CYC PHOTON

[Pat.]

Hello everybody and best wishes for 2023.

I'm relpatively new here and have read a lot last months and now registered as user.
Name Patrick from The Netherlands. Mountainbiking sinds 1994 and never stopped since.

I've been riding the Photon now for more than 300 km's offroad and it hasn't moved a mm.
Mounted the Photon on a Octane One Prone frhame and fits like a glove.
For wattages the 1900 peak seams a bit high. Havent they mixed it up with the max engine rpm. But the i drive it street legal according to European standards. I drive long tours so batterydrainage must be as low as possible

For those interested in reading the review about it check it out on our website:
https://emtb.tech/reviews/cyc-motor-introduceert-de-photon-drive/

Just select all text and translate with google translate oid. Grammar may be of a bit but then you get the idea.
Thanks for the tips/tricks etc.

 

[1boris]

This review was a useless as all the other reviews on youtube.Why spend so much time on a review a not get to the point is for me unbelivable.What we want to now is the hill climbing power/speed compared to other motors and if it overheats.And also the weight of the rider and how steep the hill is.

 

[famichiki]

I've been riding the Photon now for more than 300 km's offroad and it hasn't moved a mm.

How is the drag when pedalling with the motor off? Is there any at all, or does it totally disconnect from the internal gearing?

 

[pxl666]

i see price 950$ . seems overpriced for me ... I wonder how many people is eager to spend so much ...

 

[lery2]

And what about the price in EU? This is 1400 EUR here. That is expensive.

 

[pxl666]

And what about the price in EU? This is 1400 EUR here. That is expensive.

not sure but polish dealer just suggested me the price around 1400eur which is absurd ... i would wish to set up survey asking ppl if they are willing to pay that much

 

[Bossomatic]

I’m waiting for more detailed and impartial (i.e. someone who isn’t trying to sell me something) reviews to come out before committing to anything but I’m definitely willing to spend $950 if the CYC Photon turns out to be as refined and powerful as the current reviewers are stating.

Photon price is steep compared to TSDZ2, BBS02, and even BBSHD but if that price gives me torque sensing, quality build, and good power then I’m all in!

I have a frame ready and waiting

 

[Mongo]

[duplicate post, don't know why]

 

[Mongo]

[duplicate post, don't know why]

 

[Mongo]

not sure but polish dealer just suggested me the price around 1400eur which is absurd ... i would wish to set up survey asking ppl if they are willing to pay that much

The base Photon Is being offered (pre-sale) for $850 U.S., to escalate to $950 U.S. once available for shipment (projected late January). Today, $950 U.S. equals 903 Euro.

What's the typical base price for the BBS02 or BBSHD from your E.U. dealers?

CYC will charge what the market will bear, I presume. Maybe Bafang will notice and care about a drop in sales and develop revised BBS models to compete. Tongsheng's attempt wasn't a threat, I guess.

 

[Atak_Snajpera]

1400 euro in Poland looks normal to me if you add just $100+ for shipping from HK to EU then you add customs (6%) and ofcourse our beloved VAT ( 23%).

Cyc X1 stealth Has similar price and people still buy it. Problem? Heck people even buy graphic cards for the same money! RTX 4080/RTX 4090 anyone?

 

[Matze_Senpai]

too expensive for a casual ebike builder that dont want to spend too much. not quite sure for "who" exactly this motor is.

 

[Atak_Snajpera]

For those who can not afford to buy factory built e-bike for 3k-4k euro and already have own bike? For those who need more power (250W) and no stupid speed limits (25km/h) ? For those who do not like X1 STEALTH with that extra chain?

 

[Pat.]

This review was a useless as all the other reviews on youtube. Why spend so much time on a review a not get to the point is for me unbelivable. What we want to now is the hill climbing power/speed compared to other motors and if it overheats.And also the weight of the rider and how steep the hill is.

As you could have read i haven't been in the hills yet. That will be halfway next month when the ground there is better. Hill climbing speed is offcourse a combination of parameters.

For example: I weigh incl. bike gear +/- 85 kg. and am 190 cm in height. When peddaling against the wind i have more air drag than weight drag. Going uphill air drag is reduced and weight drag increases. Put someone of 170 cm and 65 kg on the bike and he gets uphill faster and with less engine heating. And i am curious to of how the bike performes. Just to mention i ride it street legal and with "low" wattage.
1 = 140 watt
2 = 200 watt
3 = 400 watt

Do you meen speed or accelleration comparisson? Speed is all the same in street legal (eu) mode of shimano bosch bafang and cyc.
Going uphill if you want to truly compare you need one bike with the same components and different engines. Everything else is just a mwah mwah comparisson. And that is one of the reasons we don't make comparisson test on our website.

Why spend time on a review? That's because it's our hobby, not our job. After 20 years of mountainbike.nl we (the crew) are still voluteers and don't get money for it. It takes time and effort between our day jobs and family.

I've been riding the Photon now for more than 300 km's offroad and it hasn't moved a mm.

How is the drag when pedalling with the motor off? Is there any at all, or does it totally disconnect from the internal gearing?

There is a little drag but not that much. It doesn't seem to disconnect from the internals when cycling. The drag feels the same as my other Bosch bikes.

 

[Atak_Snajpera]

Main question. How did you buy it then? Was it a promotional gift? Why there are only 3 assist modes? How fast does temperature rise under high wattage?

 

[pxl666]

For those who can not afford to buy factory built e-bike for 3k-4k euro and already have own bike? For those who need more power (250W) and no stupid speed limits (25km/h) ? For those who do not like X1 STEALTH with that extra chain?

but you can get used haibike with yamaha in good condition for 2k eur? of course you have to use yamaha battery but anyways this makes more sense to me that spend 1.4k euro on motor alone . and yamaha is really hard to overheat . and these used bikes very often have speedbox up to 50kmh . and there will be more of them as ppl are buying and selling more and more and market is slowly filling up with factory ebikes. in fact I see much more factory ebikes than diy ones ...

 

[Atak_Snajpera]

People still buy X1 stealth for the same price even if you can buy used factory built ebike. Not everybody lives in poor Poland where typical Janusz earns 800 euro/month . For average Hans from Germany spending 1400 euro is not a huge problem.
Imagine if you could buy this motor for 1400 PLN. Would you still complain about the price? I don't think so.

 

[pxl666]

but x1 is way more powerful

 

[tomjasz]

For those who can not afford to buy factory built e-bike for 3k-4k euro and already have own bike? For those who need more power (250W) and no stupid speed limits (25km/h) ? For those who do not like X1 STEALTH with that extra chain?

but you can get used haibike with yamaha in good condition for 2k eur? of course you have to use yamaha battery but anyways this makes more sense to me that spend 1.4k euro on motor alone . and yamaha is really hard to overheat . and these used bikes very often have speedbox up to 50kmh . and there will be more of them as ppl are buying and selling more and more and market is slowly filling up with factory ebikes. in fact I see much more factory ebikes than diy ones ...

I like working on and building my own bikes. Yamaha and their ilk lock me into hard to find repair parts and are a boring experience. Building gives me the right and ability to repair. My bikes can be built incrementally. To me a proprietary battery is not only limiting but ridiculously priced. Since 2014 I’ve built a dozen of my own bikes. A couple were built with far better components than on some €5000 (before your oppressive taxation). Most better builds and always better fit to my purpose than eBikes in a local bike shop. Forums seem to have a cadre of EU riders that are used to the restrictions that for the most part just don’t exist here. What “makes sense to me” doesn’t need to make sense.

I’m from a generation that liked wrenching and garage time almost as much as driving/riding. Modern tech has kept me from messing with my cage anymore. eBikes for many here are a hobby. Not something to pay someone else to maintain.

Sitting back and thinking about your market your questions and points make sense. Thankfully I have none of the limitations you face.

 

[tomjasz]

. Tongsheng's attempt wasn't a threat, I guess.

Tongsheng is pretty much the homely stepsister. Good in bed, but not particularly memorable.

 

[tomjasz]

Hello everybody and best wishes for 2023.

I'm relpatively new here and have read a lot last months and now registered as user.
Name Patrick from The Netherlands. Mountainbiking sinds 1994 and never stopped since.

I've been riding the Photon now for more than 300 km's offroad and it hasn't moved a mm.
Mounted the Photon on a Octane One Prone frhame and fits like a glove.
For wattages the 1900 peak seams a bit high. Havent they mixed it up with the max engine rpm. But the i drive it street legal according to European standards. I drive long tours so batterydrainage must be as low as possible
]

For those interested in reading the review about it check it out on our website:
https://emtb.tech/reviews/cyc-motor-introduceert-de-photon-drive/

Just select all text and translate with google translate oid. Grammar may be of a bit but then you get the idea.
Thanks for the tips/tricks etc.

I enjoyed the review. And noted how less optically invasive it is compared to BBSxx motors. With Bafang potentially shifting to proprietary systems like Yamaha and Bosch a lot of long time Bafang users are looking hard and hoping for a successful alternative to the BBSHD. Just my narrow view.

 

[Atak_Snajpera]

but x1 is way more powerful

https://www.cycmotor.com/photon

750W (nominal) vs 1500W (nominal). Most people do not use more than 500W of assistance in pedaling mode. I own X1 STEALTH first gen and 1500W is a total overkill. To maintain 40km/h I need around 400W. PHOTON was mechanically designed for 750W so you still have plenty of power for steep hills.

BTW. SPEEDBOX for YAMAHA costs ~300 euro!
https://www.speedbox-tuning.com/p/speedbox-3-0-b-tuning-for-yamaha#1384

So your so called 2000 euro for used ebike is now 2300 euro. Not to mention about degraded (36V) 500Wh battery.
For 2000 euro you have CYC PHOTON and brand new (48V) 1200Wh battery using SAMSUNG 21700-50E. Buying used factory ebike makes zero sense to me. Also servicing those old motors is a nightmare. Manufactures often abandon older models completely and do not provide any spare parts.

 

[pxl666]

Buying used factory ebike makes zero sense to me.

dude... for 2400 eur you get COMPLETE EBIKE with speedbox , good suspension , good equipment , good condition (saw them myself) , with motor INSIDE the frame . luckily most of them has battery cycles counter so you can guess it's condition , some of them are 750wh .
not to mention that photon will be more expensive than far superior g510
tu put it simply - at 1400 eur for motor alone i see no sense in this - no matter what ... 800 usd might be tempting
this is simply my point of view - cheers

 

[Atak_Snajpera]

Buying used factory ebike makes zero sense to me.

dude... for 2400 eur you get COMPLETE EBIKE with speedbox , good suspension , good equipment , good condition (saw them myself) , with motor INSIDE the frame . luckily most of them has battery cycles counter so you can guess it's condition , some of them are 750wh .
not to mention that photon will be more expensive than far superior g510
tu put it simply - at 1400 eur for motor alone i see no sense in this - no matter what ... 800 usd might be tempting
this is simply my point of view - cheers

NEW DIY > USED OEM . END OF STORY! Deal with it. Good luck in servicing those motors without spare parts! There is good reason why they are trying to get rid of those older models.
Like some wiseman said. "Change the job and take a loan"

 

[pxl666]

i used to your "not really smart" answers and opinions , got tired and bored ... so pls ignore me and do not comment what i say ...