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My 84-volt Nikola Triumphs, Tribulations, and Failures


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53 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

Well, I was able to ride my Nikola the 10 miles to work and I'm blown away by this wheel.   It rides like a Cadillac and absorbs bumps that jarred my bones with the 16S.   Super smooth acceleration.   And when you get tired of the smooth lazy feel, it carves like a 16" wheel.   Freaking brilliant riding experience.   I'm still getting used to the girth and noticed that it's working some muscles that I wasn't using on the lighter wheel.   I think in about 3 days I won't notice it at all.

I only have a few negatives at this point.   To trolley this big of a wheel is much more noticeable then the 16S.   I don't feel as comfortable bringing it in stores but the handle seems to work well, so probably just being a little sensitive.   I charged the wheel and had a green light on the charger last night before unplugging.   I didn't look at the state of charge when I left for work but my wheel has only 66% battery left after my 10 mile ride.   I'll pay attention tonight regarding the level of charge.   Probably should have left it plugged all night.

 

Nikola 061219.jpg

Nice to hear another opinion that the tire is great for dealing with crappy road conditions.

Unless you're riding 10-miles at 35-mph, 66% remaining battery certainly is on the low side. Mine seems consistent with other 1600wh wheels. Maybe the charger wasn't properly seated in the charge plug and therefore wasn't actually charging the wheel?

P.s. When the charger shows green, it's charged. Leaving it in longer won't give you more charge.

Edited by Marty Backe
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2 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Unless you're riding 10-miles at 35-mph, 66% remaining battery certainly is on the low side. Mine seems consistent with other 1600wh wheels. Maybe the charger wasn't properly seated in the charge plug and therefore wasn't actually charging the wheel?

P.s. When the charger shows green, it's charged. Leaving it in longer won't give you more charge.

Yeah, I'm hoping that it's user error.   The wheel came with 42% and I charged for a couple hours to 68% before I rode 6 miles yesterday.   I'm sure that the charger turned red when I plugged it back in but who knows if it was seated well?   I'll see how much battery is consumed on my ride home tonight and pay attention to the connections and charge.   I'm feeling good that it'll be fine.

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8 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

Yeah, I'm hoping that it's user error.   The wheel came with 42% and I charged for a couple hours to 68% before I rode 6 miles yesterday.   I'm sure that the charger turned red when I plugged it back in but who knows if it was seated well?   I'll see how much battery is consumed on my ride home tonight and pay attention to the connections and charge.   I'm feeling good that it'll be fine.

I was thinking of taking mine to the Glendora Mountain Road this weekend. Not all the way to Baldy, but I want to try a trail. ~50% road and trail. Interested?

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52 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I was thinking of taking mine to the Glendora Mountain Road this weekend. Not all the way to Baldy, but I want to try a trail. ~50% road and trail. Interested?

That sounds awesome but I'm working this weekend, off on Monday, which I'll use to scout for the Griffith Ride on 6/23.   I took all my days in a row this week to extend my vacation so I can't really slip out this time. 

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3 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

That sounds awesome but I'm working this weekend, off on Monday, which I'll use to scout for the Griffith Ride on 6/23.   I took all my days in a row this week to extend my vacation so I can't really slip out this time. 

Are you working Friday?

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The wheel charged to 100% on all apps and the it shows 84.5 so I know at least today it’s full.  It went from 70% to 37% on my way home yesterday, 10 miles.  I’ve got additional stops today so hopefully it has the range I expect.  I was accelerating and decelerating quickly yesterday with stop signs every block while riding 25mph+ so that might have drank some juice.  The Nikola isn’t a light weight so I’m sure it’s taking quite a bit of power to stop and go that quickly, but damn it’s fun!

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8 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

@Marty Backe the wheel charged fine although the battery seems to carry me about as far as my KS16S, albeit much smoother and faster.   I need to learn to start slower and keep a consistent cruise speed.  

https://euc.world/tour/575803514399088

70% to 37% for 10 miles is low. Was that resting voltage after a few minutes or directly after stopping?
At my weight of 63kg I would get 1km per % unless I was speeding above 20MPH. Half that if I was at 30MPH.
Bigger person = more drag.

For tires - I chose chose MTB
For position - comparing hoods with aerobar

125 watts = 14 MPH with hoods / 16 MPH with aerobar
250 watts = 19.7 MPH with hoods / 22.7 MPH with aerobar
500 watts = 26.2 MPH with hoods / 30.5 MPH with aerobar

Wind makes matters worse. Tuck those arms behind you and hope for the best!

http://bikecalculator.com/what.html

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43 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

@Marty Backe the wheel charged fine although the battery seems to carry me about as far as my KS16S, albeit much smoother and faster.   I need to learn to start slower and keep a consistent cruise speed.  

https://euc.world/tour/575803514399088

I don't know what to say. I can't see how you're riding the wheel. If you are indeed a super aggressive rider than you're probably going to get sucky range. I doubt the 16X would be better.

You should still be good for our long distance group rides since we don't ride super aggressive during those.

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27 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I don't know what to say. I can't see how you're riding the wheel. If you are indeed a super aggressive rider than you're probably going to get sucky range. I doubt the 16X would be better.

You should still be good for our long distance group rides since we don't ride super aggressive during those.

Yeah, figured I'd be good with range riding with the group.   I did buy a fast charger so I can at least have a full battery leaving work if I need to take a circuitous route home.

49 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said:

70% to 37% for 10 miles is low. Was that resting voltage after a few minutes or directly after stopping?
At my weight of 63kg I would get 1km per % unless I was speeding above 20MPH. Half that if I was at 30MPH.
Bigger person = more drag.

For tires - I chose chose MTB
For position - comparing hoods with aerobar

125 watts = 14 MPH with hoods / 16 MPH with aerobar
250 watts = 19.7 MPH with hoods / 22.7 MPH with aerobar
500 watts = 26.2 MPH with hoods / 30.5 MPH with aerobar

Wind makes matters worse. Tuck those arms behind you and hope for the best!

http://bikecalculator.com/what.html

The voltage measurement was after the wheel rested briefly, recovering about 3%.   I noticed that my link to the ride stats didn't work.   I have a lot of extreme power spikes, which I assume is from taking off quickly.  

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1 hour ago, Dzlchef said:

@Marty Backe the wheel charged fine although the battery seems to carry me about as far as my KS16S, albeit much smoother and faster.

https://euc.world/tour/575803514399088

Really?  It's double the battery of the KS16s.  Seems odd to me

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52 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

Yeah, figured I'd be good with range riding with the group.   I did buy a fast charger so I can at least have a full battery leaving work if I need to take a circuitous route home.

The voltage measurement was after the wheel rested briefly, recovering about 3%.   I noticed that my link to the ride stats didn't work.   I have a lot of extreme power spikes, which I assume is from taking off quickly.  

You need to start Riding Your Age :laughbounce2:

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Just wrote to my friend who has an 18XL. He told me that he went for a 30km ride and the battery was at 75%. He uses the Kingsong app.
He weighs 100kg. That's better than what I get on my MSX.

:efefa07c43: brb just gonna make myself pretty and jump off a bridge.

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7 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said:

Just wrote to my friend who has an 18XL. He told me that he went for a 30km ride and the battery was at 75%. He uses the Kingsong app.
He weighs 100kg. That's better than what I get on my MSX.

:efefa07c43: brb just gonna make myself pretty and jump off a bridge.

What you didn't tell is how he rides. You can get great mileage if you ride like a granny :)

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10 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

You need to start Riding Your Age :laughbounce2:

:facepalm: 

I was worried when my range on the MSX was notably shorter when I started this season. I did realize though that as I had gotten more and more familiar with the wheel, the more I was pushing it. I may now get first beeps already at 40km. I do have 40 additional battery cells in my Nkon shopping basket... I just might have a 2100Wh MSX by the end of the year!

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I did some riding on my MSX today.

Here's how it turned out:

Distance: 39.3KM
Battery: 60%
Riding weight: 66kg
PSI: 20
Temperature: 20C
Top Speed: 45.2 km/h
Average Speed: 23.1 km/h 

Riding style looks like this:

speedlasthour.thumb.png.4a42ce3d5030b739ae0319a46dcd5656.png

Also did some riding on the oval track.

speedway10min.thumb.png.f98fc9f6ceb6bced91cafac725bcd142.png

5 minutes after riding battery recovery looks like this:

battery10min.thumb.png.350d70f83d8fabfc0ce5c98bfd2ada8d.png

6 minutes after riding voltage recovery looked like this:

voltage10min.thumb.png.753b8d1b47e2a73dd92b8a37b18b0cf3.png

I had Darknessbot set to alert me at 30 km/h. It's easy to just listen to the alarm all day and ride over 30 km/h now.
But it's not a good idea. I'm already 10 km/h over the speed limit for electric vehicles but I am at the same pace as most bikes.
If I start doing moped speeds at 40+ then it's really going to stand out.

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@Mike Sacristan I tend to ride around 30kmh - +5 depending on open bike lanes and condition and what I meet on my way. In city center is is mor like 15-25 trying not to stand out too much compared cycles. 

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24 minutes ago, Unventor said:

@Mike Sacristan I tend to ride around 30kmh - +5 depending on open bike lanes and condition and what I meet on my way. In city center is is mor like 15-25 trying not to stand out too much compared cycles. 

Awesome! Good job representing!

This was a non-problem for me in the beginning because the wheel felt too clumsy, slow, like it was leaning back, etc and I had trouble getting up to speed.
Now it feels too agile. I have to hold back when carving or it will take off. And I barely feel the resistance anymore so it's like sliding on ice.
I have to make an effort to stay below 30.

Ice ice baby.

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