Is the archon x1 controller the best PAS experience?

kevinrides

New Member
Make me a recommendation

A few weeks ago, I had no clue about motors. I have an ebike with a bafang hub drive, I think around 350W.

I started looking at Bafang Ultra for the legendary 160nm torque. I also ride electric unicycles, so I wanted something that was just as exciting when throttling from a stop at a red light, and that was my main reason for upgrading my bike, besides improving the ride comfort with better suspension.

Over time my priorities have shifted. I realized that once I get going, I'm content to keep pedaling at around 20mph, unless I'm on a boring stretch of road with plenty of battery to spare.

My current bike has 3 pedal assist levels : level 3 maintains 20 mph, level 4 25, and level 5 goes up to 28mph. And while those speeds are fast enough, I find the cadence sensing and the speed cliffs feeling a bit unnatural. At PAS 3, I exert little effort at all, and the bike is fixed to 20mph, so I'm constantly shifting back and forth whenever I need to slow down or I feel like putting in more work via pedaling.

My research into the bafang ultra showed that the torque sensing pedal assist leaves a lot to be desired. Queue discovery of Wattwagons and the Archon X1 controller. Via Wattwagons Ultimate Commuter Pro, I also discovered the beauty of a gates carbon belt drive, which seems perfect for a motor that is hard on the drivetrain and someone looking for a bike which is low maintenance and will last a long time.


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Earlier today I read this article on Electrek about the Evelo Aurora Limited featuring Enviolo Automatic Shifting. This is the first time I've heard of it but IMO there's a lot to like about this bike. Like the UC from wattwagons, it has a gates carbon belt drive and step through commuter frame. Another one is the Priority Embark. Both priced at $4k which is a step below any offerings from WW.

While I suspect that the ultra is more powerful than either evelo's motor or the bosch active plus, putting that aside and considering the pedal assist experience alone, is there a marked improvement in the Archon X1? How does the Archon X1's smooth ramp up compare to the experience of the enviolo continuous variable transmission?
 
My comparison to the Archon X1 is against the Bafang Ultra stock controller, and against the Bafang BBSHD that I had installed on a Priority Continuum bicycle. I can say that the Archon X1 is heads and shoulders better at ramp up speed as well as in battery usage since I'm getting almost double my mileage on a single battery charge.
 
Hmm.. so you ask a good question. I would add a couple more items (mostly my opinion)
1. From a rider's perspective, PAS on smaller wattage motors means a lot more than on more powerful motors. There is a world of a difference between 85Nm peak (which is the gamut of Bosch / Brose etc) and 200Nm+ on our motors.
2. From a manufacturer's perspective, controlling PAS on a higher wattage motor is much much harder - there is just SO much power that you actually have to tune down the motor response sometimes. Weird.
3. You will soon be able to compare apples to almost apples - the m600 motor will have our new controller and you can see what a 500W or 750W nominal bafang compares to the non-bafang ecosystem.

IMO Archon response in our measurements is very very very close to the german motors. It better be - we are using the same style controller (sinewave). Our power delivery is tuned down to ensure you dont wheelie with every pedal stroke :) lol
 
3. You will soon be able to compare apples to almost apples - the m600 motor will have our new controller and you can see what a 500W or 750W nominal bafang compares to the non-bafang ecosystem.
Interesting....
What Ebike are you planing to put the M600 on, and has the noise issue been resolved with that motor ?
 
Interesting....
What Ebike are you planing to put the M600 on, and has the noise issue been resolved with that motor ?
What great timing ..... noise and more! :)

 
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