First ride

[Catlord17]

Looks like a ride from my house to the Lake Okeechobee Park is 43 miles.  So if I make arrangements with the management of one of the restaurants there, I could probably ride out there, recharge and ride home on my wheel in a single day, presuming nothing went wrong.

And it looks like about a hundred miles on the Florida Scenic Trail around the lake, which has breaks occasionally for bridges.  Probably would have to do that in halves or quarters, but that sounds like a fun adventure as well.

Oh boy.  I'm in trouble now... lol

[meepmeepmayer]

6 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

Oh boy.  I'm in trouble now... lol

And so it begins... and you're going to love it!

100 miles in two legs sounds perfect to do a little range ride with your 1600Wh.

[Catlord17]

Just now, meepmeepmayer said:

And so it begins... and you're going to love it!

100 miles in two legs sounds perfect to do a little range ride with your 1600Wh.

Eventually I need to do a 100% to as-low-as-I-dare-go range test on my wheel, and I'm expecting 60 to 80 miles, but who knows, maybe it will surprise me with 100?  If it gets close to 100 miles, maybe I'll try to do a ride around lake Okeechobee on a single charge?  

Okay, now I can tell I am seriously infected with the EUC insanity strain that Marty has... lmao

But either way, I am going to spend a lot of time on this thing, and have a hell of a lot of fun.  I can tell you're right, I am going to love it.

[meepmeepmayer]

Oh right, you're the one who gets insane range from the wheel *I'm totally not envious*

No need to worry about low battery, the wheel (assuming it behaves like my ACM) will beep at you and (if you don't ignore the beeps) will slow you to a crawl until finally it tilts the pedals 45° and you have to get off. No sudden cut-out or anything.

[ir_fuel]

I know the feeling.

Problem is people just don't understand since they can't simply hop on and experience it for themselves.

[Catlord17]

9 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Oh right, you're the one who gets insane range from the wheel *I'm totally not envious*

No need to worry about low battery, the wheel (assuming it behaves like my ACM) will beep at you and (if you don't ignore the beeps) will slow you to a crawl until finally it tilts the pedals 45° and you have to get off. No sudden cut-out or anything.

Fascinating thing, tonight my range was 6 miles per 10%.  Top speed: 16.1 mph, average speed 9 mph.  The difference?  My tire was low.  It feels mushy, meaning, it's back at 35 psi.  

So having a pressure of 45 psi gets me 2 miles further on 10% battery than 35 psi does.  Surprising how drastic that difference is, but not really too surprising that soft tires get less range.

P'raps a high(er) tire pressure would help you?

But thanks for the heads up.  I have been nervous about going too low.

[meepmeepmayer]

Thanks for the tip. My tire pressure is usually quite high (I pump up to max and leave it there until I feel like pumping up again when some air has escaped) but maybe I should check.

Pretty sure it's your weight though, and maybe higher temperatures in Florida.

[Keith]

On 27/08/2017 at 9:34 AM, Catlord17 said:

P'raps a high(er) tire pressure would help you?

 

On 27/08/2017 at 11:15 AM, meepmeepmayer said:

Thanks for the tip. My tire pressure is usually quite high

???

 

Not it to mention: speed, Gradient, wind, temperature, rider weight, and did I mention speed, can also have big impact on range. Tyre pressure is pretty fundamental though, have you ever seen cyclists struggling along a flat road in the lowest of their 15 gears, feet moving in a blur, bike moving like a tortoise simply because the tyres are nearly flat and the rider too dumb to realise it.

 

[Catlord17]

10 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Thanks for the tip. My tire pressure is usually quite high (I pump up to max and leave it there until I feel like pumping up again when some air has escaped) but maybe I should check.

Pretty sure it's your weight though, and maybe higher temperatures in Florida.

I certainly don't have to deal with inclines much.  Just maybe bridges here and there.  I'm relatively light, at 140 pounds.  In the city, 16 mph is about the fastest I can reasonably attain speed wise and that is only in certain areas, because this city is largely designed to accommodate cars, and screw bikes and sidewalk users.  

At the speeds I typically ride, wind resistance is negligible.  So the biggest impact on my range is weight, speed, tire pressure and how frequently I accelerate and decelerate.

In Port Saint Lucie, central, where I live, the sidewalks are apparently designed to either piss off mono/bicyclists or throw them into oncoming traffic.  Where I ride most, the South bound sidewalk is intersected by roads constantly.  That wouldn't be a problem if we didn't have deep V drainage ruts on both entry to and exit from the road each time you cross.  Last night I thought I would be clever and ride on the Northbound side instead, only to find that every time there is a place where the cars must drive over the sidewalk, the sidewalk takes a steep dive to the right.  Which makes the Northbound rider fall directly into traffic if they fall.  This of course drops my riding speed, on both sides of that road, by 1/2 to 1/3rd.  In other words, about 5 to 8 mph.

Of course that is to say nothing of the broken glass and tree branches that will take you out.

So I guess my range comes from going slow, being light, riding on flat surfaces and a hard tire.

[Catlord17]

Today, because I was frustrated, I thought I would get on my EUC and ride another 16 miler.  That is to say, a run around about a quarter of the main part of the city.

So I did it.  Just got back.  Total ride time: 2 hours, 28 minutes.  Total distance traveled: 17.12 miles.  Top speed: 19.1 mph./  Average speed: ~12 miles per hour.  Moderately windy day.  Starting battery level: 67%.  Ending battery level: 47%.  This gives me an average of 8.56 miles per 10% charge used.  Which surprises me, since I thought I was getting more like 6 or 7 during the trip.

So extrapolating, even with stop and go conditions, I should be able to get between 80 and 90 miles per charge on this thing, going from 100% to 0%.

Today, I was learning to mount in one try.  Was able to do that about 80% of the time.  I am also now capable of adjusting my foot position to the ideal while mounted, as long as I go slowly while I do it.  My recent practice with controlling the machine at very slow speeds has paid off.  Now I can do even sharp turns without dismounting most of the time.  Still not comfortable mounting to ride across major roads.  

My feet are starting to become conditioned.  They feel pressure from the ride, but not sore.  They were sore for the first half of the trip.  I intentionally chose a route that would force me to face and surpass what I believed my limits were.  No other way home.

Got some good interactions with people while I was out.  Had a group stop me and chat for several minutes.  That was fun.  I think I'm going to do this route more often, because where I am at the mid point is a place I very much enjoy going to.  It's a part of the city that has a different demeanor to the people.  More like a friendly community than the part in which I live.  

Had a good time.  This is the longest single ride I have ever done.  Maybe next I'll have to ride to the mall, or the beach.  

[meepmeepmayer]

Nice! Looks like the range bug has bitten you

In my experience, you can only go from 100% to 20%. The last 20% go down quite fast (much faster than "regular" 20% somewhere else), and you will be severely speed-limited. Or maybe with your crazy range, you'll have a miracle in that regard too

[Catlord17]

Just now, meepmeepmayer said:

Nice! Looks like the range bug has bitten you

In my experience, you can only go from 100% to 20%. The last 20% go down quite fast (much faster than "regular" 20% somewhere else), and you will be severely speed-limited. Or maybe with your crazy range, you'll have a miracle in that regard too

I am going to see how that last 20% goes this time.  I carry my charger with me in my backpack, so worst case scenario, I ask someone (restaurant, business, etc.) if I can recharge for a bit.  Maybe go have lunch and recharge while I do.  

One of these days I am going to see just how far I can actually go on a single charge.  But for now, I think my endurance is about 20 miles...

[Marty Backe]

6 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

I am going to see how that last 20% goes this time.  I carry my charger with me in my backpack, so worst case scenario, I ask someone (restaurant, business, etc.) if I can recharge for a bit.  Maybe go have lunch and recharge while I do.  

One of these days I am going to see just how far I can actually go on a single charge.  But for now, I think my endurance is about 20 miles...

Yesterday I finally got around to doing a range test on my MSuper V3s+. My riding weight is ~170 pounds. Much of the ride was at ~18mph

I achieved 55 miles with about 12% (no load) remaining battery. The ride was ~4-1/2 hours.

With your weight you can probably achieve 70 miles. It'll be a long day 

 

[Catlord17]

3 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Yesterday I finally got around to doing a range test on my MSuper V3s+. My riding weight is ~170 pounds. Much of the ride was at ~18mph

I achieved 55 miles with about 12% (no load) remaining battery. The ride was ~4-1/2 hours.

With your weight you can probably achieve 70 miles. It'll be a long day 

 

I shall endeavor to discover the facts, Marty.  But for now, I have to step up to that.  The next goal is to ride from my house to the nearest beach, which is 12.1 miles away in each direction.

How did your ride go?  What happened at 20% and below?

[Marty Backe]

2 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

I shall endeavor to discover the facts, Marty.  But for now, I have to step up to that.  The next goal is to ride from my house to the nearest beach, which is 12.1 miles away in each direction.

How did your ride go?  What happened at 20% and below?

BTW, it's not actually necessary to do a range test in one ride. When I rode my Monster 100 miles, I spread it over two days.

25% to 20% probably covered 7 miles. But once it started dipping below 20% it was probably only 3 miles before I was down to 15%. At 15% the low battery warning starts kicking in and you'll be limited to under 13mph.

When I ended, the wheel was showing 12% - 13% under no load (probably ~7% under small load - i.e., riding the wheel). When I turned off the wheel it was beeping continuously even though I was just holding the wheel.

From my experience, once you get down to 15% you've only got a couple of slow speed miles available to you.

So my long rides will usually end between 20% and 25%, where the wheel behaves normally and is very usable.

I think it's a good idea to do at least one range test on every wheel you own so that you know it's limits. For my MSuper I now know that I can ride it pretty much care free (a good mixture of speeds) for a solid 50 miles. Useful for planning purposes. My 1300wh ACM is good for a solid 45 miles. And my 2400wh Monster is good for 65 miles.

[Catlord17]

1 minute ago, Marty Backe said:

BTW, it's not actually necessary to do a range test in one ride. When I rode my Monster 100 miles, I spread it over two days.

25% to 20% probably covered 7 miles. But once it started dipping below 20% it was probably only 3 miles before I was down to 15%. At 15% the low battery warning starts kicking in and you'll be limited to under 13mph.

When I ended, the wheel was showing 12% - 13% under no load (probably ~7% under small load - i.e., riding the wheel). When I turned off the wheel it was beeping continuously even though I was just holding the wheel.

From my experience, once you get down to 15% you've only got a couple of slow speed miles available to you.

So my long rides will usually end between 20% and 25%, where the wheel behaves normally and is very usable.

I think it's a good idea to do at least one range test on every wheel you own so that you know it's limits. For my MSuper I now know that I can ride it pretty much care free (a good mixture of speeds) for a solid 50 miles. Useful for planning purposes. My 1300wh ACM is good for a solid 45 miles. And my 2400wh Monster is good for 65 miles.

Nice.  Yeah, it is tempting to try to do it all in one day, but probably not reasonable or practical.  The goal of doing it all in one day would be to not have to try to plan shorter trips, but what you're saying about the under 20% performance makes me wary of doing it all on one day unless I turn around and head back at about 60% battery left.

[Marty Backe]

6 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

Nice.  Yeah, it is tempting to try to do it all in one day, but probably not reasonable or practical.  The goal of doing it all in one day would be to not have to try to plan shorter trips, but what you're saying about the under 20% performance makes me wary of doing it all on one day unless I turn around and head back at about 60% battery left.

It takes awhile to start developing a sense for how wheels behave and the typical ranges that you can expect.

I guesstimate that you'll be able to get a comfortable 70 miles out of your wheel. So if I were planning a round trip ride I would want to turn around at the 30 mile mark (being conservative), and then when you return you can burn off the final X miles by riding around in a very local area where you can't be stranded. That's the approach I generally use for range tests. Of course if you have someone that can pick you up, then just ride until you run out of gas 

[Catlord17]

1 minute ago, Marty Backe said:

It takes awhile to start developing a sense for how wheels behave and the typical ranges that you can expect.

I guesstimate that you'll be able to get a comfortable 70 miles out of your wheel. So if I were planning a round trip ride I would want to turn around at the 30 mile mark (being conservative), and then when you return you can burn off the final X miles by riding around in a very local area where you can't be stranded. That's the approach I generally use for range tests. Of course if you have someone that can pick you up, then just ride until you run out of gas 

I like to be conservative, because I don't have someone who can pick me up.  And walking miles home isn't so bad, but walking it lugging an unbalanced  50 pound anchor?  Not my idea of a good time.  So I think I'll take your suggestion of doing 30 miles per direction and then burn it off in small runs after I get back.

Worst case scenario, I can call an Uber, but who wants to spend the money when they have a wheel to get around, and a little common sense could prevent the need?

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Uber snoober.     Bring along your charger and buy this:

https://www.k-tor.com/hand-crank-generator/

If you're near a river, attach a retractable rod to it, and people will just think you're fishing.  

I wonder if there is a way to integrate the K-Tor into a wheel so while the wheel spins it powers the K-Tor thereby charging the batteries for INFINITE RANGE!!!!    Damn the laws of conventional physics!   Screw you Newton!  I want more Ninebot range dammit!!!

[Catlord17]

4 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Uber snoober.     Bring along your charger and buy this:

https://www.k-tor.com/hand-crank-generator/

If you're near a river, attach a retractable rod to it, and people will just think you're fishing.  

I wonder if there is a way to integrate the K-Tor into a wheel so while the wheel spins it powers the K-Tor thereby charging the batteries for INFINITE RANGE!!!!    Damn the laws of conventional physics!   Screw you Newton!  I want more Ninebot range dammit!!!

That looks like a worthwhile emergency measure... the foot crank one.  Just sit on a bench and crank for a while.    Bet it would only take 23 days of 12 hour days to charge it that way, too.  lol

[Catlord17]

This evening, I fell off my wheel for the third time, and this time, despite being fully geared up, I scraped some skin off my finger.  I have officially injured myself wheeling.

Why did I fall off?  Because a drunk driver came out of nowhere doing 50+ in a 30 zone, and screeched to a fishtailing halt, first running over a curb and then barely missing a concrete sign before screeching off again.  Had this asshat lost control of his car and it flipped, me and my girlfriend would have been killed.  We were so close to being hit as it was, on the sidewalk, that it startled me enough to fall off, and then my wheel flipped out.  

The fact that I only scraped my finger a little was almost a miracle.  She and I were both so shaken up by this that we decided to go home before we ever did anything.  Total distance traveled on the wheel: 0.105 miles.  In other words... I had just ridden the wheel to the damned sidewalk where I was going to ride, from my car, when this happened.  Had I been in the bike lane, I might have been hit.

This happened in an area I go to (used to go to?) because it is so heavily patrolled by sheriffs, and this sort of thing is never allowed to happen as a result.  Naturally, not a cop in sight this time.  And when I left, I did not see him pulled over.  Bastard got away with it.

I am gonna have to start wearing video recording equipment to at least be able to report shit like this in the future.  Not happy.

[Marty Backe]

36 minutes ago, Catlord17 said:

This evening, I fell off my wheel for the third time, and this time, despite being fully geared up, I scraped some skin off my finger.  I have officially injured myself wheeling.

Why did I fall off?  Because a drunk driver came out of nowhere doing 50+ in a 30 zone, and screeched to a fishtailing halt, first running over a curb and then barely missing a concrete sign before screeching off again.  Had this asshat lost control of his car and it flipped, me and my girlfriend would have been killed.  We were so close to being hit as it was, on the sidewalk, that it startled me enough to fall off, and then my wheel flipped out.  

The fact that I only scraped my finger a little was almost a miracle.  She and I were both so shaken up by this that we decided to go home before we ever did anything.  Total distance traveled on the wheel: 0.105 miles.  In other words... I had just ridden the wheel to the damned sidewalk where I was going to ride, from my car, when this happened.  Had I been in the bike lane, I might have been hit.

This happened in an area I go to (used to go to?) because it is so heavily patrolled by sheriffs, and this sort of thing is never allowed to happen as a result.  Naturally, not a cop in sight this time.  And when I left, I did not see him pulled over.  Bastard got away with it.

I am gonna have to start wearing video recording equipment to at least be able to report shit like this in the future.  Not happy.

Wow 

[meepmeepmayer]

Wow

[GoinPostal]

8 hours ago, Catlord17 said:

This evening, I fell off my wheel for the third time, and this time, despite being fully geared up, I scraped some skin off my finger.  I have officially injured myself wheeling.

Why did I fall off?  Because a drunk driver came out of nowhere doing 50+ in a 30 zone, and screeched to a fishtailing halt, first running over a curb and then barely missing a concrete sign before screeching off again.  Had this asshat lost control of his car and it flipped, me and my girlfriend would have been killed.  We were so close to being hit as it was, on the sidewalk, that it startled me enough to fall off, and then my wheel flipped out.  

The fact that I only scraped my finger a little was almost a miracle.  She and I were both so shaken up by this that we decided to go home before we ever did anything.  Total distance traveled on the wheel: 0.105 miles.  In other words... I had just ridden the wheel to the damned sidewalk where I was going to ride, from my car, when this happened.  Had I been in the bike lane, I might have been hit.

This happened in an area I go to (used to go to?) because it is so heavily patrolled by sheriffs, and this sort of thing is never allowed to happen as a result.  Naturally, not a cop in sight this time.  And when I left, I did not see him pulled over.  Bastard got away with it.

I am gonna have to start wearing video recording equipment to at least be able to report shit like this in the future.  Not happy.

?

[LanghamP]

This doesn't surprise me. Riding an EUC on USA roads, you realize very quickly the reason there's so few pedestrians and bicyclists is because most would be riders have been killed, injured, or scared away by cars.