recumelectric

I've been using the throttle on my Bionx a lot for hill climbing, facing wind, and getting accelerated to a decent speed. It's really been nice in those situations, especially for the morning commute. Is this too much use? Will I wear it out?

...I'm thinking that I will eventually need to go to a larger motor set-up, since I seem to need the throttle so much. (I've got the PL 250 right now.)

Thoughts, anyone?

kbdog

Perhaps you should boost the sensitivity of the Bionx to your pedaling.

Dahon.Steve

I'm wondering if you can just ride the Bionx without ANY help from the hub. Just using the throttle only when needed. Or do you have to have the Bionx working ALL the time?

recumelectric

How do you do that, aside from changing the assistance level? I'm sometimes using the throttle when it's at the maximum assistance level.

recumelectric

I can ride it without the the assistance. With the motor turned off, I can still pedal the bicycle. It's much slower, since I'm pretty slow, and it takes more work, since I'm not getting any help from the motor.

From what I've read, the hub motor does cause some drag when it's not activated, but I'm not really aware of it. The way to stop the drag is to turn the motor on at the 0 assistance level. I don't really feel the difference between 0 assistance and just having the motor off.

What I do feel is the weight of the battery, even though this is one of the lightest batteries on the market (around 6-7 lbs.). If I just wanted to pedal around without any electric power, I could take the battery off and do so.

I could pedal home from work without the power, and it would be a decent workout. I would get a moderate workout with 1 or 2 power setting (which is enough to overcome the weight of the bike, motor, and battery). ...In the morning, I'm seeking ease and speed rather than a workout. That's when I'm using power level 4 and being a throttle-junky.

...Also, the speed aspect is pretty fun, so I was a throttle-junky on the way home the other day, too. No workout, but lots of fun!

kbdog

Use these programming codes found here (unofficial):
https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-297387.html

and here (official):
https://bionx.ca/shared/File/tech/consolecodeenglish.pdf

recumelectric

Thanks. I've seen that information floating around before, but I keep forgetting where it is in cyberspace. This time, I just printed it out.

vfrjim

That's how I ride mine

crock

Yes, you can ride with no help from the hub just using the throttle when needed.

recumelectric

So you get it started and then just ride with throttle power? I know that I can do this, and have done it for kicks while learning the new set-up. I've never done it for more than 1/4 mile, though, because I figured that's not really how it's meant to be used. (...Plus, I actually do like pedaling. That's one of the reasons why I have a bike instead of a scooter.)

How far can you go using throttle power alone? Have you had any problems doing this?

vfrjim

I have a hilly commute and use it a few times along my route. When I am honking along at 21-23 mph, the energy guage only hits 1 bar, but not consistantly. I usually do this if I am in a rush, but normally I only use it at the hills to give that extra boost so that I can maintain 18 or so MPH on the hills. I changed my gears so that maintaining 24 mph on the flats are pretty easy as long as the winds are calm. The more muscle I build, I will soon be able to maintain 25 on the flat but it is not easy. I only use the throttle because it makes me work harder when I want to.

recumelectric

What size motor do you have--the 500W?

Mine is restricted to 20 mph, unless I want to pedal really hard without assistance.

vfrjim

nope, I have a 250 watt. I am lucky that I have lost 70 lbs 5 yrs ago and kept it off.

I do not get assistance to go over 20 mph by itself, but it assists me to maintain ~23 mph