First Ride on my Turbo "S-Lite"

[Douglas Ruby]

Those of you who have been following my saga in the last few weeks know I had a battery problem with my 2015/16 base Turbo. Now that I have replaced the 468 Wh battery with the Turbo SC 691 Wh battery, implemented the Mission Control app, upgraded the shifting to 11 speed Shimano XT with an 11-42 cassette, and gotten the Formula brakes to work really well, I feel as though my bike performs on a par with the Turbo S except for absolute power and 2 mph in top speed. With the 200W motor, I definitely can get more range than the Turbo S due to lower power consumption.

Today was the first test of the new configuration. I rode to a local diner for lunch on the Nashua River Rail Trail, then rode home via a different route afterwards. Total distance riding at full Turbo the entire way was 20.4 miles averaging 21.9 mph. Strava indicates 865 ft. of climb over the 20.4 mile ride. I finished the ride with 49% battery left. This suggests that the absolute range at full Turbo would be 40 miles, though in fact, at 20% left the bike would drop back to ECO(70% presumably) and the final range would be just a bit more than 40 miles.

Since I have a Garmin 1000 (b'day gift from my daughter and wife), I didn't use the Mission Control App for navigation or tracking, just for diagnostics.

Barring a rainout, tomorrow I plan to ride to the LBS (about 14 miles) for a 25 mile Cancer ride and then back to my daughter's house. The total distance will be just over 42 miles. I expect that since only the first 10 miles will be Turbo and then most of the Cancer ride will be at ECO50 (maybe ECO60), I should finish with 30%+ left.

By the way, no M-ERR's either. I LIKE THIS BIKE!

Doug

 

[James Kohls]

Great first results. I hope they maintain a stock of these batteries for a while. It is an upgrade I want to make, but I won't be able to afford it for a while. I'm also starting to sense a hit in my battery performance now that I am taking more rides in colder weather. Most mornings are about 50 deg. F (10 c) these days. It has also been windier than in the past with wind speeds at 10-20MPH on a regular basis. So it is hard to gauge how much is wind and how much is cold. I've been pretty bad at tracking my battery % after rides.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Darn. We did get rained out. Hurricane Matthew might be coming north up the coast this next week too, so I am not quite sure when the weather gets better.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Second ride this morning on full Turbo with the new 691 Wh battery. I hit the road to breakfast in town at 9:15a, then to the Groton School for a swim from 10a-11a. Then rode home the "long way" via East Pepperell, arriving at 11:30a. Total distance was 16.53 miles in 48:05 minutes of ride time. Average speed of 20.63 mph and arrived home with 61% battery left.

This suggests that I can average 20-22 mph in Turbo over a range of nearly 40 miles. Not bad. My max range at ECO40 (my setting for riding with my daughter) should push 80 miles.

 

[James Kohls]

Well, sounds like you've cured your motor error problems. A little pain for what appears to be a lot of gain! 40 Miles on turbo is pretty respectable. Pretty much every trip I make could fit into that range. Even my long weekend bike rides are an average of 25-30 miles.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Glad to see that you're having fun on Turbo S lite.
In a few years, your doctors will be surprised to see century rides

 

[eagamer80]

Hi Douglas. I was wondering how different your Turbo S lite and my FLR actually are. We both have the 200W motor, and my FLR came with an even smaller battery of 385Wh. Did your S lite had the 25km/h limitation (16-18 mph)? I wonder if this limitation is actually in the battery rather than in the motor. I was thinking to upgrade to the biggest battery capacity as you did in order to have a better range and probably increase the speed a little bit. Do you think that will work also for me?

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Hi Douglas. I was wondering how different your Turbo S lite and my FLR actually are. We both have the 200W motor, and my FLR came with an even smaller battery of 385Wh. Did your S lite had the 25km/h limitation (16-18 mph)? I wonder if this limitation is actually in the battery rather than in the motor. I was thinking to upgrade to the biggest battery capacity as you did in order to have a better range and probably increase the speed a little bit. Do you think that will work also for me?

My bike is the standard American 2015/16 base Turbo. It has the 200W motor, but is a speed pedelec with a 45km/h limit, though the motor seems to cut out at 42 km/h. I am calling it a Turbo "S-lite" because I have now upgraded the SRAM 10-speed mech to Shimano XT 11-speed with an 11-42 cassette, improved the stock Formula brakes, and now have the 691 Wh battery instead of the 468 Wh stock battery.

It is true that the speed limit is in the battery. In the US, the dealer can use their diagnostic to set that speed limit at either 25 km/h or 45 km/h in either of the batteries. I don't know if that is something your dealer can (or will) do for you. It is worth checking out on your current battery before you spend money on a new one.

 

[ROJA]

Very cool. Hoping this will continue to work well for you!

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Yet another "full boogie tilt" ride this morning. It was a fantastically beautiful day here in New England, with trees starting to turn. The temps were in the 50's mostly with 60's in the sun and nary a cloud in the sky.

Into town for breakfast with friends and family, then on to the Groton School for a 1 hour swim (total 5.75 miles). Then after the swim, I rode to the Southern terminus of the Nashua River Rail Trail, then north to East Pepperrell (10.0 mi), took a short break and spoke to an elderly gentleman rider. Then home (5.22 mi). Total distance just 20.97 miles. Total time was 60:18 min for an average speed of 20.87 mph. Battery available at the end was 49%, suggesting a max range of just over 40 miles.

Very cool to be able to get on the bike and ride at any speed I care to and not worry about range at all.

 

[SCbiker]

D.

nice job at updating your ride ... congrats. I grew up in the NE ... ride, ride, ride while you can !

stay safe, B.

 

[ROJA]

Very cool! Was that in turbo the whole time?

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Very cool! Was that in turbo the whole time?

Yes, all three rides described above have been in full TURBO all the way. With the new 691 Wh battery, there is no doubt that I can get a 40 mile range at full Turbo. averaging 20-22 mph in the rolling terrain typical around me.

 

[ROJA]

That is really awesome!

 

[jrlieber]

OK so I'm new here. I just purchased a "2015" Turbo in Seattle. I think I got a pretty good deal - $2500. But looking at the battery tonight, it's a "SBC-BO5" - which I understand is a 19Ah/691Wh rather than the much smaller battery I was expecting (date on battery says late 2015). I thought these batteries only came on the newer bikes, and the S model. Then I looked at the motor - it's a SBC-M01, which is a 250watt motor, rather than the 200watt motor I expected. On some rather extended test drives, I was getting about 3 miles for every 10% of battery, riding either in turbo mode, or 70% eco, up (and down) some pretty steep hills in the NW. So I'm wondering if I accidentally got much more bike than I expected, which of course would make me more happy!! Any info out there? I do NOT have the "app" for interacting with the battery, and am told this bike doesn't have it. (Software says "Ver 01") so not sure if I could even upgrade it. And don't really need to. Thanks for any input!! Happy commuting!!

 

[Douglas Ruby]

1. SW Ver 01 on the handlebar is the version of the handlebar controller
2. SBC-M01 is the 250W, SBC-M02 is the 200W, and SBC-M03 is the 500W (I think). Your motor is the one used in the 2015 and earlier Turbo S and the 2016 Turbo X.
3. SBC-B05 is the 691Wh battery. Your bike WILL support Mission Control. All you need to do is download the app to your iPhone (iPhone 7 appears not to work) or Android Phone. Fire up bluetooth on the phone, and connect using the app.

 

[jrlieber]

Thanks Doug!! I tried with my iPhone 7 - haha. It doesn't see the bike. The App on my phone says it can't find my bike. Go figure. I'm figuring it's too good to be true.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Yup...the app definitely doesn't work on the iPhone 7

 

[ROJA]

So sounds like maybe you got a 2015 Turbo S?

 

[Allan47.7339]

The app needs location turned on even though you're just connecting to the battery diagnostic. I use the Android version with the Turbo SC battery and 2014 TurboS. Only the new motors work with the app.