FS offroad/road TSDZ8

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As I have said elsewhere, I have very old bones so love full suspension for going along canal tow paths and thro' the forest. 44lb is great, my two TSDZ2(B) lightweight builds are just either side of 40lb, but only have 36V 10ah / 48V 7ah batteries fitted which give me a 30 mile max range at best, charging time is yes a pain so I am lucky that I can switch bikes. But I have two grandsons who visit and nick both bikes for a ride out. Yes, have tuned both drives so they perform more less the same all be one is 36V and the other 48V.

 

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but only have 36V 10ah / 48V 7ah batteries fitted which give me a 30 mile max range at best, charging time is yes a pain so I am lucky that I can switch bikes.

I’m trying to get used to the small capacity battery. It limits which trails I can ride to. I'd be more comfortable with 17-20Ah. I'm looking at a 52V 20Ah pack, 14S4P of Samsung 50S cells, with bluetooth BMS that I think will fit in the triangle. It's rectangular, and I would make an outer case or cradle out of ABS. There should be almost zero voltage sag from what the TSDZ8 can pull from the pack

I need to get this thing flashed with OSF or updated firmware. I'm looking for the necessary hardware. I was watching a few videos, and one guy described what it feels like to ride with the stock firmware. Throttle is crap. But even though the motor has the power to do what you need it to do when you mash the pedals, for normal riding, it feels like the assistance is just short of what it should be, and it's tiring to ride, no matter what level of assist you use. It's like the power just needs to scale slightly greater, relative to the leg input, than it does.

Maybe just going to 52V would make it perform better and cause less fatigue; I'll probably test that with some lipos in the next few days. In the mean time, I swapped out the tires for some Hookworms, since until I get the motor flashed, I'll just be using the bike more for fitness, and the slicks won't feel as sluggish as the old knobbies. Actually it was a good thing I did the swap, when I removed the old knobbies, the sidewalls had long cracks and some looked ready to fail.

Just from a quick test, the bike feels a lot more agile now.


Besides the tires, I swapped out the handlebar for one with more rise and sweep. I've decided I'm to old to ride a straight bar anymore; makes my wrists sore. I used the same bars as my other bike, since I tried so many before finding that one. I added the left side 7 speed grip shifter (micro shift), but haven't removed one of the rear cogs yet. I put the thumb throttle on the right side, but won't swap it out for a half twist until I get the firmware stuff worked out. I'm replacing the brake cables and housings next, and remounting the battery up a little so I can fit the chain guide on the seat tube.

I watched a video where the firmware that was loaded added a cadence adjustment in addition to the torque sensor assist. I think that would help a lot, especially if it can increase assist slightly with an increase in cadence, which is how I have my other bike set up. I get about the same amount of exercise whether I'm going slow or fast, which works for me.

The last three days, I've been taking it out for short rides two or three times a day, until I get back into better shape. Not a lot of miles, but gradually increasing my riding radius.

I'm taking advantage of the mid drive and easy of tire swapping. It took me about 15 minutes to swap out both tires

EDIT: Oh ya, not having a kickstand sucks.

 

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I have got the parts so I can amuse myself having a go at doing the same as Lapierre and others manufacturers, a main battery which is 10ah which gives me 30 mile range plus a 7ah range extender, I have a 10ah and 7ah which are in the same compact range so will get my 3D printer out and have a play. Have got a small double battery dis-charger that will take 20 amps which is good enough for me.

 

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I spent more time than I'd anticipated installing a front chainring guide. I needed to move the battery up about 1/2" in order to fit the clamp on the seat tube, but decided to enlarge and existing hole for the top hole, which was around 1/2". After remounting the cradle, installed the battery and it just hit the guide clamp. I could lock the battery in, but it wasn't 100% seated. So, the clamp got the bench sander treatment and everything fits perfectly now lol. I also shortened the TSDZ8 battery cable and the cable from the cradle to get rid of the extra length. It took me forever to solder on new XT60's for some reason. I was even using my big iron.

Anyway, I finally got it done, and was ready for a test ride. As I rode up my sloped driveway, I hear a pop, and look down and see my chain on the ground. It's new, but cheap; whatever shipped fastest. I had some master links, and had to pop out one of the pins, but noticed the chain was 4 or 5 links too long when in the highest gear. So I shortened it again, and installed the master link. (Note to self: mount a seat bag and include a tire patch kit, CO2 cartridges, chain breaker, master links, and hex wrenches.) When I was looking for my chain breaker, I noticed I has a brand new Shimano chain in the parts box, so I'll probably swap the chain out tomorrow.

Luckily the days are getting longer and there was still plenty of daylight to ride around. The Hookworms really made a difference when riding on pavement. I'm riding at a pretty leisurely 14mph or so, and rode about 20 miles, mostly flat. Battery started at 53V and ended at 47.5V.

Here are 4 makeshift kickstands I found while out riding:

 

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I have always been able to solder with ease, but I have have the same fun and games with soldering ends on these cables, think there could be impurities. If I can I will always try and crimp the ends. Always carry a spare Sram Power 9 speed chain in my back pack, but when I do the 12" check on the existing chain it's still in one bit after 2500 miles along with a mini repair kit.