CYC Photon Gen 2?

[neptronix]

I'm not sure if this statement is still true, but in the past, If you would send ebikes.ca one, they would add it to the simulator.
We could crowdfund the cost of the motor. I'd put $50 on it.

I'd be happy to put anyone in touch with them who would be interested in that. Let me talk with them and see if the offer is still available

 

[Epithemeus]

Think anyone would care about a gen 1 to dyno? I'd donate mine to the cause.

 

[neptronix]

I talked to them, seems like they have access to a few already. Just that the owner doesn't have time to play dyno master lately. Can't promise anything other than to say it sounds feasible they could do it.

 

[hindesite]

Or even better. Anyone got a dyno?

I was really thinking more about real world range, same rider, same conditions.

Dyno or even published curves for both motors would be extremely interesting, CYC have never published this yet claim significant efficiency improvements, and expect us to take their word for that. Just the difference between inrunner and outrunner motors in the same class from the same manufacturer would be interesting.

 

[rscamp]

I was really thinking more about real world range, same rider, same conditions.

My concern would be there are several poorly controlled variables with such comparisons. It makes it hard to hang a hat on the results.

 

[hindesite]

My concern would be there are several poorly controlled variables with such comparisons. It makes it hard to hang a hat on the results.

True, but never let perfection be the enemy of good enough. If there were a significant improvement, I'm sure we'd see it even in uncontrolled conditions.

 

[RedRain]

Just trying to install my kit and this gap is not looking good.

Photon gen 2 120mm kit

2020 Giant Yukon 1 - Press fit BB92 to BSA adapter
"SRAM Dub Pressfit MTB Bottom Bracket 121mm" was originally in there

Anyone know any tips? I messaged CYC will see what they say

 

[growler40]

I was really thinking more about real world range, same rider, same conditions.

Dyno or even published curves for both motors would be extremely interesting, CYC have never published this yet claim significant efficiency improvements, and expect us to take their word for that. Just the difference between inrunner and outrunner motors in the same class from the same manufacturer would be interesting.

I doubt it’s more efficient. Tried doing range tests, it’s hard because of so many weather factors, but I still did enough (~10 total) to pretty confidently say it’s just as efficient as the photon gen 1. I’m basing this off the fact that I get about the same exact range on average as the Bonnell 775 AM claims. The only thing is I have 874wh vs their 780wh. I’d say if anything, I only get 0.5 more miles on the highest mode, and 1-5 more miles on the lowest mode, but that’s my battery not the efficiency. My bike is also only a couple pounds lighter. All street riding. However my lowest modes were more of a regular commute whereas my highest modes I was just taking a joyride on expressways.

 

[beecars]

I received the CYC Photon Gen 2 conversion kit last week and installed it and the battery this weekend.

It's a lot of fun to ride. I'm pretty sure I'm not pushing it anywhere close to the limit. First ebike so being a little cautious.

I think I'm going to get some slightly wider tires and some fenders.

 

[scianiac]

Just trying to install my kit and this gap is not looking good.

Photon gen 2 120mm kit

2020 Giant Yukon 1 - Press fit BB92 to BSA adapter
"SRAM Dub Pressfit MTB Bottom Bracket 121mm" was originally in there

Anyone know any tips? I messaged CYC will see what they say

Assuming you can't adjust anything on the BB adapter side to close the gap I would make some spacers, which just some washers would be fine. You just want to make sure that bolt is clamping the bracket to the motor and not pulling on the bracket.

 

[hindesite]

Just trying to install my kit and this gap is not looking good.

Photon gen 2 120mm kit

2020 Giant Yukon 1 - Press fit BB92 to BSA adapter
"SRAM Dub Pressfit MTB Bottom Bracket 121mm" was originally in there

Anyone know any tips? I messaged CYC will see what they say

Does the shaft fit correctly, or is it going to be too short? If it fits I'd suggest CYC might have sent the wrong bracket, or got that component wrong.

 

[Melobear]

Hi dudes! Just want to share my exp regarding CYC photon gen 2

Bike is a Nukeproof Mega frame I bought in 2019 which I assembled in 2020.

Jumped to cyc photon gen 2, and installed it 3 days ago (alongside the CYC A52L battery)

So far in my short rides in town and an offroad track near my house I gathered this :

Motor seems strong, I set up the app to 400/1200/2000 for both pedal and throttle, unrestricted. goes to 50kmh pedaling, pretty quick, and throttle around 45kmh no pedaling (this with a 36t chainring)

Uphill this thing is a beast makes climbing anything sooo easy

being cold out (*around 8 degrees celsius), the battery after 20 min, drops some voltage and the motor doesnt seem to enjoy itself so much, maybe the power limit could be set too high or is it just the cold temp?

All in all a great buy imo, had a lot of fun these days, can't wait for the mountains

(yes my cranks are reversed, made a mistake while assembling it. I cant switch them easily back, I will cross that bridge when I reach it lol, does not pose an issue at the moment)


Cheers!

 

[beecars]

I received the CYC Photon Gen 2 conversion kit last week and installed it and the battery this weekend.

It's a lot of fun to ride. I'm pretty sure I'm not pushing it anywhere close to the limit. First ebike so being a little cautious.

I think I'm going to get some slightly wider tires and some fenders.

View attachment 381167

Wanted to provide an update with a few notes as a record for anyone that might be considering the Trek FX3 (2022 version) conversion. Overall it was a very satisfying project, and I learned a lot. But there are a few things that I wish I had thought about before starting.

- The Photon Gen 2 conversion kit was pretty straightforward on this frame. No real clearance or fitment issues to worry about.
- The 40T chainring is pretty much a drop-in replacement for what came stock on the FX3. The "stock" 1x10 feels pretty natural. I don't have any intuition for gear ratios or whatever, but I go around 30 mph on the smallest gear before I feel like my legs start spinning too fast. That's plenty fast enough for me, but your mileage may vary. There is definitely enough frame clearance for smaller chainrings.
- You may need new brakes. Especially if you live in a hilly area. My FX3 came with some "ProMax" brakes. Hydraulic fluid exploded out of a front caliper piston on my first downhill stopping attempt. When searching for new brakes I found that generally the higher quality brakes are "post mount" style, which is not compatible with the "flat mount" FX3 frame. I ended up buying the Shinamo BR-M6120 and a set of "flat mount to post mount adapters". The front adapter did not clear part of the fork (there is an attachment nub near the end of the fork). I had to grind out a few mm of the aluminum adapter, but I got it to fit.
- I got a pair of 35mm tires. 35mm tires work well with these 45mm PDW fenders. I think 38mm would work if you didn't have fenders.

Still having a blast. The thing is zooming up hills. I like the Intuition display. I've been using stock settings (usually "Street / Power Mode 2" when mostly flat, but swapping to "Street / Power Mode 3" for big hills. Climbing hills feels like magic. I have some large continuous hills and haven't noticed any temperature/throttling issues.

 

[Melobear]

This thing is a blast! GG CYC

still very cold out so not optimal but otherwise its an insane piece of kit for the size and money

 

[lisalis]

I couldnt find thoses info even tho i've looked into different threads and in the manual but
is it possible to lock the bike to class 3 / 45 km/h-type ? If so how is it activated/deactivated ?
in switzerland if i wanted to register a bike with the photon to be legal it should be limited to 45kmh and i should be able to deactivate throttle. Or maybe not connect the throttle cable? I wonder if they thought about it. I don't care about throttle also i like pedalling a lot and it's illegal here anyway

I'm curious if it could be made road legal here it looks like a nice silent motor

 

[raylo32]

Assuming the same functioanlity as Photon Gen 1 the RideControl app has Street Mode and Race mode and you can customize many parameters in both, to include enabling throttle, speed limits, and power limits across the 3 (or 5) power bands. That is even with it set to "unrestricted". If you don't use unrestricted, I believe that street mode won't let you go higher than some preset number... but I run unrestricted here so can't advise specifically on that. But you can have Street Mode set up to your specs and could show it to the authorities if necessary.

I couldnt find thoses info even tho i've looked into different threads and in the manual but
is it possible to lock the bike to class 3 / 45 km/h-type ? If so how is it activated/deactivated ?
in switzerland if i wanted to register a bike with the photon to be legal it should be limited to 45kmh and i should be able to deactivate throttle. Or maybe not connect the throttle cable? I wonder if they thought about it. I don't care about throttle also i like pedalling a lot and it's illegal here anyway

I'm curious if it could be made road legal here it looks like a nice silent motor

 

[lisalis]

Assuming the same functioanlity as Photon Gen 1 the RideControl app has Street Mode and Race mode and you can customize many parameters in both, to include enabling throttle, speed limits, and power limits across the 3 (or 5) power bands. That is even with it set to "unrestricted". If you don't use unrestricted, I believe that street mode won't let you go higher than some preset number... but I run unrestricted here so can't advise specifically on that. But you can have Street Mode set up to your specs and could show it to the authorities if necessary.

Is there a way to like limit the software ? i'm 100% sure they would actually check it for a few minutes to see if i can't just unrestrict it easily. I guess if it has the new screen and its only that the behaviour is quiet limited

 

[hindesite]

I couldnt find thoses info even tho i've looked into different threads and in the manual but
is it possible to lock the bike to class 3 / 45 km/h-type ? If so how is it activated/deactivated ?
in switzerland if i wanted to register a bike with the photon to be legal it should be limited to 45kmh and i should be able to deactivate throttle. Or maybe not connect the throttle cable? I wonder if they thought about it. I don't care about throttle also i like pedalling a lot and it's illegal here anyway

I'm curious if it could be made road legal here it looks like a nice silent motor

AFAIK CYC have a hardware version available with firmware installed for this use case. I don't know if you can download it. Maybe they can provide more country specific versions - for example in NZ we have no speed limit (other than posted) throttles are not permitted and power is limited to 300W (whatever that means - peak? extended?) and like many countries there is legislation being considered to change this. It would be nice if it could all be dealt with with firmware limitations.

 

[raylo32]

IDK, but not sure that is entirely relevant because If you keep going down this path of thinking you if you did have a "locked" software version you could just go home and download the unrestricted version later. You'd really need a purpose built hardware/softeware version as mentioned by Hindesite.

Is there a way to like limit the software ? i'm 100% sure they would actually check it for a few minutes to see if i can't just unrestrict it easily. I guess if it has the new screen and its only that the behaviour is quiet limited

 

[n00b]

Is there a way to like limit the software ? i'm 100% sure they would actually check it for a few minutes to see if i can't just unrestrict it easily. I guess if it has the new screen and its only that the behaviour is quiet limited

Are you literally advocating for gimping your stuff?
Why?

 

[raylo32]

lisalis is in Switzerland where they are far more restrictive and the penalties far more serious than here in the US.

Are you literally advocating for gimping your stuff?
Why?

 

[Melobear]

Are you literally advocating for gimping your stuff?
Why?

cuz in swiss land he will get seriously fined for it as raylo said, possibly worse. And they search if you can unlock it easily you cant just put a 250w sticker on the motor lol. same here in Romania and most of europe (legal wise) but not much enforcement on this, at least where I live anyway

 

[n00b]

lisalis is in Switzerland where they are far more restrictive and the penalties far more serious than here in the US.

cuz in swiss land he will get seriously fined for it as raylo said, possibly worse. And they search if you can unlock it easily you cant just put a 250w sticker on the motor lol. same here in Romania and most of europe (legal wise) but not much enforcement on this, at least where I live anyway

Couldn't you just lock out the taller gears?

 

[raylo32]

You mean by adjusting the derailleur stop? That can be undone more easily than changing the firmware settings. It sounds like the Euro coppers know all the tricks and are very serious about enforcement.

Couldn't you just lock out the taller gears?

 

[Melobear]

You mean by adjusting the derailleur stop? That can be undone more easily than changing the firmware settings. It sounds like the Euro coppers know all the tricks and are very serious about enforcement.

Epecially true in austria and swiss land, eastern europe is pretty chill on this

tbh If coppers would try to stop me they wouldnt really have a chance