Helios to Atom to Crosstour and I’m loving it!

[jjonesx86]

I never thought that replacing my aging ebike would be a two year journey but then again, I didn’t expect a pandemic and complete breakdown of global supply chains. I’m glad I found Watt Wagons, got to know Pushkar and I’m thrilled to have taken delivery of my Crosstour. Originally I placed an order for the Helios before it had a cool name. I lost patience and settled for an Atom, a simpler but still awesome commuter. Delayed. When I saw the message about bikes ready to ship, I jumped at the chance. My customized Crosstour arrived a few days ago and I’m loving it. Here is the config:

Medium titanium frame with the Sturmey Archer 3 Speed hub. 27.5x2.8 with Schwalbe Supermoto and Tannus armor. Suntour Aion suspension. Ergon SMC saddle, Magua MT5 brakes, GP1 grips, Crankbros pedals, Surly Moloko bar, fenders, rack and lights.

I have the 2300 watt option and I’m glad I have the programming cable because the first thing I’m going to do is crank it down in the eco range. I’ll try 1000 watts in eco and maybe 2300 in sport but I can’t imagine ever needing all that power. I use my bike for exercise and my work commute (when that starts again) so it might be nice to use the power if I’m running late

The build quality is incredible, it looks elegant and beastly at the same time and should be a reliable all weather commuter. I live in Seattle so hills and mixed terrain with bad urban roads are the norm. 2.8 is wider than I intended but it should still work well for my commute and the extra weight and rolling resistance isn’t a factor with the power on tap.

A huge thanks to Pushkar for his help and for working his butt off to ship great bikes in the face of so much adversity. It was worth the wait and the twists and turns.

Photos to follow when I’m back from vacation.

 

[Deacon Blues]

The FS titanium Pro I've ordered will have very similar options. I also want my power output to be 1000W in eco and 2300 in sport.
I'm hoping to go with a SRAM AXS eTap groupset to reduce the cable clutter.

How do you like your throttle? I'm debating whether I'll have Pushkar delete it or leave it on.

 

[opimax]

Power is addicting! I gave up worrying about watts , i try to go by feel, whatever is comfortable to pedal. i carry a total of 3 batteries on each trip. Somedays you use more power then others

i hope to set my power levels slightly different spacing when I program, may even use more for easier pedaling on longer trips, so many choices

Enjoy your vac and bike

 

[jjonesx86]

I’ve never had a throttle on an ebike before so I’m not expecting to use it much, especially since my main use case is exercise. It doesn’t get in the way and I can imagine it being useful on occasion so I’m glad I left it on.

 

[jjonesx86]

The only challenge I’ve had so far is that the bike has so much power, I forget to use the 3 gears I have. I need to ensure I shift to the first gear when I’m getting started, at least on any incline. The bike has so much power that starting on a hill in the wrong gear could destroy the hub quickly.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I had a throttle on my Pedego Ridgerider (quasi mountain bike) and only used it occasionally-probably less than 1% of the riding time.
My new e-gravel bike doesn't have a throttle and, for the most part, I don't miss it.

 

[Merle Nelson]

That Crosstour is a good looking bike. I kept coming back to it and looking at it on the WW site.

 

[Bluzrif]

I never thought that replacing my aging ebike would be a two year journey but then again, I didn’t expect a pandemic and complete breakdown of global supply chains. I’m glad I found Watt Wagons, got to know Pushkar and I’m thrilled to have taken delivery of my Crosstour. Originally I placed an order for the Helios before it had a cool name. I lost patience and settled for an Atom, a simpler but still awesome commuter. Delayed. When I saw the message about bikes ready to ship, I jumped at the chance. My customized Crosstour arrived a few days ago and I’m loving it. Here is the config:

Medium titanium frame with the Sturmey Archer 3 Speed hub. 27.5x2.8 with Schwalbe Supermoto and Tannus armor. Suntour Aion suspension. Ergon SMC saddle, Magua MT5 brakes, GP1 grips, Crankbros pedals, Surly Moloko bar, fenders, rack and lights.

I have the 2300 watt option and I’m glad I have the programming cable because the first thing I’m going to do is crank it down in the eco range. I’ll try 1000 watts in eco and maybe 2300 in sport but I can’t imagine ever needing all that power. I use my bike for exercise and my work commute (when that starts again) so it might be nice to use the power if I’m running late

The build quality is incredible, it looks elegant and beastly at the same time and should be a reliable all weather commuter. I live in Seattle so hills and mixed terrain with bad urban roads are the norm. 2.8 is wider than I intended but it should still work well for my commute and the extra weight and rolling resistance isn’t a factor with the power on tap.

A huge thanks to Pushkar for his help and for working his butt off to ship great bikes in the face of so much adversity. It was worth the wait and the twists and turns.

Photos to follow when I’m back from vacation.

Too damn funny.. Jeff Jones in Nashville did the very same thing. Config is a little different but .. Pretty confusing in Boston I bet! Any chance your dad was born in Mississippi?..

I'm having some issues with mine, so Pushkar must like you better!

 

[jjonesx86]

Pushkar mentioned he had two orders going for Jeff Jones and had to be super careful to ensure we got the right bikes My Dad was born in Upstate NY

What issues are you having? The only thing I’m finding so far is that the motor seems to overpower the hub easier than I expected. I didn’t want/need 2300 watts so I plan on cranking it down as soon as I can. For now, I’m just paying extra attention to which gear I’m in when I’m getting it going.

 

[reed scott]

I’ve never had a throttle on an ebike before so I’m not expecting to use it much, especially since my main use case is exercise. It doesn’t get in the way and I can imagine it being useful on occasion so I’m glad I left it on.

About the only time I use the throttle is in making U turns. Very handy. Once I saved my bacon crossing a stream with it. About to go down and the throttle got me back up and across. Sometimes in rough terrain I use it a tad when mounting the bike. I'm very careful about what gear I'm in.

 

[Bluzrif]

Pushkar mentioned he had two orders going for Jeff Jones and had to be super careful to ensure we got the right bikes My Dad was born in Upstate NY

What issues are you having? The only thing I’m finding so far is that the motor seems to overpower the hub easier than I expected. I didn’t want/need 2300 watts so I plan on cranking it down as soon as I can. For now, I’m just paying extra attention to which gear I’m in when I’m getting it going.

Similar to you the 2300 is overrunning the Rohloff is my best guess. Anything over ECO 1 and I'm jumping the hub ....It took about a week to get registered with Innotrace, so today I was excited to tune it down and see what happens. Unfortunately I ended up in "No Dongle connected" hell w/ Innotrace program. And with the HiGo plugs being what the are Im afraid Ive bricked an expensive
bike that Ive never ridden.. So disappointed

Pushkar is doing what he can, when he can .. But hard to fix this mess long distance

 

[jjonesx86]

I tried to connect the programming cable after registering as well and got the same no dongle connected message. I was in a rush to head out of town so I just left the troubleshooting for another day. I wasn’t able to read or write any changes so I just plugged the cable back in to the controller and left.

Why do you think you may have bricked your bike?

I’m going to reach out to Pushkar about my inability to program the bike once I’m back home but please share what you learn as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Fast n' Furious]

Similar to you the 2300 is overrunning the Rohloff is my best guess. Anything over ECO 1 and I'm jumping the hub ....It took about a week to get registered with Innotrace, so today I was excited to tune it down and see what happens. Unfortunately I ended up in "No Dongle connected" hell w/ Innotrace program. And with the HiGo plugs being what the are Im afraid Ive bricked an expensive
bike that Ive never ridden.. So disappointed

Pushkar is doing what he can, when he can .. But hard to fix this mess long distance

2300W, 200nm (147.51 ft-lb) on a bicycle IGH? My gut-feeling is the Gates can't take 2300w either.
I think the enemy is the power we crave, and trailing technology limitations. This whole 200nm concept is so 'not mainstream'. Why would a company even build an IGH for such a small market - that's doomed to evading regulation?
I read this https://www.electricbike.com/mid-drive-kit-igh/ - and it made me look closer at Sturmey Archer's classic 3-speed axle.
Statements like "The place where the Rohloff is most appropriate is on a low-powered mid drive in a very hilly region. This is because my experience has shown me that…the more power your system has, the fewer gears you need. Most “pedal only” bicyclists like to have as many gears as possible, but once you have added electric power to your bicycle, the need to frequently be shifting can become tedious". made me think, 'I'm already 'there' at 100nm hub. It's tedious w/ a 9 speed chain'.
Not sure if you're a software wiz, but I'd talk to a computer repair shop about that 'no dongle ...' problem.
I'm good; build my own PC's, so downloading, saving and flashing firmware is no problem - but if it's over my pin-head and fixable, those guys probably know the magic juju.
Save you a ton of time if they say 'it's bricked' and maybe fix it for you as well, for a pittance.
TY for informative details. A great help to me.

Fn'F

 

[BruceBrown]

I tried to connect the programming cable after registering as well and got the same no dongle connected message. I was in a rush to head out of town so I just left the troubleshooting for another day. I wasn’t able to read or write any changes so I just plugged the cable back in to the controller and left.

Why do you think you may have bricked your bike?

I’m going to reach out to Pushkar about my inability to program the bike once I’m back home but please share what you learn as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

I had that message too and all I actually needed was the updated drivers on my computer which you can find on the Innotrace website. After installing them my computer was able to communicate with the bike.

 

[mradel]

I’ve never had a throttle on an ebike before so I’m not expecting to use it much, especially since my main use case is exercise. It doesn’t get in the way and I can imagine it being useful on occasion so I’m glad I left it on.

I love my throttle - I can fully stop at stop signs and get the bike moving again without killing my knees! Thats really the only time I use except for a rare pass on the road.

 

[reed scott]

I love my throttle - I can fully stop at stop signs and get the bike moving again without killing my knees! Thats really the only time I use except for a rare pass on the road.

Hope you are shifting down considerably at your stops. If not you will pay for it.

 

[mradel]

Hope you are shifting down considerably at your stops. If not you will pay for it.

I have it down to muscle memory and you'd never believe the astonished looks I get from motorist. Plus, I live in a fairly flat terrain.

 

[jjonesx86]

Back from vacation and I finally had the chance to take the bike for a quick spin. It is a beast and while I still need to reprogram it to dial it down, I have been able to get the hang of controlling the power better. I’m expecting this to be a low maintenance, low trouble commuter once I’m finally able to get back into the office. Fun rides to the beach will have to do for now. Here are some iPhone snaps from tonight’s ride (forum upload killed the resolution, even after I reduced it…sorry for the crap quality):

 

[Merle Nelson]

Nice looking bike. Great pictures and perspective thoughts.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I'm really looking forward to finally getting to ride the FS titanium UC I ordered a while back....hint, hint @pushkar

I like the look of the titanium frame, but I'm not a fan of the clutter of cables coming from the handlebar.
Hopefully, going with a wireless groupset will give my bike a more cleaner look. I was going to forgo the throttle, but I've decided to include it. If I find I don't use it much I can always take it off.