Wow this is intriguing. When you say the shop fixed it was that Propel? Or did you take it somewhere else? Did they give you a full explanation? I'm very curious as to what the problem was, what caused it to occur and how it was fixed. Any more info you have would be greatly appreciated. I haven't had any trouble with my Nuvinci yet but I'm only at 500 miles. I asked my LBS if they had ever worked on them. The mechanic told me he had successfully repaired the mechanical Nuvinci without too much trouble but had an electronic/automatic Nuvinci that was a major pain in the rear. And with that he said the Fallbrook Technologies was really hard to work with. Just one mechanic's feedback.
Regarding the speed: I'm still glad I got the 28mph version but I have learned that I could have lived with the 20mph bike for commuting. My commute has so much start/stop that I rarely find myself over 20mph. The other day I hit 27mph but it was for only a very short stretch. When I do have open road, I find myself usually cruising right around 20mph in Tour mode. I find myself wondering whether the higher torque but lower speed Bosch motor would have been a better choice for my commuter bike just in terms of efficiency and battery range. The HS Charger is a blast to ride so no regrets at all so I was just referring to what the most "efficient" choice would have been. Over my last few commutes, I've averaged about 2 hours and 10 to 20 minutes for the 35-36 miles or about 15+mph. I'd say I have a few sections where I can get the speed up and cruise but for the most part it is start/stop commuting.
I will certainly get some more information on what went wrong with the NuVinci. I had it fixed at Propel and spent the day in Brooklyn with family so when I picked up the bike I was very tired. I asked about what was wrong and everything but I will ask again in a way that will allow me to explain it to you. Initially I went to Firth & Wilson in Philly and he re-aligned the gear range rings of the Nuvinci which were out of alignment. For some reason, this actually made it worse and instead of spinning like a clown at 24mph i was doing it at 20mph. That guy told me the Nuvinci had to be reset internally but he didnt have time to do it. I had propel fix it so I will ask when I go there in a week or so to pick up my girlfriends bike, she got the same as you I believe. Charger GT Nuvinci HS in matte black, but she got dual battery as well. Can never have too much lithium!
It works great now at least! I am almost at 1000 miles now, but I ride the bike really really hard sometimes. Since my Nuvinci was messed up I was discouraged from working since speed helps me make more money, so I took it up and down some rough terrain and in the city at night was jumping off all of the driveway curbs like I did when I was a kid, only this time I was going 20+ mph. It was so much fun, the bike really can take a beating but I am not sure why this Nuvinci thing happened to me. I was thinking about the electronic Harmony Nuvinci one day, but Kyle at propel told me it isnt smooth and feels glitchy. My only motivation for it was the fact that my cables were frayed multiple times for seemingly no reason. The 2nd time it happened it was from over tightening the cable into the metal piece at the end.
I drive through Center City Philadelphia constantly, but I ride quickly and pedal hard/fast so I end up hitting over 20mph even if I am stopping and starting 1 block at a time. I just like the ability to travel at a speed that cars behind me really cant complain when there is only one lane or the million other situations that require riding in the car lane. Honestly, I mostly travel in the middle of the car lane because I jump red lights, only yield at stop signs, and don't want to get doored. Cars never complain, it usually only takes a couple seconds off the line to hit 15-20mph, I can be at 25+ by half a block when actually putting in real effort.
I don't think efficiency is changed much between motors, just depends more on how you ride I guess. Really I think the dual battery gives more than double the range of a single battery. I took a test ride one night in all Turbo to see how far I could go. Mind you, I was riding in all Turbo, with about a 225lb load on the bike between me and all my tools, water, supplies, and my 10lb Abus chain. I went 52 miles before the range said 1 mile left, I didnt run it to dead but stopped when the range said 1 mile. Also, I have the Supernova M99 Pro, and used it on high beam for most of the ride but pointed down because my tail light only turns on right now if I turn the high beam on the light. Remedying that with the M99 tail light. Anyway, with all that weight, electronic usage (including phone charging), and I frequently travel 25+, and also this was all in busy city stop/start riding, I amazingly went over 50 miles!
With regards to your speed, it sounds like you go faster than you think! At 2 hours and 20 minutes for 36 miles, thats an average of about 15mph if you never stop and just do 15 the entire time. With all the stopping and starting you are doing you must be going faster
I ordered a Nyon a while back and it took 4 weeks for German Customs to just cancel it and send it back. I tried again using Ebay this time for an extra $100 compared to the bike-discount.de price, and in just 4 days since shipment its already just a couple towns away! The guy shipped it the day after I ordered, and it went through the exact same German facility. With the Nyon I will have a ton more stats to help decipher where the wattage really goes! After I get that, my final 'upgrade' will be the Sherlock bike tracker when it ships in a few weeks. I am very excited to have the Nyon though, I feel like for a $7000 bike, it should have more than the Intuvia. The Intuvia is great, but minimalist. The Nyon is feature rich, but most likely still has some glitches. I just feel like it really completed the whole feel of having spent car money on a bike if the bike has a serious headlight, and a serious smart computer with GPS. Other than that everything has been great on the bike, the only thing I ever get jealous of is the suspension setup and fenders on the Moustache Starckbike, even though the bike as a whole is something I'd never choose.
P.S. The day after I did that 52 miles all turbo test, I had charged the bike fully and it showed a crazy 154 mile range in Eco.
Oh I forgot one thing to mention but then I remembered you have only 1 battery. Charging on the bike is weird, no matter how much I charge it, my Range in Turbo will only go up to like 38-40. When I charge the batteries separately off the bike using 2 chargers, it will then show me a 5-54 mile range estimate. However, when I begin a ride 'fully' charged but only showing 38 miles of range, I can go 20 miles and the range will still say 30. Really weird, can't figure out why! At first I thought the batteries were only charging to 80% on the bike, but now I'm see the range is just inaccurate, can't imagine why....