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- Thread starter Ged I
- Start date
Hi Ann.
I'm not exactly sure what I have yet. I believe it's a Gen 2.1 It has the digital speedo and battery display, although the key is on the down tube with an internal battery. I understand from research that the motor was upgraded to digital from analog on the Gen 2 but don't how to check this. Is it easy to identify? I also need to clarify the size of the battery.
Very much looking forward to trying it out.
I'm not exactly sure what I have yet. I believe it's a Gen 2.1 It has the digital speedo and battery display, although the key is on the down tube with an internal battery. I understand from research that the motor was upgraded to digital from analog on the Gen 2 but don't how to check this. Is it easy to identify? I also need to clarify the size of the battery.
Very much looking forward to trying it out.
There's a funny story about the key.. According to the local shop owner in Ft Lauderdale who claimed he was the #1 seller of Ultramotor bikes at some point, he was the one who convinced Ultramotor to move the key switch up to the handlebars.. He told me that only lasted for a short while then they moved it back to the down tube.
Sounds to me like you have a later version of the thottle only A2B Metro, with the controller relocated from the motor to the frame.. I don't think the battery design was changed. so 36V11ah. Make sure you charge the batteries 12 hours at least once a month, per the manual. Whether you use the bike or not.
Sounds to me like you have a later version of the thottle only A2B Metro, with the controller relocated from the motor to the frame.. I don't think the battery design was changed. so 36V11ah. Make sure you charge the batteries 12 hours at least once a month, per the manual. Whether you use the bike or not.
Ann M.
Well-Known Member
@Ged I Ultramotor figured out in the first production runs of the A2B Metro bikes that there were problems with the motors; nearly all had to be replaced under warranty within months of purchase. An internal controller failure was most likelyto be the culprit; however, the issues did not end there. The internal battery was also vulnerable to memory issues (not an issue for current LiIon batteries, thank you!) and some failure of the cells, so riders had shrinking range. With that said, the overall design was and is striking in appearance, an incredibly comfortable ride and the company was proactive in handling the issues. Yes, it was easy to kick the keys in the downtube ignition. That design was changed at the next round of upgrades and the console display was added. Keys were never put on the downtube again...way too easy to damage the ignition.
What you refer to as 'digital vs. analog' is actually an internal controller in the motor vs. external controller. The internal controller version was replaced after a little over a year to produce a more stable design and over the following couple of years other wiring harness issues dealing with the cramped space at the bottom of the battery were addressed. That's about the point when Hero Eco bought UltraMotor. Now, Hero Eco is pretty quiet and is developing A2B as its own brand separate from their mass production bikes, etc. Must tell you though, the owners' of Hero Eco spent a lot of time in the US, very hands on that first year, visiting dealers and listening to lots of complaints!
Only the very last run of Metro's had the pedal assist option in addition to the twist throttle and some fancier digital display console. The Metro's with the throttle only at that time were from the previous year's production run and allowed the company to offer 2 different price points. The internal battery was always a 36V 11ah LiIon no matter which year model; however, with the introduction of the Alba and Shima, Metro's offspring and the newer, faster upgrades of the Rear LiIon battery Velocity and Hybrid, the internal battery went away.
I think our writer above, may have misread the manual or it was a typo, since a 12 hour charge is overcharging whether once a month or during regular use. My shop and the manufacturers recommend a charge of a couple of hours max (1 to 2 hours) at least once a month to keep the battery from degenerating or going to sleep. After a lengthy storage of a Metro, it helps to ride it hard and run that battery down (not dead), let it cool and charge it again. One or two repetitions of this will help prevent the pseudo memory issue that the early Metro's showed.
@Ged I, you have the later design, but what is going on with the bike? Here to help
What you refer to as 'digital vs. analog' is actually an internal controller in the motor vs. external controller. The internal controller version was replaced after a little over a year to produce a more stable design and over the following couple of years other wiring harness issues dealing with the cramped space at the bottom of the battery were addressed. That's about the point when Hero Eco bought UltraMotor. Now, Hero Eco is pretty quiet and is developing A2B as its own brand separate from their mass production bikes, etc. Must tell you though, the owners' of Hero Eco spent a lot of time in the US, very hands on that first year, visiting dealers and listening to lots of complaints!
Only the very last run of Metro's had the pedal assist option in addition to the twist throttle and some fancier digital display console. The Metro's with the throttle only at that time were from the previous year's production run and allowed the company to offer 2 different price points. The internal battery was always a 36V 11ah LiIon no matter which year model; however, with the introduction of the Alba and Shima, Metro's offspring and the newer, faster upgrades of the Rear LiIon battery Velocity and Hybrid, the internal battery went away.
I think our writer above, may have misread the manual or it was a typo, since a 12 hour charge is overcharging whether once a month or during regular use. My shop and the manufacturers recommend a charge of a couple of hours max (1 to 2 hours) at least once a month to keep the battery from degenerating or going to sleep. After a lengthy storage of a Metro, it helps to ride it hard and run that battery down (not dead), let it cool and charge it again. One or two repetitions of this will help prevent the pseudo memory issue that the early Metro's showed.
@Ged I, you have the later design, but what is going on with the bike? Here to help
WoW!!
thank you for taking the time with such a comprehensive reply, I and others appreciate that. To give the full story on the bike is as follows:
A local reputal dealer had listed an A2B Gen2.1 at a very reasonable price (less than half of retail) or previous price, heres the but.. It is an x demo bike, however it has done exremely low milage (12) at this stage the bike has been purchased on-line as it was at another branch of the very well respected chain. I am currently awaiting notification to collect the bike once it has been transfered. From the pictures I can see that the key is on the downtube and it has the round speedo dispy on the handlebars (internal battery). I am fully expecting to be very happy with the bike. However I have no idea at this stage how old the bike is, how long it has been with the dealer, and how well the battery has been treated. I'm kind of hoping given their expertise the battery has been well looked after.
So as you can see, until I actualy get the bike in my gruby little hands and get to do the things you suggest' its a bit of a mystery. On collection I will address the above questions.
To be honest my rational for going with this bike is its apparent ruggedness, radical look, and durability as I am of the heavier rider brigade I thought it was the most suitable. This is my short story so far, and I will be happy to uupdate my experience as it unfolds with this great looking machine.
thank you for taking the time with such a comprehensive reply, I and others appreciate that. To give the full story on the bike is as follows:
A local reputal dealer had listed an A2B Gen2.1 at a very reasonable price (less than half of retail) or previous price, heres the but.. It is an x demo bike, however it has done exremely low milage (12) at this stage the bike has been purchased on-line as it was at another branch of the very well respected chain. I am currently awaiting notification to collect the bike once it has been transfered. From the pictures I can see that the key is on the downtube and it has the round speedo dispy on the handlebars (internal battery). I am fully expecting to be very happy with the bike. However I have no idea at this stage how old the bike is, how long it has been with the dealer, and how well the battery has been treated. I'm kind of hoping given their expertise the battery has been well looked after.
So as you can see, until I actualy get the bike in my gruby little hands and get to do the things you suggest' its a bit of a mystery. On collection I will address the above questions.
To be honest my rational for going with this bike is its apparent ruggedness, radical look, and durability as I am of the heavier rider brigade I thought it was the most suitable. This is my short story so far, and I will be happy to uupdate my experience as it unfolds with this great looking machine.
Ok, so I collected the bike today and what a great machine it is. I couldn't ride it too far due to other reasons, but the bike looks and feels wonderful. My own thoughts to follow on the ride.
In the meantime I have a question if anyone can answer it. On the display it appears to default to KMPH and not MPH. When I chane the settings to read in mph it's fine, but as soon as you turn the bike off & on again it goes back to KMPH. Surely it should stay on mph as per the last setting. Or am I wrong? I know it's a small thing, but I'm not sure I want to fiddle with it before every ride. Anyone experienced this or is there some kind of fault?
Thanks.
In the meantime I have a question if anyone can answer it. On the display it appears to default to KMPH and not MPH. When I chane the settings to read in mph it's fine, but as soon as you turn the bike off & on again it goes back to KMPH. Surely it should stay on mph as per the last setting. Or am I wrong? I know it's a small thing, but I'm not sure I want to fiddle with it before every ride. Anyone experienced this or is there some kind of fault?
Thanks.
Ann M.
Well-Known Member
Don't have one of the Metro user manuals in front of me; however, it sounds like the programming mode didn't get closed when you were done setting it. I suspect you need to press a 'mode' or 'set' button to fix the MPH setting before turning off the bike. The folks at A2B can be reached via email; http://www.wearea2b.com/us/contact . That's the group in San Francisco that will be familiar with the original Metro's and can help you.
@Ged I Ultramotor figured out in the first production runs of the A2B Metro bikes that there were problems with the motors; nearly all had to be replaced under warranty within months of purchase. An internal controller failure was most likelyto be the culprit; however, the issues did not end there. The internal battery was also vulnerable to memory issues (not an issue for current LiIon batteries, thank you!) and some failure of the cells, so riders had shrinking range. With that said, the overall design was and is striking in appearance, an incredibly comfortable ride and the company was proactive in handling the issues. Yes, it was easy to kick the keys in the downtube ignition. That design was changed at the next round of upgrades and the console display was added. Keys were never put on the downtube again...way too easy to damage the ignition.
What you refer to as 'digital vs. analog' is actually an internal controller in the motor vs. external controller. The internal controller version was replaced after a little over a year to produce a more stable design and over the following couple of years other wiring harness issues dealing with the cramped space at the bottom of the battery were addressed. That's about the point when Hero Eco bought UltraMotor. Now, Hero Eco is pretty quiet and is developing A2B as its own brand separate from their mass production bikes, etc. Must tell you though, the owners' of Hero Eco spent a lot of time in the US, very hands on that first year, visiting dealers and listening to lots of complaints!
Only the very last run of Metro's had the pedal assist option in addition to the twist throttle and some fancier digital display console. The Metro's with the throttle only at that time were from the previous year's production run and allowed the company to offer 2 different price points. The internal battery was always a 36V 11ah LiIon no matter which year model; however, with the introduction of the Alba and Shima, Metro's offspring and the newer, faster upgrades of the Rear LiIon battery Velocity and Hybrid, the internal battery went away.
I think our writer above, may have misread the manual or it was a typo, since a 12 hour charge is overcharging whether once a month or during regular use. My shop and the manufacturers recommend a charge of a couple of hours max (1 to 2 hours) at least once a month to keep the battery from degenerating or going to sleep. After a lengthy storage of a Metro, it helps to ride it hard and run that battery down (not dead), let it cool and charge it again. One or two repetitions of this will help prevent the pseudo memory issue that the early Metro's showed.
@Ged I, you have the later design, but what is going on with the bike? Here to help
Thats a great history Ann and I hope Hero is able to keep the style going.
The 2009 A2B Metro Manual was very clear about charging the battery 12 hours at least once a month.. In fact the first 3 charges are supposed to be 12 hours.
I religiously followed every aspect of that manual mostly because there were so many uniformed opinions from dealers etc.
Guess what? Even though there were numerious motor/controller and relay failures, the in frame battery never failed me, and lasted around 800 full charge cycles.. When I sold the bike with the original battery the range was down to 60% after 4.5 years.. The high replacement cost of the battery drove me to sell it.
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Check page 14 of the attached manual...
Setting km/h / mph
- Press the Reset button A and Mode
button B for more than 2 seconds to get in the setting
mode. Press the Reset button to switch between km/h
and mph. Press the Mode button for 2 seconds to return
to the normal mode
Have fun!
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
A little update:
I didnt have a manual for the bike, but I did manage to print one. Thank you Joepah for the information. What was confusing was i followed the instructions on the manual for re-setting to mph, same as you state as above, however after turning the bike off with the key and turning on again, the settings were not saving. This was a head scratch moment as I couldnt figure it out. So I was lucky enough to find A2B on facebook and sent them a message, what a great response..within hours there was a reply that I never would have figured out on my own, or without emailing them.
For anyone else that comes across this issue the following may help. You do the procedure as above and confirm with the Mode button, but odly enough you have to do this three times, then it saves.
So the bike is set and runs perfect, went for a ride the other day to see how far it would run for, I'm a big lad at 17 stone (hence the style of the bike) I went for 17 miles before it went to auto cut out, then made it home off power (close to home) the bikes suspension is awsome, way better than other bikes I have ridden with normal size rims.
It did feel a bit odd as its a small sit up type frame, but after a while I got used to it. Not yet in a position to ride it daily but thats my aim. Great bike from A2B really please.
I didnt have a manual for the bike, but I did manage to print one. Thank you Joepah for the information. What was confusing was i followed the instructions on the manual for re-setting to mph, same as you state as above, however after turning the bike off with the key and turning on again, the settings were not saving. This was a head scratch moment as I couldnt figure it out. So I was lucky enough to find A2B on facebook and sent them a message, what a great response..within hours there was a reply that I never would have figured out on my own, or without emailing them.
For anyone else that comes across this issue the following may help. You do the procedure as above and confirm with the Mode button, but odly enough you have to do this three times, then it saves.
So the bike is set and runs perfect, went for a ride the other day to see how far it would run for, I'm a big lad at 17 stone (hence the style of the bike) I went for 17 miles before it went to auto cut out, then made it home off power (close to home) the bikes suspension is awsome, way better than other bikes I have ridden with normal size rims.
It did feel a bit odd as its a small sit up type frame, but after a while I got used to it. Not yet in a position to ride it daily but thats my aim. Great bike from A2B really please.
YW... Your range sounds right, just keep tire pressure at the max.. If flats become a problem suggest switching to 16" moped tires (bicycle tires are based on tire size, mopeds and motorcycle tire size based on rim size) made by Shinko or Pirelli.. People have had a lot of good experience with those tires.. Changing a flat on the rear wheel on the road is a complete pain in the arse!
Not sure I understand the tyre size thing yet it does say on the tyre wall that the tyre is updated with a thicker wall or something to that effect. I have deflated both tyres and used the slime stuff to help prevent punctures, hopefully this will help. Was just wondering if The AA would recover me and my bike as I am a paid up member. Would an electric bike be covered (no index plate obviously) anyone tried this with any recovery service?
I thought the distance of 17 miles was realistic, even being light with the throttle and pedalling. It's about what I expected.
I have had an electric bike before, a Smarta LX this is The Electric Transport shops kind of in house brand. I still have it and it's gonna be passed to her indoors. To be fair it's been a great little bike, but no where near as good or smart as The A2B (in my opinion) I love it and am looking forward to some good rides.
I thought the distance of 17 miles was realistic, even being light with the throttle and pedalling. It's about what I expected.
I have had an electric bike before, a Smarta LX this is The Electric Transport shops kind of in house brand. I still have it and it's gonna be passed to her indoors. To be fair it's been a great little bike, but no where near as good or smart as The A2B (in my opinion) I love it and am looking forward to some good rides.
I hope the slime works for you; it didn't for me.. To get an idea how frequent flats are with this bike, just go and read the comments below Court's review of this bike...http://electricbikereview.com/a2b/metro/ or search for this model in Amazon.
Yeah I did read the review and as you would expect it is a fair & honest review, that appears accurate on what I can see at this early stage. the tyre walls of my bike state the tyres are new and improved so not sure if these are actualy the same quality when the review was done. I guess time will tell how good or bad the tyres are. In pretty much every other way the bike ticks my box's (hense the purchase) I'm hoping it proves to be reliable and fun.
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