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5.1.6 Range
The range is the distance you can cycle using
power assistance on one charge. This
depends on many different factors that can
be divided into 2 groups:
• Capacity and condition of the battery
• The cycling circumstances and the state of
the bicycle.
A summary of matters that have direct
influence on the distance that you can ride:
1. Age of the battery: when the battery gets
older, its capacity becomes less. So, with
a brand new, well charged battery you can
ride a larger distance than with a battery
that is 1 year old.
2. Number of battery charges: the riding range
decreases after a number of battery
recharges. Partly this can be compensated
by “refresh charging” (see section 5.1.3).
3. The temperature: the performance of the
battery depends on the temperature.
When it’s colder, the battery’s capacity is
reduced, so you cannot reach the
maximum distance with your Lafree.
4. The wind: easy to understand that, when
you ride with strong head wind, the Lafree
uses more energy than without wind, so
the reach becomes shorter.
5. The terrain (flat, steep hills, slopes,
pavement): same as previous point (4), if
you ride uphill or on rough pavement, the
engine uses more energy than on flat or
smooth roads.
6. Rider’s weight and luggage: for a light rider
without additional luggage is less energy
required than for a heavy rider or a rider
that carries luggage.
7. The number of stops and starts: riding in
heavy traffic or in the city with lots of traffic
lights means that you have to make much
more stops and starts compared with
riding in the countryside. Because of the
energy consumed during acceleration, the
riding range becomes shorter when the
number of stops and starts increases.
8. Clever use of gears: energy (form the rider,
but also from the battery) will be saved if
the gears on the bike are used in the
correct way. Especially accelerating and
riding uphill should be done in low gears,
in the same way as driving a car. Start
riding in 1st gear and, when speed
increases, shift to 2nd and 3rd gear. This
helps you to save energy and to increase
the range.
9. Quality and state of bicycle components,
such as
- tyres with too low pressure or well
inflated tyres.
- a dirty, corroded, dry chain or a clean
and well lubricated chain.
Poor maintenance increases the resistance
and the extra energy required empties your
battery quicker.
It may be clear that it’s very difficult to say
how far you can ride with your power
assisted Twist with a full battery, simply
because there are too many factors that have
influence.
Under the best possible circumstances, you
can cycle
• max. 25 ~ 35 km. in “normal” mode
• max. 30 ~ 40 km. in “ECO” mode.
In “Eco” mode, the assistance power is about
half of the normal mode. It could save the
energy consumption and extend the range.
The “ECO” mode saves energy consumption
and extends the range with approx. 50%.
Trip distances mentioned here are just a very
rough indication. In some cases the power
assistance stops already before the 20 km.
mark is reached, while someone else under
other conditions may be able to ride more
than 40 km.
Short summary of recommendations for a
high range:
• Charge the battery under room
temperature (15 ~ 25 degrees C.)
•Try to ride the battery as empty as
possible before re-charging
• Refresh-charge after every 15 times
normal charging, but at least once every
3 months
• Use the gears while accelerating or riding
uphill
• Don’t ride with too low tyre pressure and
keep the chain clean and well lubricated.
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