Titan Racing Charge e-two

[vir0za]

To the owners, previous owners, or test riders out there.

I bought my Titan Racing Charge e-two just over a week ago and have a question.

It works with a cadence sensor I believe (SENSOR DOUBLE HALL, KT-V12, 12 MAGNET) - I have what feels like lag or cut out (screen always stays on!) when under 25 km/h, whether on straight or uphill.  This will happen unless I get my cadence perfect.  Just to be clear I am not talking about stopping pedaling or anything like that, as I know this will cut off the motor.  Sometimes even when the cadence is the same, it will go, then stop, then go, then stop.  Is this just how e-bikes are? 

I know @Titan Racing Bikes are busy looking into this for me as well. so will report back what they tell me.

I was doing some research over the weekend and also saw there are two types of sensors, torque, and cadence sensors, so maybe that is what I must expect?

 

[Zebra]

Chris F on this forum probably way more experienced to answer your questions than myself: but here goes: I have a Chilled Squirrel KIT on my bike, never experienced that surge, or go/no go in 6-odd years, so that DOES sound unusual; if I were you, I would ride a DIFFERENT eBike - new or 2nd hand, to compare….

what you describe sounds most unusual/not normal…

come in, @chris f

[vir0za]

I have tested other e-bikes, chilled squirrel being one of them. They did not do this. But that is where I thought it might be the difference between cadence and torque sensor. 

[ChrisF]

9 hours ago, Zebra said:

Chris F on this forum probably way more experienced to answer your questions than myself: but here goes: I have a Chilled Squirrel KIT on my bike, never experienced that surge, or go/no go in 6-odd years, so that DOES sound unusual; if I were you, I would ride a DIFFERENT eBike - new or 2nd hand, to compare….

what you describe sounds most unusual/not normal…

come in, @chris f

 

This is a hub drive motor.

 

By all accounts a totally different machine to the mid-drive we are used to.

 

Apparently the "feel" is way different ... so I have been told by @Prince Albert Cycles and various others.  I have not ridden these, so cant comment.

 

 

Closest I have come - taking my mid-drive commuter up Franschoek pass I cant use the granny gear (go-figure) !!  Once the wheel rotation gets to slow the motor does a stop-start with the assist.  Get out the saddle, up the speed just that little bit and the motor runs smoothly.  Granted this is hardly a normal use scenario.

 

 

Would be interesting to know if the hub-drive has a similar issue.  

[ChrisF]

8 hours ago, vir0za said:

I have tested other e-bikes, chilled squirrel being one of them. They did not do this. But that is where I thought it might be the difference between cadence and torque sensor. 

 

The Bafang motor, as used by Chilled Squirrel and many Euro commuters, has BOTH a cadance and torque sensor.

 

Torque sensor to work with the assist level setting, and to give the required assist.

 

 

The cadence sensor is primarily to stop the assist at 25 or 32km/h.

 

I learnt the hard way that the Bafang also use the cadence sensor to stop the assist when you pedal too slowly .... resulting in a pulsating on-off .... had to speed up a bit to get it to operate as normal .... fun when you have to speed up on the steepest part of a mountain climb ....

 

 

 

still not sure how or if there are any parallels for these between hub- and mid-drive motors.

[vir0za]

@ChrisF @Zebra - As it stands @Titan Racing Bikes were nice enough to arrange a collection of my bicycle to take a look at it.  They have installed a new cadence sensor and I will be getting the bicycle back tomorrow.  I will report back if that resolves my issue or if that is just how the bike is.

[vir0za]

They replaced the cadence sensor for me with a newer and improved model I believe.  The e-bike is ok, but I think my expectations for the price point are a bit too high.  After riding other e-bikes, I think I should have saved a bit more and purchased one of those.  It will do the job for now, but a lesson has been learned.  This is my fault in the end.  Thanks to titan racing for trying to sort it out.

[ChrisF]

6 minutes ago, vir0za said:

They replaced the cadence sensor for me with a newer and improved model I believe.  The e-bike is ok, but I think my expectations for the price point are a bit too high.  After riding other e-bikes, I think I should have saved a bit more and purchased one of those.  It will do the job for now, but a lesson has been learned.  This is my fault in the end.  Thanks to titan racing for trying to sort it out.

 

How does it compare with other HUB DRIVE ebikes ?

[vir0za]

Just now, ChrisF said:

 

How does it compare with other HUB DRIVE ebikes ?

I will shoot you a PM

[Hubcap888]

Hi Vir0za

I test rode one at a bike shop yesterday. Are you referring to the lag from when you start pedaling to when the motor kicks in?

I agree that it was very delayed compared to all other ebikes I've ridden. Did Titon give an answer to why there is such a delay? I would imagine it is software related and could be to protect the motor.

I would be interested to know if it can be changed because for the price point it is a good looking bike.

[vir0za]

Just now, Hubcap888 said:

Hi Vir0za

I test rode one at a bike shop yesterday. Are you referring to the lag from when you start pedaling to when the motor kicks in?

I agree that it was very delayed compared to all other ebikes I've ridden. Did Titon give an answer to why there is such a delay? I would imagine it is software related and could be to protect the motor.

I would be interested to know if it can be changed because for the price point it is a good looking bike.

So this is the issue I am still left with yes.  It is exactly that.

They replaced the cadence sensor which partially fixed the stop-start on hills issue that I had, but it is still prevalent.  Just not as much.  I am not sure there is much more @Titan Racing Bikes can do for me.

[Hubcap888]

I would be interested to know what @Titan Racing Bikes have to say as we are seriously considering making the purchase but this could be a deal breaker if there is not a quick fix.

[dasilvarsa]

4 hours ago, vir0za said:

They replaced the cadence sensor for me with a newer and improved model I believe.  The e-bike is ok, but I think my expectations for the price point are a bit too high.  After riding other e-bikes, I think I should have saved a bit more and purchased one of those.  It will do the job for now, but a lesson has been learned.  This is my fault in the end.  Thanks to titan racing for trying to sort it out.

I will never buy any Vehicle that I have not "Test Driven".

[vir0za]

5 minutes ago, dasilvarsa said:

I will never buy any Vehicle that I have not "Test Driven".

I mean, thanks for the advice I guess.

This is more down to two things.

1)  The one issue really only revealed itself after hitting the hills and is very intermittent

2)  The lag issue was just me not knowing what is normal, now I know other e-bikes do not experience this, or def to not as large of an extent

I was just trying to get to the bottom of it, but as I said, it looks to just be what you get at this price point.

[Titan Racing Bikes]

It's very difficult to comment without having ridden the bike, and even more importantly, next to another one of the same model. We'll be in touch to see if we can arrange a back-to-back test to see if what you're experiencing is within "spec". 

[vir0za]

Just now, Titan Racing Bikes said:

It's very difficult to comment without having ridden the bike, and even more importantly, next to another one of the same model. We'll be in touch to see if we can arrange a back-to-back test to see if what you're experiencing is within "spec". 

@Titan Racing Bikes - My brother rode the same model at cycle labs and reported the same thing.  Also going by what @Hubcap888 is reporting, it seems to be within "spec".   As I said, I don't think I can pay what I paid and expect more.  In retrospect, I should have saved up more money and bought a different model.