flat tire said:
Can anyone provide a better racing controller for the X1 rev2 (newest) than a Castle HV160 12S ESC?
The criteria:
--instant response, as fast as I twist, including quick on-offs
--instant high torque loop the bike if you're not careful start from zero, need low gear OK
--Several kw
--ideally, torque mode throttle
Right now the RC controller has been working flawlessly on 12S for over 1k miles and satisfies the first two criteria acceptably but not the third or fourth as it only makes <2kw peak and is a speed mode throttle. The stock controller is unacceptable because it is slow and shitty. I also have a bunch of BAC controllers and while they are awesome with hub motors they are unsuitable for racing the X1 due to inconsistent performance particularly on and off the freewheel.
That RC controller will be sufficient to provide at least 100A and many thousand more watts in theory. I use a similar setup as the one I ran on my Tangentbike and the controller definitely delivers that - as long as the battery doesn't sag to low, BMS cut out etc. I think it's more a question of if the power is needed/requested.
As soon as that 12s voltage spins the motor at the max rpm, there's not more for it to do and the power will drop. For me, on the current setup, the bike is the limiting factor. I can cram about 3.5kw out of it on this bike, but due to the short suspension travel and other bike properties, I cannot push it as hard as the full DH bike I also ride, because of my skill, notable frame flexing under power and my own ability to keep being on the bike...
Also compared to the Tangent setup, this motor produces ridiculously little waste heat, which should translate to a better liveliness at the same wattage. When I push it as hard as the bike will allow, I very rarely see a temp >30 deg C. Same activity level on a similar bike with an (earlier revision) Tangent might even drive me into overheating >120 deg C or at least well over 80 deg C any day. The final version Tangent drive still runs way hotter but overheating was never a problem for me there.
If you stay mostly on-road, how high have you tried gearing it? I can also imagine this motor will run insanely fast on a higher voltage setup, but that rules out these RC controllers. Feed it 20s and I would hesitate to ride it flat out without motorcycle gear..
Use a Cycle Analyst and set the throttle mode to current-mode, if you're not already doing that.