Just got the ultra eagle - getting used to the midrive?

[Man Without Shadow]

Ya...that's a pickle and no fun is "no fun"...

My motor cuts out for the shift too, but its for a shorter time than I myself would stop pedaling on a regular bike so I didn't grind the gears.

I cannot be sure its maybe defective or its working correctly and you just don't find that action desirable.

I am sorry your experience has been negative...I hope you can work it out.

Peace out!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@330rcs, may I ask you what was your planned application of the Juggernaut Ultra Eagle? Trail riding? Commuting? It looks like a thick tyre hardtail eMTB to me but you're saying about riding up to 30 mph uphill?

 

[lordnox09]

My 750w is plenty fast for me and I was wanting something as a backup and better but I guess mid drives just aren't for me. The 750w is perfect for me but if I could go a little faster sometimes would be nice I'm talking like 3-4 mph but you know I don't think I needed a bigger motor. I think I needed a lighter bike. The 70 lb 4" fat tire is too heavy if I can get a 750w with 2.8 or 3" tires that might be all I need.

I do like how the Eagle is light and it's easier to maneuver. I contacted Biktrix to see if I can return it I don't care what I have to pay but Im not sure if they will even take it back if you ride it. Their policy might be it has to be unused but I'm waiting for their reply. Otherwise time to buy a third bike and put this up until I can sell it. I'll probably lose a couple thousand probably hard to find somebody to pay $4k for an ebike oh well

I mean it's totally up to you but if your gonna end up taking a loss atleast give it some time for you to get used to it's all about the gears being in one that's not too low and just all tourqe gotta find the middle ground for it I can fly up hills without pedaling faster than my buddy with his hub and pedaling and bike and person combined he is 60lbs lighter than me just have to play around with the gears a bit more my first 200-300km I felt like I was mis lead and woulda been happier with my hub motor at 900km I couldn't be happier with my choice

 

[330rcs]

@330rcs, may I ask you what was your planned application of the Juggernaut Ultra Eagle? Trail riding? Commuting? It looks like a thick tyre hardtail eMTB to me but you're saying about riding up to 30 mph uphill?

Commuting and joy riding but there are a lot of trails here which I go through but mostly as shortcuts to get to where I want to go.

Yes on my 750w rear hub if I have momentum and hit a hill with speed I can fly up it at almost 30 mph. This is the Juiced Bikes Ripcurrent S fat tire It's perfect for me. I have had it 1.5 yr I was wanting something just as fast and smooth but non fat tire and something with better components and a higher quality build and possibly just a touch more power.

 

[330rcs]

I mean it's totally up to you but if your gonna end up taking a loss atleast give it some time for you to get used to it's all about the gears being in one that's not too low and just all tourqe gotta find the middle ground for it I can fly up hills without pedaling faster than my buddy with his hub and pedaling and bike and person combined he is 60lbs lighter than me just have to play around with the gears a bit more my first 200-300km I felt like I was mis lead and woulda been happier with my hub motor at 900km I couldn't be happier with my choice

Yes I'm going to try a few things the gear shift sensor is totally pissing me off so the owner Roshan is going to send me a video on how to disable it. So I'm going to try that and a couple other helpful posters here told me how what to reprogram as far as throttle which I believe will also fix another issue I am having. I believe with these adjustments and once I get it dialed in to my riding style I think I will be happy with it so I'm going to try these few things soon. Already have my programming cable ordered and waiting for Roshan to reply.

 

[TForan]

The one thing I would suggest ,if most of your riding is on MUTs or streets is swap out those hideous knobbies for a street tire. Huge difference.

 

[330rcs]

The one thing I would suggest ,if most of your riding is on MUTs or streets is swap out those hideous knobbies for a street tire. Huge difference.

Any ones in particular that you recommend? There are a lot of trails here that I go through and lot of times there's sand, loose dirt and gravel etc as long as the street tires can handle that I'd be willing to give it a shot but so far I don't have any complaints as far as handling, grip etc I have almost slipped in sand a couple times and the tires caught traction instantly

 

[TForan]

Any ones in particular that you recommend? There are a lot of trails here that I go through and lot of times there's sand, loose dirt and gravel etc as long as the street tires can handle that I'd be willing to give it a shot but so far I don't have any complaints as far as handling, grip etc I have almost slipped in sand a couple times and the tires caught traction instantly

I have Vee Speedsters but if you are happy with stock tires , I would just stick with them. Personally, I couldn't get them off fast enough.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Any ones in particular that you recommend? There are a lot of trails here that I go through and lot of times there's sand, loose dirt and gravel etc as long as the street tires can handle that I'd be willing to give it a shot but so far I don't have any complaints as far as handling, grip etc I have almost slipped in sand a couple times and the tires caught traction instantly

I invested in Schwalbe Smart Sam. These are available in 27.5 x 2.6" maximum size (they should fit your rims). These are silent on road and aggressive off-road. I easily rode through sand on Smart Sams just yesterday.

Note: Reducing the tyre width will also reduce rolling resistance, and you are all for speed, aren't you.

 

[lordnox09]

Yeah when I start to pedal my bike I keep it pas 1-3 for takeoffs then throttle from there I usually only move between the top 5 gears all at the the other gears are mostly meant for when you get into trails but yeah hill climbing can be rough for sure I actually gotta count my gears for you so I can be exact but I'm positive the 5th last gear will get you up any hill as long as you aren't starting from a standstill might lose 2-3km/h by the top have only used my bottom 2 gears once each to attempt a stupidly steep uphill to a park and it climbed with 0 issues didn't even stand up for it but used throttle only from the start was going 12 when I got to the hill and finished at 17km/h try switching your pas settings to 1-3 instead of 9 won't help your range but you will get an instant assist boost when you need it basically in 1-9 it only uses 10% power in each interval so you would need it in 7-8 to be around the same assistance from your other bike and I believe your other bike is 750 nominal with 1000 peak so you might actually need it in 9 to actually give you more oomph then your last bike

 

[lordnox09]

I invested in Schwalbe Smart Sam. These are available in 27.5 x 2.6" maximum size (they should fit your rims). These are silent on road and aggressive off-road. I easily rode through sand on Smart Sams just yesterday.

Note: Reducing the tyre width will also reduce rolling resistance, and you are all for speed, aren't you.

I can agree with you on the smart Sam had then on my last bike in 29x2.25 simply amazing tires for an all around e bike have been through all the local trails on those tires I even run them close to max psi and they grip the trails nice but they are definitely not quiet they they where pretty close to the jugs I have now even riding with my buddy side by side I can still hear his tier sound mixed with mine but there also like kevlar lined or something to prevent punctures as well I have 5000km on those tires and never let me down once over sand patches on roads or the roughest local trails they grip onto anything they touch

 

[TForan]

I invested in Schwalbe Smart Sam. These are available in 27.5 x 2.6" maximum size (they should fit your rims). These are silent on road and aggressive off-road. I easily rode through sand on Smart Sams just yesterday.

Note: Reducing the tyre width will also reduce rolling resistance, and you are all for speed, aren't you.

I can easily hit 35 mph with 3.5 inch fat tires. At speed it makes very little difference regarding rolling resistance.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

but they are definitely not quiet

You want me do an audio test? I could compare the Schwalbe Smart Sam to Maxxis Rekon (the latter are not the most aggressive of Maxxis off-road tyres...)

 

[lordnox09]

You want me do an audio test? I could compare the Schwalbe Smart Sam to Maxxis Rekon (the latter are not the most aggressive of Maxxis off-road tyres...)

I have faith they are quite a bit quieter then the maxxis tires the ones I heard put my fat tires to shame lol

 

[Stefan Mikes]

They are silent on blacktop. Making the test in the morning my local time

 

[Deafcat]

Extremely powerful mid-drives are decidedly over-rated. Ride any Bosch, Shimano, Specialized/Brose or Giant/Yamaha e-bike (it might be a Class 3 one) to see the difference. I wonder how often the owner of the Bafang Ultra e-bike will need to replace the chain, cassette, chainring.

Over-rated, I disagree. I love the power level of my Ultra motor bike, and how natural it feels. I ride daily in traffic matching speed up to 60 km/h, that just isn't possible with lower powered motors... But this is specifically a road application, not your typical eMTB trail and mountain use like you see the lower powered, mainstream mid-drives targeted at.

Drivetrain maintenance: was a bit of a challenge at first, yes the parts wear out faster... Until you figure out what you need to replace them with. For me that consists of cheap big chainrings (Wolftooth are a good option up to 52T, but they cost more), SRAM X01 12-speed chain (this chain will last the longest), Sunrace 12-speed cassettes. Previously, I was using Wipperman Connex SX11 chain, got pretty good life with that, but not much more than other 11-speed chains... the best longevity is actually 12-speed chain presently, according to the most thorough recent testing.

The TL;DR is basically this: you'll get better at replacing worn drivetrain stuff the longer you ride an Ultra bike. It doesn't require expensive tools, and it's fun to learn all the little tricks and best parts. I ride 5000+ Km per year on mine, all four seasons, so I've thrown everything I can at it, and now at 7000km odo.

PS, you can use SRAM X01 12-speed chain on an 11-speed drivetrain too, without upgrading all the way to 12 speed.

 

[Deafcat]

Went out riding today so far NOT so good. Was going up a steep hill and I geared down ahead of time, got on the throttle just as I got to the very top of the hill it fucking wheelied and I fell on my ass. Almost did it a second time on another very steep hill that normally with my rear hub I hit it with some speed and momentum carries me. This kind of struggled at the top thought I was going to fall on my ass again.

First time to come to a stop light on this, geared down and normally on my rear hub just as I take off I start gearing up and get out of traffic. I can take off quicker than a car on my rear hub. With this I started to gear up and yep paused in the middle of a major intersection with a car coming at me wanting to make a left.

So I'm thinking why should I even change gears at all? Why not just keep it in the highest gear and just stay on the throttle? That way when I'm taking off from a stop I don't have to change gears and just let it pick up speed? Or really why even pedal on this thing? There's no middle ground with this thing, it's either balls to the wall wheelie or not enough assist and you have to continously stay on the throttle. Otherwise whenever I let go of the throttle there's a significant drop in speed. There's no coasting or cruising on this thing unless you stay on the throttle.

Then when I got down to 20% battery a couple minutes later I dropped to 0% all of a sudden so the display reading isn't even accurate. On my rear hub it has bars and if I'm down to 2 or 3 bars it doesn't just all of a sudden go to 0. It's really accurate and I've never ran out of power on the road in 1.5 yrs as my only form of transportation.

With my rear hub I can go UPHILL at 28-30 mph if I give it my full power pedaling and coming at it with momentum, I am in decent shape. this damn thing I can't I keep pausing going up hill the only thing I can do is just stay on the throttle. There are hills every where in Colorado I always thought thy said mid drive was better for hills. It's definately not for me. On my rear hub I only use the throttle when I take off from a dead stop otherwise I just rely on assist even going up hill. On this thing I have to stay on the throttle continously it sucks.

I'd rather be able to always consistently stay in the upper 20s lower 30 mph range like with my rear hub. I can't keep a consistent speed with this thing it's like there's no assist. It's either having to put in too much effort or its balls to the wall 35-38 mph. Id rather have a consistent speed my entire ride instead of being too slow or too fast.

Sounds like there is some tuning to sort out IMO. The bike is honestly capable of being phenomenal in traffic, I've ridden the Ultra Eagle myself and test drove in various settings, it was excellent, comparable in most ways to my own custom Ultra 1000 street machine. Maybe the shift sensor is triggering incorrectly? It shouldn't be cutting power more than a fraction of a second when shifting.

 

[330rcs]

Sounds like there is some tuning to sort out IMO. The bike is honestly capable of being phenomenal in traffic, I've ridden the Ultra Eagle myself and test drove in various settings, it was excellent, comparable in most ways to my own custom Ultra 1000 street machine. Maybe the shift sensor is triggering incorrectly? It shouldn't be cutting power more than a fraction of a second when shifting.

Yeah it's definately more like a pause for me but, Biktrix replied about how to disconnect the shift sensor

How to Disconnect The Gear Sensor on an Ultra Motor Bike

Tools Needed Philips (Star) screwdriver Instructions Step 1. Remove the three screws from the motor cover on the left-hand side of the bike Step 2. Locate the gear sensor plug. It will be a whi...

support.biktrix.com

So I'm going to try that and the programming cable is arriving tomorrow. I'm going to adjust the throttle settings before I use it without the shift sensor so I can't accidently throttle it at max power and trash my drivetrain.

 

[Deafcat]

Your best bet will be to actually ignore the throttle for the first while: the ultra motor, programmed accordingly and not unduly interrupted, should ride perfectly in PAS only. Once that's working as intended, bring the throttle into play (they're handy for taking off at stoplights, that's primarily when I use mine).

One other thing I just thought to mention: make sure the ebrakes aren't cutting out the assist power unexpectedly. If you're holding the brake even a little bit it will not let the assist kick in.

 

[ElevenAD]

This leads me to wonder if you have measured your chain for wear recently?

nope not even once.