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CYC PHOTON

yep. fasterbikes.eu also have them in stock. Unfortunately price went up from 950 euro to over 1000 euro (motor only!):(
 
That would be nice, but a motor capable of that will need to be a big ~13 pound lump like the BBSHD. Current Photon is a good compromise of power, weight and efficiency for bike pedalers. I'd like to have one bike with a BBSHD with torque sense. But that's not ever gonna happen.

I think i will wait for the next gen of the Photon, hopefully with a biger motor that can do power levels like the BBSHD... the good torque sensing PAS sounds nice, but i also want >1500 W of power and not only for a short moment but permanent without overheating the motor.
 
That would be nice, but a motor capable of that will need to be a big ~13 pound lump like the BBSHD. Current Photon is a good compromise of power, weight and efficiency for bike pedalers. I'd like to have one bike with a BBSHD with torque sense. But that's not ever gonna happen.
true...
Towards the weight, well im happy with the power to weight ratio of my X-1 Pro and its nice as for fun riding, where the noise from the open crankdrife design does not bother me. but the more integrated design of the Photon or BBSHD makes it imo way better for a bike i would use for daily riding to work.
If CYC manages to bring the power of the x-1 Pro in a Photon design, i would be happy ;)
 
I think i will wait for the next gen of the Photon, hopefully with a biger motor that can do power levels like the BBSHD... the good torque sensing PAS sounds nice, but i also want >1500 W of power and not only for a short moment but permanent without overheating the motor.

So what I hear is that you want to lay waste to your bike's gears expensively and often. Is that it?

Remember the motor is only one part of the system. You can overpower it as much as you like, but it won't increase the capabilities of your bike's transmission or remove its limitations.
 
So what I hear is that you want to lay waste to your bike's gears expensively and often. Is that it?
jop, i do that all the time ;) but also only within a certain limit.
At my weight and by not using the smallest 2 gears of the cassette on a quality bike, im getting away with it at 1500w in daily use... i use dt-siwss hubs with ratchet freewheels on my builds, this may also help.
Remember the motor is only one part of the system. You can overpower it as much as you like, but it won't increase the capabilities of your bike's transmission or remove its limitations.
your right, therefore i think its important to to have a stable bike with quality parts as a basis.
 
So what I hear is that you want to lay waste to your bike's gears expensively and often. Is that it?

Remember the motor is only one part of the system. You can overpower it as much as you like, but it won't increase the capabilities of your bike's transmission or remove its limitations.
Cassettes and chains are pretty cheap the last time I checked… gotta pay to play and it’s a very small cost every few hundred miles which takes most of us a long time to reach.
 
Cassettes and chains are pretty cheap the last time I checked… gotta pay to play and it’s a very small cost every few hundred miles which takes most of us a long time to reach.
That depends on what components you use. A Microshift Acolyte 8 cassette runs about $30. Shimano XTR cassette is about $400. Neither one will last very long if you feed it 2hp regularly.
 
That depends on what components you use. A Microshift Acolyte 8 cassette runs about $30. Shimano XTR cassette is about $400. Neither one will last very long if you feed it 2hp regularly.
I think you're exaggerating a bit there... The cassette on my Marlin 8 is a SRAM PG-1210 Eagle 11-50T, 12 speed. They are around $50-$100 which isn't a big deal every year or two if you even put that many miles on it. It's considered routine maintenance when you run a motor like the Photon in unrestricted mode. BUT, if you let off the throttle when shifting like you're supposed to, it's a non issue and not much more wear than a standard bike if you have proper chain tension and gear selection.

As for the Shimano XTR Cassette, why the hell would you run one of those anyway? I feel like you literally just searched up the most expensive Cassette you could find to prove a point very poorly. You should know by now that having a 12 speed like I do or even an 11 speed XTR is pretty pointless on a eBike. Most people (smart ones) after they wear out their first cassette on their bike will probably upgrade to something actually eBike rated with only 7 or 8 speeds. Yes, that would require replacing the shifter and derailleur in most cases but that's a one time expense and still far less than the $400 you say your crappy XTR costs, if you even have one.
 
As for the Shimano XTR Cassette, why the hell would you run one of those anyway?

Search me, I think it's total nonsense. I mostly use 7-speed cassettes that cost about $20 retail. And I do that for the same reasons I gave up BBS02 for hub motors. They're cheap, reliable, durable, low maintenance, fault tolerant, widely available, and unpretentious. I put 30 miles a day on my e-bike, give or take, mostly getting to my bike shop jobs where I earn barely subsistence wages. I don't have resources to waste on trashing components, and if I did it would still bother me.

Here's an 8-speed e-bike rated cassette with an MSRP of $462:

Rotor's 13-speed cassette has an MSRP of $475.

So XTR isn't the most expensive cassette I could think of. But it's something plenty of people are willing to pay for. Just not me.
 
LOL... my SW102 ordeal continues. This vendor could apparently F up a wet dream as we used to say. The good news was that they finally identified the issue and got in a stock of SW102s. But they wouldn't just send me a new one and wait for me to return the old one because some folks had apparently not been sending the bad ones back. So, they gave me two options. The one they recommended to get it faster was to purchase a new one from them, then send the old one back with RMA# for a refund. The second one was to send the old one back and THEN they would send out the new one. So, what did I get? A combination of the two.

I immediately purchased the new one ($80) and when it came I installed it same day, confirmed it was working properly, and sent them a thank you e-mail to let them know. Then I wrapped up the old one with RMA# enclosed and sent it back. A couple of weeks go by and I check the tracking... yes, it was delivered. Another week goes by, no refund.... then I start getting USPS tracking for an incoming package. I email them to ask what this is and the same person I told I had bought the new SW102 and sent the old one back e-mailed me back: "why that's your replacement SW102 for the Photon warranty issue". You literally can not make this stuff up. Oh, dear god, I have so had it with these people.
 
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That depends on what components you use. A Microshift Acolyte 8 cassette runs about $30. Shimano XTR cassette is about $400. Neither one will last very long if you feed it 2hp regularly.
chinese ltwoo a5 with 50t is cheap as dirt and works quite well . I have two
 
Can anyone make recommendations for shorter cranks for the Photon? My left one has come loose 2x and I'm wanting to try shorter cranks anyway.

One of the Miranda products (Delta) at 155mm would be OK and affordable but I don't think these are straight as the CYC sourced ones are, and I definitely don't need more clearance.

Any other options, especially that people have experience with?
 
Can anyone make recommendations for shorter cranks for the Photon? My left one has come loose 2x and I'm wanting to try shorter cranks anyway.

 
Would be good at that price but those are Cotterless/Square and Photon is ISIS.

However Unicycle have a wide range of ISIS cranks down to 75mm length and Q:0 (is that called pedalling or twiddling) but Nimbus VCX Cranks - 150mm look pretty good, so thanks for that.

From recollection the last time I rode a unicycle I think it had 100mm or so cranks, but it was a while ago :)
 
150? Thems some short cranks.
Sure are. There's sometimes good reasons to consider shorter cranks, especially on ebikes and for shorter and older people, or where you might want to sustain a higher cadence (again - ebikes). Probably worth considering by people with knee or hip problems, too.

Edit: look at how many older people new to bikes buy an ebike and then learn to ride with the seat way too low. Shorter cranks would really help them. Of course, they could just raise the seat but they are never going to do that. Most don't even know of the existence of dropper posts.
 
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Shorter cranks or larger wheels so you dont hit the pedals while riding.
The 1x7 costco fatty had short cranks, 150 or 160.

Dropper posts arent required for the majority of the riders.
 
Dropper posts arent required for the majority of the riders
Disagree. Most people don't even know they exist.

Consider the use case for older and less confident ebikers - they always ride with the seat low so they can touch the ground when they stop around town, but for longer rides where this isn't a factor, a dropper could set the seat to the correct height. would definitely help their knees if they are putting in any effort at all.

There is also a use case for shared and family bikes - easy adjustment on the fly.

It isn't just about flying down a hillside.
 
CYC told me not to overtighten the retaining ring.
But after 300km a slight clicking noise appeared.
I tightened the retaining ring and the noise disappeared.
It is difficult to ensure that the recommended force of 40 to 50 Nm is accurate.
Agree, I had really tighten mine just to stop the sloppy 34t chainring from rattling around.

The "Retaining Lock Ring" on the left side is equally problematic. CYC say to "hand tighten". Whatever that is.

If you don't tighten enough by hand, the bearing has enough resistance (actually, it has a lot of resistance, seemingly caused by the plastic sleeve) that the shaft will spin inside the plastic sleeve. If this happens the bearing interface becomes the inside surface of the plastic sleeve against the shaft; the actual bearing is not spinning at all. Far from ideal.

If you over tighten the ring by hand, you will destroy the two end bearings by over-preloading them. Not great either.

20230926_115014-01.jpeg
 
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