wheel magnets

[handlebar]

Last year I bought a Radmission with the LCD display. I found the odometer and trip meter a bit erratic. On routes where I knew the distance, it might read high or low.

I bought a 25 A controller that uses the same display as the Bolton 35 A controller. Near my house is a gravel walking track. I'd measured it twice with a tape. By coincidence, it's exactly 0.3 miles, or 1584 feet. Years ago, over-regulators posted a "no bicycles" sign. They failed to maintain the track, and now nobody walks there. There's no reason for the sign, so I decided to violate the law to test my odometer.

I put a marker on the track. If the odometer was right, it would turn up 0.3 when I reached the marker after 1 lap. Usually it didn't. I'd stop, pace the distance to the marker, write it down, move the marker to the bike, and ride another lap.

The first time, the odometer read 11% high.
The second                                   5% low.
The third                                      5% low.
The fourth                                    3% low.
The fifth                                       exact.
The sixth                                      exact.
The seventh                                22% high.
The eighth                                    6% high.

Ruts and grassy clumps make the track rough. I pedaled normally for the first four laps. When my speed made it too rough, I'd coast to slow down.

For the fifth and sixth, I made it a rule to pedal continuously. If I couldn't coast to slow down, I had to pedal gently to avoid picking up too much speed. Those were my slowest laps, with the gentlest bumping, and the trip meter was right on.

I used throttle alone for the last two laps.

It appears that bumps can make readings from the wheel sensor erratic. Maybe the magnet or sensor can bounce, or maybe they're too far apart. I bought a Bolton display for my Radrunner more than two years ago, and now I realize it, too, had a wheel-sensor problem. I should have had a speed reading the second time the magnet passed the sensor, 6 to 12 feet, but sometimes it would still read 0 after 100 feet.

The Radrunner has the 750 Watt Bfang motor with planetary gears, while the Radmission has a direct-drive 500 Watt motor. Is it possible to remount or adjust the sensor-magnet assembly in either machine?

[handlebar]

I put a marker on the track. If the odometer was right, it would turn up 0.3 when I reached the marker after 1 lap. Usually it didn't. I'd stop, pace the distance to the marker, write it down, move the marker to the bike, and ride another lap.

It was the middle of an overcast day, so those little odometer digits were faint. I put on reading glasses and rode with my face low over the display to shield it, but it was still hard to see immediately when the last digit changed from .8 to .9, for example. If a black-on-white display had been available for this controller, I would have bought it.