PedallingNowhereSlowly
Über Member
I'm pretty impressed it's fixed already!
Cube Software - Angry!!!! 😡
- Thread starter Bad Company
- Start date
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OP
OP
Bad Company
Very Old Person
- Location
- East Anglia
Yes, no problem getting it fixed but it f****d up our Sunday ride.
Not that I want to appear a smug luddite, but clearly this is always going to be a danger when you own a bicycle that need a fugging app to operate..
I know of no such bike. Even with the bikes that have an app, you don't need one to use it or ride it. I don't know about Tesla but sounds like the comparison is not valid.
All e-bikes need a controller to hook up the sensors and contain the voltage switching circuit to drive the brushless motors. That has to be driven by embedded software. Ideally there would be a means to change parameters on that software. Sometimes there are config screens within the display LCD, but the modern convenient way to address that is via app.
PedallingNowhereSlowly
Über Member
That's bikes for you. Which is why for anything essential, N+1 rules.
Glad you got it fixed. I have a Cube Reaction which can't connect to an app, but it has the older, simpler Purion display. I was going to post it's the display unit which has the app connectivity. Apparently I could upgrade mine to the later display and add the app.
The controller needs logic (i.e programming) to function. It has to factor in the states of various sensors (e.g the Hall effect sensor in the motor, the cadence sensor, torque sensor if present and wheel speed), plus the selected level of assistance and change all that into a voltage to the motor many times a second. Also with a brushless motor it needs to reverse the polarity several times per revolution.
I suppose you could conceivably do it entirely via analogue components, diodes, caps etc but it would cost many times more than a commodity programmable IC.
The controller also needs logic to handle charging the battery.
So, almost completely unlike a giant scalextrix car.
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
Eeee, in the olden days there was none of this software errors on bikes !
Are you not counting the rider?
OP
OP
Bad Company
Very Old Person
- Location
- East Anglia
I wonder what the replacement unit would have cost if it failed outside of the warranty period?
There was a thread on here a while ago about Van Moofs (and possibly others) that require the app to unlock them..
Regular.Cyclist
Über Member
- Location
- South West Scotland 🏴
Casio, for example, will manufacture and sell a great many times the number of calculators compared to an e-bike control unit. Efficiencies of higher volumes.
Oh ok, not heard of them. But they're the only ones I've heard of and in any event not relevant to the OP's Cube bike or, I'd submit, most other big brands.
Perhaps, however it doesn't change the fact that the functionality of these bikes is severely compromised by software issues, and on top of all the fun related to the ongoing availability of components, also begs the question of what happens when the app's are no longer available / supported..?
3 separate things here:
Because the controllers necessarily have embedded software then yes functionality can be compromised by issues in that software. Of course all the luddites piled in but in the OP's case the bike was actually both rideable AND the assist was still working! The only issue was they couldn't use the display and would probably use more battery by being in the highest assist mode all the time. They could still have gone for the ride though. And it turned out it was a faulty component anyway not a software update.
I'll give you this, but the underlying issue is the lack of standards and the fact that manufacturers can keep component interfaces proprietary. In an ideal world the protocols should be open source and either standard connectors mandated or the ability to swap out for commodity components, not be coded to only accept manufacturers' components. I see the EU have included bicycles and e-bikes in their right to repair scope, but since we in the UK "tuk are cuntry bak" it doesn't look like we'll get it here any time soon.
Well, as long as the bike doesn't need an app to actually function (which, I agree is shocking) then a no longer supported app would just mean you can't access some of the value add features any more. On mine, it's stuff like a GPS track function, ability to tweak assist levels and to see more data like the number of charge cycles. So not the end of the world.
In general this stuff is a valid concern, but one with wider ramifications than e-bikes. I'll never buy an internet-enabled freezer for instance!
As always we see the faulty bikes because people post them either asking for help or just to rant, but we don't see much about the majority that just work.
Because the controllers necessarily have embedded software then yes functionality can be compromised by issues in that software. Of course all the luddites piled in but in the OP's case the bike was actually both rideable AND the assist was still working! The only issue was they couldn't use the display and would probably use more battery by being in the highest assist mode all the time. They could still have gone for the ride though. And it turned out it was a faulty component anyway not a software update.
I'll give you this, but the underlying issue is the lack of standards and the fact that manufacturers can keep component interfaces proprietary. In an ideal world the protocols should be open source and either standard connectors mandated or the ability to swap out for commodity components, not be coded to only accept manufacturers' components. I see the EU have included bicycles and e-bikes in their right to repair scope, but since we in the UK "tuk are cuntry bak" it doesn't look like we'll get it here any time soon.
Well, as long as the bike doesn't need an app to actually function (which, I agree is shocking) then a no longer supported app would just mean you can't access some of the value add features any more. On mine, it's stuff like a GPS track function, ability to tweak assist levels and to see more data like the number of charge cycles. So not the end of the world.
In general this stuff is a valid concern, but one with wider ramifications than e-bikes. I'll never buy an internet-enabled freezer for instance!
As always we see the faulty bikes because people post them either asking for help or just to rant, but we don't see much about the majority that just work.
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
Will a bike like this have any value and useability in 10 years once the app and interface stop being supported.
Most of my bikes are well over 10 years old.
Most of my bikes are well over 10 years old.
