Today I took the longest ride I've done in quite a while. Not so very long, just 32 miles, from Palo Alto out through Woodside to the Pulgas Water Temple and back.
Returning via Mountain Home Road (a pretty, woodsy road that passes some veddy veddy exclusive estates), I engaged the regen brake to slow from 20mph for a stop sign. Just before the bike stopped there was a second of a heavy vibration out of the rear wheel, a jackhammer-y kind of buzz, as if something was clutching and un-clutching rapidly.
And when I started pedalling again—there was no assist. This was more than a bit disappointing as I still had one long and three short hills to climb.
Experimenting I found that if I selected level 4, I could get a bit of assist, but it surged, coming on and off at about 2-second intervals. Better than nothing, but not right. At level 3 there might be a trace of assist; nothing detectable at 1 or 2.
I stopped and checked that all the wires were OK and wiggled all the connectors. Nothing helped. All other functions worked, including the manual throttle (which I employed to get a quick boost over a couple of steep spots). If I had to guess I'd say something in the motor no longer senses rider torque output properly.
Once home I called Velolectric and arranged to bring the bike up to them on Monday. So we'll see.
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