Originally Posted by enantiodroma
Wow, I'd not looked here for a week or so, it's neat to see the renewed interest.
Range/Speed: I've not put a computer on this bike yet (can't find the darn magnets..) However..As figured by google pedometer, my commute is 27.5mi. My ride home last nite was acheived in about 1.5hrs. this is about what i expected to be able to attain. On a full charge the battery is still going strong when i'm coming up the last road to my house, in fact i pushed it extra hard on the final sprint just to test it, & it was doing great. On last nights trip home, the battery was not fully charged & was petering out about 2mi from home. But, i'd charged the battery on monday, left it all week at the office unplugged, & then plugged it in for about 45min to an hour to top it off before making my trip home. I was kinda surprised that the battery lost that much charge just sitting all week, & the manufacturer does recommend leaving it plugged in all the time, which i will do now (it's just been hard for me to trust the smart charger). Also, i have the large battery.
Yes, NiMH has a problem with self-discharge if allowed to sit unused. As an interesting example, the cells I used to use in my wireless controller used to be NiMH, but I changed to NiCD because I would actually get more days usage out of the NiCD. The NiMH battery would self-discharge more power than I actually got out of it because I used the wireless controller so infrequently. I would follow the manufacturer's instructions. NiMH batteries
do not tolerate overcharging, and they're too $$$ to be treated in a cavalier manner, IMO. The consensus among the battery gurus seems to be that NiMH should be "topped off" just like you did that day at the office if they have been allowed to self-discharge. On the positive sided NiMH gives you that consistent fresh-off-the-charger, powerful feeling on the ebike right up to the point it's charge is spent.
Originally Posted by enantiodroma
The same trip took me 2hrs hours on a fixed gear, & rather spent & sweaty (it's hilly around here). While with that same trip on the stokemonkey i have enough breath to sing along to music i'm listening to, & get off the bike only slightly dewy, rather than sweaty & be able to converse freely (ie:not out of breath) as soon as i walk through the door.
Riding the 'monkey literally feels like a flying dream to me.
Ain't it great! If you'll let me brag on my ebike, I could do that run in an hour, but only because my bike isn't geared for hauling heavy loads.