New RR+ brake adjustment/coasting resistance

[XplsvAmnesia]

Just got my RR+ yesterday, built it myself. I rode into work today and even on a downhill with pedaling I couldnt break 25mph. This is my first E-bike I wasn't sure if the motor creates drag, or my other thought being that maybe the brakes are maintaining light contact with the rotors. Thoughts?

[Sirch]

Just got my RR+ yesterday, built it myself. I rode into work today and even on a downhill with pedaling I couldnt break 25mph. This is my first E-bike I wasn't sure if the motor creates drag, or my other thought being that maybe the brakes are maintaining light contact with the rotors. Thoughts?

I can't find it now but I was reading a thread the other day (either here or on reddit) that was talking about the motor drag while going downhill to prevent the bike from going too fast. Sorry, can't find it but it sounds like what you are experiencing.

Edit: Found the reddit post - https://www.reddit.com/r/RadPowerBikes/comments/q6bc4v/radrunner_drag_on_downhills/

[XplsvAmnesia]

Thanks, comically that reddit post is from me haha. The consensus does seem like the motor is causing drag at around 25mph

[Sirch]

Thanks, comically that reddit post is from me haha. The consensus does seem like the motor is causing drag at around 25mph

Hah, /facepalm!

Seems kind of silly for the motor to actively prevent a rider from going "too fast".

[RadFunner]

I'm here to tell you I've had my RR+ up to 31 MPH going downhill, pedaling my legs off. I doubt if I could get it to go any faster without adding another gear or to. And NO, I have not changed the settings on my display. just sayin it is possible.

[Ray.Marx.67@gmail.com]

Just got my RR+ yesterday, built it myself. I rode into work today and even on a downhill with pedaling I couldnt break 25mph. This is my first E-bike I wasn't sure if the motor creates drag, or my other thought being that maybe the brakes are maintaining light contact with the rotors. Thoughts?

On flat land without any mods, I have only been able to get to 23 but, going downhill, I have been up to 38mph while coasting, no braking, depends on the hill and grade. And I haven't checked yet to see what, if any, discrepancies the controller shows, with the speedo. That's using both the pedals and the throttle until it goes faster than I can pedal or throttle works. This is with default setup and changing to 40km/h in settings, only.  There's a lot of long 6-10% grades around here.

[Radding Along]

It's a class two bike. That means it's governed to 20mph by the Federal Government. When your bike reaches 21 or 22mph, pedal assist and throttle are abruptly cut off. So you can continue to pedal hard to achieve 30mph, but you won't get any assistance from the motor.

And to answer your question about drag on the motor after reaching 20mph, that is not the case. What you are feeling is a 60 or 70lb bike losing it's helper motor.

Sounds like your bike is operating properly according to the governent's eyes.

[FortunatelyTheMilk]

It's not a limit, that's just about as fast as a 48V battery can spin that motor. After that, it depends on the steepness of the slope, and the strength of the tail wind

[Radding Along]

I'm not sure if you were joking, but if not, your comment is not true. Class 2 bikes are governed and aftermarket companies are getting a lot more power out of bikes with just a controller/display swap using the existing battery. 48 volt batteries have a lot more potential.

[madbroulton]

I bought a used 200miles on the odo (year old) RR+ and followed the *procedure to unlock from 32 kph to 40 kph, however the bike will still not go over 32. (20 mph). I bought a new RR+ last week and it goes 25mph no problem! Any ideas?

*holding the up and down arrows and going into the hidden menu.

[gera tho]

If I understand the the situation from the regulatory aspect, once you get into faster powered bikes you're into another class of vehicle which will require a license and maybe even paying for yearly tabs. You really don't want that so be happy your bike is Class 2 and not higher. To keep us in the 'non-licensed' group they try to insure that top speed will stay closer to 20 mph primarily I think for safety. Speaking for myself 20 - 22 mph is plenty fast enough.Getting up to 30 and above you're starting to hang your ass out there and asking a lot of your disc brakes along with the assumption that you can stay in control while doing hard emergency braking at a higher speed. Live to bike another day!

It's a class two bike. That means it's governed to 20mph by the Federal Government. When your bike reaches 21 or 22mph, pedal assist and throttle are abruptly cut off. So you can continue to pedal hard to achieve 30mph, but you won't get any assistance from the motor.

And to answer your question about drag on the motor after reaching 20mph, that is not the case. What you are feeling is a 60 or 70lb bike losing it's helper motor.

Sounds like your bike is operating properly according to the governent's eyes.

[Naranja_CT5+]

I think the city chose to regulate bike paths using motor size rather than speed limits because of cost. Financially most cities would not be able to afford to hire people to enforce speed limits.

On average I am pretty satisfied to be riding between 17-25kph. Calgary has a network of bike paths all over the city. But sometimes I will choose to ride on the roads because some paths are poorly constructed and they are full of expansion cracks or root heaves. Very uncomfortable to ride in.
In most cases people are happy sharing the paths with bikers, e-bikers, kick scooters, motorized skateboards, etc. Some paths even have speed signs posted.

Unfortunately not everyone follows the norm. I have encountered e-bikers with modified bikes going too fast wearing headphones all the time. I just hoped that Darwin gives them a good lessons some day.

For me the only reason I would modify to higher than 500w is for strength to climb the hills and not for speed.

The last poster is also correct that you should be concerned about your brakes system when using it at higher speeds. I have broken the 50kph going downhill and I couldn't wait to reach the bottom of the hill so that I can go back to my comfortable speed limit.