New Review of Rip Current
- Thread starter jazz
- Start date
Asher
Well-Known Member
They did make some nice revisions, vs the CCS - the logo is much less prominent on the down tube, and the wires underneath are covered by a rubber gasket. And the front ring has protection on both sides, frame and pedal.
The 52V is heavier than I expected, adds 3 pounds vs the 19ah battery:
"With the battery removed the RipCurrent S weighs 64.5 pounds and the total weight with the 48V 19ah battery is 74.1 pounds and the total weight with the 52V 21ah battery is 77.1 pounds. "
The motor is noisy? The CCS has the same one, and it's pretty quiet on mine.
The 52V is heavier than I expected, adds 3 pounds vs the 19ah battery:
"With the battery removed the RipCurrent S weighs 64.5 pounds and the total weight with the 48V 19ah battery is 74.1 pounds and the total weight with the 52V 21ah battery is 77.1 pounds. "
The motor is noisy? The CCS has the same one, and it's pretty quiet on mine.
Chris Hammond
Well-Known Member
The motors are actually different. Both are made by Bafang. The RCS is wider and designed to fit the dropouts of a fatbike, its also rated at 750W. The CCS is narrower and rated at 650W. I'm guessing Tora would be the only one who could tell us what is different internally.
Crazyworld
Member
I have the RCS, I did a test and road around the block with power off. Yes was heavy and my phone showed 7-8 MPH, but I think I could make it home if I had to.
Reid
Well-Known Member
If you wire a SPST switch across one of the brake inhibitor wire pairs you can have your odo and speedo function even when the assist is turned off, by your SPST switch closing (shorting across) the brake inhibitor circuit.
Also, the motor can be essentially silent. Luck of the draw. My CCS motor is virtually silent. It used to whine depending on the luck of where in its rotation the roller clutches engaged. But lately it is dead silent with each engagment of drive: only the bare hint of whine is transmitted to the frame. The motor cannot be heard by pedestrians or other cyclists. Real luck, that, because in a planetary geared SPUR gear motor, the tooth profiles must be perfect epicycloids perfectly on center or whine will result. Bafang knows this. Their spur gears are correctly cut. The perfect depth of mesh, however, can slightly vary from sample to sample. When a tenth of a thousandth of an inch out of spec may make an appreciable increase in noise (I am making up the tolerance to make the point), then it is easy to understand that from motor to motor some will be quieter than others, and for different reasons, perhaps of the three planetary gears centering being one spot on or another a tiny bit off, or any other reason of loose or shifting centers due to bearing OD looseness (bearing ODs must not be a press fit, must be a free or slip fit).
I really enjoy my CCS and the RipCurrent cannot be so easy to roll manually. But it sure is good looking! Think about it: it is manifestly impossible for any really fat tire bike to roll as well as a relatively thin tired bike on good pavement. However, the RipCurrent can float across poor surfaces and my bike: can't.
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Asher
Well-Known Member
Reid, that bicycle rolling resistance site found balloon tires (Schwalbe g one speed) that rolled just as well as thin racing tires. The real drawback is in acceleration, which the motor handles.
Which is why ebikes are spurring new bicycle design - high speed balloon tire bike. Right now you have to use MTB gear for that, but with ebikes now at 10% of new sales, that should change soon.
Rolling resistance:
Rolling resistance is extremely low. At the low air pressure of 25 psi, the Big One dethrones the Continental Speed King II by 3.3 watts (15.8 Vs 19.1 Watts). What's even more surprising is that at the high air pressure of 55 psi, the Big One with a 225 grams butyl inner tube has less rolling resistance than a Schwalbe One V-Guard or Continental Grand Prix 4000S II road bike tire at 120 psi!
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews/schwalbe-big-one-2016
Which is why ebikes are spurring new bicycle design - high speed balloon tire bike. Right now you have to use MTB gear for that, but with ebikes now at 10% of new sales, that should change soon.
Rolling resistance:
Rolling resistance is extremely low. At the low air pressure of 25 psi, the Big One dethrones the Continental Speed King II by 3.3 watts (15.8 Vs 19.1 Watts). What's even more surprising is that at the high air pressure of 55 psi, the Big One with a 225 grams butyl inner tube has less rolling resistance than a Schwalbe One V-Guard or Continental Grand Prix 4000S II road bike tire at 120 psi!
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews/schwalbe-big-one-2016
Reid
Well-Known Member
Fascinating true science. I did not know that anyone was making an idealized balloon tire today!
Nine years ago, before the fat tire was much appreciated, I ran the Bontrager Big Hank (no longer made, 2.5" wide by 26" ; very thin, no tread, with a supple, high thread count sidewall. Local thorns punctured it frequently.)
It was impressively shock absorbing. The front could be run with very little pressure,
So, because of the lossiness of rubber and fabric, two disparate materials calendared together, the thinner the tire, the more supple the tire and less lossy. Wider tires have lower rolling resistance if other things are equal. And below about 20mph where wind resistance has risen to be a real drag, the wider tire has no disadvantage against it other than it being more likely to pick up a puncture!
I am going to try tubeless in a week. Will report!
Supple tires without thick and stiffening tread protection will definitely be more fun with a 24/7 sealant on duty inside!
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Asher
Well-Known Member
Schwalbe is very excited about balloon bikes: https://www.schwalbe.com/en/balloonbikes.html
But there's not much in the way of parts I'm finding. Eg, I'm looking for a light touring style fork that can accommodate them, and not finding much, only 29er MTB forks (from Salsa, Soma, Vassago).
But I think I'm nitpicking at this point
- Marathon Pluses in 45mm with a Body Float is already pretty smooth.
Edit: just found this as well: https://velo-orange.com/collections/piolet/products/piolet-replacement-fork
But there's not much in the way of parts I'm finding. Eg, I'm looking for a light touring style fork that can accommodate them, and not finding much, only 29er MTB forks (from Salsa, Soma, Vassago).
But I think I'm nitpicking at this point
- Marathon Pluses in 45mm with a Body Float is already pretty smooth.Edit: just found this as well: https://velo-orange.com/collections/piolet/products/piolet-replacement-fork
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