Hybrid with torque sensor under £1500 or convert existing bike?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
A

ade towell

Über Member
Location
Nottingham
Re the firmware update. I haven't updated the wife's, because it does everything we want. I added a couple extra power levels, changed the voltage to 52V, upped the available power. This was all done from the display. I haven't updated firmware, though I do have the programming lead

I know the latest TSDZ2 comes with colour display and additional settings to play with.

I would suggest, if it's working fine and you've got all the features leave it alone.

Ha seems we posted at the same time - yes I am going to leave firmware alone for the time being
 
OP
OP
A

ade towell

Über Member
Location
Nottingham
Ok just a quick update mainly about the battery after using for 150 miles - having calibrated the battery settings on the display I am now getting much more accurate battery readings, yesterday I did 41 miles mainly off road in relatively hilly Nottinghamshire with temperatures barely above freezing and at the end of the ride battery had 32% left. This was in Eco Level 2 which feels almost like bionic legs cheat mode but a whole lot of fun off road (level 1 is more of a work out and what I normally use on the road) Having kept an eye on the battery readings it felt pretty consistent throughout the ride and feel confident it is fairly accurate. From this I feel happy to be able to go on 50-60 mile rides without anxiety even in this cold spell, would imagine it will only get getter in warmer weather - is this true or just a presumption of mine? Am very happy with this from a £170 battery
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Yes, you will get more range when in summer. Around 20°C will be the Goldilocks temperature.

If you're using low settings mostly it will give great performance.
 
OP
OP
A

ade towell

Über Member
Location
Nottingham
OK this is another rambling newbie post of mine but I naively/stupidly learnt a big valuable lesson about my battery yesterday.
Was keen to find out what the range really was on my cheap unbranded Chinese battery 48v 20ah, as I said I'd gotten 41 miles from a fairly hilly, mainly off road ride using predominantly Eco level 2 and I had 32% battery left on display and still 1 of 4 green lights on battery itself

In my head that meant that I had about 60 miles range maximum if I used level 1 on the road and level 2 when needed on hilly off road sections. It was cold, 2 degrees yesterday but had been the same on my 40 mile ride. Anyway attempted a 59 mile ride up into the Peak District with a lot of steep hills.
Got to 42 miles and with the battery at around 25% it quickly started giving me less assistance, and quickly plummeted down to 15% - and from then it was like peddling in treacle, quickly giving me no assistance at all. Anyway I managed to limp home the last 17 miles by a combination of putting the level to 0 when on the flat and downhill, and the battery level would slowly creep up to 20% so I could use level 1 sparingly just to get me up any inclines. There is definitely quite a bit of resistance when peddling at 0 or with the battery turned off, it is hard going on the flat but even the slightest incline is indeed like treacle.
I presume it is the batteries management system kicking in to protect the battery, is this behaviour about right at the % I mention? Also is there any of the battery calibration settings that I can play around with - again am presuming it is the LowCutVoltage setting (in my case 39.0v) which sets the cut off point for my battery?
Would a battery with the more expensive branded Samsung, LG or Panasonic cells behave in the same way or would they give me a bit more help when battery level dipped below 25%? I don't want to damage the battery and would always try and not let it go below 20% but there may be occasions when I overshoot and would be good to know if there are any adjustments I could make when out on a ride

If it helps these were the values I was recommended to put in for my 48v battery (ignore the 36v)

Battery36V48V
0%30.039.0
20%32.241.9
40%34.444.7
60%36.647.6
80%38.850.4
100%41.053.3
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom