Boardman ADV 8.9 E

[richtea]

Photos as promised.

[Edit: these are SKS Blumels mudguards - Blumels 10433]

The front mudguard attaches behind the fork and to the inside of both forks, 1/3rd up.
You'll need to cut/hacksaw one pair of the metal stays short (the top ones) and spring/bend them to get this angle:

The two inner holes, with bolts in before I fitted the mudguard.

The rear mudguard is attached in 3 places, as per normal:

- behind the bottom bracket (bit grubby down there!):

Behind/below the saddle where the frame splits either side of the wheel:

And lastly at the rear of the frame near the quick release axle:

 

[fasteasyfree]

Out of curiosity, what's the widest tyre anyone's managed to install on the ADV? I've got some 2" (50mm) Vittoria Mezcal tyres I'm planning on testing tomorrow, so will report back my findings.

 

[fasteasyfree]

Out of curiosity, what's the widest tyre anyone's managed to install on the ADV? I've got some 2" (50mm) Vittoria Mezcal tyres I'm planning on testing tomorrow, so will report back my findings.

No chance!
I think a 45 may work but it would be a squeeze.

 

[bobbypuk]

This thread is so useful! Thanks for all sharing your experiences.
Got the ADV8.9e about a month ago. Will be my daily commuter from September (7 miles each way) so have been kitting it out.

Never been much of a cyclist but the ADV8.9e is so much fun. My commute has some trails and the acceleration coming out of the corners is wild. Love it.

having the power/cadence meter link with the Garmin is a great bonus. Have added a rack, converted tyres to tubeless. Reckon it’s all ready to go.

 

[CXRAndy]

This thread is so useful! Thanks for all sharing your experiences.
Got the ADV8.9e about a month ago. Will be my daily commuter from September (7 miles each way) so have been kitting it out.

Never been much of a cyclist but the ADV8.9e is so much fun. My commute has some trails and the acceleration coming out of the corners is wild. Love it.

having the power/cadence meter link with the Garmin is a great bonus. Have added a rack, converted tyres to tubeless. Reckon it’s all ready to go.
View attachment 651402

Cracking setup there. I have the same Topeak bag and rack on my ebike.

Does the Boardman have built in lights?

If not, I would suggest a Shimano front wheel dyno hub and get Busch Muller front and rear https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lighting/busch-muller-lumotec-iqx-headlight-for-hub-dynamos-black/
You can get cheaper from European supplies.

 

[ianmac62]

Quick post to say how satisfying my 9-day tour was on my ADV 8.9e; but also to ask about a problem that reared its ugly head.

Nine days and just short of 500 miles door-to-door. Everything worked well. My set up in this photo:

Shimano pedals; SKS mudguards & Tubus rack; Ortlieb panniers; second battery in Fazua/Evok bag from top tube (one battery is a 250, the other a 250X); Sigg water bottle.
Changes to original spec: Brooks C15 saddle; Schwalbe Marathon E-Plus tyres.

Now my problem! On the last day, changed the batteries when half-way home. But the 250 battery (not the 250X), fully charged, simply turned off when attached. When switched on, all five LEDs on the battery come on together, then either come on one after another and go out, or simply go out. So far, quite similar to my 250X battery. But the 250, when placed in the bike, and having been switched on, did not come on at all when I used the remote.

I have never experienced this before. I always alternate the batteries ride-by-ride. Throughout this tour I used a single battery on the first seven days, changing them over at the start of each day. On the penultimate day, for the first time, I changed the batteries mid-ride. Everything worked. Then, on the last day, no joy from the 250 battery at all when I tried to use it mid-ride!

Has anyone else come across this? Thanks.

 

[CXRAndy]

Quick post to say how satisfying my 9-day tour was on my ADV 8.9e; but also to ask about a problem that reared its ugly head.

Nine days and just short of 500 miles door-to-door. Everything worked well. My set up in this photo:

View attachment 651442

Shimano pedals; SKS mudguards & Tubus rack; Ortlieb panniers; second battery in Fazua/Evok bag from top tube (one battery is a 250, the other a 250X); Sigg water bottle.
Changes to original spec: Brooks C15 saddle; Schwalbe Marathon E-Plus tyres.

Now my problem! On the last day, changed the batteries when half-way home. But the 250 battery (not the 250X), fully charged, simply turned off when attached. When switched on, all five LEDs on the battery come on together, then either come on one after another and go out, or simply go out. So far, quite similar to my 250X battery. But the 250, when placed in the bike, and having been switched on, did not come on at all when I used the remote.

I have never experienced this before. I always alternate the batteries ride-by-ride. Throughout this tour I used a single battery on the first seven days, changing them over at the start of each day. On the penultimate day, for the first time, I changed the batteries mid-ride. Everything worked. Then, on the last day, no joy from the 250 battery at all when I tried to use it mid-ride!

Has anyone else come across this? Thanks.

Obvious question did you charge it before use or thought you had? Do you own a multi meter, so you can check battery voltage?

Has the issue with said battery been resolved later?

 

[ianmac62]

Obvious question did you charge it before use or thought you had? Do you own a multi meter, so you can check battery voltage?

Has the issue with said battery been resolved later?

Thanks. Good obvious question - I began to question my own routines! Had I? Did I only think I had? But checked when I reached home. Charger light went immediately to green. Today, checking before posting, charger light went to red for a few seconds then to green. Battery LEDs showed full battery - all five lit up.

I don't have a multi-meter to check voltage. TBH I know next to nothing about electrics.

 

[richtea]

When switched on, all five LEDs on the battery come on together, then either come on one after another and go out, or simply go out. So far, quite similar to my 250X battery. But the 250, when placed in the bike, and having been switched on, did not come on at all when I used the remote.

At risk of teaching Grandma to suck eggs....

The LEDs aren't random, although they can appear to be.

On powering up they all light up sequentially, and then depending on the battery charge state, some flick back off again, until the charge state is displayed - 20% for each of the 5 LEDs - so it's worth watching what they settle at.

For example 3 LEDs lit means it's 60% charged:

Having shown the charge status for a couple of seconds they all go out, but the battery is enabled.
A quick tap will show the charge status again.
A long hold of the button will cause the battery to power off, and you'll get the reverse sequence of the LEDs going out one by one until they're all off. A quick tap after that shows nothing = battery is definitely off now.

I have been caught out once by not watching the LEDs carefully before a ride. I saw them all light up and thought, ah 100%, excellent. What I had actually watched was just the turn-on sequence. I'd failed to wait for the status part that comes immediately after the sequential turn-on. The battery was actually at 20%. Needless to say, the ride was quite short & hard that day.

That doesn't explain your problem, but just supposing a charge didn't go well, one can been fooled into thinking the battery is 100% unless you double-check the status either by watching the full startup LED sequence, or by a quick tap once you've switched it on.

 

[ianmac62]

At risk of teaching Grandma to suck eggs....

The LEDs aren't random, although they can appear to be.

On powering up they all light up sequentially, and then depending on the battery charge state, some flick back off again, until the charge state is displayed - 20% for each of the 5 LEDs - so it's worth watching what they settle at.

For example 3 LEDs lit means it's 60% charged:

View attachment 651497

Having shown the charge status for a couple of seconds they all go out, but the battery is enabled.
A quick tap will show the charge status again.
A long hold of the button will cause the battery to power off, and you'll get the reverse sequence of the LEDs going out one by one until they're all off. A quick tap after that shows nothing = battery is definitely off now.

I have been caught out once by not watching the LEDs carefully before a ride. I saw them all light up and thought, ah 100%, excellent. What I had actually watched was just the turn-on sequence. I'd failed to wait for the status part that comes immediately after the sequential turn-on. The battery was actually at 20%. Needless to say, the ride was quite short & hard that day.

That doesn't explain your problem, but just supposing a charge didn't go well, one can been fooled into thinking the battery is 100% unless you double-check the status either by watching the full startup LED sequence, or by a quick tap once you've switched it on.

Hi @richtea Grandma here and thank you for that. I am starting to doubt my own sanity. I've taken to video-ing the charging of the 250 battery (as, over a few days, it will lose a tiny percentage and is no longer full) and of the switch on process to observe what you've described.


I can't play with the actual bike until the day after tomorrow as tomorrow I'm baby-sitting all day in my real-life role as Grandad!

[I have a friend here who bought an ADV 8.9e and a second battery on my recommendation and he got into a right pickle by failing to observe the difference between his 250 and his 250X batteries. He couldn't work out why one would switch on from the remote and the other wouldn't. He went back to Halfords and they puzzled over it for several days until he went back with my e-mail explaining the difference in the batteries' switch-on methods. The Halfords people didn't know there was a difference! I hope I haven't made a similar schoolboy mistake.

Worth noting that I bought my bike and second battery together from Halfords in March 2021. The bike came with a 250X battery fitted and the separate second battery was a 250. Exactly the same for my friend in April 2022 - 250X on the bike; 250 for the separate battery.]

 

[CXRAndy]

This is my gripe with manufacturers using proprietary systems to lock out aftermarket parts. I have an e-bike with two batteries, I just swap them over, no need to know which is which. If the battery goes faulty. I could just get it re-celled or new BMS. It would work with no programming

 

[ianmac62]

This is my gripe with manufacturers using proprietary systems to lock out aftermarket parts. I have an e-bike with two batteries, I just swap them over, no need to know which is which. If the battery goes faulty. I could just get it re-celled or new BMS. It would work with no programming

I agree with you up to a point. I really like the Fazua system yet its aftermarket comes at a premium. In this respect, it is like Apple or Brompton. Once you're into these phones, or these folding bikes, you're locked to a considerable degree into the Apple or Brompton premium-priced aftermarket.

But so far for me, until this recent problem with my 250 battery, the Fazua system has worked well for me.

P.S. We're also a household which has Apple phones/laptops/desktops and Brompton bikes. When they work well, which is 99% of the time, they are brilliant.

 

[gzoom]

This is my gripe with manufacturers using proprietary systems to lock out aftermarket parts. I have an e-bike with two batteries, I just swap them over, no need to know which is which. If the battery goes faulty. I could just get it re-celled or new BMS. It would work with no programming

The only thing I would say is batteries aren't benign, unlike a normal pedal bike. Though alot less dangerous than say petrol, they are still a large energy source, and if you don't respect them things go wrong.

https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/n...ning-battery-fire-destroys-walthamstow-house/

I personally would be very reluctant to do a third party repair on any EV traction battery, even people who know what are doing (and make a living from working with EV battery cells) have been brunt - literally. Yes eBikes have tiny number of cells compared to cars, but the same thing can happen.

View: https://youtu.be/WdDi1haA71Q

https://electrek.co/2021/10/17/gruber-motors-catches-on-fire-again-tesla-roadsters-lost/

 

[johnno60]

Hi, I will soon be attempting 'King Alfred's Way' and would like some fatter knobbly rubber to help with the various surfaces I will be encountering. Has anyone fitted larger width tyres? I have tried researching what the maximum recommended width is but can't find any info. I am looking to fit MAXXIS RAVAGER KEVLAR 700X40 EXO T.R., but would like to go even wider if possible. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CXRAndy]

Measure the gap from the side of the tyre to frame. Check the size of the current tyre. That should guide you how much more width can be accommodated.

Another method which is more expensive is to drop wheel size. My bike will take upto 42mm with 700C wheels, but this increases to 50mm if I fit 650b size wheels