Ribble Endurance ALe Sport for commuting - Part 2 - Wow, what a disappointment!

[IanSmithCSE]

Good afternon,

[Edit: 17 Mar 2024 There is a follow up at https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/r...art-6-1-700-miles-its-a-good-tool-but.296599/ ]

My Ribble arrived on Wednesday, but I left it in the box until today and sadly there is a scratch on the frame but I am not sure if I did it or they did.

My first problem was that I downloaded the Mahle app to configure the power settings and it doesn't seem to send the confirmation email and without this you can't set the power levels. So getting really pissed off I went for a ride with all 3 levels set at 100%. Clearly this isn't Ribble's fault but also it's not my problem either, going to Mahle's web site solved the problem but it is a bike, why do I need to regisiter with a flakey app just to set it up?

I did the first few miles with the power turned off, if I spin the rear wheel with a non trivial amount of force the wheel manages a full rotation
before stopping, this would be very poor for a normal wheel but on the road it isn't noticable with all the interia of me and the bike. Tourists here won't notice it but its weight is obvious.

Then turning on the power I went straight to the maximum setting and wow, it made almost no difference! I rode my commute route, a ride that I have been doing for about 20 months on other bikes and almost all of the time I couldn't tell the difference.
[Edit 8 weeks later: I later discovered that the maximum power option is disabled when the battery reaches a certain charge level, so I would have quickly been downgraded to mid level]

So I got silly and went into daft gears and went up 5% (ish) hills in 50x18 and it was clear that the motor was working but it didn't really add anything. The hydraulic brakes seem to be no better than rim brakes despite all the maintaince and tool hassles they incur and no-one will fit disc Q/R wheels just in case. The shifting is terrible compared with either downtube or Di2 and the gear ratios make no sense to me for a bike with a motor.

So I am gutted, £2k down the drain.

Bye

Ian

 

[All uphill]

Sounds like you have a few teething problems, Ian. Sorry to hear that.

I suspect you know more about bikes than me, so please don't be offended if I am teaching you to suck eggs.

Are the brakes properly bedded in and bled? They should be miles better than most rim brakes.

You, I think, know how to adjust gears, hanger alignment etc.

As for the app, isn't that annoying. The assumption that you have a smart phone and want to use it to ride your bike.

I prescribe a good night's sleep and come back to it fresh tomorrow.

 

[biggs682]

@IanSmithCSE sorry to hear about your new bike issues

Lets hope you get them sorted and that you feel more positive about the new bike soon

 

[Specialeyes]

You don't need the app to adjust the power settings from 'all absolutely 100%' iirc - red is full boost, amber is 75% boost and green is 50% with white being off. The percentages set in the app are simply percentages of those maxima.

You don't mention how fast you were going, but irrespective of the power setting, the motor only kicks in at 15.5mph and below, so if you were exceeding that you were just riding a slightly heavier, draggy bike The motor will only add to the effort you're putting in, as it's pedal-assist, so it should at most feel like you're getting a push from a fellow rider to match up to 250w of your effort.

 

[Jenkins]

I have a Ribble Hybrid Al-e with the same motor & software and all I did was download the app, set the motor map on the bike to the 'Urban' setting (the middle of the three options) and then deleted it. Once that's been done, all you need to do is switch the motor on with the iWoc button on the top tube and then select the assistance level (off, low, medium, high) by cycling through with quick presses of the same button.

It may take you a few rides to find out what works for you, however it costs nothing but a bit of time to experiment with the various assistance levels on the flat, uphills, into headwinds, etc. Don't write it off after just one day - get out and have a little play for a while.

 

[albion]

Even with a mega mega expensive ebike, it tallies with my prior observation that with ebikes, riding above 15.5 mph is detrimental.
Your bike is a great commuter ebike. You simply have to stick to 15.5mph or below. You will not get to work quicker but those bad windy days etc will be a breeze.

 

[wafter]

Man, really sorry to hear this - how utterly demoralising

I assume the resistance on the back wheel isn't due to some fancy regen braking? I believe it's a thing on some electric cars, not sure about ebikes.

That's also very odd about the assistance - you appear to be a fairly strong rider but even so I'd have expected the difference with the assistance on to be significant.. perhaps someone local has something vaguely similar you can test as a comparison..?

 

[Slick]

Well, that is a shame.

I suspect the fact you can't feel a difference is because the settings are correct.

I'll keep my fingers crossed I'm right and you'll figure it out tomorrow.

 

[ColinJ]

I suspect the fact you can't feel a difference is because the settings are correct.

NOT correct?

 

[Slick]

NOT correct?

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Having bought it I am not going to give up on it but it is really not what I was expecting.

As for the app, isn't that annoying. The assumption that you have a smart phone and want to use it to ride your bike.

I know that I haven't fully embraced mobile devices but for me creating an account on the mobile app on Android doesn't send the account confirmation email so I couldn't get into the settings on the app. Now that I know that and where to go on the Mahle site to create an account if I ever need to do it again I know where to go. This seems to be a whole social media app! I also do not have my phone set up for emails, it is a phone with a couple of banking apps and Strava and that's all I want it to do, so that makes the account create step more complex.

I am not quite sure if this was sarcasm or not though as I do get mocked for my iPhone 5s quite frequently.

Are the brakes properly bedded in and bled? They should be miles better than most rim brakes.

I followed the Ribble guide but this is the first time that I have had hydraulic discs and possibly my expectations were too high.

You, I think, know how to adjust gears, hanger alignment etc.

They function correctly but I went straight from D/T to Di2 bypassing mechanical STI, so when I do use them they always feel like a compromise and a step back. Currently the commute bike is set up with Di2 on the rear and D/T on the front


The Tiagra front shifter is noticeably better that the Sora/Claris I have used in the past but I am used to completely quiet drivetrains and maybe I can get that but currently it is not obvious that I will be able to get rid of the chain rubbing the front mech.

I don't know if you have ever used D/T shifters and whilst in comparison in a car park STI is way better, for me riding real routes the answer is very different. STI is like Clipless pedals, you are only allowed to praise them 'cause that's what the pros use.

You don't mention how fast you were going, but irrespective of the power setting, the motor only kicks in at 15.5mph and below, so if you were exceeding that you were just riding a slightly heavier, draggy bike The motor will only add to the effort you're putting in, as it's pedal-assist, so it should at most feel like you're getting a push from a fellow rider to match up to 250w of your effort.

I am not sure about the first part I will go away and have a look and play as they way that I read it was that Red, Amber and Green were all % of the maximum so say Green at 33% was 33% of 100% not 33% of 50% (16.5%) .

I have always been happy with the 15.5mph cutoff and I bought it for a bit of push up the hills, but my first impression was that I was too close to the 15mph cut off and the assistance was being reduced as I approached the cut off point, I am not sure that the Mahle does this but I think it does.

What supports this idea is that I tried massivly overgearing on some hills and some flats meaning the overall speed was low but I could feel a lot more from the motor. If this is the way to get full assitance up the hills then it would be self defeating for me.

Your bike is a great commuter ebike. You simply have to stick to 15.5mph or below. You will not get to work quicker but those bad windy days etc will be a breeze.

Sadly I bought to make the hills a bit easier as the rest of the ride is usually over the cut off anyway, as mentioned elsewhere the average is really variable, between 14mph and 18mph.

....... I assume the resistance on the back wheel isn't due to some fancy regen braking? I believe it's a thing on some electric cars, not sure about ebikes.

That's also very odd about the assistance - you appear to be a fairly strong rider but even so I'd have expected the difference with the assistance on to be significant.. perhaps someone local has something vaguely similar you can test as a comparison..?

I am not concerned about the resistance as it is what I expected it to be, all of the blurb talks about almost no resistance.

With execption of steep downhills the numbers don't really make sense for eapcs to have regen capabilites.

If I am right about the tapering of assistance as you approach 15mph then this would explain why I am seeing less help that I was expecting.

I occasionally meet up on the commute with someone who has a Ribble Hybid ebike and I struggle to ride as slowly as him a lot of the time but on the hills he and I ride with about the same perceived exertion.

I am hopeful that I am wrong, but at the moment I am tending to the view that having done the ride for so long that a road legal ebike simply isn't aimed at me. But I had read so many good things about the X35 system from so many sources, sure some would be overhyped and only a few posts on forums (fora?) from real users that didn't get on with it.

Bye

Ian

 

[Chislenko]

Despite myself currently looking at e-bikes Ian has perfectly illustrated why I have so far resisted!!

It seems less like riding a bike and more like a computer course!

 

[Dadam]

The app is not compulsory or indeed necessary. The ability to customise the assist levels is just a nice to have. I rode my Gain for a while on the defaults before getting round to setting up the app. The defaults are chosen for Mahle‘s idea of what would suit most people. The percentages you set are of the maximum assist available for that level, not the bike’s maximum. You still have L1, L2 and L3 which offer increasing assist.

On mine the motor drag is clearly more than a normal wheel but manages quite a few revolutions before stopping so I wonder if your brakes are dragging.

 

[All uphill]

am not quite sure if this was sarcasm or not though as I do get mocked for my iPhone 5s quite frequently.

No sarcasm from me.

I don't know if you have ever used D/T shifters

Bar end shifters are my preferred means of changing gear.

 

[gzoom]

For a bit of balance my Creo midmount drive ebike has no issues with motor drag or similar at over the legal cut off.

Direct comparison with my analouge road bike is always hard, but on a down hill/flat segment it's very similar in speed. Ignore the Strava estimated power readings of analogue rides. Overall the Creo is the nicest pedal bike I own to ride regardless of the motor bit .

My Boardman eBike which may not be totally stock is a different story all together for effort versus speed .