[trikes] Fwd: Power assist

[mgta4 at aol.com]

Heres a letter in response to some I have sent to Lightfootcycles. Some might be interested in his experience with motor assists. Fran


-----Original Message-----
From: Rod Miner <rod at lightfootcycles.com>
To: mgta4 at aol.com
Sent: Thu, Jun 25, 2009 8:57 pm
Subject: RE: [trikes] Power assist




Fran,

                We at Lightfoot are not using the Cyclone motor any more.   We used Cyclones (their entire system) for several years with only a few dysfunctional motors (10%-15%) that we replaced, but 85%of the last batch of Cyclones that we bought failed.  In every case, the internal controller fried.  Many failed within the first few weeks.  We expect the remaining 15% to fail in the near future.  This has been a very costly and damaging ordeal for us, and was no fun for our clients.

 

                We did not continue with Cyclone motors because previously, when we started having 60-70% percent battery failures with the Lithium Ion battery they provided (every order we received would have a new kind and configuration of battery, with no forewarning of the change, and no explanation of what the new battery was or how to handle it), our contact in the company accused us of abusing the batteries, saying;  don't act like a kid throw the toy on the ground when you angry. abuse the batteries and say is no good, why this only happen to your batteries?  No=2
0refund!  We were locked into that motor, and though we did not any longer order batteries from them, we did order more motors.  When the last batch started failing catastrophically, however, we fully expected the same reaction and lack of satisfaction from Cyclone, so took the financial hit and started looking for a different solution.

                

                We tried the very inexpensive Golden hub motor and could not ever get our first sample to work, despite a lot of time spent going through the rat’s nest of wiring over and over.

 

                We used to use the Heinzmann, and had good luck with a majority of the units.  Too many units, however, were problematic.   Customer service was so poor at the service center, and troubleshooting so desperately difficult, that we became tired of disassembling and packing up entire systems and sending the whole kit and caboodle out and waiting for weeks and weeks to have it repaired and not being able to get a human on the line when we called to find out why our system (our customer’s system) was still AWOL.  Our Heinzmann experience was a major reason why we have been steadily looking toward a modular system, one without non-serviceable parts, one that we can troubleshoot from a distance in concert with our client, and which can be rep
aired with the insertion of a single module.

 

                We have been using the BionX, and had good customer service from them when we had problems; problems happened fairly often, but not horribly so.  Our main issue has been that the systems we ordered in December still aren’t here in June.

                
                Though we looked for a hub motor as a simpler-to-install or lower-cost option, we also wanted to stay with a chain drive system for people with heavy duty needs and/or serious hills to deal with.  None of the hub motors can climb like our chain drive units do, though there are big ol’ 1000+ watt hub motors out there (Crystalite) that can move a single person on a bike up a hill pretty darn well.



                Cyclone’s specification is only one version of a nice little motor that can be made in a number of configurations.  The version we are getting is proving to be much more robust.  It has allowed us to stay with the shiftable chain drive system.  It allows us to use a programmable, external controller, which in turn allows us to use almost any kind of battery.  If it turns out in the long term that we have issues with the motor, then, because our system is now modular and programma
ble, we can change out motors with little effort, and with a lot less hassle for our customers, who will now have a system that can be maintained and upgraded for a very long time.  

 

 

Rod Miner

Lightfoot Cycles Inc.

406-821-4750

www.lightfootcycles.com