Shimano STePS

[TrevorB]

I think auto works on your preferred cadence which needs to be configured in controller. Most likely it has been set to low by somebody playing with settings.

 

[TrevorB]

Was told away to jailbreak ebike so tried on STEPS bike. Place magnet on crank at pedal end (powerful rare earth magnet will stick to back of pedal bolt) and move pick up so magnet activates it instead of spoke magnet. Will show speed of approx 10km/hr regardless of speed. Works a treat for all of 5 minutes till stops with error E14. To fix leave display on E14 and ride ( bike shop fix). I'm guessing error will reappear if you keep riding, I didn't try again.

Looks like Shimano has thought of everything, NB Bosch also errors if you try this.

 

[khonfahm]

Was told away to jailbreak ebike so tried on STEPS bike. Place magnet on crank at pedal end (powerful rare earth magnet will stick to back of pedal bolt) and move pick up so magnet activates it instead of spoke magnet. Will show speed of approx 10km/hr regardless of speed. Works a treat for all of 5 minutes till stops with error E14. To fix leave display on E14 and ride ( bike shop fix). I'm guessing error will reappear if you keep riding, I didn't try again.

Looks like Shimano has thought of everything, NB Bosch also errors if you try this.

- Trevor, how did you fix this? I'm in the same boat.

To fix leave display on E14 and ride ( bike shop fix)

... So you're saying, just ride the bike as is , with E14 code on, and it will automatically fix it self after a few minutes?

 

[TrevorB]

That what shop told me. Didn't try reproducing error to test it.

Make sure you put sensor back to original position first.

 

[David Lloyd]

Thanks for the interesting evaluation of the Shimano steps system. A local bikeshop has a brand new e-bike that came in where the dealer who had it previously damaged the fork during storage and for some reason took the battery out before selling it on. I can get the bike, minus the fork and battery, for €200, which is a steal. I'm reluctant to have to splurge over €500 on an original Shimano replacement battery and charger, since I can source equally good packs and a charger for a fraction of the cost.

Does anyone know the pinouts of the Shimano BT-E6000 battery pack? I can see it has four connectors. On my own custom e-bike the pack also uses four connector pins, two are used for transferring current and two to sense pack voltage. I could take my multimeter to an e-bike retailer and hope to be allowed to test a live pack, but I'm not sure if they will understand that a multimeter cannot harm their product and it seems cheeky if I have no desire to purchase their pack.

Here is the photo of the pins I found online:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8672/16736408421_a46de96687_b.jpg

Here is the replacement pack I would prefer over a Shimano original (note the price includes a charger!):

https://www.ev-power.eu/EVBike-Battery/Battery-for-EV-bikes-EVBike-36V-13Ah.html

All these battery packs are pretty much standardised. No bike manufacturer makes the actual lithium cells, they all buy from Sanyo or Samsung or whoever. The bike manufacturers are overcharging for the batteries in my opinion.

 

[TrevorB]

I think Shimano have proprietary batteries same Bosch. You may not get it to work with another battery as battery talks to controller. I'm guessing you are from UK, in which should be able get replacement battery from Europe for lot less than £500.

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/search?q=E6000+battery

While you are ordering get a replacement fork.

Even you buy locally £800 for Steps bike with new battery (local warranty) is still a bargain.

 

[David Lloyd]

Hi Trevor, that is really true. Thanks for the really excellent link and reality check. It's just something rankles with me about manufacturers trying to lock their customers in to an after-sales market. The way e-bikes work, the connection between the battery pack and the motor controller is so fundamentally simple (a positive and a negative terminal) and there is not really that much scope to design packs with arbitrary voltages, you have to move in increments equal to the cell potential.

Bikes have been so free and easy to maintain, basically open to mixing and matching components. If I compare it to the situation with cars, where you have massive lock-down by the manufacturers, I want to resist the likes of Shimano and Bosch try to bring the same horrible proprietary lock-down.

Once I have a proper STePS pack I can have a look at it and see if it is really that impossible to reverse engineer. For the price they are asking they can't have anything that amazingly clever in the pack.

 

[TrevorB]

The online prices for E6000 was considerably cheaper (<half)than Bosch, which was one reason purchased Shimano drive. Given they use quality cells and have 2yr warranty the price is very competitive compared to cheap unknown quality kit batteries.

Proprietary batteries are not just about extra profit, they also protect from aftermarket batteries that could damage drive systems and possibly brand reputation.

 

[bazzapage]

BTW it is true that a E014 error on the STEPS system can be cured by a few minutes of riding around. Sucks that they do this in the first place, because it's a nice motor system over 25kph.

 

[Inge Strand]

BTW it is true that a E014 error on the STEPS system can be cured by a few minutes of riding around. Sucks that they do this in the first place, because it's a nice motor system over 25kph.

Hi

Just got my second ebike with Shimano Step. I fixed the magnet to the pedal. Everything worked fine for 5 minutes, and the E014 ! Tried riding around for 5 minutes, still E014.
My first ebike with Shimano steps is two years old, the magnet to pedal fix works great, maybe software has been updated or something..



Inge

 

[Testosti]

Did we find out any more about the possibility to tune the Steps e8000 with DI2?
The 25kph limit is a pain.. 30-35, that's all I need!!

 

[Inge Strand]

Hi,

I suppose the only option today is the badass box, i got this reply from ebiketuning.com

thank you for your E-Mail! We contacted the manufacturer of the Badass Box and he said:


Yes, Shimano has set up a software update so that the system is set up
drive as soon as the rear wheel speed is equal to the crankshaft speed.
In order to exclude precisely this manipulation possibility.
With the Badass Box you can solve this problem.

I am going to buy one later this spring and check it out.


Inge

 

[Testosti]

Hey! I did the same around 2 weeks ago, what they said is:

wir hoffen, dass wir bald eine Lösung anbieten können, wir wollen es aber weder versprechen noch eine zeitliche Zusage machen.
Leider ist unser Testrad mit E8000 und Di2 erst sehr spät gekommen und nun zu Saisonbeginn haben wir schon wieder mit vielen anderen Dingen alle Hände voll zu tun.
Ich setze Sie aber mal auf die Mailingliste, dann bekommen Sie eine Nachricht, wenn sich in dieser Angelegenheit eine Lösung ergeben hat.

we hope we will find a solution soon, but we can't promise or set a time frame for it. Sadly we received our e8000 bike with Di2 quite late and we have a lot of other things to do. I'll put you on a mailing list [...]

really hope they will find a solution soon..?

FGA

 

[Cameron Chambers]

Who makes the battery cells for Shimano? I have looked around and cannot find anything. Is it a Samsung 18650?

 

[Canard]

Hey there,

I just bought a Trek Lift+. Once I got it home I found out it's a 2016, not a 2017. I'm concerned the battery might have been abused. When I have it fully charged and put it in, it says range is 93 km on ECO. Shouldn't it read 125 km?

Just wondering or if this is normal.

Also after about 100 km I now hear a "rubbing" noise from inside the drive. It only happens when the chainring is being driven by the motor; ie, when I'm pedalling with it off, I don't hear the sliding/rubbing noise. But when the motor is kicked in, I hear it. It didn't do that when I first started riding. I'll try to make a video to explain...

Looking forward to reading and posting more in the forum!

-Iain

 

[Marck]

Hi,

I suppose the only option today is the badass box, i got this reply from ebiketuning.com

thank you for your E-Mail! We contacted the manufacturer of the Badass Box and he said:


Yes, Shimano has set up a software update so that the system is set up
drive as soon as the rear wheel speed is equal to the crankshaft speed.
In order to exclude precisely this manipulation possibility.
With the Badass Box you can solve this problem.

I am going to buy one later this spring and check it out.


Inge

Hi Inge, did you ever order the Badass Box and if so, how who did you order it from and how did it work out? Thanks!

Marck

 

[Krist]

Hi all

I've been using the badass box on an Oxford city bike (Cambridge model) with a shimano steps system. It works brilliantly, I got rid of the annoying "braking feeling" you have when the bike hits 25,9 km/hour and I easily do 30-35 km per hour. Faster is difficult because the bike only has 7 gears, but being able to ride at 30/35 makes a world of difference with that 25 km/hour limit. Two things though: mounting the badass box was a bit of an effort because of the position of the sensor on the rear fork, and the range of the battery is obviously much (and I mean much) lower. But nothing that can't be solved.
I recommend it.

Kris

 

[Marck]

Hi Kris, that's very helpful info -- thank you. Are you using the typ3.3 or 3.4?

Marc

 

[Krist]

Hi Kris, that's very helpful info -- thank you. Are you using the typ3.3 or 3.4?

Marc

Hi Marc , it's the 3.3. I understood that this was the only type available for shimano steps engines. I saw websites advertising the 3.4 type but in the ordering process that was automatically replaced by the 3.3.