Ribble Endurance ALe Sport for commuting - Part 3 - .... but it does make the commute easier. :-)

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I have had my first week of commuting on the Ribble and despite my negative initial impressions it has done what I wanted it to do and taken the edge off the commute.

It is a bit tricky to come to conclusions on how much assist I would normally be using as the temperature has dropped to -5C and the canal behind the house has frozen over meaning that I have been cautious on the rides. Battery usage is all over the place ranging from 5% on one leg to nearly 40% on another as I poddled along scaning for the next patch of ice.


Checking the app as soon as I arrived at work on Friday morning sees +3C for the battery and -1C for the motor and given that I would expect both of these to be generating some heat as they dischare/rotate I am clearly outside of the ideal operating tempeature.

At 14kg (31.5lbs) it is heavy by modern standards for an aluminium "racer", much less so if we consider the Raleigh Royal at 29.5lbs

Out of an interest in not losing too much fitness I rode it home with the motor turned off all the time on Thurs/Fri and I did notice this weight on some of the uphill bits, but it was no great issue.

I am getting noticable drag from the rear wheel when the power is off and pedalling hard, both all the time and when going over the assist limit. As this drag appears and disappears I took the rear brake pads out and went for a ride to rule out any brake issues and it clearly does seem to be a brake issue. Removing the pads gives another half a revolution to the rear wheel, about 2 revs for a non trivial spin and I am quite happy to accept that as effectively zero resistance. It also means that the brakes are not binding all the time.

I will see if this drag disappears after a few more miles or if just removing the pads and reinserting them has helped. These are my first disc brakes so I expect that it will take me a bit longer to sort out the issue but it does feel like some sort of deformation under load. The wheel slows down uniformly when spun by hand without an obvious spot where the disc is warped.

Or maybe it is just a sensible bike and it doesn't like being out below 0C!

Sadly I still struggle with the STI front shifter, with finger and wrist pain returning on the Thurs/Fri unassisted ride, this isn't an issue when the motor is on as I don't use the 34t inner ring. Why did they fit such a thing and as Ribble have been slowly removing options from the bike builder the choice was 50/34?

Although named "Endurance" I am finding the overall geometry to be quite racey especially out of the sadle, but still comfortable.

The one buttom iWoc remains a problem if I want to change assist mid ride, it requires too much loss of concentration on the road to be truly safe as you have to cycle through all four modes rather than go up or down. This cycling also tends to result in a bit of jerk when you go from full assist to no assist. There is the Pulsar One cycle computer but there are lots of comment about compatabilty between it and the bike.

So I am slowly warming towards it as tool rather than a recreational bike, I am even contemplating a rack for light loads. Sadly with the short seat stays and no eyes but a threaded hole in the chainstay bridge getting one level might means some "adjustments" will be needed. Mounting a second rear light on the stays is also a problem for my existing lights as I can't get them vertical, it's too late this year to buy new ones so I have seat post one and the less effective seat stay one.

[Edit]
I have also added two bottle cages and they have made plugging in the charging cable harder, the bottom of the seat tube cage leaves enough room for the cable but only enough. The plus side is that I can carry a decent set of tools and I have used up another 2 cages and 1 bottle from the 12 that I bought off an auction site.
[EndEdit]

Bye

Ian

 

[Slick]

That's good, I think you'll continue to notice the positives as time goes on.

 

[biggs682]

@IanSmithCSE glad you are coming to grips with your new bike.
Interesting comments and I should think more will follow as time goes by .

 

[wiggydiggy]

Have you ridden into a full headwind yet?

I was returning from the LBS yesterday, about 12ish miles and most at height and into a headwind, frankly I wouldn't have made it home without the assist (though I suspect I'm less fit than you!).

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good afternoon,

Have you ridden into a full headwind yet?......

Not yet, I have 3 major route options, the shortest route is also the one most shielded from the wind by trees and hedges and also the one with the least traffic so probably the safest one to have a fall on.

That's good, I think you'll continue to notice the positives as time goes on.

I wonder how I would have been feeling had I gone for Orbea D50 from the local dealer at £2,700? There would be the plus of having Claris so "only" 8 sprockets, but the supplied 11-32 doesn't work for me in 8 speed. The Orbea is a bit heavier and as the ride position of the Ribble isn't an issue for me it would only have been a case of more money for less product.

That the Tiagra shifter allows you to change down by 1,2 or 3 cogs in one go is great, it does of course beg the question why you can't change up by 1,2 or 3 cogs though. When I tried one of the earlier Claris shifters I felt that the brake lever and down shift could easily have been Ultegra but the up shift lever felt like it had been lifted from the Tourney parts bin, the Tiagra shifter feels the same.

@IanSmithCSE glad you are coming to grips with your new bike.
Interesting comments and I should think more will follow as time goes by .

That's sort of the point, most reviews I read before buying an eBike were from people who were very familiar with them so their weaknesses and strengths as a class were well known to the writers and sort of forgotten about. That you need to cough up another £100 to be able to safely change assitance on the move and go up or down rather than cycle through assitance doesn't change between any X35 based bike so why mention it?

I imagine that the iWoc button will become more familiar to me and the fact that it is a naff design to me as a new user will just become that's the way it is.

Surprisingly Ribble don't sell the Pulsar One which makes me wonder if it is indeed incompatible, I have only just asked them.

Bye

Ian

 

[Dadam]

Hi Ian, glad you're feeling more positive about of the bike.
Re the iWoc controller I agree it's a pain, but I've only had to use mine to change assist once, when I'd put the wrong battery in my stem mount controller. There are other options between using just the iWoc and buying a Pulsar controller. There is a simpler one fitted to the cheaper Gains called the "Coachsmart" unit. There is the "iWoc Trio" handlebar buttons that is fitted to the bikes like the Orbea Vibe hybrid (basically a flat bar Gain). Lastly, it's possible to set up some cycle computers to change assist levels. I don't think my Edge 530 will do it but I've read the 830 can be configured to change assist.
Re the brakes it should be possible to adjust the caliper just by loosening the fixing bolts, holding the brake lever so the pads are clamped onto the discs, then tightening the bolts.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Thanks for the thoughts.

I have the brakes sorted now, the pads seem kinda primitive


and I wonder if the spring had slipped a bit onto the pad as removal and reinsertion solved it?

I have looked at the various Mahle controllers but had not heard of the Coachsmart, I don't do mobile phones, Garmins etc, possibly thankfully as there are lots of tales of woe resulting from firmware upgrades.

Bye

Ian

 

[youngoldbloke]

Good morning,

Thanks for the thoughts.

I have the brakes sorted now, the pads seem kinda primitive

View attachment 720603
and I wonder if the spring had slipped a bit onto the pad as removal and reinsertion solved it?

I have looked at the various Mahle controllers but had not heard of the Coachsmart, I don't do mobile phones, Garmins etc, possibly thankfully as there are lots of tales of woe resulting from firmware upgrades.

Bye

Ian

I understand your reluctance but I use a dedicated mobile phone mounted on the bars which allows me to monitor bike speed, distance, battery levels etc, with the app and to change assistance levels. It has the advantage of allowing you change settings up and down without scrolling forward through all as you have to with the iWoc button. Admittedly not so easy in the winter wearing thick gloves. It is also very ueful to monitor battery level when charging. (Also useful in case of emergencies of course. Very few people have the number, just my partner). BTW it took me some time to realise that if you press the iWoc button 4 times quickly you will actually drop down to the level below the one you've been using eg 2-1, 1 to 0.