I've mentioned before that the motors on this type are internal hub motors, but these are no simply a electric stator pushing a rotor in the wheel, they actually have a gear down so that the motor can spin at optimal speeds and give more torque. Exactly like this one from a bicycle (not my video)
So there is some loss in that even when the motor is turning, but when its not powered the loss is a bit more because of that gearing.
Accordingly my Mercane goes down hills with a bit of resistance all the time from that motor (not just from the tyres).
As one who uses this to travel to and from places (home to shops, home to work, home to friends places) I'm actually interested as much in range as I am in "WoW" power. This is because most of my time is spent on relatively straight bits of road / cycle paths.
So I wonder if this Single Motor 8.8Ah battery system gives similar range to the Dual Motor 13.2Ah system because of parasitic frictional losses as well as two motors pulling power.
If you aren't thinking about friction (and wonder where it may come from perhaps in this video we can see (and maybe hear) this:
So this is of course going to be double in the dual motor version (even if power is less per motor, motors are not 100% efficient, thus two will probably be less efficient than one. Sure the Dual Motor has a Eco mode (as indeeed does the Single Motor) in which I'm told the front wheel does not drive at all (in which case it is just a loss).
This is not unlike why classic 4WD's have "free wheeling hubs" that need to be engaged to give 4WD, and can be disengaged to give better fuel economy on the highway (even in 2WD setting).
In my normal use the single wheel is entirely satisfactory (and still a lot of fun) and gets up hills quite ok. This makes me wonder if the AU$1000 for the Single Motor 8.8 Ah battery will have an equal cruising range as does the the Dual Motor variant.
Basically at the time I bought it I found that the Single Wheel climbed a pretty steep hill, faster than I'd be able to walk it, so I thought the extra AU$600 needed for the Dual Motor was better in my pocket than on the front.
9 comments:
What was your bearing replacement choice? I'm in need of a replacement and would like to upgrade if possible, but can't find anything as I don't know where to look. Thanks, I've learned quite abit from your blogs.
so far (2 years in now) I've not needed to replace a wheel bearing ... which is great!
The best way is to
1) take the bearing to a proper shop that specialises in bearings
2) take careful measurements with a vernier caliper and order one that matches online.
I'd go 1 as they are all over the place (especially if you live in a city ... but they're not in shopping malls ;-)
Glad the blog has helped :-)
Best Wishes
i have and am having trouble finding one that matches as they are from Korea and not forthgiving with specs, and i apologize, i could have sworn i read an exerpt that read something like "after i replaced the low quality bearings..." so that's why I asked. 13x30x7 isnt very common I've found. Also I'm using a higher capacity battery and a couple of Lyen mini monster motor controllers, so that doesnt help... (actually it helps quite a bit, though not for the longevity of a set of bearings that have already seen a brutal and quite enjoyable first season) So take them in to a specialty shop. sounds good, thanks!
Hi
well in this blog post https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2019/06/unconscionable-components-decisions.html
about Kick scooters (not electric and not the mercane) I wrote about replacing the crap bearing in my kick scooter ...
That measurement seems not correct, comparing to the new wheel hub half I have (I'm not going to pull my wheel down to measure mine). I have never seen a bearing designated at 13x30x7 ... you need to measure the outer diameter of outer race with a vernier caliper and do it in millimeters, do the same with the inner race inside diameter and the bearing thickness.
I think the actual bearing shop is your best bet ... take the hub outer and stator shaft too if you can.
Yeah, i used a caliper, and they have 13x30x7 bearings in Korea, and pretty much just in Korea where these baby's were made, trust me. I measured three different times because I couldn't find any until I one popped up on one of those Chinese online stores that have everything at bulk prices, and would've ordered them, but i didnt want to wait on a vague delivery time that's a month away when it's riding season now. I ended up just ordering two new complete wheels, so now i have spare parts. and the excerpt wasn't specific and referred to one of your mercane blogs, so that's where I got led astray. Though I think I'm still going to check out the bearing shop solution as well. Now if you have information that contradicts my 13x30x7 measurement, then by all means, please do tell. I would rather be completely wrong and able to order online then carry on with the wrong measurements on a fruitless endeavour.I'm actually in the middle of taking one apart and seeing if the grooves are still decent enough to house replacement balls. the rivets are fun...
what rivets?
holding the retainers together holding the balls in place behind the bearing seals
No idea, never seen a bearing with rivets
I'm pretty sure you have the bearing measurements wrong. I have the WWP, but it shares 3 out of the 4 rim halves with the WW model, so I think the bearings are the same. The bearings in mine are 6002-2RZ (15mm x 32mm x 9mm). They are standard and easy to find online (Amazon, etc).
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