stompandgo
Well-Known Member
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- USA
Yes. If you can't get it done with your PCE02, you'll need a remote session.
Shimano E8000 + ... Alfine 8? Rohloff Speedhub?
- Thread starter speedub.nate
- Start date
speedub.nate
Member
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- Oakland
Hey an update just for what it's worth, the bike is with a shop and in the work queue for an online session with Shimano.
When the E030 message is present (shifter is plugged in), I managed to get the electric shifting working across all 8 gears, but the motor remains off / no assist.
Unplugging the shifter continues to clear the error and the motor operates, stuck in wherever gear I last left it in.
One of the requests for Shimano Tech is adjustment of the default 3,000 mm wheel rollout to 2,180 mm. I've read elsewhere that 3,000 is what all Shimano motors begin with, to prevent speed limit cheating, and that although the E-Tube app allows an adjustment range to correct speedometer errors, the untouchable base setting is what governs all.
I performed a lighting check before turning the bike over to the shop, all works as expected, so this bike will be ready to roll – got fenders, racks, and eventually a new handlebar to finish it off.
When the E030 message is present (shifter is plugged in), I managed to get the electric shifting working across all 8 gears, but the motor remains off / no assist.
Unplugging the shifter continues to clear the error and the motor operates, stuck in wherever gear I last left it in.
One of the requests for Shimano Tech is adjustment of the default 3,000 mm wheel rollout to 2,180 mm. I've read elsewhere that 3,000 is what all Shimano motors begin with, to prevent speed limit cheating, and that although the E-Tube app allows an adjustment range to correct speedometer errors, the untouchable base setting is what governs all.
I performed a lighting check before turning the bike over to the shop, all works as expected, so this bike will be ready to roll – got fenders, racks, and eventually a new handlebar to finish it off.
stompandgo
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
I'm curious what they will find. Thanks for the update.
speedub.nate
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Oakland
Oooh-wow-wee this was unexpected.
Shimano told the shop that they couldn't speed de-restrict my motor, that certain regions are "locked out" and mentioned specifically Vietnam. Now I would have thought that Shimano Tech, if anybody, would have admin privileges to make that happen when remoting in. They supposedly tried, but no joy.
They did clear my E030 error, got my electronic shifting working, and adjusted my wheel size to my request. So... yay!
Totally unexpectedly, the shop handed my bike back with no charges, since they could not complete my requests and because "Shimano did all the work." I bought a new handlebar, handlebar bag, and tail light from them, so they didn't get left empty handed.
Now what do I really think? I think that I need to roll back the motor's software version to 3.4 and that will allow the speed restriction to be modified. However if I'm going to go that route, I'll have to do that version downgrade myself, and if I'm going to figure out how to do the software rollback, then I can just as easily do the speed adjustment.
Shimano told the shop that they couldn't speed de-restrict my motor, that certain regions are "locked out" and mentioned specifically Vietnam. Now I would have thought that Shimano Tech, if anybody, would have admin privileges to make that happen when remoting in. They supposedly tried, but no joy.
They did clear my E030 error, got my electronic shifting working, and adjusted my wheel size to my request. So... yay!
Totally unexpectedly, the shop handed my bike back with no charges, since they could not complete my requests and because "Shimano did all the work." I bought a new handlebar, handlebar bag, and tail light from them, so they didn't get left empty handed.
Now what do I really think? I think that I need to roll back the motor's software version to 3.4 and that will allow the speed restriction to be modified. However if I'm going to go that route, I'll have to do that version downgrade myself, and if I'm going to figure out how to do the software rollback, then I can just as easily do the speed adjustment.
speedub.nate
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Oakland
I have a happy update to this saga! It works!
This all has deviated quite a bit from the original post that kicked off this thread, so I'll write something more specific and detailed in the Shimano forum in the coming days.
Here's my attempt at keeping this update brief:
My AliExpress EP8 motor was originally designated for the Taiwanese market. Shimano specifically locks these down in such a way that the region can't "easily" be changed, 16 MPH speed limit and power output is restricted to 400W (from 500W).
So when my bike shop worked with Shimano USA Tech Support, and Shimano couldn't change the motor to the US region, they technically weren't blowing smoke.
I poked around at my options and landed on eMax-Tuning who apparently are a dedicated crew of Shimano Steps enthusiasts in Germany.
The process is both complex yet simple — the main hurdle is reading through their very thorough instructions to understand what all needs to be done. Also, specifically for this motor I needed to be in possession of the Shimano PCE-02 Windows/USB interface cable, which I already own but otherwise is an additional expense. However, for many users eMax works over a Bluetooth connection. For my situation, it played out like this:
1. download the eMax miniMax software
2. send a screen shot to eMax-Tuning to make sure everything will work
3. PayPal eMax their fee for the license code specific to the drive unit's serial number
Now normally that might be it to make any changes, but for my TW-region motor it got slightly more technical. I'll save the gory details for a separate thread, but in a nutshell:
4. eMax provided a link to an earlier version of Shimano E-Tube software to install on my laptop
5. eMax provided a link to earlier motor firmware that I downloaded, unpacked, and inserted into a hidden Shimano directory
6. I connected the cable to the bike and opened this earlier version of E-Tube, which instantly prompted me to "update" (downgrade) the firmware in the motor
7. The installation went perfectly, just like a normal update, and took about a minute
8. using eMax's miniMax software, I was then able to select the US region (20 MPH speed limit) and modify my wheel size
At this point, I tested the bike and the speed limit had indeed been lifted. But my motor was still restricted to 400W. So...
9. I connected to the bike using the most current version of E-Tube, which detected I had been up to some unauthorized shenanigans and also advised me there was a software update available
10. I performed the software update as suggested, and this brought the motor back to the current firmware version (4.2.0)
11. switching back to the eMax software, I could confirm that I was now at the full 500W, was still at 20 MPH / US region, and could still freely adjust the wheel circumference
My only other mods were to (a) divide the correct wheel circumference by 1.6 (changed from 2190mm actual to 1370mm) and (b) change my display from MPH to Km/H. This gives me a 32 MPH assist limit but shows the correct speed readout on the display, just pretend that the Km/H is MPH and all is good!
I'll say this about eMax: The guy Markus who replied to my emails was super responsive. My initial inquiry was on a Sunday morning and he was back to me that day. Despite the time difference and a few back-and-forth emails, I got everything I needed to perform the update by the next day, Monday. I did take the extra time to read through everything thoroughly and download / install the necessary files while at my desk, but for the actual bike-connected-to-computer time, this was literally **minutes** and there were no false starts, everything worked exactly as it should have the first go, crazy and unexpectedly simple.
And back to the original subject of this email: I took the bike out today for its first real ride. The pushbutton Nexus shifting is working perfectly, about as well as I remember it working on the E6000 Raleigh it came off of. The EP8 motor is so much quieter and quite a bit torquier than the 6000-series, comparable to the Bosch Performance Line motors I've got on two other bikes. I've got to finish the build with the Jones bars, racks, fenders and lights, but for now it's finally a rideable bike that had previously been sitting, deconstructed, in a dusty corner for the past five years. I'll post a proper photo here once I've completed it.
This all has deviated quite a bit from the original post that kicked off this thread, so I'll write something more specific and detailed in the Shimano forum in the coming days.
Here's my attempt at keeping this update brief:
My AliExpress EP8 motor was originally designated for the Taiwanese market. Shimano specifically locks these down in such a way that the region can't "easily" be changed, 16 MPH speed limit and power output is restricted to 400W (from 500W).
So when my bike shop worked with Shimano USA Tech Support, and Shimano couldn't change the motor to the US region, they technically weren't blowing smoke.
I poked around at my options and landed on eMax-Tuning who apparently are a dedicated crew of Shimano Steps enthusiasts in Germany.
The process is both complex yet simple — the main hurdle is reading through their very thorough instructions to understand what all needs to be done. Also, specifically for this motor I needed to be in possession of the Shimano PCE-02 Windows/USB interface cable, which I already own but otherwise is an additional expense. However, for many users eMax works over a Bluetooth connection. For my situation, it played out like this:
1. download the eMax miniMax software
2. send a screen shot to eMax-Tuning to make sure everything will work
3. PayPal eMax their fee for the license code specific to the drive unit's serial number
Now normally that might be it to make any changes, but for my TW-region motor it got slightly more technical. I'll save the gory details for a separate thread, but in a nutshell:
4. eMax provided a link to an earlier version of Shimano E-Tube software to install on my laptop
5. eMax provided a link to earlier motor firmware that I downloaded, unpacked, and inserted into a hidden Shimano directory
6. I connected the cable to the bike and opened this earlier version of E-Tube, which instantly prompted me to "update" (downgrade) the firmware in the motor
7. The installation went perfectly, just like a normal update, and took about a minute
8. using eMax's miniMax software, I was then able to select the US region (20 MPH speed limit) and modify my wheel size
At this point, I tested the bike and the speed limit had indeed been lifted. But my motor was still restricted to 400W. So...
9. I connected to the bike using the most current version of E-Tube, which detected I had been up to some unauthorized shenanigans and also advised me there was a software update available
10. I performed the software update as suggested, and this brought the motor back to the current firmware version (4.2.0)
11. switching back to the eMax software, I could confirm that I was now at the full 500W, was still at 20 MPH / US region, and could still freely adjust the wheel circumference
My only other mods were to (a) divide the correct wheel circumference by 1.6 (changed from 2190mm actual to 1370mm) and (b) change my display from MPH to Km/H. This gives me a 32 MPH assist limit but shows the correct speed readout on the display, just pretend that the Km/H is MPH and all is good!
I'll say this about eMax: The guy Markus who replied to my emails was super responsive. My initial inquiry was on a Sunday morning and he was back to me that day. Despite the time difference and a few back-and-forth emails, I got everything I needed to perform the update by the next day, Monday. I did take the extra time to read through everything thoroughly and download / install the necessary files while at my desk, but for the actual bike-connected-to-computer time, this was literally **minutes** and there were no false starts, everything worked exactly as it should have the first go, crazy and unexpectedly simple.
And back to the original subject of this email: I took the bike out today for its first real ride. The pushbutton Nexus shifting is working perfectly, about as well as I remember it working on the E6000 Raleigh it came off of. The EP8 motor is so much quieter and quite a bit torquier than the 6000-series, comparable to the Bosch Performance Line motors I've got on two other bikes. I've got to finish the build with the Jones bars, racks, fenders and lights, but for now it's finally a rideable bike that had previously been sitting, deconstructed, in a dusty corner for the past five years. I'll post a proper photo here once I've completed it.
speedub.nate
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Oakland
I thought I was going to post the final build pictures and be done with this thread. But nope!
Nothing to do with the motor, but I installed the Jones H-bar handlebar, and my hydraulic line is too short!
The handgrip position is in roughly the same place as the flat handlebar it's replacing, but the increased sweep angles the levers forward enough that the hydraulic line to the rear caliper suddenly stretched.
Not a huge deal to replace the brake line, just inconvenient, but because of the internal routing I'll have to pull the crank to remove the spider & chainring to drop the motor (access to one motor mounting bolt is blocked by the spider), and risk scrambling all of my careful wiring. Waah!
BTW for anybody reading this far, here is a link to my step-by-step walkthrough of the motor de-restriction I posted in the Shimano forum:
forums.electricbikereview.com
Nothing to do with the motor, but I installed the Jones H-bar handlebar, and my hydraulic line is too short!
The handgrip position is in roughly the same place as the flat handlebar it's replacing, but the increased sweep angles the levers forward enough that the hydraulic line to the rear caliper suddenly stretched.Not a huge deal to replace the brake line, just inconvenient, but because of the internal routing I'll have to pull the crank to remove the spider & chainring to drop the motor (access to one motor mounting bolt is blocked by the spider), and risk scrambling all of my careful wiring. Waah!
BTW for anybody reading this far, here is a link to my step-by-step walkthrough of the motor de-restriction I posted in the Shimano forum:
Updating Locked Shimano EP8 Motor to US-Region / Speed De-Restriction using eMax Tuning...
Executive Summary: A walk-thru of my unlocking a Taiwan-region Shimano EP8 motor, purchased from an overseas vendor on AliExpress. Motor is s/w 4.1.8 and is software-locked, preventing Shimano USA tech support being able to switch it to US-region. The motor is speed-restricted to 16 MPH and...
forums.electricbikereview.com
stompandgo
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Or use a Park Tool IR1.3 Internal Routing Kit. Cut off the barb at the lever end. Screw the threaded coupler into the old and new hose. Pull lightly and push strongly to work it through the frame.
speedub.nate
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Oakland
^^ I like this option and have seen similar demonstrated in video tutorials.
What I think is going to be a (literal) hangup is the way the brake line gets wedged in over the hump of the motor as it passes through the bottom bracket area and into the downtube. It's not pinched, but it shifts up then down then back up, and I am expecting that to give me fits. But I'll try before I begin pulling parts.
What I think is going to be a (literal) hangup is the way the brake line gets wedged in over the hump of the motor as it passes through the bottom bracket area and into the downtube. It's not pinched, but it shifts up then down then back up, and I am expecting that to give me fits. But I'll try before I begin pulling parts.
Gionnirocket
Well-Known Unidentified Member
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- USA
- City
- Y. O.
My brake line as well as the Rohloff shift cables take the same road. Having dropped the motor before... I wouldn't even attempt to snake a replacement. There's just too many tightly spaced direction changes as well as some small wires that could be damaged in the motor cradle.
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