Falco Hub Motor: an unbelievable experience (so far)

[Dooce]

First post from an ebike newbie and sorry, but it's a long one.

At my wife's urging I'm joining the ebike community. She had Utah Trikes put a Falco 750w hub on her recumbent tadpole-style trike and she loves it. She especially loves the way the Falco torque sensor works. Effortless and natural pedal assist when you need it and without even thinking about it. I love it too and, even though I haven't wanted to abandon my human-powered bike, just a few days ago I ended up buying a new TerraTrike Rover from a local bike shop that had a 25%-off sale.

Having done that, I began scouring ebay for every e-bike kit imaginable and thought I'd settled on a Bafang hub kit 'til I stumbled across a demo Falco 500w hub kit which I snagged for $425, complete. It arrived a few days ago, I plugged everything together on my workbench and voila! it works. BUT then I discover that the Falco torque sensor works only on a vertical dropout; not on the horizontal dropout of the TT Rover. What a bummer!

So two days ago I used the Falco website contact page to send a message asking what to do. The next morning there's a reply email directly from Rakesh Dhawan, President and CEO at Falco eMotors. Huh?! And he says, "no problem Bill just send us your motor and we'll send a new one that works on a horizontal dropout." "Well that won't work for you," I replie, "because my motor is a demo unit and is clearly used." Well today (the next day) I get a personal call from Rakesh and he says, "Bill, send us your motor; we've got some demo units here that will work fine. And we'll lace it to your rim. We want you to be happy."

I am completely awestruck about the concern this company has for the customer. I'm an old guy, have had hundreds if not thousands of customer-service issues in my life and this joins a few others at the very top. Falco not only makes a great product, it is one of the most customer-centric companies I've ever had the pleasure of doing business with.

I'm looking forward to the next chapter in this story. :wink:

 

[dogman dan]

If you bought it from a third party, That's some amazing support. If from one of their dealers, still pretty outstanding!

 

[Dooce]

A couple weeks ago I got the replacement unit back, but I waited til I had time to get it Installed on my trike. The replacement motor I received looks brand new. It came laced to a new rim and with new spokes. Of course, I was charged for the replacing, rim, and shipping as I expected.

Falco makes a beautiful system. Since the motor has an internal controller and a wireless console/readout, there are hardly any wires to deal with and the installation is very clean and compact. It slid right in to my dropouts, leaving inside room for a washer on each side. Total installation time would have been only an hour if I'd had the nuts & washers I needed. Those are in any odd metric size so I spent most of my time sorting through my bins of fasteners. Im also a little OCD about DIY projects; I like them to both look good and work well.

I have ridden only a few miles on the now-powered trike (rainy here) but I can tell you that the system works as advertised. The automatic torque feature supplants your pedaling onc your own pedal torque exceeds a certain level, & always when you're going up inclines. For me, as a novice, it's scary fast.

The boost supplement is controllable from the handlebars by choosing from zero assist up to a "level 5" assist. The thumb throttle works at a speed/boost level that corresponds to your torque setting unless you turn on"turbo" mode. In that mode you have full power available to your thumb any time. Since I am new to this trike & electric biking I chickened out at 25mph but that was only about half-throttle. 30mph wouldn't surprise me.

I still have to dial in the control console but to doing that requires a $50 ant+ cable, which I have yet to order. But ... so far I'm very pleased.

BTW, Falco was at the 2017 CES. Report is here: http://dcinno.streetwise.co/2017/01/06/ces-2017-dc-tech-electric-bike-startup-virtual-fitness/

 

[Dooce]

Hey, question for any Falco owners who are reading this:

can I use a generic ant USB stick for the Falco programming, or only the Falco-branded version?

Thanks!

 

[Bike_on]

Hey, question for any Falco owners who are reading this:

can I use a generic ant USB stick for the Falco programming, or only the Falco-branded version?

Thanks!

I expect the communication protocol to the hub may be unique. Not sure.

 

[Bike_on]

BTW, Falco was at the 2017 CES. Report is here: http://dcinno.streetwise.co/2017/01/06/ces-2017-dc-tech-electric-bike-startup-virtual-fitness/

Nice info piece.

 

[LockH]

Nice letter from that Rakish Guy from Falco in todays email from LEVA:

Falco eDrive
-
Our belief in the Power of Cycling
By Rakesh Dhawan, president Falco eMotors Inc.

We believe in the power of cycling. We believe that cycling has the authority to bring about sweeping changes to our world. The potential is enormous regarding its impact on commuting, fitness, regeneration and saving our planet. This belief keeps us marching forward at a rapid pace. We believe that developed countries like the U.S.and third world countries like India can benefit from our Falco eDrive technological advances tremendously. We can change the world through cycling together.

Falco eDrive is an extraordinary and exciting development for the eBike industry. It brings the most unusual combination of zero-carbon, high-speed commuting and advanced training into one core direct drive technology with incredible benefits to the end user. It is truly the most innovative technology in the eBike space today.
The eDrive delivers a huge 100+ mile range and can achieve speeds of up to 28 mph. With its lightweight lithium batteries mounted to the frame, a rider experiences unprecedented power in the ride.

Falco's eDrive provides seamless experiences across all devices and empowers people with breakthrough renewal for commuting, joy riding, fitness and conservation of the planet. Users can create a custom fitness program with Zwift, Trainer Road or any favorite apps, or use Falco's intuitive smartphone app and set performance limits based on individual metrics.

I ask you to support our efforts by reviewing this video and giving us a thumbs up on our Facebook page or our YouTube video if you believe in the power of change through Falco eDrive.

Contact:
Rakesh Dhawan
President
Falco eMotors Inc
+1 (571) 781-2453
+1 (571) 642-4024
+1 (877) 278-6323 x 801 (Toll Free US and Canada)

https://www.electricbicycleworld.com/