A2B Metro - www.ultramotor.com - Video Page4

[northernmike]

Y, how is the bike?

I saw my first 3 in Toronto, we finally have a dealer here.

I really want one!

[Ypedal]

Everything is going great so far !

I'm at 700 kms, tires are holding up great but i'm tempted to change them for a better profile, wonder if i can find 3" hookworms somewhere.???

If this bike had feelings, it would hate me right about now, it's my submarine ! poor thing is getting used only on nasty days as i'm using the BMX / Chopper / RC bike on sunny forcasted days lol.. Proud to say i have not taken a cab in a long time, rain shit or shine i bike to work lately !

The rear brakes have needed adjusting, the arrangement of pulleys they setup to keep the chain straight kinda sucks, the lowest one to keep the kick stand clear is fine, but the top pulleys are useless as you shift thru the gears the chain comes out of the slot and ends up rubbing on the metal pin.. i've already ditched one of them.. about to rid myself of the other one, i see no need for it anyways.

Full charge to green light takes time, the bulk of the charge happens at 4 amps but the 4.20v tappering down to full charge takes an hour in itself, not a problem, just an observation.

[Ypedal]

I sold a few 20" rims to a forum member and this morning i had to bring a fairly large box to work, soooooo it was either take a cab ( 10$ ) or use the A2B as a cargo hauler !...

[AussieJester]

Pft...you could have saved a fortune and done it on a Chicago Electric Bike
theres plenty of room on the rear rack once you remove the plastic box the battery is...oooh, nevermind

Nice job YPedalMaN bet you got a few looks by motorists on the way to work

KiM

[The Stig]

Thats a pretty good way to load up the A2B. Where are your lights? or you don't ride at night?

I went for a ride around the city last night and twice people called out to me from their car asking about the A2B It gets a lot of attention around here.

[Ypedal]

Lol.. cars were giving me the wide berth, found that kinda nice, no elbow rubbing rear view mirrors..

Every day thing in China but rare sight over here to be loaded like that on a bicycle * apart from the bottle collecting bums..

The best part was walking thru the call centre at work, i got some very funny looks there !!!

AJ.. lmao.. uhhh.. i'll refrain from commenting heh...

[solarx]

Lol.. cars were giving me the wide berth, found that kinda nice, no elbow rubbing rear view mirrors..

I have been getting more agressive in my riding on my metro, vs staying off in the side lane I'm started taking the middle of the lane in areas where I feel less safe riding.
<rant>I had a guy in an AT&T car cut off last week while I was going full speed fwd and he jumped in front of me making a right, only to decide at the last second it was me or him and kept going fwd. "man I felt like hitting him with my bike lock" but best I could do was give him the view of my middle finger. </rant>
Overall I'm thinking a set of panniers will aid in making us more visable to drivers. (the existing upright riding stance helps)

Have you made any new progress towards 48V+ metro?

[zap]

I have been getting more agressive in my riding on my metro, vs staying off in the side lane I'm started taking the middle of the lane in areas where I feel less safe riding.

Ditto me.
I still hang to the right but I watch my rear view mirror intensely and if a vehicle hasn't moved over by the time they're 50' behind me, I will swing to the middle of the lane just to make sure they know I'm there.
I've had way too many too close to my elbow for comfort.

When I have the trailer pushing me I notice they give a much wider berth.

[rossasaurus]

Regarding a couple earlier posts...I think you guys have it covered, but wanted to mention that the Metro 2ndary battery cable uses just the two power wires.
I'm an A2B dealer, and bought an extra cable to have around in case I wanted to try other types of packs on the Metros or Velocitis.
I think that connector is their own, but correct me if I'm wrong there.

Also, on the Excel, a post seemed to miss the point with one battery dumping into the other IDEP; the front(in-frame) pack is optimized for high power, and capable of high discharge(and recharge) rates, while the rear pack is high energy, high energy density, for greater range. Two different chemistries and/or configurations. A brilliant plan, and one we'll see more and more of. I'm waiting for the three-tier systems...super-cap, high-power pack, high-energy pack, which would probably be a BLAST!, so to speak.


BTW, the Excel prototype(if it exists) was a fun steed indeed.
Really liked having the beautiful display.

R

[northernmike]

Also, on the Excel, a post seemed to miss the point with one battery dumping into the other IDEP; the front(in-frame) pack is optimized for high power, and capable of high discharge(and recharge) rates, while the rear pack is high energy, high energy density, for greater range. Two different chemistries and/or configurations.

R

Hunh?

What's your understanding of the difference between "power" and "energy" in terms of cell performance? Internal resistance (C-rate) v.s. Wh/liter, Wh/Kg?

I thought they were both the same Sanyo 18650 cells? (A+B packs)

More details please!

[Ypedal]

Invited a few friends over tonight for a group ride, " Bring your helmets, i have the rest covered " ..

Charged up the BMX, the Chopper and the A2B , my friend G is used to being on 2 wheels, has a motorcycle and is used to my toys so i gave him the chopper, i took the BMX as it requires the 18 lbs backpack and not the best brakes but i'm used to it.. I gave M the A2B, she has a bicycle and this was her first bicycle / e-bike ride of the year so i figured the A2B would be a good bet as it's easy to ride and not too fast..

I had her go around the yard a few times to make sure she had her ballance and understood how to operate the brakes and throttle, lowered the seat for her, and we set off..

To avoid busy traffic i headed for the off-road trails. nice and slow 10 to 20km/h stuff, taking our time and enjoying the afternoon ( hot, 27 celcius today, and windy.. ) all was going very well..

[Ypedal]

Notice the " WAS " going very well lol...

The squeemish among you should not scroll down...




.....







Seriously................


there is blood in the picture.










..













still reading ?..








..






ok.. so here it is.

The the trail is loose sand and very small gravel, it's a walking trail mostly and doubles as a bicycle path across town.. up, down, round and round, get to a point in the trail that has a sharp hill followed by a turn at the bottom.. So i stopped and explained to remain on the brakes and not allow the bike to get going too fast because you won't make the turn at the end.. i go first to show how it's done

Then as i get to the bottom and negotiate the turn i hear a familiar gravel sound that only happens when you lock up a wheel and skid.. followed by a *insert bad words.. * .. i turn around to see M face planting for home base head first type slide..

I imediately drop the BMX and run over, M stands up so it's not too serious.. phew.. i pick up the bike and set it on the stand while she dusts herself off, slightly shaken but not stirred..

Bruised knee and elbow....

[Ypedal]

Cleaned up pretty good.. chicks dig battle scars... right ?

She's a trooper tho, we kept on going ( this was 10 minutes into the ride.. ) the pace was slow as she had the jitters for a bit but overcame and kept on going.

[Ypedal]

Sandy Says " Always Wear a Helmet and Gloves !!! "

[marty]

Sorry to see the blood. Hope she heals fast. Ride safe!

Copy from http://www.ultramotor.com web site:
The A2B motor can assist you up to a top speed of 20mph without pedaling (depending on rider weight and terrain)
As far as I know the controller is inside the hub motor. Does any one know what limits this bike to 20 MPH? How would one bypass what ever is limiting the speed?

[Ypedal]

the controller has to be bypassed to up the performance on the Metro.. it soft starts and limits current up to aprox 10 km/h, keeping power below 500w, then above 10km/h peaks up to 1000w.... i tried it at 48v and the top speed is higher but the soft start is still ever present and limitting.. only way around it as far as i can tell right now is to open up the motor and gut out the controller, run wires outside the hub and juice it up.

The motor has lots of potential.. it's just starved to legal power.

[marty]

the controller has to be bypassed to up the performance on the Metro.. it soft starts and limits current up to aprox 10 km/h, keeping power below 500w, then above 10km/h peaks up to 1000w.... i tried it at 48v and the top speed is higher but the soft start is still ever present and limitting.. only way around it as far as i can tell right now is to open up the motor and gut out the controller, run wires outside the hub and juice it up.

The motor has lots of potential.. it's just starved to legal power.

Why not modify the existing controller? Perhaps a Fechter type of person could figure it out?

[AussieJester]

the controller has to be bypassed to up the performance on the Metro.. it soft starts and limits current up to aprox 10 km/h, keeping power below 500w, then above 10km/h peaks up to 1000w.... i tried it at 48v and the top speed is higher but the soft start is still ever present and limitting.. only way around it as far as i can tell right now is to open up the motor and gut out the controller, run wires outside the hub and juice it up.

The motor has lots of potential.. it's just starved to legal power.

Why not modify the existing controller? Perhaps a Fechter type of person could figure it out?

^^ not really much point in this instance seeing YPedal MaN will be fitting this
bike up with a 3220 Astro and a pile of lipos in comming weeks right
Ypedal MaN!?!

KiM

[rossasaurus]

NorthernMike

On the Metro, the front & rear packs have same capacity, so I'm assuming same Sanyo cells, yes.
On the Excel they will likely be different cell types, and perhaps not Sanyos; and forget the Power/Energy thing, sorry, a distraction. What I mean is the following;
I expect front pack(in-frame) will have a higher available discharge(and recharge) rate than the rear pack, probably a higher Amp limit than the rear. The rear pack will never? power the controller directly; only the front pack will do so. Just guessing that the rear pack will maximise energy density over discharge rate(see below)?? Or ...perhaps a little LiPo in the rear pack??

Hmm, just found this:

• IDEP Technology. ‘Intelligent Dual Energy Power’ system uses a removable, portable lithium-ion battery to store electricity and supply it at a stable rate to an internal lithium-ion battery for:
- Greater range. - Battery life.
- Ease of charging: the portable power pack will recharge the internal battery. Charging one battery(secondary) charges the other(primary).

•Battery. Lithium ion battery technology. Main battery 48 V; secondary battery 33.3 V.

from here:
http://web.me.com/bfmmarketing1/blackfo ... r_A2B.html
<><><>

First time I've seen the 33v reference; what's that about? is it getting boosted from 33v to 48v to charge the primary pack?
One way to isolate the pack I suppose.

As I recall, one or both packs may not be of Japanese origin, though I think they're both from the same company...

Grain of salt time; heard these titbits here and there, so may all be bogus

I think we'll all know the real scoop before years-end.

It feels a little funny being on something light enough to still be a a "Bike" and having feet on platforms, no pedals.
I DO think I could get used to it though.

Just realized I've veered off Metro onto Excel; is there an Excel thread yet?

[Ypedal]

At the 900 km mark, the freewheel is acting up, sticking and causing the chain to jump.. I plan to replace it with a shimano, always found the stock unit loud while ratcheting so it's good in a way..

I have replaced the seat with a CCM gel seat, much better, and looks improved too.

Battery pack charges to 41.8v and holds 40v well into 3ah so the pack is doing great with 30 % DOD cycles so far..

I hope the freewheel is not too hard to get off. ..

[chroot]

What it look like CCM gel seat? I googled and couldnt find anything.

I have replaced the seat with a CCM gel seat, much better, and looks improved too.

[BikeFanatic]

I know I'm late posting but Sandy is perhaps the most beautiful dog I have ever seen.....

[Ypedal]

I know I'm late posting but Sandy is perhaps the most beautiful dog I have ever seen.....

She's one awsome dog !!!...

Samoyed mix with Retreiver, all furr.. Loves kids, finds them tasty..

[Ypedal]

Passed the 1100 km mark, December 2 is officially the end of my biking season for 2010, i can handle the cold temperatures but the roads are a mess, wednesday and thursday this week i went to work on the Metro and when i got home had to hose it down, in the picture below the bike is white but it was brown 20 seconds before...

Grit in the chain ( you can feel it grinding and digs into your nerves... so i just motored to save the chain and shimano freewheel i just installed.. the original freewheel seized up about 2 weeks ago.. )

Other than that, the bike has been running flawlessly, i am very impressed with the weather resistance of this bike, not sure why but my right foot always gets soaked, pedaling or not, the fenders need to be extended just a tiny bit more... or a better tire that i am installing next year for sure..

[The Stig]

I'm thinking of wiring the two batteries on my a2b in series for some serious torque and speed. Anybody got any thoughts on this? Do I just wire heavy duty diods in parallel with each battery and its good?

I have lyen controllers and dual motors.