Falco review…anyone?

Hey kauaikit, welcome to the forum. The Falco kits have always intrigued me and I finally got a chance to ride one and do a short review late last year. I don't have much to say beyond what's in the video and was actually sort of let down by the power, I expected it to feel stronger. Given the direct drive setup, regen modes and wireless options it's pretty cool and one of very few I'm aware of (aside from BionX) that offer this level of sophistication.
 
We have a good amount of experience with the Falco kits and I think the 1,500 Watt motor might be a bit of overkill. You might find a 750 or 500w motor with a 48V battery to be more suiting. Keep in mind these motors are meant to be a pedal assist motor, although these higher watt version can operate without much need for pedaling. My big concern would be the battery size you would need to support a motor like that and get a decent range. I saw you mention in another post you are looking for speed, I can get to 35mph with a 48v battery while pedaling hard and I can maintain a speed of 25mph, that's with a 44t chainring, I'm working on implementing a Metropolis Patterson drive to try to pedal into 45mph, that's my goal on a 500w motor. I think I might break a record. If you need some insight on your build let us know.

Court, running 48 volts through this motor is night and day from the 36v version. Much more power, it's still not super torquey, but it can give you some serious speed, they can also be custom configured if you need more torque, we're building up a 750 watt wheel chair attachment currently with 90Nm of torque.
 
Wow! Someone is going to have a blast with that wheelchair... If I'm not mistaken, most ebikes offer 40 Newton meters of torque so that's more than 2x and it probably uses the same wheel size! How does this attachment work Chris? Some kind of pusher or does it power both wheels on the chair? I'd love to see some pics, maybe in Other once it's complete. Good stuff :D
 
Chris, thank you for your input. The reason I asked if anyone has experience with the Falco setup yet, is that I have 7 of the older (2005) Wavecrest Lab's Tidalforce ebikes that I ride. I wanted to compare the performance, since the engineers/engineering were involved with WC Tidalforce & even E+ bikes.

These older TF ebikes rock in performance when upgraded to using a 46v Nanotech lithium battery source (programmed max), especially in X mode. With their 7 phase motors and using a sine-wave internal controller, they are absolute dead silent in operation! They pull hard up to around 33 mph (1000+watt/200lbs) on a fresh charge & have no issues maintaining 25+mph on a slight uphill & I have gone 40mph pedaling hard (53t front) on a slight downhill! The only distance limitation is they are amps hogs, so you need a battery around 20ah for around 15/16mi riding hard in turbo X. Though in non X (750watt/20mph) a 16ah battery is good for an easy 20 miles. Plus these TF ebikes all have regen braking as standard.

I have an extra TF frame that I wanted to try the Falco setup on, with maybe a 2wd if possible!

And I'll too post some photos once I download photos from my iMac that recently crashed. Remember what Carrol Shelby said, "too much power is just about right!" :)
 
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Court….thank you. I did in fact read your review report on the Falco. My interest is in the harder core upper line 1500 watt version for top speed. I only need a single 11t rear freewheel & a 53t front chainring to assist in the pedaling. Though a 2wd drive setup with the 750/1000 watt hubs would be a must ride in a mountain bike version! :)

BTW, having ridden quite a few different ebikes, what is your personal choice to own & ride?
 
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