What are FlyKly hub owners saying about it now that they've had a chance to use it?

[AemerC]

Hi,

I'm thinking about buying one of these hubs but it is a bit of a commitment to plunk down 1100 USD without first having a chance to ride one. That doesn't completely dissuade me, but I'd like to hear some feedback from actual owners. Anyone care to share their experience with it?

- There's some suggestion that the app may not connect with the wheel reliably but it sounds like they are working on improving / have already improved that. What's the status of this?

- What about the range?

My commute includes 120 metres (400 feet) of climbing outbound and 160 metres (525 feet) of climbing on the return trip. It is just over 34 km (21 miles) round trip. I'm about 90 kg (200 lbs). I realize that these hubs are intended to provide an assist, but I also don't want to have to pedal against the hub's internal resistance for the last couple miles of my commute each day after the battery runs out.

Any feedback on whether it will be a good fit for me?

Thanks in advance!

 

[pxpaulx]

I was just looking at the specs - 30v 160wh battery, so I'm assuming that is 30v and about 5.5ah - realistic mileage would be about 8 miles unassisted, double that with assist. At the price they are asking it doesn't sound like it would be a good option - 250w motor won't provide much assistance on the hills either, not without you putting as much as the motor into pedaling.

 

[JoePah]

Hi I commute 20 miles Round trip 3x a week on a single speed. No way would a FlyKly out ride me since it cuts off at 15 mph.

The Copenhagen wheel should be released this spring. More capable for sure. Actual capability ? Remains to be seen but the battery is larger and top speed is 20 mph

 

[AemerC]

Thanks, JoePah. What I liked about the FlyKly is that they are actually shipping, unlike the Copenhagen wheel, which so far is only vapourware. But if the FlyKly isn't going to do what I need, then I'll have to either wait for the Copenhagen wheel or find another solution.

 

[JoePah]

Thanks, JoePah. What I liked about the FlyKly is that they are actually shipping, unlike the Copenhagen wheel, which so far is only vapourware. But if the FlyKly isn't going to do what I need, then I'll have to either wait for the Copenhagen wheel or find another solution.

YW...Truth be told I was extremely interested in the FlyKly when the KS campaign was funding.. Was thinking about buying a bunch of htem for $600 each and electrify the neighborhood.

Then I started asking a lot of questions to the creator (there's a thread somewhere here on EBR), and their answers did not make sense.

Now we're here a year later and their actual final product isn't anything I would want to own.. Total disappointment...

Have hopes for the Copenhagen but they told me their battery isn't swappable so the range is going to be less than 20 miles.. not good enough.

 

[AemerC]

I guess everyone has their own biases so I went out and found a pretty good site for estimating e-bike range (http://www.ebikemaps.com/). Thanks, pxpaulx, for the idea!

I attempted to make an objective comparison between the FlyKly and Superpedestrian smart hubs on there. In the absence of anything else, that site probably gives me the best sense of what to expect from each of the two hubs.

Thanks everyone for sharing their opinions!

 

[deuble]

AemerC, I was a kickstarter backer for this project and after the initial $600 backing and paying $180 to expedite the shipping and get to the front of the line for shipping (I am not a patient person) I have had my wheel for a little less than a month now, and while it is not perfect, it has motivated me to start riding almost every day again after a couple of years of much less frequent riding, so it has been worth it for me. As for your specific questions:


Connecting with the app:

This is definitely buggy. I can usually connect to the app in one or two tries when first connecting to check the battery level and assist settings, but it doesn't stay connected when riding for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time. And once the connection is lost while riding (rather than by manually disconnecting through the app) it is difficult to reconnect without letting the wheel shut down (which takes two minutes of not moving the wheel) and/or rebooting my phone to reset the bluetooth. So I don't ride with the app connected anymore. I disconnect manually before I start my ride and then connect again when I get to my destination or when I start my return trip to see how much charge the batter has left. It is like driving a car with a gas tank you can only check when you are stopped. Annoying, but you start to get a feel for how much charge a given trip will take, so you can work with it.


Range:

My ride to and from work is about 12 miles with about 130ft of climbing and 300ft of downhill on the way to work and the other way around on the trip home. I seem to get to work with between 45% and 60% charge remaining when using maximum assist and then I have had 10%-25% charge left after riding home without charging at work (but I haven't ridden home when starting with less than 50%). So you would probably be pushing the limits of your range if you can't recharge the wheel at work if you use the maximum assist, but you can stretch things out if you reduce the boost. It also depends on the nature of your ride. The wheel seems to rely heavily on the regenerative braking to recharge the battery mid ride. On the few short rides I took with the app connected to test things out, I would see the charge drop 10% going up one block long steep hill and then recharge 8% while back pedaling down a hill to recharge the battery. So if you have long uninterrupted hills to climb, this isn't ideal, but if you are riding in the city with stop and go flow and you use the regenerative breaking, wheel will work better for you.


Availability:

Yes, they are taking orders now, but there still may be a significant wait time before they deliver. I don't know how many orders they still have to fill, but they are only making something like 80 wheels a week, so you might still have to wait a bit. Like I said above, I paid extra to jump the line and get my wheel early. Don't know what your experience will be.


So overall, I have enjoyed riding with it. I still have to pedal with some force going up hills and I can feel the drag of the gearing a bit when going faster than the 16mph max assist speed, but no need to stand up and crank on any of the hills I encounter. It hasn’t been hot where I live (50-68 Fahrenheit), but the boost is enough that I can ride in street clothes and get to work without working up a sweat. But there are several annoying things about it. The app is buggy, the range is less than initially promised, and the initial installation didn’t go as smoothly as advertised (I had to change my chain because my old chain didn’t mesh well with the gear of the wheel.


Hope this info is helpful.

 

[JoePah]

AemerC, I was a kickstarter backer for this project and after the initial $600 backing and paying $180 to expedite the shipping and get to the front of the line for shipping (I am not a patient person) I have had my wheel for a little less than a month now, and while it is not perfect, it has motivated me to start riding almost every day again after a couple of years of much less frequent riding, so it has been worth it for me. As for your specific questions:


Connecting with the app:

This is definitely buggy. I can usually connect to the app in one or two tries when first connecting to check the battery level and assist settings, but it doesn't stay connected when riding for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time. And once the connection is lost while riding (rather than by manually disconnecting through the app) it is difficult to reconnect without letting the wheel shut down (which takes two minutes of not moving the wheel) and/or rebooting my phone to reset the bluetooth. So I don't ride with the app connected anymore. I disconnect manually before I start my ride and then connect again when I get to my destination or when I start my return trip to see how much charge the batter has left. It is like driving a car with a gas tank you can only check when you are stopped. Annoying, but you start to get a feel for how much charge a given trip will take, so you can work with it.


Range:

My ride to and from work is about 12 miles with about 130ft of climbing and 300ft of downhill on the way to work and the other way around on the trip home. I seem to get to work with between 45% and 60% charge remaining when using maximum assist and then I have had 10%-25% charge left after riding home without charging at work (but I haven't ridden home when starting with less than 50%). So you would probably be pushing the limits of your range if you can't recharge the wheel at work if you use the maximum assist, but you can stretch things out if you reduce the boost. It also depends on the nature of your ride. The wheel seems to rely heavily on the regenerative braking to recharge the battery mid ride. On the few short rides I took with the app connected to test things out, I would see the charge drop 10% going up one block long steep hill and then recharge 8% while back pedaling down a hill to recharge the battery. So if you have long uninterrupted hills to climb, this isn't ideal, but if you are riding in the city with stop and go flow and you use the regenerative breaking, wheel will work better for you.


Availability:

Yes, they are taking orders now, but there still may be a significant wait time before they deliver. I don't know how many orders they still have to fill, but they are only making something like 80 wheels a week, so you might still have to wait a bit. Like I said above, I paid extra to jump the line and get my wheel early. Don't know what your experience will be.


So overall, I have enjoyed riding with it. I still have to pedal with some force going up hills and I can feel the drag of the gearing a bit when going faster than the 16mph max assist speed, but no need to stand up and crank on any of the hills I encounter. It hasn’t been hot where I live (50-68 Fahrenheit), but the boost is enough that I can ride in street clothes and get to work without working up a sweat. But there are several annoying things about it. The app is buggy, the range is less than initially promised, and the initial installation didn’t go as smoothly as advertised (I had to change my chain because my old chain didn’t mesh well with the gear of the wheel.


Hope this info is helpful.

Nice to hear from an actual user... Can you tell me if your ride to work is 12 miles one way, or 12 miles total to and from work?

Have you ever run the bike until the battery shuts off, so you know the actual range?

Thanks!

 

[deuble]

Nice to hear from an actual user... Can you tell me if your ride to work is 12 miles one way, or 12 miles total to and from work?

12 miles one way. 24 miles total.

 

[JoePah]

12 miles one way. 24 miles total.

Well thats pretty damn good for such a small battery.

 

[J.R.]

@deuble Great review/report. Performance seems good. I expect the app's bugs will eventually get ironed out.

 

[deuble]

Nice to hear from an actual user... Can you tell me if your ride to work is 12 miles one way, or 12 miles total to and from work?

Have you ever run the bike until the battery shuts off, so you know the actual range?

Thanks!

I haven't run the bike until the battery actually shuts off. Judging from the sluggishness of the wheel when pedaling before the wheel turns on and the assist kicks in (you have to pedal and back pedal a couple of times to get the wheel to turn on) I don't want to be far from home when the battery actually shuts off.

I've been thinking of doing a test ride that parallel's public transit until the battery dies to get a better idea of range. I will update when/if I get around to it.

 

[AemerC]

AemerC, I was a kickstarter backer for this project

...

Hope this info is helpful.

It is useful. Thank you very much for taking the time to write all of that out. For better or for worse, I ended up ordering one from "the other guys" because it promised more range and had the option of using a cassette rather than a single fixed gear. I guess we'll see if they'll have similar teething pains.

Ultimately, I like the concept of wheels like the FlyKly. There are things about them that worry me, but not enough to not be willing to give one a try. Hopefully I'll get mine before the summer's over.

I've been thinking of doing a test ride that parallel's public transit until the battery dies to get a better idea of range. I will update when/if I get around to it.

What about comparing your wheel's performance to www.ebikemaps.com's prediction? How do their numbers compare to your actual experience?

 

[MLB]

You guys should check out the Falco if you don't have to have the all in one. It's very sweet and tune able and strong.

 

[lac57]

hi everyone! i've had my flykly for just two days now, but so far it's a game changer. my experience has been similar to @deuble 's, the bluetooth drops when my phone is more than a foot away from the hub, but i've had a much easier time reconnecting (no need for me to restart the hub or the phone to get it going again). other problems i've had is that the wheel can't seem to tell when i'm riding my bike vs. walking it, so i have to stop, reconnect bluetooth, open the app, and turn off assistance once i arrive at work or the wheel will speed off without me when i walk it into the building. the other issue is that my back pedaling doesn't brake. i've got an email going with flykly support (super quick on the responses so far!) to find out if this means the battery isn't getting regenerative power--i don't mind sticking to a hand brake, but i want that downhill power!

my commute is only 4 miles each way (which requires about 10% of my battery, depending on the assist level i set). it's consistently over 100 degrees where i live and i stopped biking this summer because i hate getting to work a stinky, red-faced mess. my mostly uphill ride home at the peak of the day's heat was killing me before. now i'm not even out of breath when i get home.

 

[JoePah]

Everyone seems to have the same poor experience with the bluetooth connectivity.. At least yours works..

Flykly started with BT 4.0 and downgraded it to save themselves some money..

 

[Ziwl]

I completed my first commute to work this morning on the FlyKly Smart Wheel and I have to say that I didn't feel fly. The wheel never assisted on my climb up multiple hills. The app is faulty so I have no electronic data to determine if the wheel is powered on and assisting.

I charged the battery overnight and when I woke up it was 100%. The blue lights were illuminated as I began my first km; however, I never felt the motor assist. For the FlyKly wheel owners out there, could someone tell me if they had the same experience?

Thanks,
Kathy

 

[lac57]

Hi Kathy!

Did you do the wheel configuration (page 13 of the tiny useless manual) where you enter the circumference and number of teeth in the gear? I skipped this at first and didn't get anything, but once I got that information in, it started assisting.

 

[Maxline91]

Is it possible to cheat the Flykly controller (hence increasing the speed limit) by setting smaller wheel circumference than actual number?

Many thanks.

 

[lac57]

I haven't tried it, but I bet so. I'd just be careful about overworking it. If I take mine out on a long ride at the peak of the day (100+ degrees here), I'll sometimes get a warning that it's overheating.