Lunchtime Scouting Ride

[Smaug]

I took the Level.2 out for a 10.6 mile ride at lunchtime today, scouting for a location for our family reunion this year. I treated the bike to a chain cleaning and lube yesterday night. It was quite a messy job, as this bike has been doing most of my winter commuting.

There was a saucy 20 mph headwind for the first half of it, but on the way back to work I was going 22+ mph (35 kph) in PAS1.

Location is Kenosha, WI USA.

The city put this mosaic up for our 150th anniversary, in 2018

Here is the New Kenosha Lighthouse (1906) It's privately-owned now, and folks can rent it out for parties and such.

Here is the Simmons Island Bath House, which is 91 years old this year

Looking south toward the New Lighthouse from Simmons Island Beach. That guy apologized for walking into my pic, but I liked him there; would've waited otherwise.

Ride stats:

 

[JerryB]

Love the lighthouse.....very cool!

 

[neutron]

That must have been a chilly ride! What did you use to clean the chain? Although you said it was messy so maybe I don't want to know. I'm looking for a way that's not messy.

 

[Atavar]

That must have been a chilly ride! What did you use to clean the chain? Although you said it was messy so maybe I don't want to know. I'm looking for a way that's not messy.

Probably the least messy way to clean a chain…

Amazon.com

 

[Smaug]

Probably the least messy way to clean a chain…

Amazon.com

This is exactly what I use to clean my chains. It's worth noting that although it makes chain cleaning a lot cleaner, eventually, one has to clean out the "cleaning machine", which is a messy job. It comes apart into pieces, but takes some time in the sink with highly concentrated soap solution.

I also used WD-40 as a degreaser afterwards and then a spray on lube that dries dry afterwards.

 

[neutron]

I wonder how much the bike shop would charge to do that job? Clean chain and cassette and re-lube.

 

[Smaug]

My local shop has two tiers of bike cleaning: one where they spray clean and re-lube and one where they take the rear wheel off, take the cassette apart and detail clean it. I believe the basic cleaning is around $100 and the detail clean is around $180.

 

[Atavar]

This is exactly what I use to clean my chains. It's worth noting that although it makes chain cleaning a lot cleaner, eventually, one has to clean out the "cleaning machine", which is a messy job. It comes apart into pieces, but takes some time in the sink with highly concentrated soap solution.

I also used WD-40 as a degreaser afterwards and then a spray on lube that dries dry afterwards.

Yeah, I said “least” messy. It’s still messy.
Kudos for realizing that WD is not a lubricant.

 

[neutron]

My local shop has two tiers of bike cleaning: one where they spray clean and re-lube and one where they take the rear wheel off, take the cassette apart and detail clean it. I believe the basic cleaning is around $100 and the detail clean is around $180.

Okay, guess I'll be doing it myself!

 

[Colin1230]

That's a nice way to spend you lunch hour. Great pics.

 

[Smaug]

Okay, guess I'll be doing it myself!

One tip, learned the hard way: If you spray a solvent or degreaser on the cassette try not to let it drip down onto the tire; the rubber doesn't like that. My rear tire is cracked on the right side now because I let brake cleaner drip on it two cleanings ago. It also gunked up the reflective stripe on that side of the tire.

I cut slots for spokes in a piece of cardboard to deflect the drippage off to the side.

 

[any name you wish]

We got our bikes delivered a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday was the first halfway decent day to take them out. I did 10.1 miles lunch time ride on it and my battery level went from 58% to 21% which if power usage is linear would give me just over 27 miles on a charge and I really don't like that. However it was the first time the battery was really used, it was a bit cool out, it was windy and I was playing around with the power assist levels and throttle. So I am hopeful that I will get better range in the future.

Anyway it's a nice bike and power delivery is really good, fun bike to ride.

 

[neutron]

The top half of the battery seems to last a lot longer than the bottom half. Maybe I'm not phrasing that right. On my Breeze going from 100% down to 70% lasts longer than going from 70% down to 40%. If you started at 58% and still got 27 miles before getting to 20% you did well in my opinion. I've never taken mine down to 20% and I've gotten 70 miles out of one charge. I'm sure I could have gotten more had I pushed the battery limit. That was on flat ground in PAS 2 so take that for what it's worth. These bikes are amazing with how far you can go on ten cents worth of electricity.

 

[any name you wish]

The top half of the battery seems to last a lot longer than the bottom half. Maybe I'm not phrasing that right. On my Breeze going from 100% down to 70% lasts longer than going from 70% down to 40%. If you started at 58% and still got 27 miles before getting to 20% you did well in my opinion. I've never taken mine down to 20% and I've gotten 70 miles out of one charge. I'm sure I could have gotten more had I pushed the battery limit. That was on flat ground in PAS 2 so take that for what it's worth. These bikes are amazing with how far you can go on ten cents worth of electricity.

Actually I got 10.1 miles on the 58% to 21% I calculate that out to be 27 Miles on a full charge if the usage is linear. There were some firmware updates for the display, controller and battery that were out there so I did the updates and afterwards the display was showing 22% so there might be something there and maybe those will help. Anyway the next chance I will have to spend any real time on the bike will be next weekend where I will head out with a full charge and see what the results are.

 

[Smaug]

The top half of the battery seems to last a lot longer than the bottom half. Maybe I'm not phrasing that right. On my Breeze going from 100% down to 70% lasts longer than going from 70% down to 40%. If you started at 58% and still got 27 miles before getting to 20% you did well in my opinion. I've never taken mine down to 20% and I've gotten 70 miles out of one charge. I'm sure I could have gotten more had I pushed the battery limit. That was on flat ground in PAS 2 so take that for what it's worth. These bikes are amazing with how far you can go on ten cents worth of electricity.

Correct, it will not be linear.

The reason is that a lithium-ion battery is a pretty stiff voltage source; the voltage doesn't sag much when it's put under load, compared to other types of batteries. As the voltage slowly drops throughout the discharge, more current is needed to supply the same power. (since P = I x E, where P = power in Watts, I = current in Amps and E - voltage in Volts) That causes the battery voltage to drop faster, and so does getting the battery out of its sweet spot, voltage-wise.

Tire pressure, wind, hills and PAS setting and your effort will also make a difference in range, of course. I see LOTS of folks on fat tire eBikes with the seat slammed down low; they are not helping much; providing very little torque from the legs, and I'd be surprised if they got more than 30 miles on a charge as well.

 

[any name you wish]

I did take the bike out yesterday after work. I left with a full charge and after just over 25 miles I still had 70% power. I was at the lowest PAS level which was enough to comfortably pedal and maintain a decent speed and I only used the throttle a few times to get moving from a stop. At the 25 mile mark it was getting late, getting cold and most importantly I was getting tired. So I put it on a higher PAS setting and used the throttle a lot to finish the last 6 miles. Ended up at home with a 53% charge. So I think I can do pretty well with the range