CYC PHOTON

Is there any good reason why you guys preffer those hanging bags for batteries instead of this

364667856-282197261170229-1277990729082820635-n.jpg
Pretty sure literally none of those will fit in my frame.
 
Man
Is there any good reason why you guys preffer those hanging bags for batteries instead of this
Many decent modern mountain bikes have very low standover height and are designed to accept long dropper posts, and may additionally have very short or nonexistent head tubes.

Which means the front triangle is often very small. The dolphin style batteries need room to slide into place and to lift away from the mount, which requires even more space.

Full suspension bikes may also have the rear shock at the back or top of the front triangle, leaving very little room and often no straight tubes to mount a dolphin style base to.

I'd possibly use a dolphin style battery if any of my bikes were like the example shown, but for future proofing and being able to move to another frame I'd probably avoid that. None of my current bikes would fit a dolphin style battery though.

That said, I think there is room in the market for a more stylish bag or hardshell* approach, most of the current bags look a bit rubbish.

* Like the CYC batteries, but why on earth did they decide making them rectangular was a good idea...
 
glad to hear that your photons are running well (y)
I will probably sooner or later also replace my BBSHD by it.

Wanted to write here a coupon code I got from CYC for their motor kits. I got it for my Youtube channel and have no experience with that kind of stuff... would this violate any forum rules?
 
Mr. Murphy and his immutable laws visited my Photon today... which also serves a heads up to Photon users. I was starting out on one of my usual loops in a bike lane on the shoulder of a paved suburban road. Been there done that on this road literally a thousand times or more on various bikes.

I ran over a small branch that had fallen out of a tree, maybe about 1/2" thick. This is usually no big deal on these 1.75" tires. But by some magic trick of physics a piece broke off, flipped up into the air, and somehow got stuck between the chain, the cassette cogs and the chainstay, which jammed up the works but good and somehow in the process flung the chain off to the inside of the chainring. The motor's small bit of overrun then thoroughly jammed the chain into the space between the motor casing and the chainring.

I couldn't get it free on the side of the road but luckily I was only 3/4 mile from home and most of that was downhill that I could coast. I used a big screwdriver to pry it out a bit and then pulled a loop of chain and tapped it from the inside with the screwdriver to get the last links to pop out. The chain was OK so I went out and resumed my ride with no further incident.

You guys using Photons off road might want to make sure you have the tools you may need to free your chain if this happens out on the trail.


Photon_ChainJam.JPG
 
Well, it looks like I might be seeing the light at the end of this tunnel. Reading between the lines in the e-mail I got from the vendor that they now have "the correct SW102 in stock" I am speculating that my Photon kit had an SW102 configured for something else, probably a Stealth gen 3 or X1 gen 3. If you have the new Ride Control app you might have noticed that those have their wheel sizes set in the app, whereas with Photon that setting needs to be made in the display. Whether it came that way from the factory or somehow got mixed up by the vendor assembling the kit, who knows. And who knows why it took 2 months to figure this out?? And why on earth CYC made this different for the Photon from the regular X6 controllers, god only knows. In any case, I have the new one coming soon and an RMA to return the old one. I am so glad not to have to send the entire kit back. Fingers crossed...

@raylo32, should I duck when I ask what's the latest with your Photon SW102 display saga?
 
Well, it looks like I might be seeing the light at the end of this tunnel. Reading between the lines in the e-mail I got from the vendor that they now have "the correct SW102 in stock" I am speculating that my Photon kit had an SW102 configured for something else, probably a Stealth gen 3 or X1 gen 3. If you have the new Ride Control app you might have noticed that those have their wheel sizes set in the app, whereas with Photon that setting needs to be made in the display. Whether it came that way from the factory or somehow got mixed up by the vendor assembling the kit, who knows. And who knows why it took 2 months to figure this out?? And why on earth CYC made this different for the Photon from the regular X6 controllers, god only knows. In any case, I have the new one coming soon and an RMA to return the old one. I am so glad not to have to send the entire kit back. Fingers crossed...
Just as a matter of interest, what is the hardware and firmware version you have - there seems to be no external markings that indicate the type.

This is the working SW102 I have on my system:
20230418_171035-01.jpeg
 
Another way to interpret the e-mail I got from the vendor is possibly that my SW102 is the correct part but is defective and they just did not have replacement stock until now. IDK. My info screen and FW looks a lot like yours, except the serial # fields are blank. which is weird.

SW102_FW.jpg


Just as a matter of interest, what is the hardware and firmware version you have - there seems to be no external markings that indicate the type.

This is the working SW102 I have on my system:
 
Mr. Murphy and his immutable laws visited my Photon today... which also serves a heads up to Photon users. I was starting out on one of my usual loops in a bike lane on the shoulder of a paved suburban road. Been there done that on this road literally a thousand times or more on various bikes.

I ran over a small branch that had fallen out of a tree, maybe about 1/2" thick. This is usually no big deal on these 1.75" tires. But by some magic trick of physics a piece broke off, flipped up into the air, and somehow got stuck between the chain, the cassette cogs and the chainstay, which jammed up the works but good and somehow in the process flung the chain off to the inside of the chainring. The motor's small bit of overrun then thoroughly jammed the chain into the space between the motor casing and the chainring.

I couldn't get it free on the side of the road but luckily I was only 3/4 mile from home and most of that was downhill that I could coast. I used a big screwdriver to pry it out a bit and then pulled a loop of chain and tapped it from the inside with the screwdriver to get the last links to pop out. The chain was OK so I went out and resumed my ride with no further incident.

You guys using Photons off road might want to make sure you have the tools you may need to free your chain if this happens out on the trail.


View attachment 339539
I bought this for my stealth
 
Mr. Murphy and his immutable laws visited my Photon today... which also serves a heads up to Photon users. I was starting out on one of my usual loops in a bike lane on the shoulder of a paved suburban road. Been there done that on this road literally a thousand times or more on various bikes.

I ran over a small branch that had fallen out of a tree, maybe about 1/2" thick. This is usually no big deal on these 1.75" tires. But by some magic trick of physics a piece broke off, flipped up into the air, and somehow got stuck between the chain, the cassette cogs and the chainstay, which jammed up the works but good and somehow in the process flung the chain off to the inside of the chainring. The motor's small bit of overrun then thoroughly jammed the chain into the space between the motor casing and the chainring.

I couldn't get it free on the side of the road but luckily I was only 3/4 mile from home and most of that was downhill that I could coast. I used a big screwdriver to pry it out a bit and then pulled a loop of chain and tapped it from the inside with the screwdriver to get the last links to pop out. The chain was OK so I went out and resumed my ride with no further incident.

You guys using Photons off road might want to make sure you have the tools you may need to free your chain if this happens out on the trail.


View attachment 339539
I'm still hoping Lekkie jumps into this area of expertise, as there is even more room for chain line improvement/flexibility with the Photon. Some BCD spider options would also be helpful. Lekkie has a web page for the Photon here, but so far, no unique products.
 
This was not a chainline issue. My chainline is essentially perfect. It just had a 1" thick stick caught in it under power.

I'm still hoping Lekkie jumps into this area of expertise, as there is even more room for chain line improvement/flexibility with the Photon. Some BCD spider options would also be helpful. Lekkie has a web page for the Photon here, but so far, no unique products.
 
This was not a chainline issue. My chainline is essentially perfect. It just had a 1" thick stick caught in it under power.
Yep, I understand. I dropped the chain on one of my Photon bikes when it still had a derailleur, and it was no fun yanking it out of the gap (10-speed KMC chain, tightly wedged).

There are potential builds where CYC's current Photon ring design won't work well at all - such as a 68/73mm BB frame and a (58mm chain line) Rohloff IGH. Sure, you could space the right side out a mile, but that's not the right solution. Also, a 42/45/48mm chain line IGH on a 73mm BB Photon build could be better - pretty easily.
 
I'm still hoping Lekkie jumps into this area of expertise, as there is even more room for chain line improvement/flexibility with the Photon. Some BCD spider options would also be helpful. Lekkie has a web page for the Photon here, but so far, no unique products.
I should call in and see them with my bike some day, I live practically next door to them.

I'd like a decent 34T chainring, the finish on the CYC one is very bad.
 
Another way to interpret the e-mail I got from the vendor is possibly that my SW102 is the correct part but is defective and they just did not have replacement stock until now. IDK. My info screen and FW looks a lot like yours, except the serial # fields are blank. which is weird.

View attachment 339561
Maybe CYC get these from the manufacturer with some firmware already installed, but yours didn't get upgraded/initialised with the CYC firmware and serial number at the same time.
 
I should call in and see them with my bike some day, I live practically next door to them.

I'd like a decent 34T chainring, the finish on the CYC one is very bad.
I'm curious how Lekkie decides whether / when working up a new chain ring design make sense, profit-wise. Do they have an inside scoop on motor system sales volumes / market penetration?

Zero-offset ISIS cranks would be nice, too.
 
BTW. Does 26inch give you accurate speed/distance readings? I also have 26inch tyres but I must set 24inch on display in order to have values matching gps.
 
I doubt it. But it will sure be a lot closer than 29! They really need to allow us to input the exact circumference of our wheel and tire combinations like every cheap bike computer has done for like 40 years.

BTW. Does 26inch give you accurate speed/distance readings? I also have 26inch tyres but I must set 24inch on display in order to have values matching gps.
 
Last edited:
I doubt it. But it will sure be a lot closer than 29! They really need to allow us to input the exact circumference of our wheel and tire combinations like every cheap bike computer has done for like 40 years.
Agree, this was one of the many shortcomings in the app. They've done a cosmetic upgrade (which is great!) but a lot of the underlying stuff is still missing or needs improvement.

I set 27.5" and get the correct speed indicated, but as I'm actually running on 27.5+, they are essentially 29". Need to set customised values - if not on the display, at least in the app.
 
Oh, happy day, I got my new display. And it works. Mine has a later FW, version 1015. And it has a different label and displays a proper serial number. Got my wheel set for 26". Only took 2 months. :-/

New FW screenshot
View attachment 339580

SW102 Labels, new one on top
View attachment 339581

Finally!
View attachment 339582
Mine (from April 2023) has the barcode on it, I wonder why there is a 27.5 label on the new versions with the QR code. Default setting maybe? Any difference in the brightness or readability in sunlight?
 
Yeah, that 27.5 marking had me a bit worried at first, but it has all the different wheels in there. I haven't had a chance to ride it outdoors yet to test brightness, etc., but it is the same 230 HW version so I don't expect it will be different from the other ones.

Mine (from April 2023) has the barcode on it, I wonder why there is a 27.5 label on the new versions with the QR code. Default setting maybe? Any difference in the brightness or readability in sunlight?
 
The problem with doing it in the app is that on Photon, as opposed to X1 and Stealth, the wheel parameters don't get written from the controller and app, but can only be made in the display. So, I don't believe that any future changes to the app will ever work for this with Photon. Nor will SW102 FW changes, since it seems to be a controller hardware design issue. But it really puzzles me why they didn't make Sw102 firmware with direct wheel circumference entry. I honestly don't understand why they took such an imprecise approach.

I set 27.5" and get the correct speed indicated, but as I'm actually running on 27.5+, they are essentially 29". Need to set customised values - if not on the display, at least in the app.
 
They didn't want to confuse the poor widdle bicycle riders with math and stuff. ;) Probably assumed we might have a hard enough time just figuring out what wheel size we had. :/
 
Back
Top