terrain left to go.

The best thing to do is to use your bike as you normally would for several rides and keep an eye on the volts reading which should start at 58.8v for a 52v system. As you ride it will go down until it reaches the approximately 44v low voltage cutoff or LVC that will shut the bike down to preserve battery health.

Keep an eye on your distance traveled and expected to travel and compare it to the V reading. Caveat is that as the V goes down so does the motors ability to provide fully rated power. After awhile you will be able to calculate somewhat accurately how to get home with battery left and be able to plan future rides according to your personal riding habits.

Oh and always go out up the hill or into the headwind!

 

[Mando]

To be honest it seems like any of the displays have issues showing accurate battery status. The caveat here is as you say a CA3 but as much as I like mine that I have used over the years they really do need to pare it down into a more svelte unit or just go to an App based system. But basically the advantage is a CA3 will track your wh/mi usage so that with a bit of maths you can estimate your range left at any given time depending on if you are going to maintain your desired speed over terrain left to go.

The best thing to do is to use your bike as you normally would for several rides and keep an eye on the volts reading which should start at 58.8v for a 52v system. As you ride it will go down until it reaches the approximately 44v low voltage cutoff or LVC that will shut the bike down to preserve battery health.

Keep an eye on your distance traveled and expected to travel and compare it to the V reading. Caveat is that as the V goes down so does the motors ability to provide fully rated power. After awhile you will be able to calculate somewhat accurately how to get home with battery left and be able to plan future rides according to your personal riding habits.

Oh and always go out up the hill or into the headwind!

I figured some of it would be touch and go so to speak in regards to remaining capacity. I’ll have to check out the CA3. Do you know anything about the egg rider v2 display? I may just end getting the small bafang 500c display if I can’t get any real life feedback for that unit. Thanks!!!

 

[harryS]

For my bikes that don't have numeric voltage readouts in the display, I use these handlebar voltmeters, wired to turn on with the display. They used to cost $6.99 each, but price has doubled. A little hard to see in sunlight. Accurate to 1%, and will show voltage sag if you have it.

I measured the WH/mile with a meter between the battery/controller during a ride or between charger/battery later, The latter is slightly higher, but the number has enough variables, it doesn't matter, After a couple of samples, you don't need to do it, so why buy a CA to measure something that you already figured out. It's the same reason why I don't permanently mount the wattmeter on the bike, other than it's a pain in the neck to do properly. I would crash anyway, staring at a wattmeter display, with its half dozen items,

 

[tomjasz]

I have a CA3 and shunt that I move between bikes and projects to get an idea of the battery performance. But it's a pricey solution, best suited to multiple bike use and kit building.

 

[m@Robertson]

The Bafang displays sold by Luna are modified to run on 52v. All of mine do. I personally prefer the 860C because I can see real-time watts and amp draw at the same time onscreen. They also claim it reads up to 60v. I don't know if that means a 60v battery or just 60v period. Either way its fine for a 58.8v max charge on a 52v pack.

LUNA Full Color Display 860c With Removable Selector

Distributors and builders of life changing electric bikes.

lunacycle.com

Also: @Mando the display is an interface to the controller, but its not the controller itself, which is housed inside the motor.

 

[Mando]

The more I researched I just decided to grab the egg riderv2. I liked the utilitarian design and Bluetooth for the capability to mount my phone and use them in parallel. I like how low key it is, some areas I ride people like to cry about “motorized bikes” lol. The less I stand out the better.

 

[Mando]

The Bafang displays sold by Luna are modified to run on 52v. All of mine do. I personally prefer the 860C because I can see real-time watts and amp draw at the same time onscreen. They also claim it reads up to 60v. I don't know if that means a 60v battery or just 60v period. Either way its fine for a 58.8v max charge on a 52v pack.

LUNA Full Color Display 860c With Removable Selector

Distributors and builders of life changing electric bikes.

lunacycle.com

Also: @Mando the display is an interface to the controller, but its not the controller itself, which is housed inside the motor.

Appreciate the info and correction. I’m a bit green with terminology.

 

[m@Robertson]

The more I researched I just decided to grab the egg riderv2. I liked the utilitarian design and Bluetooth for the capability to mount my phone and use them in parallel. I like how low key it is, some areas I ride people like to cry about “motorized bikes” lol. The less I stand out the better.

I have one on my enduro and you can't beat it for a minimalist display. Looking at ebikes these days, you would think if we just climbed on a bike and rode it, we'd somehow crash and kill ourselves if we don't know our speed, average speed, time of day, consumption rate etc. etc. I use my EggV2 simply as an on/off switch, and to check my battery voltage. I don't even have a speed magnet on the wheel so it doesn't show mph... omigosh.

I don't miss it. Someone mentioned watt meters above. I had one on my Cyclone'd Stumpjumper and it was in the back with the battery. Only used it to tell me what my wattage peaks were during my ride. After I climbed off the bike. the world didn't end

 

[Mando]

I have one on my enduro and you can't beat it for a minimalist display. Looking at ebikes these days, you would think if we just climbed on a bike and rode it, we'd somehow crash and kill ourselves if we don't know our speed, average speed, time of day, consumption rate etc. etc. I use my EggV2 simply as an on/off switch, and to check my battery voltage. I don't even have a speed magnet on the wheel so it doesn't show mph... omigosh.

I don't miss it. Someone mentioned watt meters above. I had one on my Cyclone'd Stumpjumper and it was in the back with the battery. Only used it to tell me what my wattage peaks were during my ride. After I climbed off the bike. the world didn't end

That’s exactly why I liked it. I don’t need all the other nonsense. I was told they were more accurate in regards to monitoring battery consumption but I could care less at this point. The ability to go Bluetooth with the phone is a great idea. Wasn’t that easy to find one!

 

[tomjasz]

For me, the EggRider was the most difficult display to support. I'd guestimate that 20% of the purchasers had trouble getting the EggRider setup. That and it's overkill for many users. How many of us will actually use the features to change settings on a regular basis?

Users need to be willing and able to update firmware and be comfortable with setting up.

I had two samples and sent both off at no cost to two members here. I found using a programming cable to be very easy and with the latest Penoff link even easier.
Also, be aware that the EggRider Bafang version and EggRider Rad versions have opposite Higo connectors.

APPLE OS X based configuration tool for Bafang BBSxx e-bike motors
Works with Linux and Windows too I believe.

https://github.com/lijon/BafangWebConfig

https://devnotes.kymatica.com/BafangWebConfig/

 

[Mando]

For me, the EggRider was the most difficult display to support. I'd guestimate that 20% of the purchasers had trouble getting the EggRider setup. That and it's overkill for many users. How many of us will actually use the features to change settings on a regular basis?

Users need to be willing and able to update firmware and be comfortable with setting up.

I had two samples and sent both off at no cost to two members here. I found using a programming cable to be very easy and with the latest Penoff link even easier.
Also, be aware that the EggRider Bafang version and EggRider Rad versions have opposite Higo connectors.

APPLE OS X based configuration tool for Bafang BBSxx e-bike motors
Works with Linux and Windows too I believe.


https://devnotes.kymatica.com/BafangWebConfig/

I made sure to get the bafang version. What was the major issues getting set up? From what I came across most were saying it was simple and straight forward. Be nice to get an idea where others were having problems.

 

[tomjasz]

Primarily buyers with undeveloped computer skills. Major complaints were hard or impossible to read display in bright sun. But there are now sun shades available. And easy to break handlebar mount. I set my programming on every one of my BBSXX motors and never found the need to change anything again.

For Farcebook users EggRider has a good page for help often visited by the developers.

 

[m@Robertson]

I stayed away from the EggRider v1. Story after story of config issues out of the blue. It seemed like they finally figured out how to make it work with the v2 - which by the way is not a display they designed... you can find it on Ali without the extra BS and just a plug to a Bafang motor. I have one that I bought with a front hub kit for my Bullitt and never used.

@tomjasz' post reminds me of the things I still didn't like about the EggV2. For example I have to freaking create an acct and log in, then validate myself to use a damn bicycle display? Ridiculous. And I already have a dedicated controller programmer and don't have any desire to mess with an app. My EggV2 was integral to my Cyc X1 and its BAC800 controller so I also had to do some wand-waving to get it to use the right config. Thankfully I got it going and could just forget about that entire avenue after getting past the initial need to deal with any of that at all.

 

[tomjasz]

Setting up the account confused a significant number of buyers too. Now that programming is OS X capable I have even fewer reasons to use an EggRider.

 

[JRA]

I figured some of it would be touch and go so to speak in regards to remaining capacity. I’ll have to check out the CA3. Do you know anything about the egg rider v2 display? I may just end getting the small bafang 500c display if I can’t get any real life feedback for that unit. Thanks!!!

Too late I guess I was looking at the ER also but came to the conclusion that all I really wanted was a smaller display and not a bunch of dicking around with proprietary sign ons, didn't need bluetooth access etc....So I went with the 500c which I was only able to source off of AliExpress but it came pretty fast.

A couple of rides in it works fine and plays well with my dropper lever/brake mount/grip. All on the left side btw. I really only use it for an odometer truth be told and to read my resting voltage. I get an exact reading of the ah's replaced upon charging from my Satiator and the resulting wh's used/miles traveled via some maths.

The battery bar meter on it goes to empty at around 47v so that is worthless as the one on the 860c that came stock although it is a different format....so still using the ride and rithmatic method....with a little bit of luck added in.

Also my advice for anyone with a 27.5 plus bike is to set the wheel diameter for 28"es, not the 27.5 as it will be more accurate.

 

[Mando]

Setting up the account confused a significant number of buyers too. Now that programming is OS X capable I have even fewer reasons to use an EggRider.

I could see that.

 

[Mando]

Too late I guess I was looking at the ER also but came to the conclusion that all I really wanted was a smaller display and not a bunch of dicking around with proprietary sign ons, didn't need bluetooth access etc....So I went with the 500c which I was only able to source off of AliExpress but it came pretty fast.

A couple of rides in it works fine and plays well with my dropper lever/brake mount/grip. All on the left side btw. I really only use it for an odometer truth be told and to read my resting voltage. I get an exact reading of the ah's replaced upon charging from my Satiator and the resulting wh's used/miles traveled via some maths.

The battery bar meter on it goes to empty at around 47v so that is worthless as the one on the 860c that came stock although it is a different format....so still using the ride and rithmatic method....with a little bit of luck added in.

Also my advice for anyone with a 27.5 plus bike is to set the wheel diameter for 28"es, not the 27.5 as it will be more accurate.

I was within inches of purchasing another 500c. I run those on 2 other bikes we’ve built. Great little display. I was just hoping to find something that gave a more accurate battery reading. Seeing that may not necessarily be the case now, lol. I had a buddy use one (eggrider) and like it. Said it seemed to be built “heartier” than the 500c. He hasn’t used it enough to give me an opinion one way or another.

 

[tomjasz]

In my experience many displays suck at delivering accurate voltage. I ALWAYS confirm with a multimeter. Trouble shooting without is pissing into the wind.

 

[Mando]

In my experience many displays suck at delivering accurate voltage. I ALWAYS confirm with a multimeter. Trouble shooting without is pissing into the wind.

Just like anything else I guess. Nothing will multi task each parts of its whole as well as a dedicated unit for a singular job. Makes me wonder if I was just better off ordering the 500c like I had originally planned. Eh, I’ll sleep on it…I can cancel the order in the am if I so choose as it hasn’t shipped. Is the v2 “built tougher” than some of other displays or was that wishful thinking on my buddys part, lol?