Today was another freakishly fantastic weather anomaly so I had to get out for a road trip.
I wanted something that could challenge the new build so I loaded the bike in the car and headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway, specifically, the climb up 215 from Rosman and then south to Richlands Balsam, the highest point on the Parkway road. Strava recorded the ride at 50 miles with 5710 feet of climbing but I forgot to start the damned app until about 3 miles up the road. It was probably more like 53 miles and 5900 feet. Starting elevation 2200 feet and turnaround was 6053 feet.
All up weight including me, bike and a couple of water bottles and snacks was 203 pounds. 34 tooth Race Face chainring and a 11-28 cassette. New BBS-02 and a 48V Dolphin pack with Panasonic NCRB cells rated at 13.5 amp hours.
All I have for monitoring the battery is the C963 watt indicator and battery gauge. I finished with 2 bars showing but on the final 5 miles I was driving it pretty hard at PAS 5 and the batter gauge was bouncing between 1 bar and 2. Mostly 1 under load. I put a volt meter on the battery when I got home and it was reading 45.8 volts.
For most of the ride, I was riding like I didn't have the motor, putting out my usual puny 30-50 watts. My goal was to ride as normal, but keep my heart rate under 160 at all times. On most of the climbs the C963 was showing between 100 and 180 watts. I adjusted PAS and gear selection to keep the wattage in that range while also keeping my peddling effort steady.
I had a few anxious moments early in the ride, though. I had just gotten to the first long 10%+ grade and was cranking away and all of a sudden I got a big whiff of Magic Smoke (burning resistors)!! Naturally I freaked out, stopped and felt the BBS02 and smelled it. Nothing. Barely even warm. This is 4000 feet up in the middle of nowhere with the cleanest freshest air you can image. The smell dissipated. I get back on and ride away. Ten minutes later, same smell!! Stopped again, motor still barely warm to the touch and no smell. No frigging idea what was going on!!
Turns out the smell was from cars passing me going the other way. I must have been subconsciously expecting problems so my brain delivered.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride and having passed this test, I am REALLY liking the BBS02. I got it to make long rides more enjoyable as I get older and if it can do this, I think it can handle anything I am likely to throw at it in the future.
I wanted something that could challenge the new build so I loaded the bike in the car and headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway, specifically, the climb up 215 from Rosman and then south to Richlands Balsam, the highest point on the Parkway road. Strava recorded the ride at 50 miles with 5710 feet of climbing but I forgot to start the damned app until about 3 miles up the road. It was probably more like 53 miles and 5900 feet. Starting elevation 2200 feet and turnaround was 6053 feet.
All up weight including me, bike and a couple of water bottles and snacks was 203 pounds. 34 tooth Race Face chainring and a 11-28 cassette. New BBS-02 and a 48V Dolphin pack with Panasonic NCRB cells rated at 13.5 amp hours.
All I have for monitoring the battery is the C963 watt indicator and battery gauge. I finished with 2 bars showing but on the final 5 miles I was driving it pretty hard at PAS 5 and the batter gauge was bouncing between 1 bar and 2. Mostly 1 under load. I put a volt meter on the battery when I got home and it was reading 45.8 volts.
For most of the ride, I was riding like I didn't have the motor, putting out my usual puny 30-50 watts. My goal was to ride as normal, but keep my heart rate under 160 at all times. On most of the climbs the C963 was showing between 100 and 180 watts. I adjusted PAS and gear selection to keep the wattage in that range while also keeping my peddling effort steady.
I had a few anxious moments early in the ride, though. I had just gotten to the first long 10%+ grade and was cranking away and all of a sudden I got a big whiff of Magic Smoke (burning resistors)!! Naturally I freaked out, stopped and felt the BBS02 and smelled it. Nothing. Barely even warm. This is 4000 feet up in the middle of nowhere with the cleanest freshest air you can image. The smell dissipated. I get back on and ride away. Ten minutes later, same smell!! Stopped again, motor still barely warm to the touch and no smell. No frigging idea what was going on!!
Turns out the smell was from cars passing me going the other way. I must have been subconsciously expecting problems so my brain delivered.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride and having passed this test, I am REALLY liking the BBS02. I got it to make long rides more enjoyable as I get older and if it can do this, I think it can handle anything I am likely to throw at it in the future.
