How to get fast, steady acceleration from start on the 700

[Joe Bolte]

I just got the Ride1up 700, which has a 500W Shengyi geared rear hub motor, cadence sensor, 7 pedal gears, and thumb throttle. The bike is great, and plenty powerful, but I'm having trouble finding a sequence of PAS level shifts, gear shifts, throttling and pedaling, that accelerates the bike smoothly and quickly from stopped to pedaling at +20mph. I often pedal too fast or slow for the PAS setting and feel motor drag. The throttle can smooth things out a bit, but adjusting hitting the PAS adjustment buttons while I have the throttle down is very awkward for my left hand. Anyone have tips on how to do this better?

 

[Lemond]

Sounds like you are kind of overcomplicating things. What if you just start with PAS in 9 and work your way up through the gears as needed? The controller seems calibrated to give you a smooth and constant acceleration (unlike some Aventon models, from what I have read), and as a hub-motor design the motor doesn't care what gear you are in. With a cadence sensor bike the controller also doesn't care how hard you are pedaling. If you are pedaling, the motor is "on" and will accelerate to the max speed for that setting. So at PAS 9, as long as you are pedaling, the motor will keep pushing you until you reach 27 MPH or so (of course there are the small cadence stop and start delays). Each lower PAS setting will provide similar acceleration, but with a lower maximum speed.

 

[Handlebars]

It's taken me months to be able to do smooth takeoff and moderated acceleration.
One problem is the kick when the cadence sensing turns on the motor.
My method has evolved to using the throttle from the stop, while starting to pedal almost immediately after throttle engagement and then quickly using both gears and assist level to reach cruising speed.
I'd like to adjust the cadence so that it kicks in a bit earlier. It always can cause a problem however, because a slight crank movement can make the bike lurch forward, so keeping a brake with power cutoff on whenever stopped or turning on the electric power is a good thing to do.

 

[Joe Bolte]

I'm definitely overthinking it. I wanted to get the same "push off" feel I get on my lightweight road bike. But the motor is so much better than pedaling at acceleration from stopped. So I've been shifting down to 4th gear, and pedaling just enough to keep the PAS on until that gets me up to speed. I may try leaving it in an even higher gear and using throttle at the very start.

The PAS does get in my way when I want to pedal out of a tight turn, or slow at an intersection to look for oncoming traffic. A couple times already in two weeks I have had to put a foot down and shift gears because pedaling would have boosted me into an intersection, when someone on a nonelectrified bike beside me just slow-pedaled through.

I kinda wish I had a PAS cutoff switch for when I want to pedal just to shift gears.

 

[Handlebars]

I'm definitely overthinking it. I wanted to get the same "push off" feel I get on my lightweight road bike. But the motor is so much better than pedaling at acceleration from stopped. So I've been shifting down to 4th gear, and pedaling just enough to keep the PAS on until that gets me up to speed. I may try leaving it in an even higher gear and using throttle at the very start.

The PAS does get in my way when I want to pedal out of a tight turn, or slow at an intersection to look for oncoming traffic. A couple times already in two weeks I have had to put a foot down and shift gears because pedaling would have boosted me into an intersection, when someone on a nonelectrified bike beside me just slow-pedaled through.

I kinda wish I had a PAS cutoff switch for when I want to pedal just to shift gears.

I'm not sure I understand
Do your brakes have a power cutoff switch?
What about when the throttle is engaged, can you shift through the gears while pedalling?

 

[Joe Bolte]

The brakes have a motor cutoff switch. From years of riding unmotorized bikes, I have habituated myself to gear down whenever I might stop soon, since starting from too high a gear is really really slow.

But to change gears I have to pedal, and that activates PAS, which boosts me right at the time I am getting ready to possibly stop. Of course I can brake as soon as I'm done shifting, but I'd rather not have that extra step.

I think the lesson is that instead of shifting down in advance of a stop, I should just use the throttle from start until PAS kicks in. This is my first time riding a throttle ebike so I'm not in the habit of using it yet.

The PAS has kicked in when I've accidentally bumped the crank arms while stopped. Seems weird to keep keep bike brakes squeezed when already stopped, but I will train myself to do that too.

 

[rich c]

Your dilemma is exactly why I ride Bosch mid drives. It's just like riding a bicycle, not like feeling a big launch when I don't want it. Yup, I know my eBike is much more expensive, but over 5 years or more the cost vs enjoyment factor levels it out enough for me.

 

[Handlebars]

The brakes have a motor cutoff switch. From years of riding unmotorized bikes, I have habituated myself to gear down whenever I might stop soon, since starting from too high a gear is really really slow.

But to change gears I have to pedal, and that activates PAS, which boosts me right at the time I am getting ready to possibly stop. Of course I can brake as soon as I'm done shifting, but I'd rather not have that extra step.

I think the lesson is that instead of shifting down in advance of a stop, I should just use the throttle from start until PAS kicks in. This is my first time riding a throttle ebike so I'm not in the habit of using it yet.

The PAS has kicked in when I've accidentally bumped the crank arms while stopped. Seems weird to keep keep bike brakes squeezed when already stopped, but I will train myself to do that too.

OK, so It's just like my bike then. When you switch gears a light squeeze on the brake can be enough to cut power but not enough to engage the brake with the disk.
So when you're coming to a stop, lightly squeeze the brake lever and then you can down shift with no assist coming on. Or you can reduce the assist levels a lot first and then gear down.
Same with throttle. You can lightly engage throttle while still travelling faster than the throttle would push you and it's like the throttle isn't doing anything much but the assist is cut.

I had quite a few surprises with bike lurching forward at first. Some of the most unexpected was from long press on the down button which engages walk mode.
Taking a right turn from stop was also very awkward for me for some time until I stopped hesitating and began to turn properly, to look where I want to go and give it some steadily increasing throttle until pedalling and assist take over. Lurching in a right turn from stop/start/stop is bad on a heavy ebike.
I constantly use both gears and assist level changes when riding in the city.
The chain is covered in black material every time I wipe it. I use cheap coconut oil on it and the deraileur and they have been perfect so far.

 

[CashMoney]

You can change how quickly the PAS kicks in, in the display software. The number of cadence magnets that are sensed before PAS starts can be changed. I think for this bike there are 12 magnets in the cadence sensor (which is round, so think of it like a clock), so if you set the PAS start to 12, you need a full rotation of the crank before the PAS starts.

 

[Handlebars]

You can change how quickly the PAS kicks in, in the display software. The number of cadence magnets that are sensed before PAS starts can be changed. I think for this bike there are 12 magnets in the cadence sensor (which is round, so think of it like a clock), so if you set the PAS start to 12, you need a full rotation of the crank before the PAS starts.

I think my display doesn't show that. I have a 2019 Spark bike, the company is now called Rize bike.

 

[gkgeiger]

We have 2 new 700's and the power assist is very abrupt. I can handle it but very concerned for my wife (we are old). The other day I was riding in the neighborhood and went to do a u-turn in the road and half way thru the turn I touch the pedal and almost lost control. After that happened I realized I was in PAS level 4 and gear 5, so now I try and make sure what assist level and gear I'm in before making any drastic direction changes. My Rad isn't like that, and of course my Bosch wasn't like that.

 

[Joe Bolte]

The other day I was riding in the neighborhood and went to do a u-turn in the road and half way thru the turn I touch the pedal and almost lost control.

Same has happened to me. I'm quickly getting used to the boost, so sometimes I will pedal just enough to turn it on, but stop so it lasts a second or two.

 

[gkgeiger]

Same has happened to me. I'm quickly getting used to the boost, so sometimes I will pedal just enough to turn it on, but stop so it lasts a second or two.

Yah, it is a concern. I rode MC's for over 50 years and raced dirt bikes so I can handle it, but my wife can barely ride a bicycle.

 

[gkgeiger]

Well it happened today, my wife went down making a turn. Wrong gear, wrong power level. I think she understands why it happened, but I'm not sure. She is 70 and I don't think she likes this bike. Her words, "This bike is too fast".

 

[BillyKidd]

Is your wife ok?

 

[gkgeiger]

Yes, but I don’t think she’s happy with my decision to buy the R1U bikes. We have a couple Rad’s that we keep in FL. and she loves hers. Thanks for asking.

 

[phoenixtoohot]

The 500 and 700 have user selectable boost levels and number of levels. Change her bike to 9 levels and set level 1 to, say 10%, may be 20% for level 2 and so on. This way you can program it to less than your Rad bikes if you want to.

Of course she has to make sure she is not in a higher level when turning from a stop.

I hope you will find by doing this, you made a great decision with the Ride1up bikes. My wife is 70 and I'm 75, and we much prefer the Ride1up bikes to the other you mentioned.

If you can't find the LCD user manual, just contact Ride1up and they will send you a link. I'll bet they will even talk you through it if you want.

 

[gkgeiger]

I have hers set to 9 levels with 1 preset at 20%. I have the display manual on pdf. It’s not the bike, it’s how you ride it. Another thing she said is she doesn’t like the PAS level indicator being blue. She says she can’t see it in the bright sun with glasses on. I’ll have to see if I can do something about that.