Ebikemotion/MAHLE X35/X35+ USA <-> Europe speed limit setting

[MartinPL]

Quick question for anyone who used Euro spec model in USA or USA spec model in Europe or just knows.
What happens to the motor support speed limit setting?
If the 20 mph (USA spec) bike is used in Europe, does the 20 mph stick?
If the 15.5 mph (Euro spec) bike is used in USA can it be re-adjusted to allow for motor support speeds of up to 20 mph?
Is it software/firmware/manual or location (like GPS) based setting?
Thx much

 

[Yayabike]

I saw a devce that increase the speed limit by 10%, so you get 28 km/h for a euro bike. This is not really usefull since for safety reason the limit for bike should probably be around 35.
My max speed on my bike is around 79 km/h and i m a very cautious driver (i don t don races so i never know what is coming in front and how the road is going to be) one my friend who is bolder probaly got around 100.

But this is a top speed, much more casually i m often around 50 even if it is quite flat.

So bikes are safe at 35-40, a limit at 35 for assistance would be much safer since we would then be at speeds much closer to the traffic speed even when it is going up a bit. This would mean much less accident.

On a bike the most dangeous situation is the following one :
- super narrow road/street, so even if you are very cooperative cars cannot overpass you without putting you at rist.
- slight slope that make your speed much slower than the car one.

Whenever your speed is higher cars have no incentive to overpass you, and - this is more important -- they don t get nuts because of the slow speed.
Whenever the road is wide it is fine too.

So we need a change in the regulation and allow assistance (for bikes) till 30-35.

Till then i woudl really welcome a solution but the one currenltly available is a that only add 3km/h, for me 25 or 28 is not different enough. I would probaly buy a device allowing me to reach 30 when the road is going up (with a moderate or low grade) but sorry +3km is not enough for me to pay 100 euros +, especially since the device seems to create issue with the assitance making it less smooth and perturbating orbea fine tuning.

 

[PedalUma]

If I recall a dealer can do this when owners relocate. They will need to put in the serial number to get the update and their location will be known.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Quick question for anyone who used Euro spec model in USA or USA spec model in Europe or just knows.
What happens to the motor support speed limit setting?
If the 20 mph (USA spec) bike is used in Europe, does the 20 mph stick?
If the 15.5 mph (Euro spec) bike is used in USA can it be re-adjusted to allow for motor support speeds of up to 20 mph?
Is it software/firmware/manual or location (like GPS) based setting?
Thx much

It is an extremely rare situation that e-bikes are transported between continents by individuals. One of the reasons is the restriction on transporting of Li-ion batteries.

I cannot answer for the X-35 but the general practice of the e-bike industry is:

• For some motor brands, it is the regional distributor that sets the speed restriction in the firmware of the e-bike; the dealer can change the speed restriction depending on the region if the region has changed;
• For some other motor brands (specifically: Bosch), the speed restriction is hard-coded by the motor manufacturer for given region, and nobody can change that restriction.

In other words: If you find a way to transport a U.S. e-bike to Europe, then the e-bike will stick to (e.g.) 20 mph, as the value is coded in the e-bike.

 

[Yayabike]

From what i read ebikeinmotion has one of the most robust system, the quote i saw is that the serial number if hardcoded and linked to an area. This apparently implied that you cannot at all change the speed restriction setting to the US ones on a euro bike. You can still cheat the system by hacking some sensors or by changing on the fly the data send to the system but this usually has side effect, it may makes the system less efficient or even dangerous.

What we actually need is a change in the EU regulation, why dangerous 2Tons vehicule/sPanzers whose driver watch their smartphone be limited to 50 km while 90 kilos ones (bike + driver) get limited to 25, this is stupid and Dangerous.

Our representative sucks so much, car got bigger and bigger those last 30 years with the SUV fashion, non-professional vehicules size should be limited or strong reccurent taxes should be applied too larger than needed vehicules.

In my country we had taxes on car that got larger with the car size and power, but Chirac removed it, and it made in popular because of people stupidity, off course the loss of income for the state had to be compensated by other taxes, like VAT increase etc ....

 

[eRoad]

Does anyone know if the X35+ speed-limit is hardware or software set? I assumed it was a software setting, based on location. Reading the above about 'EU and US models', makes me think its hardware based. I got told in the shop before my I bought my eroad bike, that it was easy to change from 25 to 32 setting. It doesn't look easy to me now I bought the bike. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Does anyone know if the X35+ speed-limit is hardware or software set? I assumed it was a software setting, based on location. Reading the above about 'EU and US models', makes me think its hardware based. I got told in the shop before my I bought my eroad bike, that it was easy to change from 25 to 32 setting. It doesn't look easy to me now I bought the bike. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

It is software set for Mahle motors.
Generally, no sane dealer of a premium brand would change the legal restriction limit of a given country/region because that would cost them the dealership. I am even not sure whether a dealer residing in a given country has such a possibility. What you can do is to buy and install a derestrictor (but I am not competent in the Mahle X.. systems so I cannot give you any advice on that).

 

[eRoad]

It is software set for Mahle motors.
Generally, no sane dealer of a premium brand would change the legal restriction limit of a given country/region because that would cost them the dealership. I am even not sure whether a dealer residing in a given country has such a possibility. What you can do is to buy and install a derestrictor (but I am not competent in the Mahle X.. systems so I cannot give you any advice on that).

Thanks Stefan.

 

[eRoad]

If I recall a dealer can do this when owners relocate. They will need to put in the serial number to get the update and their location will be known.

Is it the GCU that has the location set to determine speed limit, or the firmware? Or something else? Thanks

 

[yeamac]

Bump ... maybe I should start my own thread. But ...

I purchased 3 Cannondale e-bikes for my family based on the X35(+) system from 3 different bike shops. All 3 bikes (Treadwell, Tesoro, Topstone) were sold at a significant discount, which I later found out was because they were each, give or take, sitting in a bike shop for 2 years, unused. All 3 produced errors which required a new battery to be installed by my local Cannondale dealer, as apparently the early firmwares were faulty.

Anyway, these are all USA bikes which are all suppose to have the 20 mph assist cut-off. Two of the bikes now cut off assist at 16 mph or so, which is the European spec, the Treadwell and the Tesoro. The entire electrical assembly was replaced, including battery, controller, and joystick (iWok 1 remote). I assume they were shipped batteries from Europe (Mahle) which had the EU spec. My wife on the Treadwell bikes under 15 mph so probably would never notice. I like to cruise around 16-17 mph on the Tesoro, and recently did an 80 mile bike camping trip, which made it extremely annoying to have the assist keep cutting off at 16 mph. I lower my speed to 15 mph for times I wanted to use the assist. Fortunately, the Topstone, which is used for faster rides, has the 20 mph limit.

Anyone know if this can be a simple flash from the Cannondale dealer to bring the 16 mph cut-off to the USA spec of 20 mph? I asked the shop who replaced the batteries, which is where I would take this, and they said "probably" and really had no idea. Most dealers just don't see enough of these Cannondale e-bikes to know anything about them. My shop is learning real quick with the 3 bikes I have brought to them!