New Stromer ST1 Elite

[Jason in Modesto]

I'm very jazzed to pick up a new Stromer ST1 Elite today with the SuperNova City Kit. My one-way trip to work is 5.5mi, of which 3.67mi is on a Class 1 paved bike path (yay, no stop signs or signals!), which a California Type 1 e-bike can use (which this bike qualifies as). I have a stop-sign free .64mi section from the end of the bike path to my house. On the work-side is the other side of the commute is a 1.18mi maze of downtown streets, most of which are limited to 25-30mph. Not sure how many stop signs/signals along the way, but I'll find the best route. Really jazzed to know that I can go round-trip with no recharge, or even charge at work and hit a stop or two along the way to home.

I have a 2-3 evening meetings each week that will push my return trip from work to meeting to home to 14.2mi, but my understand is that shouldn't be a problem (I'll charge those days at work). 3.67mi of that will be on the paved bike path with no stopping, so really it's just 10.53mi on streets with signals. Most of my route outside of downtown will be on a Class II Bike Lane. Almost all of Modesto is very flat. Not hills, and I'd be surprised if there is much of a grade on any of the streets. Wind will probably be the biggest variable.

Bike is supposed to ship on Monday. I can't wait!

 

[Tara D.]

What an exciting way to begin the new year! Congrats on your new bike!

 

[Jason in Modesto]

Thanks! I was supposed to take deliver at work tomorrow, but I happened to be in Sacramento having lunch with my dad. I was about 10 minutes from heading back home (Modesto is about 75 miles south) and I received a call from the shipping company that they were confirming the delivery location for tomorrow. They had a Sacramento number, so I asked if I could pick it up, and they said sure! So 15 minutes later I arrived at their warehouse and they already had it set aside and within 10 minutes I had inspected the box and signed for it, unboxed and loaded it in the back of my SUV.

I charged the battery for about 10 minutes when I got home while removing all the shipping protections and tightening things down. I couldn't resist and had to take it out for a spin. Amazing how zippy fast it gets going in Power Mode. Hah, but I only made it down two blocks and it flashed the battery was down to 10%. Shortly after that, the display turned off. Had to pedal-without-assist the rest of the way home. It really wasn't that bad, especially as I didn't have to break anywhere along the way.

Installing the City Kit was be a bit frustrating. There is a Youtube video showing installation on the suspension fork, but I've got the Elite which only comes with the carbon fork. The installation of the SuperNova light is very different between the two, but I managed to figure it out. The other two issues were with the rear fender. My kit was missing the mid-length middle tap screw, and I don't have an L-shaped T25 wrench to install the longest tap screw under the seat post. I managed to use a socket set T25 with my fingers to twist the tap screw under the seat post enough times to get it secured. A trip to the hardware tomorrow store will get the missing screw and a L-shaped T25 wrench to finish it off.

It didn't stop me from jamming around the park. Within seconds I was going 38.8... oh, KPH. Not sure why the KPH/MPH code isn't in the manual, but I found it online (code 0003, 0=kph, 1=mph). Who knew 38.8kph was 24.1mph? Wee, it's fun, but scary fast at times. Gonna need some ear warmers too, as it's mighty cold going that fast with the sun down, even here in California. Can't wait to bike in tomorrow for the first time and show it off.

 

[JoePah]

Have fun Jason! I have a Stromer Elite and you should have a range of over 25 miles in PWR mode and over 40 miles in ECO mode.

Make sure you keep the chain lubricated. There's a lot of choices out there.. I use a paraffin based lube.

 

[Sooke Elite]

Hi Jason,

I have just purchased a 2015 elite which will be delivered on 11-feb. How are you liking yours so far, what is the top speed and range? Any wisdom to share with a fellow new owner?

Regards,
Eugene

 

[Jason in Modesto]

Hi Jason,

I have just purchased a 2015 elite which will be delivered on 11-feb. How are you liking yours so far, what is the top speed and range? Any wisdom to share with a fellow new owner?

Regards,
Eugene

First, congrats! You're really going to love it. I actually miss the days where I cannot ride mine for one reason or another (right now I have a slight cold, not enough to keep me from work, but wise enough not to ride in 40 degree wet weather).

Top speed I've hit is 25mph going downhill. I have a nearly 4 mile Class 1 Bikeway for my 5.5 one-way commute to work and I keep it pretty steady at the high-end of 22mph (peaking at 23mph here and there). I have to slow on the narrower turns and when peds don't yield to the right (they like to bunch up and hog the whole trail). I have my route to work down to less than 20 minutes, and that's dealing with 4 traffic lights and 3 stops signs when I hit downtown. It's actually faster than driving in to work because of the amount of signals I avoid vs. via automobile, plus I get 20 minutes of exercise twice a day (and 45 minutes two evenings a week).

Range, well that depends. If I store the battery in the bike in the garage, I know I am not getting as much out of it (typically 5% less) vs. if I take it out to charge in the house for the night. But it's not practical to store my bike indoors, and I don't feel like removing the battery on non-charging nights as I'm already carrying in my Racktime bag and the mail for the day. Wind really hurts as well, both in speed (18mph instead of 22mph) and battery drain, but it is so much better than without an electric motor.

I can round-trip the 11 miles to/from work using 40% of the battery. This means I only have to recharge every two days. However, I have two nights a week where I have some church classes Tuesday and Wednesday nights. For those days, I need to ride a total of 20 miles. The bike is totally capable of doing 20 miles, but it doesn't fit the way I need to recharge to do at night at home, and I always ride in Power mode (uses the most power and drains the battery the fastest). I picked up a spare charger for work from someone on the forum here who had purchased many for a cross-country trip. This is how I've been doing it:

Full charge Friday night and battery stored inside
100% charge starting Monday morning
60% and no charge Monday night (11 miles ridden)
40% arriving at work Tuesday morning and a full charge at work (16.5 miles on that Friday night charge)
100% charge leaving work Tuesday evening, 80% at church (5 miles), then another 10 miles back home
40% and no charge Tuesday night (15.5 miles ridden)
20% arriving at work Wednesday morning and a full charge at work (20.5 miles since Tuesday morning charge)
100% charge leaving work Wednesday evening, 80% at church (5 miles), then another 10 miles back home
40% and no charge Wednesday night (15.5 miles ridden)
20% arriving at work Thursday morning and a full charge at work (20.5 miles since Wednesday morning charge)
100% charge leaving work Thursday evening heading home
80% and no charge Thursday night (5.5 miles ridden)
40% at the end of Friday night (16.5 miles ridden since Thursday morning charge)
Cycle starts back over with a full charge Friday night

4 charges per week, 16.5mi + 20.5mi + 20.5mi + 16.5mi = 74 miles per week.

A few things to note: don't try to charge the bike a little and ride it when you first get it. Charge it a full 4 hours before you go ride it. The bike won't operate at 10% or below battery power, and it's a pain to peddle home when it runs out. Don't forget to allow for windy days. It's a little dicey those days that I let it get to 20% before I recharge, and a few times I've done a partial charge for a hour before I left when I woke up and saw the wind was bad.

Some folks here say to charge it every time you ride it. This doesn't make any sense to me from a battery use/recharge standpoint. The warranty only covers 1000 charges. I would never let it get down to 20% and not charge it, and I understand that's not good for the battery, but I don't think letting it sit overnight at 40% is bad. I'm planning to buy the 14ah battery in 3 years and rotate it in for the longer days and use the 11ah battery for the shorter days until it won't cover 11 miles.

I really like my wind breaker and have ridden every day, even in the rain. If the rain is really bad, I have shoe covers in my bag and a spare rain pants. I bike to/from work in my work slacks and dress shirt (I leave work shoes at work). I immediately unzip the wind breaker as I'm arriving and as soon as I get off the bike I strip it off, and I've never had a sweat or odor problem. I'm very much out of shape as well, and while my heart rate does get up there for 20 minutes to work (or 45 minutes on the ride home from church classes), I've never had to shower after. We'll see how this goes in the summer, but I have a shower at work if I need to. Here are two Amazon products I picked up:
Wind breaker
Sports pants and shoe covers or really bad rain days

As I said earlier, I picked up a Racktime bag and love how fast it attaches and detaches and I'm on the go. At first I was dealing with 3 bungee cords and a lunch bag and it took a bit go get it on the rack (not hard, just not the two seconds the Racktime takes). I really like the look of the Racktime bag I purchased, and I've kept my bike 100% black (no orange reflectors) and love the way it looks.
Racktime WorkIt Pro Commuter Pannier

Did you get the ST1? I purchased the City Kit (half off) and glad I did, for both the really bright light, the fenders, and the rack. I understand the ST2 just comes with these as standard.

Also, if you purchased the ST1, I would get one of these caps for the power plug, especially if you'll ever be riding in the weather:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/X99HWKQUS/stromer-st1-plug-cap

Oh, and don't forget to lube up the chain and sprockets, especially after any weather. This product was recommended to me years ago by a local bike shop, and I've been using it on the Stromer after any rainy rides or at least once a week:
Boeshield T-9 Waterproof Lubrication

Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have.

 

[Sooke Elite]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for the super-detailed response, for taking the time to write this and for including the recommended products' URLs, I really appreciate it.

My bike should arrive on the 11th of February (purchased it online) and I've upgraded the battery to 14.5Ah. Are you using the original 11.5 Ah or did you get the bigger battery also (so that I understand whether the range numbers are based on 11.5 or 14.5Ah)?

It is good to know that the bike can go steady 22mph, I think that will do for me. I've thought about getting a Platinum, but my thinking was that the extra torque of the Elite is more important in my hilly area (not to mention the price difference).

I do want the battery receptacle plug, thanks for providing the link to it. The shipping cost to Canada is almost 3 times the cost of the plug itself.. . I might end up buying it anyway, sucks to pay so much in shipping for a trivial item and the weak CDN dollar doesn't help.

As far as the city kit, yeah I want that as well, but I am going to have to wait a bit after all the money spent on the bike itself. Where did you get yours at half price (although again with the FX rate and shipping, possibly custom fees I might be better off purchasing from the local dealer or using aftermarket stuff...)?

Thanks for recommending the lube, I will definitely get that one.

Regards,
Eugene

 

[opimax]

I have had 3 bikes with the city kit, so far I would say skip and go aftermarket w/local vendor and higher quality /rating/ adjustability. Only issue is if you have to have lights off internal battery. there are better aftermarket lights . i have rechargeable so when i charge batteries i just charge my lights at the same time. i charge daily no matter what my use

 

[opimax]

I would go aftermarket w/local dealer for better quality/higher weight rating/adjustability and let them have the issues. I have had 3 bikes w/the kit , in real life all have had rubbing issues. Downside is light not powered by internal battery. I have better rechargeable lights that i charge every time i charge my bike. I charge every time i use my bike and no drain at all on internal battery...i like all range i can get though

 

[Sooke Elite]

I would go aftermarket w/local dealer for better quality/higher weight rating/adjustability and let them have the issues. I have had 3 bikes w/the kit , in real life all have had rubbing issues. Downside is light not powered by internal battery. I have better rechargeable lights that i charge every time i charge my bike. I charge every time i use my bike and no drain at all on internal battery...i like all range i can get though

Thanks opimax. I might just go with aftermarket since i am not planning on riding after dark anyway - I would just install those battery powered safety lights, that's all I need, so not concerned about the lights being hooked up to the main battery. Any advice on the aftermarket mudguards (fenders) , which brand to buy / where? I 've searched eBay and found these so far: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/381475390454?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT, but I am thinking it might be a better idea to stop by at a local bike store once i have the actual bike and check the fit.

 

[Jason in Modesto]

I have the stock, 11ah, battery. I have mostly flat rides (one bridge/steep climb on each leg), but the torque is really nice for the street riding sections and having deal with signals. Personally, the Platinum isn't an option for me, as it goes over 20mph, but under 28mph. It's a Type 3 ebike in California and not allowed on Class 1 bike trails (and there are 3 rather long bike trails in Modesto that I use the majority of the time): http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/new-e-bike-law-passes-in-california

Yeah, the shipping for the plug was more than double the plug cost itself, even in the US (~$10 total). But it sure looks better than electrical tape. Mine is a less dark than the Stromer black frame, so I'll probably spray it at some point, but for now, the main point was keeping moisture out.

I would never pay retail for the City Kit, and I think others are right that you should just get aftermarket stuff. Mine was a one-time New Years day deal.

It would be nice if someone sold an aftermarket light kit that integrated with the battery, but if you don't ride in the dark that much and don't mind something else to recharge from time to time, that's cool. I ride home every day after dark until the days get longer, and two nights a week I won't be done until 8-8:30pm, so it'll be dark those nights until the peak of summer.