Unhappy with Rattan Fat Bear Plus

[Tim Young]

Greetings fellow Fat Bear owners. I was never able to resolve the power assist operation while using the pedals. Power kicks in soon as the pedals spin but is all or nothing at least at the power level setting on the controller. I have come to the conclusion that this is simply the way these bikes work with the motor on the wheel. I had an opportunity to ride a much more expensive ebike with the motor at the pedal hub and power assist was smooth and proportional to the torque applied to the pedals. I am going to sell my new Fat Bear (about 4 miles on it) and have it listed on the classified section of this forum. I'm willing at this point to pay five times the price and get the in my opinion a better design. Anyone have a guess as to a fair price for my like new Rattan? I listed it for $800. I was never able to get Rattan customer service to send me the proper derailleur guard and finally gave up and just took it off the bike. I knew going into the purchase this was a very inexpensive bike for an off road capable bike with full suspension and was hoping I would like it but....

-Tim

 

[onlineaddy]

That is the difference between a cadence-sensing vs torque-sensing PAS. For your next purchase make sure the bike motor uses a torque sensor.

 

[TMH]

Agree fully that your issues are due to a cadence sensing system. As said above the torque sensing systems feel much more natural (like you have bionic legs) as they work to magnify the amount of work you are putting in.

With that said, however, cadence sensing systems have been around for a while now as they were the first generation of PAS beyond having a throttle only. Lots of folks have, and continue to use them successfully.

Depending on how much of a loss you are willing to take on selling your brand new bike, you might try a couple of things first:

1) You've only ridden it 4 miles or so, which is definitely not enough time to test the bike. Maybe put 10x that many miles onto the new bike and see if you get more used to the cadence PAS;
2) Contact the bike's manufacturer and find out whether you can program the PAS through the display, to customize the PAS more to your liking.

Good luck with whatever you choose. I will say that I am a big fan of torque sensing pedal assist although I have also ridden some cadence assist bikes and find them fully usable.

 

[RMK!]

Good advice above^

I have a very similar ebike (Eahora X7 Plus) with that same Reibok hub motor and Cadence sensor. The power assist does kick-in in a lively manner but for slow starts you can set your controller to 0 (zero) assist and that is no PAS mode. The controller offers several PAS power levels and these can be set to stop working at various speeds. Unfortunately, they all start the same and on that ebike, it is lively but with nearly 800 miles on mine (8 weeks in) I really like it.

I have ridden mid-drive ebikes with Torque sensors and they were nice too but I prefer the Cadence sensors and the ability to override with a throttle. That said I pedal 99% of the time so a good mid-drive with torque sensor would/could be fun but good luck trying to find a cool looking comfortable Fat Tire ebike like the Fat Bear Plus with a mid-drive torque sensor.

Full disclosure, I am a fan of these 20" Fat Tire Bikes and have 3 more shipping to outfit other family members. I am riding a lot so someday I may decide to drop $10K+ on a really nice Santa Cruz or similar hub motor torque sensing ebike but for the time being, I'm fine with the little inexpensive Chinese cruisers.

 

[Tim Young]

Thanks everyone for your kind and thoughtful input on my experience. One of the other problems I have is getting any type of support from Rattan. Not even legitimate warranty request on the derailleur guard or my several requests for the settings of the controller. I did have some other nice replies from other owners with the settings they have but I was never able to get the bike to work the way I hoped it would the plus display I installed had what I hoped would be better settings since you can set power assist in % up to 5 levels. I tried various % levels of assist but found if I set it lower the power seems to not be less but the power would drop out at lower speeds. I guess I'm kind of frustrated with it to offer the type of assist I want which would te torque sensing. I guess it comes down to personal preference. I can see depending on your riding style the cadence design of this bike would be fine and it does have the advantage of throttle control which is one of the things I wanted. I did find a way to make the bike throttle only but the bike with fat tires and weight is pretty hard to pedal without any assist so when I tried that it was more to my liking with smoother control to the assist level but alway had to apply some throttle. If you always need some assist then that is where the cadence or torque sense shines but of those two choices I like the behavior of torque sense better. I just did not know this until I had the bike and then tried to figure it out.

 

[1263]

Good advice above^

I have a very similar ebike (Eahora X7 Plus) with that same Reibok hub motor and Cadence sensor. The power assist does kick-in in a lively manner but for slow starts you can set your controller to 0 (zero) assist and that is no PAS mode. The controller offers several PAS power levels and these can be set to stop working at various speeds. Unfortunately, they all start the same and on that ebike, it is lively but with nearly 800 miles on mine (8 weeks in) I really like it.

I have ridden mid-drive ebikes with Torque sensors and they were nice too but I prefer the Cadence sensors and the ability to override with a throttle. That said I pedal 99% of the time so a good mid-drive with torque sensor would/could be fun but good luck trying to find a cool looking comfortable Fat Tire ebike like the Fat Bear Plus with a mid-drive torque sensor.

Full disclosure, I am a fan of these 20" Fat Tire Bikes and have 3 more shipping to outfit other family members. I am riding a lot so someday I may decide to drop $10K+ on a really nice Santa Cruz or similar hub motor torque sensing ebike but for the time being, I'm fine with the little inexpensive Chinese cruisers.

Good advice above^

I have a very similar ebike (Eahora X7 Plus) with that same Reibok hub motor and Cadence sensor. The power assist does kick-in in a lively manner but for slow starts you can set your controller to 0 (zero) assist and that is no PAS mode. The controller offers several PAS power levels and these can be set to stop working at various speeds. Unfortunately, they all start the same and on that ebike, it is lively but with nearly 800 miles on mine (8 weeks in) I really like it.

I have ridden mid-drive ebikes with Torque sensors and they were nice too but I prefer the Cadence sensors and the ability to override with a throttle. That said I pedal 99% of the time so a good mid-drive with torque sensor would/could be fun but good luck trying to find a cool looking comfortable Fat Tire ebike like the Fat Bear Plus with a mid-drive torque sensor.

Full disclosure, I am a fan of these 20" Fat Tire Bikes and have 3 more shipping to outfit other family members. I am riding a lot so someday I may decide to drop $10K+ on a really nice Santa Cruz or similar hub motor torque sensing ebike but for the time being, I'm fine with the little inexpensive Chinese cruisers.

The 3 more bikes you are ordering are they the Fat Bear plus? Could you compare the Eahora x7 plus with the Fat Bear plus?

 

[RMK!]

The 3 more bikes you are ordering are they the Fat Bear plus? Could you compare the Eahora x7 plus with the Fat Bear plus?

No but they are Rattan's. I'm getting 2 500W Model X"s (wife and daughter) and one 750W XL. I believe that the Eahora X7Plus and the Fat Bear Plus are very similar. The XL was going to be my daily rider but I spend to much time researching this stuff I came across this ebike. I was fortunate to be able to test ride the Bikonit and after the test ride, I knew I had to have it.

That brings my ebike stable to 5 but the daughter lives away so I will only be housing 4. I may sell one or 2 eventually but will try living with them to see if there is enough utility (riding with friends and family) to justify keeping them. When you think of it, I have a total spend of less half the cost of one good Jet Ski.

That's how I rationalize this shite. ;-)

 

[GypsyTreker]

I'm totally satisfied with how the power comes on when peddling my Ecotric fattie (26") but my wifes 20" folder is light switch in PAS 1. I was going to modify it per Harry S using a different controller and display that's the same as my 5 level system. Anyway my wife kinda uses the throttle for a slow running start, throws her short legs over the saddle and away we go. She won't have it any other way. By all means personal preference trumps opinion, no doubt. My only comment, higher pricing does not qarentee a better buying experience. If I were to consider a higher value bike I would look at Watt Wagons.

 

[camdon44]

No but they are Rattan's. I'm getting 2 500W Model X"s (wife and daughter) and one 750W XL. I believe that the Eahora X7Plus and the Fat Bear Plus are very similar. The XL was going to be my daily rider but I spend to much time researching this stuff I came across this ebike. I was fortunate to be able to test ride the Bikonit and after the test ride, I knew I had to have it.

That brings my ebike stable to 5 but the daughter lives away so I will only be housing 4. I may sell one or 2 eventually but will try living with them to see if there is enough utility (riding with friends and family) to justify keeping them. When you think of it, I have a total spend of less half the cost of one good Jet Ski.

That's how I rationalize this shite. ;-)

Did you get your Bikonit?

 

[RMK!]

No, it is supposed to ship (by sea) in a few days. If that happens, I'll get it in August. I am having a little dust up with Rattan at the moment. I received a damaged XL and, they neglected to tell me that the 2 X models I ordered and paid for way back when would not be shipped until August or later. I tried to cancel all of my Rattan orders but they talked me into a compromise that delivered a new step through model (LF500) to my daughter and I got an XL (not the one I ordered) last week . The XL is not rideable due to arriving with a seriously bent chainring and it's sitting in a bike shop as I type this.

Living the ebike dream ...

 

[GypsyTreker]

No, it is supposed to ship (by sea) in a few days. If that happens, I'll get it in August. I am having a little dust up with Rattan at the moment. I received a damaged XL and, they neglected to tell me that the 2 X models I ordered and paid for way back when would not be shipped until August or later. I tried to cancel all of my Rattan orders but they talked me into a compromise that delivered a new step through model (LF500) to my daughter and I got an XL (not the one I ordered) last week . The XL is not rideable due to arriving with a seriously bent chainring and it's sitting in a bike shop as I type this.

Living the ebike dream ...

Sorry this didn't go the way you planned. I think I mentioned they got pretty dismissive of a few questions I asked. Like which of the two different bikes you show as this bike on the crowdfund is "the" specific one. I mentioned I was concerned, before I was done my back and forth I got a PayPal notice they had refunded my reserve deposit, or whatever its called.

I'm not sure if these pay before they play (build) is a viable model or Im simply a dinasour. Lol

 

[jaizon]

Caveat Emptor!

 

[kmccune]

Well on my "Yamee" 500-watt fat bear plus, I stuck the old controller back in it and think I came pretty close to getting the wiring right (,is it too much to ask for a wiring diagram,?) apparently, they are not going to send me a different controller, this controller is sick after it got up to speed it dumped 750 watts( up from its old max of 283 watts) and wouldnt shutdown, luckily one of the brake cutoffs was working( this thing has never been right- ah but it has a great 8spd Altus, 20 " fat tires, 180 mm hydraulic brakes pretty good headlight, dual suspension.So if the factory doesn't come through( wish they would just buy it back) old controller and anemic motor are coming off to be replaced with a good 1500 watt motor and a much bigger parallel battery its going to be respectful ( the "War Wagon" is still in the works)
The crazy thing is after all the other bikes I got a 350 watt Peacedove steel frame and I love this thing its going to get a battery and rear brake upgrade( 180 mm Hydraulic or semi Hydraulic, with a possible 500 watt fwd motor- the 18 ah battery is on the way, I would sell the brand new "Yamee" for $600 if someone would take it off my hands.