My first Ebike, Yuba Mundo StokeMonkey!!!

[Lupulin]

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking here for quite a while and I finally got a used ebike off CraigsList. I got a Yuba Mundo v 4 with a 36V StokeMonkey (original left side) Mid-drive. But I have some questions I was hoping the board could help me with.

First off, I don't know what size the battery is. I believe it is an Ezee battery (it is in a bag below the rear rack). The controller has a green 36V sticker on it. I tried looking up the battery dimensions online, but they all seemed to be the same size???

****Edit**** Just had the battery out of its pouch. Happy day, its 36V 14aH

Second, as I was trying to peek inside the battery bag, I pulled the wire out of the red Anderson connector from the controller. I noticed there isn't a 'pin' on the end that has been crimped. Where could I go to get these pins and crimping tool??

Things I need to do in order of importance:
1. Cycle Analyst. I don't have any readout. I don't know how many cycles the battery has or how well it was cared for.
2. New front tire. Current one is pretty shot.
3. New fork. I believe this has the original fork that has had reports of failing when used with a disk brake, which this bike has
4. Bell
5. LED Flashlight. Came with a mount for a small flashlight
6. Rear light
7. New grips

In the future when I have to replace the battery, I would like to upgrade to a 48V system. Would I need to upgrade anything besides the battery and controller??

I'm looking forward to participating more on ES and giving some riding impressions on the Stokemonkey as there isn't too much on the internet that I had found.

 

[mlt34]

Congrats on the new ebike!

You can buy anderson connectors on Amazon, or from china through hobby king and similar sites. If one wire slipped out of the pin, I'd replace both of them since you can't trust that other one now. To be honest, I've never used the 'official' anderson power pole crimping tool, I always just use a pair of needle nose pliers and sometimes add a drop of solder to make sure it all stays together nicely (technically the solder makes it a weaker joint and more prone to breakage, so you gotta weigh your options - if you can get a good crimp with pliers then I wouldn't solder it).

Yes, the only parts you'll need to upgrade are the battery and controller if you want to go up to 48V. You'll find about a 30% increase in speed and power.

The cycle analyst won't be able to tell you how many cycles the battery went through before you bought it, only how many it goes through once you start using the cycle analyst. By checking your battery voltage with the cycle analyst and seeing how much it sags under load (acceleration and hill climbing) you can get an idea of how much your battery has been used already.

Check out this headlamp as a great ebike headlight: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QQX3C4/ref=oh_details_o09_s02_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use it with this wide angle lens and it is awesome: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WLCLQY/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

also if you plan to ride on the road with cars, consider this horn as a supplement to a bell (because cars will never hear you dinging a bell, that's just for pedestrians on sidewalks and bike paths) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ACAMJC/ref=oh_details_o09_s01_i09?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Lupulin]

Thanks Mit, I'm really pretty excited and thanks for the tip re: pliers. I was thinking along those lines, but wasn't sure. I think I am just going to pedal down to the hobby shop or ebike LBS. I'm not about to wait for amazon to ship them to me if I could be out riding today! I might order some to have as back up, but I want to ride NOW!!!

I know the CA won't be able to tell me how old the battery is or how many cycles, but hopefully I (with ES collective wisdom ) can deduce the batteries health.

I like the look (and $$) of the headlamp, that just might do the trick!

 

[mlt34]

Heck, if you want to be riding this second you can twist the wires together and cover with electrical tape :lol:

I don't recommend it, but you could ride for weeks like that without a problem.

At the local hobby shop you can find a different style of connector, if they don't have anderson powerpoles. You can just swap out both sides of the connector to the new style you get. Just make sure you've got something that can carry the load. Tell the guy you're talking 36V with up to 25 amps DC and they can probably recommend something beefy.

yea, I love that headlight. The battery doesn't last super long, probably not more than an hour at the brightest setting, but at a little lower setting it lasts a while. The wide angle lens really helps because it turns it into the shape of car headlights, lighting up the whole road, instead of just a super focused dot.

 

[Lupulin]

Alright, went down to the local E-LBS and the were able to hook me up with what I needed, one set (Red and Black) Anderson 40 or 45 amp connectors with the pins for the grand total of: $0.00! Just pass out 5 or so business cards. Nice! Thank you Bend Electric Bikes! Think I might go out for a ride across town and back to see how much juice it uses. I will plug it into my Kill A Watt to get an idea. Down the rabbit hole I go.

 

[Lupulin]

I was just looking at the Ebikes.ca website and saw they are still producing a CA 2.3. My question is should I purchase a CA 2.3 or 3.0? This is going to be on a longtail cargo bike with a 36V 14 ah battery driving a StokeMonkey mid drive system. I have run the bike fairly hard and up some hills, and the motor really didn't get warm, so I don't know if I need the functionality of the V 3.0 but I don't like the idea of buying 'old' tech.

 

[mlt34]

I was just looking at the Ebikes.ca website and saw they are still producing a CA 2.3. My question is should I purchase a CA 2.3 or 3.0? This is going to be on a longtail cargo bike with a 36V 14 ah battery driving a StokeMonkey mid drive system. I have run the bike fairly hard and up some hills, and the motor really didn't get warm, so I don't know if I need the functionality of the V 3.0 but I don't like the idea of buying 'old' tech.

I still use and love the version 2.3 - it's just one man's opinion but i don't consider it 'old' tech. The extra functionality in the version 3 is stuff that you won't really miss as you aren't doing anything in the 'high performance' category.

 

[Lupulin]

Mlt34,

How long have you had the light you recommended? I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon, and it seems like many people have the battery dying after 3 weeks?? Not sure I love that, but it is half the cost of a Magicshine. I may just take a gamble. I wonder if the battery is getting out of balance?

 

[mlt34]

Mlt34,

How long have you had the light you recommended? I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon, and it seems like many people have the battery dying after 3 weeks?? Not sure I love that, but it is half the cost of a Magicshine. I may just take a gamble. I wonder if the battery is getting out of balance?

I've had mine for a little over a year and it it's still working great. Though I pretty much only use it during the winter since I'm not riding that often late at night when the sun goes down late in the summer.

Like I said, the battery life isn't incredible, but that just means charging it every three or four rides that you actually use it. If I was offroading a few times a week at night with it, I'd run a DC-DC converter and power it off my main pack.

The other thing is it gets really hot on full power. I don't know how anyone could use it as an actual headlamp (one of the features it is designed for) because even with airflow at 25 mph it still gets really toasty). All in all, I'd buy another one over the magic shine if I had to do it again, but I've never actually used a real magic shine so maybe that's not fair.

 

[teklektik]

My question is should I purchase a CA 2.3 or 3.0? This is going to be on a longtail cargo bike with a 36V 14 ah battery driving a StokeMonkey mid drive system. I have run the bike fairly hard and up some hills, and the motor really didn't get warm, so I don't know if I need the functionality of the V 3.0 but I don't like the idea of buying 'old' tech.

In the future when I have to replace the battery, I would like to upgrade to a 48V system.

The V3 is quite a different product than the V2 and offers features that may not be not be useful to you - at least immediately. However, for $30 more, I believe you would be wise to buy the V3 for the features that do apply and as a means of 'future proofing' your purchase.

Here are the things that I believe will help you out:

• Matching thottle and controller voltages to eliminate 'dead zones'. This will give you a better throttle feel, guarrantee the throttle delivers the full WOT voltage, and will allow you to upgrade to any hall or resistive throttle (eg Magura) and get a perfect installation.
• You have a mid-drive with chain/freewheel components. The V3 offers throttle ramping that can be adjusted to moderate the application of power to relieve drivetrain stress. This will likely be a greater consideration when you go to 48v, but the idea is that you can adjust the V3 so slamming WOT off the line will have no ill effects. It's nice to have a bike that won't be harmed by improper driving technique (wife/gf, friends, too much beer...).
• The V3 can be switched to Current Throttle mode. This Makes 0-100% rotation of the throttle deliver 0-100% of the configured Max Current. This gives a refined and predictable throttle control. This may be of less advantage with your present rig, but a 48v battery may well make the present throttle setup somewhat less controllable - particularly at low speeds (this is mitigated by the mid-drive aspect compared to hub motor). A V2 can be rewired to afford Current Throttle, but it's a bit more of a task than with the V3 where it is a menu option.
• Cruise control. You may or may not find this useful depending on terrain and driving preference, but it's a selectable option.
• If you spring for the 48v battery while your 36v battery is still useful, the V3 can track the life statistics of both batteries independently and give you different configuration setups tuned to each battery voltage (eg LVC, max current, ramping, etc). This makes it easy to switch packs and have the bike equally well tuned for either.

There are other features described in the Guide, but these are some that seem applicable to your particular situation...

Do you need these things? ( Nope )
Are they worth $30 over the life of your bike? ( ? )

BTW - congrats on joining the Mundo team!

 

[Warren]

I've had my CA V2 for over two years and over 13K miles. It does everything I need on a mid-drive bike. Mine is the older, smaller stand-alone unit, a better size for a bicycle handlebar. More is not always better.

 

[mlt34]

I've had my CA V2 for over two years and over 13K miles. Mine is the older, smaller stand-alone unit.

Now I'm all nostalgic over my old little CA, awww… I loved that little thing. You're right, it did everything I needed too. Though I have to say, for a bike that was doing 30 mph (50 km/h), upgrading to the big screen display just made things easier to see when I'm traveling at top speed and trying to keep my eyes on the pot holes!

 

[Lupulin]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'm leaning more toward the V3. I like the look of the larger screen and the idea of "future proofing" I would hate to save a little now, and regret it later and then get a V3. I have been down that road before.

Here are a couple more pics.

P.S. Teklektik, thanks I'm enjoying being on Team Mundo so far!

 

[teklektik]

The present V2 and V3 models have the same case and screen, so screen size is not a deciding factor.

You should not look at these as 'new and old' tech - they really are different products. The new V2.3 actually borrows a slightly stripped down PCB from the V3 - so it's a contemporary design - just with different features.

The V2 is a great device and frankly will do what you need - I'm sure you will be happy with the purchase either way

 

[Lupulin]

Somehow I lost the charger to this headlight listed above by teklektik. Does anyone know where I can get a new one without buying a whole new package? It wouldn't be the worst thing (about $20.00) but I hate having extra stuff lying around.

 

[maxwell92036]

You are showing a ton of seatpost. Make sure you have plenty of post in the seat tube so you don't break things.
I have a front dynamo hub and light with cache battery built in and a usb port to charge things like smartphones. Pricey but nice to never worry about batteries and charging.

 

[Lupulin]

Thanks for the concern, but the Mundo's seat post is 500mm x 31.8mm. It's a large and stout seat post. What I'm asking about is a new charger for this headlight:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QQX3C4/ref=oh_details_o09_s02_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[cal3thousand]

Thanks for the concern, but the Mundo's seat post is 500mm x 31.8mm. It's a large and stout seat post. What I'm asking about is a new charger for this headlight:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QQX3C4/ref=oh_details_o09_s02_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You need an 8.4v charger:

http://www.eachmall.com/goods-31494-31494.html?gclid=CjwKEAiA7ZajBRCpur2xi47n1zkSJADqV2WleSRiXkALmdiIjW0i2_4UTMPdVKxscjcxPQvxfxJlzxoCOQHw_wcB

EDIT: Here's an Amazon version:

http://www.amazon.com/Intsun%C2%AE-Charger-HeadLight-Flashlight-Headlamp/dp/B00AELLFY0/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1416003330&sr=1-1&keywords=8.4v+charger&pebp=1416003323085

 

[Lupulin]

Thanks cal3thousand, ordered!