Joining the Haibike Club

[piper109]

The furthest we have been so far is about 21 km so I'm no help. I was reading that your system is probably the new PW-X motor which may respond differently from our PW motors. By all accounts its got more power which means it might give you more speed and more fun which you might pay for in juice .

 

[Shoestring]

I don't have a lot of data yet to know for sure, I've only clocked about 100 miles so far. The last two rides were both about 35miles on relatively flat terrain. 50/25/25% eco, standard and max. I have the 400w battery and used about 50% of battery. I'm pretty sure 50 miles is doable without much worry, (better then I expected). I can say running on max would shorten the ride considerably! For me the standard power setting is my favorite, plenty of power but you still have to work a little to keep the pace at about 14-16mph.

 

[Joe Remi]

I'm not so sure it's the PW-X. It has the same characteristics as the older generation Yamaha drives, so I think it's just a 'spiced up' PW series drive. BTW I'm amazed that you can climb the 19% grade hill in front of your house. I guess you're in better shape than me. I climb that little 15% grade hill in Vufflens-la-Ville (which you probably know, as you lived in that area) and I'm already struggling.



It sounds like you're able to get a lot of range out of this drive & battery combo. I think that hills and a rather upright riding position have been pulling my range down. And, of course, the bike goes 45km/h which can sometimes be 'tempting'. I occasionally indulge myself in a little 45 km/h dash, but I've been reducing my average speed in order to try and gain a little range. In a certain sense, you guys over there in the US are lucky because the 20mph speed limit is a good compromise and forces you to 'save fuel'. I only had the choice between 25km/h and 45km/h, but after leasing, renting, and demoing a certain number of e-bikes I found that 25km/h was just simply unbearable.

Do you guys ever use ECO+? I'm struggling to find a use for it. The drive feels pretty much 'dead' to me in that configuration. I'm also struggling to see any difference between High and Standard.

I agree about the power settings: ECO+ is near useless, Standard and High feel about the same to me.

 

[piper109]

Its interesting to read your comments. I have not come close to the distances you ride yet but I know the area and I am not surprised you often have to deal with hills.
I think its a shame that you have to "manage your battery life" and be conscious of it. I think it might impede on your riding pleasure.
I think you should get a second battery to tuck into a pannier when you go an a ride of any significant distance and just ride without a care, knowing that if you get low, you can just swap out the batteries and carry on Bien du plaisir !!

 

[piper109]

I can understand that. I too am very pleased with mine and apart from trying a Pedego at the beach, its the only e-bike I have ridden. i think there are far fewer e-bikes in USA and in this quiet little corner they are unknown. We don't even have a bike shop locally, let alone one that rents out bikes. We had to take a 6 hour drive each way to try a rental.
For a moment I was thinking that because yours is a newer model and a bit fancier, that I do not have a "Power Meter". I re-read the book that came with the bike and surprise, surprise, I do. I just had not got round to using all the features on the LCD display which is probably the same as yours. I know you pointed that out inadvertently but thanks anyway

 

[Joe Remi]

JayVee: You're quite right that the Yamaha motor in our bikes has a specific operating style that must be learned to get the best use of it. Although Court has noted that the torque drops out if a really high spin is used, it's still true that a decent rpm is required to keep from bogging down on hills. Most of my riding experience is from non-assist bikes, so I was able to adapt to the Sduro straight away by shifting just like I've always done (I don't naturally spin as fast as Court). The very steep hill back up to my home at the end of a ride still requires downshifting to the granny gears, but it doesn't try to kill me anymore!

 

[kennyzzz]

well I'll be in the { h o c } club soon, just bought one today. so guessing about 10 day for it to get to me . Last year was looking at the rad rover bike online, but I kept thinking i need a full suspension bike, so anyway with sale prices i purchesed SDURO FullNine SL for about 500 more then the rad rover, i'm hoping the full suspension will give me a better ride over bumps then the fat tire bike. so the wait begins. Of course I'll be reading like crazy now about ebikes.

 

[Joe Remi]

That must be a bit frustrating. I wish I could say I have never had to deal with such problems.
Here are a few tips to try.
1. Tighten the bolt a little more before trying to loosen it. Lightly tap in both directions.
2. Give it a little squirt of WD40 or PB blaster or similar penetrating oil/liquid, probably best applied to the back side where it can infiltrate easiest.
3. Apply a little heat with an electric heat gun or hair dryer.

My bike is Sduro and has Yamaha motor and FSA ck 745 cranks. I had assumed that it has M22 thread for a removing tool to press it off the square taper but I have not really looked yet. Snow on the ground and freezing temps slow me down LOL Good luck.

Doubling back on this topic, which has meandered a bit over several threads: I finally bought the proper Park Tool chainring-bolt-grabber, which worked a lot better than the Shimano one I have..got the new (and much lighter) 40t ring on.

As we've discussed on one of the threads, it's possible to add a second ring and front derailleur, and I think that's where I'm headed now that I have the Bikespeed-RS dongle. The 40t gives me a tad more top end, but I'm still spinning almost to the point of torque dropout at 27mph. I think a 40-46 combo would work great on this bike. Time to spend more money!

 

[piper109]

I too have bought the Park Tool chainring bolt tool now. I managed with a home made one but since you made me aware of the Park Tool stuff, I bought it.
I have not used it yet and I am still riding on the stock 38t ring. Putting a dropper post on to help me get on and off easier is a higher priority and it is ordered.
I also have in mind to go to a double front chain ring but after reading the specs on JayVee's 2017 bike I see that he has 36/48t from the factory, I am tempted to replicate. His bike is limited to about 27 mph by different regulations.
I am not able to spin the pedals faster than about 60 rpm (not yet anyway) so I dont think a dongle will help me. I rarely go above 20 mph, except downhill.
I very much need the granny gears offered by the 38t ring to get to my house. I do feel limited by just the 38t though and having to use the 11t on the back bugs me.
I would be interested to learn how you get on.

 

[Joe Remi]

Oops, I can't just add another ring. I would have to replace the 40t, too, because it's designed as a singlespeed without shifting ramps. I guess I'll put some wear on that front ring for a while before tossing it.

 

[Shoestring]

Mid season ride report. Greetings fellow Haibike owners and other interested parties. I've been riding my Sduro SM and have accumulated about 400 miles so far. I have to say, the bike is exceptional. So far, it has been bulletproof. Battery life has exceeded my expectations. My longest ride so far is 55 miles, with 50 on echo and the remaining 5 on standard. battery estimated I still had 15 miles range remaining. This was almost perfect conditions, smooth hard packed surface, calm winds and less then 1000ft total elevation change. Speed was 13-16mph, the "sweet spot" for this system. Most rides are in the 25 mile range, I never have to consider if I can make it. I've continued to swap accessories to find the best combination for my riding style. I dropped the beam rack and added a bontragger frame rack and bag. this freed up the seatpost to add a cirrus bodyfloat. it also gave me some room to add twin bottle cages on one side of the rack and bolt my pump to the other side. I used insulated clamps around the rack tubes and bolted the bottle cages directly to the rack. Not perfect but gets the job done, and no dripping on the battery/motor. I've also changed the stem and riser to get the bars "just right" , a 1/2 inch makes a big difference in comfort. One thing I can say: I'm sold on the hard wired LED control pad on the SM. I'll give up some bling and info for reliability any time. Some of my friends bikes have cut in and out because of the display shifting or just interrupting over rough terrain. Keep it simple for me. The Yamaha system is better then I ever hoped, in engages/disengages smoothly and predictably. All the nay-sayers on other forums who talk of low performance, slow speeds, over priced blah blah... , are not riding the same bike I am. Well, can you tell I'm pretty happy with my ride?