BionX 350 watt, Lithium Ion--Fun!

[msconana]

I test rode/drove the BionX 350 watt, LiIon--and I know this isn't the correct term for all you techies but: WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I also tried out the 250 watt, LiIon and it was good too. Hubby and I went back and forth about it all the way home (basically trying to talk ourselves out of the 350) but I finally hit on the perfect excuse. We are adopting from China and in 18 months we'll have a baby girl, possibly twins if they happen to be available. I'll be able to pull them in a little trailer so much easier with the stronger motor!

So, tomorrow we'll go and pick up the kit and get it attached to my current Trek. So excited!

Thanks for helping talk me out of the lower 250 and for (most of you anyway) thinking that the BionX is a pretty good fit for what I need.

I think the 20 mph is going to be plenty for a bike. I'm really not a speed demon on a bike (my car insurance people would beg to differ--3 speeding tickets in a year. Tricky speed traps I tell you--it wasn't my fault!!!!!! )

QUESTION for those of you with this kit:

How accurate are these numbers?
http://www.greenspeed.us/bionx_250_lithium_battery.htm

Range:
Mode 1: 62 miles
Mode 2: 46 miles
Mode 3: 34 miles
Mode 4: 28 miles

Thanks so much for all your help!

Julia

 

[patrick_mahoney]

Where did you try out the BionX?

For what it's worth, I've found that all e-bikes over about 300W or so pretty much all evoke a "WHEEE!" from most people. But the BionX is a nice kit... it is a very well designed product from what I've read/heard.

If you want to try something different, you are welcome to pop up from Longmont to Fort Collins and check out two of my bikes. I have one with a Wilderness Energy BL-36, and another with a Crystalyte 5304. I'd be pleased to show them off and you'd have a few more options to think about.
http://www.wildernessenergy.com/unibikekit_new.htm

The 5304 is probably a bit over the top, but the Wilderness Energy kits are 600W (or thereabouts) at 36V, and run less than $500. They are not as slick as the BionX, weigh a lot more (lead-acid batteries) and have less range, but they do allow you to pedal assist with the motor, have a variable throttle and cost well under half as much.

Send a Private Message, if you are interested in meeting up.

Also, 21 Wheels in Boulder sells e-bikes and e-bike kits.
http://www.21wheels.com/

I've never been there though... I bought my stuff over the internet. I think they have Wilderness Energy kits as well.


Patrick Mahoney
Fort Collins, CO

 

[Lowell]

Congrats on your purchase. Post pics from the first ride!

edit: Oops, I guess it's being bought tomorrow.

 

[patrick_mahoney]

Congrats on your purchase. Post pics from the first ride!

Oh, I didn't see that she'd bought it already. I got the impression they were buying it tomorrow (Sun).

If I'm mistaken, then congrats and just ignore my message above.

 

[jondoh]

The range claims seem a little high to me. If you're going 20 mph and not peddling, I'd figure on 18 miles with a 36v 10 ah battery. I think 28 miles at 20 mph is possible but you have to peddle a fair amount.

 

[msconana]

Where did you try out the BionX?

Hi Patrick! So glad to find someone so close to me! I tried out the BionX at a place just south of DIA airport called Bird RV. The owner's name is Dale and he was really nice, helpful, answered all of our questions, let us try out multiple bikes with the different versions of the battery so we could feel the difference. http://www.birdrv.com

I sold my Subaru Forester Turbo for my Honda Element but the whole thing reminds me of that. I tried the regular Forester first (like the BionX 250) and thought, "Well, this is just great, nice." Then, like a fool, I thought I would 'just try' the turbo (and the BionX 350), you know, for a comparison, "I don't NEED that much oomph". But I think when you squeal tires (or makes you laugh and say, "Wheeee!" You've just got to change your mind don't you?!?

Julia

 

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

I have a turbo switch that varies the power between 250W & 500W which is the legal max in Canada. Even though I spend most of the time in econo mode & pedals lots to max my range, I can tell you that if 250W were all I had available, the whee would have been short lived & grown disappointed whereas what I have suits me perfectly.

250W is just barely adequate but I still cannot believe the difference only a few extra mph makes in the fun factor. You'll want that little bit of extra power when climbing the occasional hill or need to get across an extra wide & busy intersection. It's good to have that option the extra power gives you, even if you think you won't need it a lot of the time. And unlike a gas engine the bigger wattage electric motor doesn't come at a weight penalty because it's all in the controller.

 

[msconana]

Congrats on your purchase. Post pics from the first ride!

Here we are in Colorado, 300+ sunny days a year. I get my bike and we have 45 degree weather with big ugly black clouds, some rain and wind. I will post pics of my first ride (when I go further than down the ally and back!) Tomorrow's weather, more of the same. Tuesday is looking more hopeful though--COME ON SUN!!!!

Julia

 

[JoeinBurnaby]

"I have a turbo switch that varies the power between 250W & 500W which is the legal max in Canada."

Is this for the BionX? I have a 250, but I do a massive hill on my commute to work, and the 250 is not nearly enough. On the other hand, I don't want so much power that I don't ever get any exercise, so I'm trying to find a middle ground. Being able to vary the power would be awesome!

 

[Anonymous]

.

 

[dogman dan]

Ditto on the range, Though bionx system doe seem to get the best out of batteries, do remember that you really don't want to sqeeze every watt out of your battery on every ride. Including a healthy reserve to help your battery last long enough, you will want to go between 1 and 1.5 miles per amp hour of pack size in a 36v system at 20 mph. Hills will make it more like 1 ah, as will wind, and really cold weather. At the slower speeds, much greater range is possible.

I routinely cut top speed by 25% and range by 50% when I read EV ads. One thing that tends to happen is the longer the ride, the less you pedal hard the whole way, among other things. Most EV range tests are done at about 5 mph. They state range and speed, but not range at a particular speed.

 

[OneWayTraffic]

The range claims seem a little high to me. If you're going 20 mph and not peddling, I'd figure on 18 miles with a 36v 10 ah battery. I think 28 miles at 20 mph is possible but you have to peddle a fair amount.

Not pedaling is not possible with a Bionx. The modes are percentages of your output (torque sensor on the sprocket cluster I think.)

IIRC Mode 1 is 50% then it goes up to 300% of your output in Mode 4, effectively quadrupling your own power.

I'd be willing to bet that those numbers were on a flat smooth road, or even worse on a rolling road in a factory.

Best way to estimate range is to use a power calculator. Then subtract however much you are adding to the equation. Halve the range if you're towing a trailer.

http://www.me.psu.edu/lamancusa/ProdDiss/Bicycle/bikecalc1.htm

150 pound rider 40 pound ebike, tires somewhere between knobbies and road racers 18mph=180W

I'd guess the BIonx 350 watt is 36v 10Ah or thereabouts. That's 360Wh.



If you're going at 18mph and you're putting in half the power to do so, that's 90W for you and 90W for the motor. That's a 4 hour range. At 18mph that's 72 miles. I'd doubt that you could put all of that effort in though, for 4 hours, so you'd probably use a higher assist mode.

Of course if you were doing that 18mph up a 5% hill , you'd need 530 watts. You could at most put out 100 or so of that, and that leaves 400 for the motor. That's a range of less than 1 hour or under 18miles.

So it all depends on the terrain. One good thing about Bionx is that with the assist mode, you're forced to pedal. And if you leave it on mode 1 where it's giving you roughly half of what you can put in yourself, then it will push just as long as you can. If you get the urge to put pedal to the metal as many do, you'll get much less.

 

[Anonymous]

.

 

[OneWayTraffic]

Not pedaling is not possible with a Bionx. The modes are percentages of your output (torque sensor on the sprocket cluster I think.)

Have you tried one? Most bionx consoles have a thumb throttle, you can use it or just the pedals.

Well I stand corrected. I was given to understand that they were pedal assist only. Is this a new feature or was I just misled?