IGO (tonaro) torque sensor ?

[Tromal]

This spring I bought an Igo (tonaro motor) electric assisted bike. I have installed a cycle analyst meter and it can deliver 550 watt while going up a hill.

What I do not specially like is the sensors on the front gear. It takes about four revolutions to get the electric assistance going.

I would like to install some kind of torque sensor on the pedals instead and use the throttle voltage line going to the dc drive to send a torque signal to get the drive working. To have a more responsive drive. I do not think I can make to much modification on the front gear and pedals because of the motor assembly.

I tried to find something on internet and this forum, no luck so far. What kind of torque sensor should I use? Any suggestions?

Merci.

 

[dnmun]

why not defeat the pedelec function at the controller and use just the throttle? georgeinvt has had two, and a few down in ozzieland as i recall. ask george.

 

[Drunkskunk]

I agree. get rid of that ped elec sensor. Let your Legs be the torque sensors and your brain decide how much throttle to give. Nothing will ever be as intuitive or responsive as your own self.

 

[georgefromvt]

Hi. I have a RMartin 10--similar to the IGO bike. Doesn't your bike have both pedelec and throttle? Mine does. Use the throttle to start then transition to pedelec; with practice, it's very smooth. If you want to get technical, could swap out the pedelec sensor and install one from an OHM bike; everyone raves about their smooth transition.
I'm curious about your cycle analyst set up. Anyway you can post some pics? Even though I'm satisfied with my bike, very tempted to upgrade to a 48 volt battery. Looks like a company in France already sells the 48volt upgrade option.
http://www.electrics-bike.com/fr/vtt/16-vtt-electrique-bigith-5.html
http://www.igoelectric.com/igourban.php
http://ohmcycles.com/electric-mountain-bike/

 

[qofmiwok]

Any of you with Igo's, have you also used Bionx and how would you compare? I can't find an Igo to ride although I like the specs on the Titan mountain bike. But of the bikes I did ride (Hebb, eMoto, Pedago) I felt like they didn't really let me use my own power. The tiniest amount of pedaling kicked in so much power, even on the lowest assist level, that I felt like the bike did all the work and I couldn't get a workout. The Bionx is the only one I have ridden which seems like you are riding the bike, and the motor just helps out when you need it (on hills for me.)

Thanks!
Cindi

 

[dnmun]

cindi, following on from your other thread, you should reconsider.

instead of trying to find a premade bike like these that has the right feel but is heavy and prone to failure which none in your locals can fix, consider using a small lightweight geared hubmotor on the front wheel of your favorite bike.

the geared motors do not have any resistance during pedal time, but when you get to the hill you need to conquer, then you can use the thumb throttle to engage the hubmotor to carry you over the hill, and then after that you can go back to regular riding.

this is what a lot of biking purists do to assist them, without having to carry the extra weight of the sluggish bikes while pedaling under human power.

you could use a small 36V battery mounted in the frame to get good balance and it would be less than 1/10th the cost of these pedelec malaprops.

plus when it finally fails, you will have gained enuff knowledge on how they work by managing the installation yourself that you can figure out what is wrong and repair it.

unless there is someone in your local area who knows much about ebikes, they will not be able to help you and the costs will be unreasonable. plus you would still be stuck with these overbuilt, as in fat, bikes.

this is something you can do. you can NOT use the 'girls can't do it, we need help' argument here, we already have a buncha girls who maintain their bikes, and are as competent as mosta the guys who also are whining when something breaks.

so i would recommend a reset in the mindset, there are a buncha good small motors, you could even use a small lipo pack with a balance charger, small controller and maybe only add about 12-18lbs to the bike, so it would still perform like it does now, but when you need the power, it would be something you can control and use as needed. BOL,dm

 

[d8veh]

This spring I bought an Igo (tonaro motor) electric assisted bike. I have installed a cycle analyst meter and it can deliver 550 watt while going up a hill.

What I do not specially like is the sensors on the front gear. It takes about four revolutions to get the electric assistance going.

I would like to install some kind of torque sensor on the pedals instead and use the throttle voltage line going to the dc drive to send a torque signal to get the drive working. To have a more responsive drive. I do not think I can make to much modification on the front gear and pedals because of the motor assembly.

I tried to find something on internet and this forum, no luck so far. What kind of torque sensor should I use? Any suggestions?

Merci.

There's a couple of things you can do. First thing is the throttle. Some versions of this bike don't have throttles. Do you have one? If not, you can fit one because the conrtroller has the connector for itm so you only have to run the wire down to the controller and plug it in.
Another way is to get a Speedict, which can handle your pedal sensor in a different way. You can disconnect the pedal sensor from your controller and plug it into the Speedict, and then the Speedict activates the motor by sending a signal through the throttle connector. The delay will be much less with a Speedict and it has the advantage that you can change the power profileof the pedal sensor. A new version will be out in the next couple of weeks, which I believe will have more functions in this respect. To set up the Speedict you need an Android phone, which can also be used to display and control loads of functions, but you don't need the phone once the Speedict is setup unless you want to see all the live data.
http://www.speedict.com/
If you know how to program microprocessors like Arduino or PIC chips and their derivatives, they can read the pedal sensor and send whatever output in your program to the throttle input. You can use the throttle 5v to power it.

You can also get more speed out of your bike if you displace/remove the speed sensing magnet on the back wheel.

 

[qofmiwok]

I have no problem building my own bike but the options are seemingly endless. Since I found a Bionx suits me, I might like to just go with something I know I like. I was just curious how people with other brands like Igo would describe/compare theirs bikes.

Can you provide a list of good parts I would buy to build my own?

Cindi

 

[dnmun]

that i can't do. i only know the big direct drive motors and not the geared motors. jeremy just did a thread on a folder with a small motor in the front and there are a buncha other people who built with the bafang (8fun) motors and the cute motors from BMS battery.

maybe put out a call for someone close by who has something like that so you could test ride their bikes. not sure of your location but there are a buncha ebikers in california. you can follow on some of the pictures on xyster's build thread to see what is interesting to your too. everything takes time to digest and put in context of how you need assistance, and how much.

mosta these guys on lipo are in it for the power but it might be useful to you since it is so light. but if you are using a 350-500W motor up front it doesn't take a lotta battery to make it work. especially for the geared hubmotors. so a small lifepo4 pouch pack would work too, or the NMC types in a can are lighter than lifepo4. (lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, NMC as the cathodic material)

and everybody likes to help out too, too much usually so it is hard to figure what to follow sometimes.