Maintenance for Charger GT Nuvinci HS

[BurbManDan]

I've been riding a Bosch powered Felt nineE 20 for the past 2.5 years, and weekly do a clean and tune. This routine will now largely transfer over to the R&M Charger. This weekly routine represents about 360mi on an average week.

Here's the Felt, receiveing it's weekly TLC.

The routine is:

1. Clean - wet with hose (low pressure only), wipe with rag and dish soap, rinse.
2. Inspect frame, wheels for cracks or other damage.
3. Check motor bearings for grinding (spin cranks forward, backward under no load).
4. Check for broken spokes, wheel true.
5. Check, replace brake pads, rotors.
6. Clean chain and cogs with rag, chain cleaner, long brush (dish soap), re-lube. Test chain stretch, replace as needed.
7. Dig out any thorns or glass from tires, check pressure.

Here's the R&M, receiveing it's first weekly clean:

One of the huge motivators for me selecting this model Charger is that it eliminates step 6, which is the single most time consuming part of the weekly routine. This now becomes a simple belt inspection for damage and tension.

Any suggestions?

 

[BurbManDan]

The aspects of this bike that are new to me are the Nuvinci, the belt and cogs, and support from the dealer and R&M.

1. What is the best way to care for the belt and cogs?
2. The belt does not appear directional. Is there any advantage / disadvantage to reversing the belt periodically?
3. For R&M warranty support, is it necessary to fill in the service record at the back of the owners manual? (I'm going to hit all 8 listed inspections this year, and so far the dealer has never mentioned inspections and did not fill in the E-bike data or delivery record)

 

[Sonoboy]

http://www.gatescarbondrive.com/products/overview

Check the pull down "Resources" for info. I don't think periodic reversing is necessary. I used Gates synchronous belts for years in industrial machines with both motor reversed and constant direction applications and never saw an issue.

BTW, you may see the details for a test jig on this site. This is for manufacturers use (or I suppose the occasional home-builder). Before Gates will approve the use of their belts they require the actual bike frame be bolted to this to check for structural rigidity, to ensure the belt pulleys are not pulled out of alignment with each thrust of the crank. Bottom line, it's good stuff.

 

[Over50]

Do you have a preferential setting for the suspension fork particularly for commuting? I've been running it pretty stiff for commuting at about 100 psi, 1/2 lockout and about 50% (in the middle) of the rebound setting. I switched the stock suspension seatpost for the BodyFloat and I run that fairly stiff too.
Honestly I haven't noticed a difference when I set the lockout to fully open vs 1/2. I know from monitoring the rubber ring that I'm probably only using just over 2/3rd of the available travel (but I'm not jumping off of curbs either). You probably have a lot of experience with this from all your miles commuting and since we have the same bike/fork I'd be interested to hear if you've decided on an optimal setting combination for an efficient commute. I weigh about 165 pounds so maybe that 100 psi is too much...

 

[BurbManDan]

Do you have a preferential setting for the suspension fork particularly for commuting? I've been running it pretty stiff for commuting at about 100 psi, 1/2 lockout and about 50% (in the middle) of the rebound setting. I switched the stock suspension seatpost for the BodyFloat and I run that fairly stiff too.
Honestly I haven't noticed a difference when I set the lockout to fully open vs 1/2. I know from monitoring the rubber ring that I'm probably only using just over 2/3rd of the available travel (but I'm not jumping off of curbs either). You probably have a lot of experience with this from all your miles commuting and since we have the same bike/fork I'd be interested to hear if you've decided on an optimal setting combination for an efficient commute. I weigh about 165 pounds so maybe that 100 psi is too much...

I run the fork at 105-110 psi, but I've got about 15 pounds on you. Honestly I haven't even looked at the rebound and damping settings, but my ride is almost all smooth pavement, so I don't think it'll make much difference. There is one curb I ride off, and one section of gravel with some small bumps, but like you I only use about 2/3 travel.

I've been happy with the stock suspension seatpost, and swapped seats for my old specialized saddle that is quite hard and fairly flat compared to the stock gel saddle. The stock saddle was great for the first half of each ride, but would then start to give me blisters. Just too much movement there... I'm quite used to a hardtail bike, so having the seatpost that takes up the hard hits is a luxury, but the fat tires are by far the biggest comfort feature.

When I picked up the bike, the tires were soft at a out 25 psi, so I pumped them up to about 45, figuring middle of the range would be reasonable. Honestly though, they are so much more comfortable lower, that I've softened them up to 35 psi. I think the fork preload at 100 psi sounds pretty reasonable, and you're using a good amount of travel. You could try softening it a little - really small amounts at a time because you don't want to bottom out, or have too much sag, but I'd start by messing around with tire pressure.

Also, I could be wrong, but I've always thought the lockout was binary - on or off. I switch it on (no fork travel) when climbing if I'm feeling like getting out of the saddle and attacking the hill, just to prevent the bobbing of the shock. But I leave the lockout off all the rest of the time.