IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
Good morning,
Very much a mixed first year in terms of reliability, the Shimano and Mavic parts have been excellent, the Ribble and Mahle parts less so.
The app says just under 6,000 miles and there are around another 800 miles with the power to the motor control unit turned off, the plan was to be at around 8,800 miles and get two years or 17,600 miles out of the battery and motor, but I hurt my knees and used a car for some miles.
I did ask Ribble about this expectation and they replied that this was reasonable.
Broken Bits
As feared on https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/r...art-6-1-700-miles-its-a-good-tool-but.296599/ the motor cable is not up to to job in this location. It went from untouched to this in one commute round trip (40 miles). It seem to be a combination of a changed freehub, a couple of loose spokes and lots of snow.
Sadly I have an earlier model battery where cable replacement is not intended to be performed by an end user. Sent back to Mahle it might be possible but whether it would be worth the cost and effort is a different matter.
So potentially I am 11 months and around 6,500 miles in and need a new £650 battery pack. This is currently under discussion as I am asking for a new battery at around £300 as I am about halfway through its life anyway.
I have mentioned elsewhere the need to replace the freehub, which came in at £140 including a couple of spanners. An important lesson from this was the high degree to which the ebike retail sector is saying we are not interested if you didn’t buy the bike from us and Ribble aren't carrying spare parts.
One of the seat post bolts broke after around 4,000 miles, so the sadle become lose, only a few pence to buy but a real nuisance which I haven’t yet gotten around to, hence the aero seat post.
Battery Life
When new the App reported a battery capacity of 248Wh and is now reporting 220Wh and 100 charge cycles, so a 10% loss over 6,000 miles. I was expecting two years from the battery so indications are that I might just get that.
10% is more than it seems as once you get in to the iWoc showing flashing red (<=15% of charge), assistance drops off to very little with voltage being reported in the low 30s rather than the 39v that you get with a full charge. So I have gone from being completely comfortable with a charge every other day, 4*18 miles, to needing to charge daily.
Clearly predicting battery decay is hard but it is looking like 12,000 miles is going to be useful battery life, having used a car and the Raleigh it looks like I will get two years. Had I used the Ribble for the full 11 months, 8,800 miles then two years would seem to be stretching it.
Taking the loss of 50Wh of the capacity as aging and the 15% that is reported as being available but as low charge brings the predicted battery capacity down to 162Wh, around October next year.
Consumables
Chain and cassette life is what I would expect from a 10 speed system, but tyre life seems very good, getting close to 4,000 miles on the rear Ultrasport 3. In the past I got less than 2,000 miles on the Ultrasport 2, whether this is because it is a 28mm tyre not 23mm or just a more durable tyre I don't know.
This is my first hydraulic disc brake bike and at £54 for new pads (Tiagra level) for the front and rear at the LBS, that is not so great as I am on my third set. So I have learnt mail order at £34 is a good plan. I have become a convert to disc in terms of feel, but really miss Q/R wheels
Punctures And Motor Connector
I have real resrvations about the motor connector, you have to break this to remove the rear wheel and in a well lit workshop in the warm it is fine. But on a cold dark morning it looks fragile, very easy to bend pins as a result of misaligned sections
Lights for Winter
This was unexpected, the hydraulic cables have made it trickey to attach front lights as it is very difficult to run the "rubber band" mount under the brake cables, tight curves and cables through the inside of the forks!
The Halfords lights I use do allow for the light and band to be separated for charging but the Lezyne ones don't.
Ebike and Fitness
This is a very difficult balance to maintain especially in the winter where my average speed is lower because of difficulty in seeing far along the road. I found that a 500 lumen light is the minmum that I need but adding similar lights bring the total up to 1,000 and 1,800 lumens doesn’t light the road up much further ahead, just brighter close up.
Bye
Ian
Very much a mixed first year in terms of reliability, the Shimano and Mavic parts have been excellent, the Ribble and Mahle parts less so.
The app says just under 6,000 miles and there are around another 800 miles with the power to the motor control unit turned off, the plan was to be at around 8,800 miles and get two years or 17,600 miles out of the battery and motor, but I hurt my knees and used a car for some miles.
I did ask Ribble about this expectation and they replied that this was reasonable.
Broken Bits
As feared on https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/r...art-6-1-700-miles-its-a-good-tool-but.296599/ the motor cable is not up to to job in this location. It went from untouched to this in one commute round trip (40 miles). It seem to be a combination of a changed freehub, a couple of loose spokes and lots of snow.
Sadly I have an earlier model battery where cable replacement is not intended to be performed by an end user. Sent back to Mahle it might be possible but whether it would be worth the cost and effort is a different matter.
So potentially I am 11 months and around 6,500 miles in and need a new £650 battery pack. This is currently under discussion as I am asking for a new battery at around £300 as I am about halfway through its life anyway.
I have mentioned elsewhere the need to replace the freehub, which came in at £140 including a couple of spanners. An important lesson from this was the high degree to which the ebike retail sector is saying we are not interested if you didn’t buy the bike from us and Ribble aren't carrying spare parts.
One of the seat post bolts broke after around 4,000 miles, so the sadle become lose, only a few pence to buy but a real nuisance which I haven’t yet gotten around to, hence the aero seat post.
Battery Life
When new the App reported a battery capacity of 248Wh and is now reporting 220Wh and 100 charge cycles, so a 10% loss over 6,000 miles. I was expecting two years from the battery so indications are that I might just get that.
10% is more than it seems as once you get in to the iWoc showing flashing red (<=15% of charge), assistance drops off to very little with voltage being reported in the low 30s rather than the 39v that you get with a full charge. So I have gone from being completely comfortable with a charge every other day, 4*18 miles, to needing to charge daily.
Clearly predicting battery decay is hard but it is looking like 12,000 miles is going to be useful battery life, having used a car and the Raleigh it looks like I will get two years. Had I used the Ribble for the full 11 months, 8,800 miles then two years would seem to be stretching it.
Taking the loss of 50Wh of the capacity as aging and the 15% that is reported as being available but as low charge brings the predicted battery capacity down to 162Wh, around October next year.
Consumables
Chain and cassette life is what I would expect from a 10 speed system, but tyre life seems very good, getting close to 4,000 miles on the rear Ultrasport 3. In the past I got less than 2,000 miles on the Ultrasport 2, whether this is because it is a 28mm tyre not 23mm or just a more durable tyre I don't know.
This is my first hydraulic disc brake bike and at £54 for new pads (Tiagra level) for the front and rear at the LBS, that is not so great as I am on my third set. So I have learnt mail order at £34 is a good plan. I have become a convert to disc in terms of feel, but really miss Q/R wheels
Punctures And Motor Connector
I have real resrvations about the motor connector, you have to break this to remove the rear wheel and in a well lit workshop in the warm it is fine. But on a cold dark morning it looks fragile, very easy to bend pins as a result of misaligned sections
Lights for Winter
This was unexpected, the hydraulic cables have made it trickey to attach front lights as it is very difficult to run the "rubber band" mount under the brake cables, tight curves and cables through the inside of the forks!
The Halfords lights I use do allow for the light and band to be separated for charging but the Lezyne ones don't.
Ebike and Fitness
This is a very difficult balance to maintain especially in the winter where my average speed is lower because of difficulty in seeing far along the road. I found that a 500 lumen light is the minmum that I need but adding similar lights bring the total up to 1,000 and 1,800 lumens doesn’t light the road up much further ahead, just brighter close up.
Bye
Ian
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