FLX Blade 2.0

I ordered the same color as the demo; dark grey. The bike is powerful. I have a 750 watt Bafang on my current ride that is pretty powerful, and this is even more powerful. The Gates belt drive is smooth and quiet and I was really impressed by the Rohloff hub.
 
Whats the story on that rear hub system. I have an original Blade and Im happy with it, although Im relatively new to the e-Bike world.
 
Well, as TomDav knows I was going to buy a Frey CC, but (SIGH) I just pre ordered a Blade 2.0. LOL. I got the touring version, the same as the Blade 1.0 I have now. I dont have a ton of e-bike experience, but that Blade 1.0 is pretty dang impressive. She really goes. It isnt difficult at all to peddle 25mph up hill with little effort.
 
E-Bike Joe said:
Whats the story on that rear hub system. I have an original Blade and Im happy with it, although Im relatively new to the e-Bike world.
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The hub alone is $1500. It’s supposed to be bulletproof for many thousands of miles. You should be able to install it on your next bike. And with the belt drive there is no grease and no chain noise.

There also aren’t any cassettes to wear out and replace, chains or derailleurs to potentially break. Very popular with the touring crowd due to the durability and reduced maintenance. It’s been around since before ebikes.

It’s fancy. Only other bike you can get with belt drive and Rohloff that I know of is Riese and Müller and that is quite a bit more money than the blade.
 
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E-Bike Joe said:
Well, as TomDav knows I was going to buy a Frey CC, but (SIGH) I just pre ordered a Blade 2.0. LOL. I got the touring version, the same as the Blade 1.0 I have now. I dont have a ton of e-bike experience, but that Blade 1.0 is pretty dang impressive. She really goes. It isnt difficult at all to peddle 25mph up hill with little effort.
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I’m still between the 2.0 and the CC (and recently EX). Thinking about adding a Rohloff to the CC and giving up on the belt drive, gaining full suspension. Also not the wildest on the look of the 2.0.

What tipped the scale for you in that decision?
 
coldriderwi said:
I’m still between the 2.0 and the CC (and recently EX). Thinking about adding a Rohloff to the CC and giving up on the belt drive, gaining full suspension. Also not the wildest on the look of the 2.0.

What tipped the scale for you in that decision?
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Thank you for the advice. Having experience with the Blade 1, and realizing improvements were made, and needing another e-bike for my nephew to ride when we go, mostly that dang hub system did it for me. LOL.
I dont have much e-bike experience to judge from, but man is that motor/battery system strong. I love having the thumb throttle too.
 
One question about the Rohloff hub. When I go to the Rohloff site, the speedhub is rated at 130Nm of torque. However, the Ultra Bafang mid-drive puts out 160Nm. It's probably OK but make me wonder if anything was done to this hub to increase its strength or if the bike simply over-torques the hub. Any thoughts?
 
Someone on a different thread made the claim that there are instances of hubs failing when used with thumb throttles on high torque motors. For example you slam the throttle in a low gear to pop a wheelie. I inquired but he did t provide any further info or evidence of that claim.

personally I am Concerned about it. Still on the fence.

I’d be curious to hear what FLX has to say about that.
 
DavidsFab7 said:
One question about the Rohloff hub. When I go to the Rohloff site, the speedhub is rated at 130Nm of torque. However, the Ultra Bafang mid-drive puts out 160Nm. It's probably OK but make me wonder if anything was done to this hub to increase its strength or if the bike simply over-torques the hub. Any thoughts?
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This is an issue for sure, the designer of the Watt Wagons says it's more of an issue for a throttle, that it can't handle the sudden burst of torque, peddling is not a problem he said. I think it's interesting that FLX is only offering the throttle as a secondary option. So far nobody has burned out a Rohloff.....but we need more time. The FLX has a 1 year warranty that covers the Rohloff, but obviously it's suppose to last much longer than that. This could be a situation where a throttle cuts it's normal working life in half, but I don't know that, it's just conjectural guessing.
 
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coldriderwi said:
Someone on a different thread made the claim that there are instances of hubs failing when used with thumb throttles on high torque motors. For example you slam the throttle in a low gear to pop a wheelie. I inquired but he did t provide any further info or evidence of that claim.

personally I am Concerned about it. Still on the fence.

I’d be curious to hear what FLX has to say about that.
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I think someone mentioned this further upthread, but the Rohloff has nylon pins that will strip if too much force is applied before causing any serious damage to the hub.

See:
www.electricbike.com

A Rohloff on an Electric Bike

A Rohloff Speed Hub is one of the sweetest pieces of bicycle technology ever invented….right up there with the electric bike and the hub motor. The Speedhub is an internally geared hub (IGH)…
www.electricbike.com

Specifically according to the article:
  1. The Rohloff has 6 nylon shear -pins inside the hub which is designed to sacrificially prevent damage to the gears in the case of higher torque loads. This means the worst you are risking is a $100 repair job if you do “fry” your Rohloff. You will know when these nylon shears break loose because the Rohloff will spin uselessly without spinning the tire when the nylon pins break loose.
  2. 11th gear is the straight through gear, in this gear you will not slip and it is the safest one to run high power through.
  3. The lower the gear the more likely you are to break the nylon pins loose…so when riding with a lot of power stay up high. Be careful not to apply too much torque when climbing steep hills in low gear.
 
If you or FLX wanted to, could they electronically cap the torque the throttle uses?
 
Ok why is the issue only when using the throttle? I have a Blade 1.0 and you get more performance when peddling. I get it, you're adding value to the drive set because you're peddling, but you're getting even more performance out of the system as well.
 
Yes now I remember the throttle used in certain gears is dangerous to the Rohloff, so full throttle in those danger low gears up a steep hill is a very bad idea.

Some companies with this motor are using this.

Gearshift Sensor
Cuts off motor power momentarily when shifting gears. The motor will shut off for less than 3 milliseconds when shifting gears to protect the drivetrain. As the motor is quite powerful, this feature is necessary for the smooth shifting of gears.
 
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Deacon Blues said:
I would think that a gearshift sensor would be a very good idea with the Ultra motor.
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Is that even possible with a Rohloff? FLX does not mention this.

I asked them specifically about the motor cutoff sensor In the brake levers and they intentionally did not include those in the blade 2.0.
 
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