Qulbix Q140MD - any experience?

pjwalmsley said:
@engate -
Sounds like your pretty frustrated with this bike, but in general whats your thought on the Qulbix vs Vector frames? I'm primarily deciding between a Qulbix 76 and Vector Typhoon (and their respective mid drives but they cost too much and might get me in trouble).
In particular:
1. Do you feel the swingarm wheel connection point is stronger on one vs the other (shooting for 20kw)?
2. What do you think of the suspension geometry of the two bikes?
4. Is the pedal height/position on the Typhoon annoying - does it make you feel 'balled up' while sitting - I'm 6' and usually ride a large frame.

The Qulbix 76 chain play seems worrisome (don't look like an issue on the MD though); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_64s2XZEXg

@benjamin - I see you removed the pedals and overdrive kit. How did you like the overdrive kit?
Click to expand...

Well yeah.. It's a good bike but unfortunately they didn't take the time and money to develop a truly great ebike.It's an outdated bike with cheap/badly designed parts there and there.

Don't build anything with a HUB motor. Especially if the motor is located in the rear wheel.Every single one is an expensive junk what handles terrible and prone to overheating.Just buy a sur ron and mod it if you want more power.It's superior to both the qulbix and vector bikes regarding quality.

The Q140MD frame is a bit better quality than the vector typhoon.But I think the typhoon is a better choice because of the lower price.Should be able to handle 20kW. Not sure about the qulbix 76.

i'm 6' as well and I think both frames are good enough regarding seat height.Both feels tall after my sur ron :lol:

I don't pedal on these bikes unless a cop is looking at me so I can't tell if it's annoying or not.
 
pjwalmsley said:
@benjamin - I see you removed the pedals and overdrive kit. How did you like the overdrive kit?
Click to expand...

That was my least favourite part of the bike to be honest. It works as advertised, you can pedal at a sensible cadence at higher speeds, but it didn't suite me at all. At lower speeds I would have loved to pedal if the bike had a torque sensor and pedal assist, while at higher speeds and off road I'm so used to riding motorbikes that having pedals was just an annoyance :) Personal preference may certainly vary though, and as engate says, you don't need to pedal at all unless you want to look a bit more stealth. :thumb:
 
Hello All,

Quite the thread these last few pages!

Just want to give an update. ( IMPORTANT: I use the middle sprocket option, so in theory I should overheat quicker) I now have just about 1900 miles on the Q140MD. So far so good. Regarding the heat. Since my last post, I can say I have gotten the temp to climb to 126 C after full throttle going up short, steep hills ( I rode probably 15 miles prior to reaching the hills in question, keep that in mind. So not a cold start by any means). It cools back down quick though. I typically do not ride WOT anyway. I am anywhere from 0 throttle to full and everywhere in-between when I ride. On a day the is 85 degrees F, my temp seems to be right around 85C to 90C after a 20-mile ride. It can peak higher at times but always comes back down.

I rode my bike into work today. About a 20 mile ride. The temp peaked at 72C. Was a chilly morning, which helped. Usually its around 85C by the time I get here.

The BATTERY: A few posts back the batteries used came into question. Per my manual pack emailed to me, the spec sheet stated they use Samsung INR18650-25R cells. FYI.

To whoever is reading this, Engate is pretty much just a no BS guy. I've pm'd him quite a bit, and he seems to know his stuff well. He is speaking off of his own experiences after spending a small fortune. I pretty much agree with everything he says. I do get away with much more on this bike though due to weight. You have to keep in mind the Engate is a larger gentleman. It really does make a drastic difference. I weight in at 165lbs and usually have a 10-15lb backpack on.

The bike IS built like a tank and seems well make, though a bit crude when compared to say, a Specialized, Santa Cruz or any other large MFG. Now, Surron according to Luna Cycle put a million into the manufacturing for their bike. So while I haven't seen one in person I can tell by pics that it is of high quality. Just is what it is. Qulbix is a small company doing this stuff from hand? As far as 3rd party parts are concerned.....Ya, Qulbix just went for low end from what I can tell with DNM. In regards to DNM, it seems most the other companies such as Stealth (who are more $) use them as a base too. I think their stuff just works well and is cheap, so it is what these guys go with. Psychologically though, it does not feel "right" (imo) to have an expensive bike with cheap parts. Therefore, I plan to upgrade my fork and rear shock. I have no complaints with the DNM, but want high-end components....The kickstand. Engate is right on the money with his comment. It is not very good at all. I cannot believe this is what they consider a kickstand. What is even more confusing is they sell this bike for MX use. The kickstand is useless in soft dirt, grass etc. It looks like a $10 cheap part. It needs to be redesigned. Also, i've had it fall down going over some curbs and speed. It is basically a stake that has over 100lbs leaning on it. How in the world do they think this would work? Fortunately, it should be an easy thing to design. Hopefully, they do it. I would suggest buying it as it is a lifesaver for me in many cases, but it is not a well thought out design at all. Just know and expect that. It serves its purpose fine for me as I am on concrete most of the time.

Like Engate, I am tensioning by chain every ride ( my rides are usually 35 to 60 miles). I am on my second chain. It stretches a bunch in the beginning. You get used to it and it does not take much time. So I do not mind. The pedeling is fine, but useless under 15mph or so. I just do it for the looks. I ride this thing e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. I get left alone. Just ride with respect around others and pedal when in heavily traveled areas such as parks and so forth.

Overall I am happy with my bike and would recommend buying it. I have 1900 miles (in two months time) on it and it has been a blast! Also, keep in mind that the Q140 offers a mid-drive solution that is very powerful in a package that more or less looks like a mountain bike. Both the LMX in question and Sur Ron look like dirt bikes. There is no getting around that. Those two bikes cross the line for any sort of public use. That said, my needs may be different than the persons reading this. I needed to have something that I could get away with in public. This was the only choice taking that into consideration and wanting a mid-drive.



The fine print:

- Weight. Do you weigh 185lbs(maybe 200) or less? Less? Then buy it. More? Do not buy it if you plan on using it out in hilly areas.

-Know going into it that the 3rd party parts are okay, but not great. Be ok knowing that Qulbix is making some good money on this thing and hopefully you are helping put food on some folks table. The parts do work fine though. For me, its a mental thing.

-You are not peddling this thing for sake of argument. Know the general feeling in your area with riding this on the street. It get a shi..t load of attention. Its like driving by in a Lamborghini. Little kids look, grandmas look, guys and gals will ask about it if you're stopped. No one has seen anything like it - including cops. There is a restaurant I enjoy going to with ample outdoor seating in a very happening part of town. You sit right in the walkway more or less of people walking by. Without fail, I will have two to three individuals stop and ask about it while I am eating. Does that work for you? Can you get away with it?


------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think we are at interesting times in the high power Ebike world. There is a ton of room in this space for someone to reign king. NO mfg has done it yet. There are + and - from all mentioned here.

What would be nice is if the big names tried to get into the high power stuff. Imagine if Specialized (or any mfg in that vein) decided to make their own version of the Q140, B-52 etc. Gooooood lord we would have a winner I'd bet. The amount of $$$ they have they could pair up with QS I bet and come up with a custom HUB motor that does not overheat. and place it on a frame that looked first class. One can dream......

I think the closest thing to a really good looking high-end component bike right from the mfg was Neematic. Unfortunately, I think those will never come out.

Hope this helps? Feel free to ask any questions.....
 
Nice writeup C158 :)

Have to agree on the attention side of things, but amazingly I've not had any negative attention so far! It helps to not ride like an idiot, but Norwegians are notoriously negative towards any motorised vehicles off road, even street legal e-bikes are getting some negative press. I reckon the fact that this bike is entirely silent makes it harder to criticize, for my use I don't think I could have gotten away with a surron or other geared mid-drive option, and a KTM Freeride is 100% out of the question for off road use as it is very clearly a motorbike.

The Q140MD isn't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with the tradeoffs you make when going for a mid mounted hub motor, when you gain complete silence and such high power in the speed range I ride at :thumb:

If I was to make some changes to the bike, and had the competence to do so, this is what I would do:

1. Run the throttle through the Cycle Analyst like engate has done, to give a load more options for tuning and power regulation. The current setup is snappy, and small throttle openings result in a very abrupt amount of torque. I am constantly swapping between the e-bike and my KTM 690 so it feels quite alien to me.
2. Install a torque sensing crank, wired up to the Cycle Analyst. Having pedals that don't give any motor-assist just feels wrong, so I ended up removing them.
3. Weld a foot to the sidestand. It is, as others have stated, not great and sinks through anything other than hard concrete.
4. Swap out the front forks. I don't think they are terrible, but they aren't exactly dripping with feedback either compared to the WP forks on my KTM.

Depending on how much time I have on my hands this winter I might actually attempt points 1 and 2 on this list - with pedal assist I reckon this bike will be much more relaxing to ride at moderate speeds, and it will be considerably easier to claim it is legal if I get pulled over.
 
Another small update:

In regards to heat...The temp has significantly dropped here in WA. The mornings are around 45F and the afternoons about 65F. The motor temp has decreased 20C on average on my rides. This summer in 78F to 85F the motor seemed to average out at about 88C to 90C getting from home to work or doing a 20 mile ride around town. Would spike higher or get a little lower depending on throttle.

Riding to work I now avg about 68C in and maybe 75C on the way home. The hills I mentioned in my previous post where I got the bike to 126C now peak at about 108C. So the ambient temperature plays a major role as well.

I am curious when the the temp falls where Engate is if he sees a major improvement. Also, as a reminder I am using the middle sprocket while the other two guys are using the low gear sprocket.
 
Another Update:

Ambient temp is now a high of 50 to 55 F and is a low of 30 to 40 F.

I rode into work the other day and it was 35F out. There is not a chance at of this overheating at those temps. I got to work and my motor was in the 50C range (+/- 5c) Summertime it would be around 30c more.

Riding home it was about 50F out and my temp got to 98C but I was rallying it back as if I had stolen the bike. I got the battery down to 30% after only 25 miles. I was flying on it and going up hills full speed ahead. These hills are short and very steep - like Engates hills. Being that I had never ridden home like that in Summer it's hard to say, but if I had to guess it would have overheated.

Fall/WInter riding negates any and all chance of overheating. Summer riding with my weight does not cause a problem either per se, but the temp is drastically higher.

Again, I am using the middle sprocket so my bike gets hotter quicker than both Ben and Endgate.....

Other than that everything seems fine on the bike. I have 2300 miles on it and 53 charges.

FYI........
 
Hey Guys,

Done any riding lately? It is now raining non-stop in WA and somewhat chilly so I have pretty much stopped riding for the most part. I did snag the Manitou Dorado Pro fork, but will install it when the weather clears up a bit in the next few months......

To date, I have approx 2400 miles on the bike with no problems to report.
 
I make really steep climbs, around 30% and I can confirm that my LMX81 never complains! To give you an idea, with the Bultaco Brinco I was still on asphalt, two km from home and I had to do the first stretch on foot! I exchanged it, with a friend who was with me and weighs 65Kg: it overheated with him too! As for the DNM fork I noticed the defects you are talking about and I also had them, until I understood that it must be inflated every time you go out, but the absurd thing is that if you do not inflate it at least at 120 it seems harder and not absorbs medium-small stones at speed! Try it (max 150psi)
 
Hey Guys,

The weather is starting to turn here for the better and I have gotten some riding in. In the past two weeks I have put +- 250 miles on it with no issues. Total mileage is not around 2800miles. Beyond keeping the bike clean, lubing the chain and general maintenance I have not had any issues whatsoever. I am guessing I have the most miles as to anyone in this thread? Not sure though.

I bought a Manitou Dorado Pro fork that I will install at some point soon.

Ben/Engate, what is going on with you guys?
 
I sold this junk,and bought a custom electric ktm with 35kW power,~5.2kwh battery. The motor barely gets warm even after torturing it really hard.It's impossible to overheat it :D and all that with 120km/h top speed gearing.
 
Hey Engate,

Any details/links? Curious to see this thing!

Now have over 3100 miles on the bike. Loving every second of riding it. I have not had any issues and cops in my area do not care at all. Flys right under the radar like I am hoping it will continue to do.
 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pPdsbB2Fu6AENzEv5

I loved my qulbix as well until I bought a sur ron :lol:
Even tho sur ron is only 5kW,it's way more fun because of the low center of gravity,and smaller size.After buying a sur ron I never touched my qulbix again. The qulbix feels top heavy,overheats quickly.
 
Looks awesome! Ya, I'd buy something like this in a heartbeat, but need to be low-key as the whole point of the Q140MD for me is to get away with it being an e-bike and no different to a cop than a lime bike or some other app driven bike in our city. And after 3000 miles and numerous encounters with cops and other cyclist in general it is working like a charm. Taking your new ride along the same paths I take would result in immediate confiscation. HAHA

All said, I would like to hear more about this! Can you go into the details on what the base line cost was and then list all the aftermarket things you did? It would be neat to buy one and take it off road somewhere. This would compliment my Qulbix - not compete with it for the above reasons.

Thank you!
 
35kW power,5.2kwh battery.ME1507 motor,sevcon gen 4 size 6 controller.
It was built by a guy in Hungary from a KTM 350 SXF 2017 so it's custom.I bought it for 6800€
I see you live in the USA. then just buy a used Alta redshift mx :lol:
 
engate said:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pPdsbB2Fu6AENzEv5

I loved my qulbix as well until I bought a sur ron :lol:
Even tho sur ron is only 5kW,it's way more fun because of the low center of gravity,and smaller size.After buying a sur ron I never touched my qulbix again. The qulbix feels top heavy,overheats quickly.
Click to expand...

Nice, whats the battery Ah/Series matrix consist of?
 
engate said:
24s 20p in 3 seperate battery boxes (samsung 30Q) so 60Ah which is about 5.32kWh
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DAMN, Thats a pack, got a thread on ES where you documented all of the specs?
 
Wrong thread Shatul ;)

As for the Q140MD - I finally got around to mounting the updated wiring harness and cycle analyst setup from Qulbix. The throttle is now routed though the display, and you have a 3 position mode switch, which means everything is programmed and controlled by the cycle analyst rather than the quite industrial Kelly controller.

The upshot of this is I have finally been able to set this thing to Torque (well Amp) control instead of Speed control, making it infinately better to ride! It now feels more like a motorbike, your throttle hand controls the torque/power and not the target speed, meaning you have full control of what you are asking the back wheel to do instead of the bike just trying to reach a set speed as fast as it can.

I will need to play around a bit with the 3 different modes, but so far I am incredibly happy with the swap, it completely transformed the bike. Looking forward to testing it in the forest assuming tomorrow doesn't bring torrential rain, again ;)
 
Hey All!

Its been a while....

My Q140MD has been put away for the Winter as it is pretty much just raining here now and cold. I've now got 4900 miles on the bike and have not had any major problems whatsoever. It has been a great commuter and fun off road (when I do that). In May I got the Doroado Pro fork and DVO Jade rear suspension installed. The bike is now complete.

FYI....
 
C158 said:
Hey All!

Its been a while....

My Q140MD has been put away for the Winter as it is pretty much just raining here now and cold. I've now got 4900 miles on the bike and have not had any major problems whatsoever. It has been a great commuter and fun off road (when I do that). In May I got the Doroado Pro fork and DVO Jade rear suspension installed. The bike is now complete.

FYI....
Click to expand...
You just can't drop the mods and not post a pic of your completed bike. Thats like eating pizza with out a beer, or pasta without red wine. :mrgreen:
 
Hi Guys,

Before we introduce the new, Q140MD Core 2021, we'd like to comment on some old post, which were left unanswered.

REGARDING THE OVERHEATING of some of the 2018/19 versions of Core - there was an issue with the sensor calibration, which was related to the controller. The temperature reading on some bikes was incorrect - the actual temperature of the motor was much lower than it was detected by the sensor, and the result was that the bike shut down to cool off, even if it didn't need to.

When we discovered what the issue was, we notified the affected customers and offered the instructions how to re-calibrate the sensor and fix this problem.

A few words about the motor:
The Core's motor is a quality BLDC outrunner motor and is additionally cooled with fins on the outside and ferrofluid on the inside. The low rotational speed makes practically no noise (compared to high noise motors from other manufacturers like Sur Ron etc.), has a lot of torque and allows us to directly connect it with the pedals which is a unique solution on the market. No other manufacturer offers mid drive bike with this kind of pedalling feature.

REGARDING THE Q140MD CORE'S PERFORMANCE
Since 2019 we have been involved in racing and Qulbix has become a part of the FIM e-bike race format development committee. We have tested the Core in the harsh conditions of the race and have incorporated these findings into to newest version of Core. You can watch the latest race of the FIM Italian national championship in cross e-bikes in Italy here:

[youtube]WZdu_gfwds4[/youtube]

From this video you can get the feel for the Q140MD Core's:
- clear power/performance advantage
- there are no overheating issues in 1 x 10min training, 15min qualifications and 2 x 15min races, which push the bike to its limits
- the Core's sound - it is quieter than other offroad bikes, such as Surron
- the use of pedals - they are optimised for hard riding, so you can corner and jump without issues. They work up to end speed and enable the rider to get the maximum work out from their ride. Of course their purpose is not solo propulsion of the bike, which has so much power it does not need human assistance.
- our bikes are the same weight as Surron

Coming soon: Qulbix Q140MD Core 2021 "RACE"
 
Hi guys, can anyone help me in obtaining an assembly manual in some form for the Qulbix Core 140md

I just received the new 140 MD DIY kit. While build quality looks impressive some of the assembly is not so obvious to me.

Any help much appreciated!
 
What specifically are you having issues with?

Their site says (well, used to say) that each frame comes with a "detailed manual", and they (used to) have them online too, so I was going to point you to their page of manuals
but looks like they removed it, as it gets this message now, as do most of their pages I randomly tried:

error page

PAGE NOT FOUND​


Oops! The page you are looking for does not exist. It might have been moved or deleted.
Back to home
Click to expand...
 
I was hoping someone could send me a digital copy but most pressing right now is the overdrive pedal system assembly.
I see on there newly designed website a picture of a manual and also some excerpt images of a manual so I assume one must exist?
 
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