There's a fair bit of software on bikes these days - Garmins, Di2 and so on. On e-bikes there's loads, and it's very significant to the way the bike performs. Manufacturers vary in their approach to letting you fiddle with it; some are fairly laisser-faire, others are dealer only.
Fazua, a German company that provides the motor system for my Boardman gives you pretty free access, and I've just done an upgrade to fix a problem that has irritated me for a while.
The Fazua system prides itself on a natural riding experience, and it delivers on this very well. One element is the way in which the motor interacts with the rider - if it detects that you are pedalling well, then it reduces its power output and lets you get on with it, which is generally fine. If you really are going well you quickly pass the 15.5 mph motor cut-off and on you go. Perfect.
Where this all goes wrong is in the Surrey Hills. I like to take a bit of a run at a short steep hill, pedalling hard. The motor takes this as evidence that I am going well, and lets me get on with it. This is a very natural riding experience, of course, being very like riding a hefty bike up a hill without a motor ...
Software 2.01 lets you fiddle with this, and I have done so. I have been able to choose the maximum motor power that I use for hills, and specify how this relates to my own effort. Works really well.
On Farthing Down this morning I was pulling 604 watts at one point, which is quite a bit, being 210 Watts from the motor and 394 Watts from me. That's a good show, and I can't keep it up for long - I was blowing a bit by the top. But it was a good quick climb, and none of this 'natural riding experience' nonsense. It's an e-bike, for heavens sake.
So, once I'm released from House Arrest, I'm ready for a good ride.
Mark
2 comments:
Mark, as you say 600 watts is quite a lot. Are you sure your software hasn't gone rogue?
Could be, Dave. It's part measured and part imputed. The 210 watts for the motor is measured off torque sensors (two of 'em) on the crank. It's German and it's part of the type approval for the system, so I guess it's right. The remainder is imputed by my logging program, based on bike weight, my weight, gradient and speed. No idea if it's right, but it has been consistent over the years. It's the number that appears on the performance graphs that I used to put up for our A rides.
Sky measured me at just under 600 watts peak about ten years ago, so a c.400 burst is just-about credible these days; but the main point for me is that I'm now getting motor + me on this system, rather than the system letting me do the hard bits.
As you noted on my Cannondale, it surges up the hills. This is the same.
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