GoCycle G4i, UK Long Term Review. Part 4. “Predictive Shifting”
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2021
- Part 4 of my long term owner’s review of the GoCycle G4i. The e-bike is now thankfully back to full health.
This short video gives a quick overview of the excellent “Predictive Shifting” of the gears when riding the GoCycle G4i.
And shows me taking a hands free call while riding!
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I am using my old samsung note as gocycle dashboard screen. With it you can open Google maps (or any other navigation app) in pop-up window and put it as overlay in one corner where it is not in the way.You can even make it semitransparent. Much better then using watch for navigation :)
Nice overview of predictive shifting Mark, I’ve only had my G4i+ a month, but it’s the feature I’ve liked the most, super 😎👍🏻
Good to see it seems to be working fine now. I was going to ask... did you fit the two rubber bands yourself or did the shop do it? When I collected mine today, the two rubber bands are in a small bag and I couldn't work out how to get them over the brake levers to the centre bar area from each grip end...
Were already fitted. I hope they do just stretch over the brakes? In fact one of them has since split but still forms a ring - just a bigger one. Still holds my iPhone 14 Pro Max in place. They were a little too tight for that size of phone to be honest. As rubber bands they will perish over time. Not the best design match for the rest of the bike but as a foldable bike, a normal solid phone mount would probably foul up the folding process. MM
@@markymarkreviews Hey marky are you still liking the bike have you had any problems since. I am thinking of buying one ?
Nice series of reviews! On level ground do you have to pedal ‘hard’ to get the gears to auto up shift from 2 to 3? Also I have occasional ‘clunking’ when changing gears. Dealer says cable stretch? Bike is a few days old.
Predictive gear shifting essentially works with the speed you are going. If you have your phone mounted and the app on, you can see the speed clearly. In practice 0mph to 7mph you will stay in first gear. As soon as you are above 7mph (7.3mph?) then the GoCycle will automatically shift in to 2nd gear, as long as you pause your cadence briefly to allow the gear change. And then when you go above 14mph, it will change up in to 3rd gear., if you pause the peddle cycle just momentarily. And vice- versa is true as you slow down and eventually stop. The GoCycle will change down gears. No need to pause the peddle cycle, the bike just down changes from 3 to 2 to 1 etc.as you slow down. It is totally intuitive and the auto gear changes work well vs speed. If you want you can turn off predictive shifting in the app and use the manual shift lever on the handlebars. Certainly no clunking on mine when changing gears but it may be worth seeing if they smooth off with time.May be a new bike thing and take time to bed in? MM
@@markymarkreviews thanks. The clunking is now not so frequent after approx 50 miles. It happened to another user who was pedalling when gears were changing, but I thought that the GC protected itself from this. He had to pay a lot for the repair!
@@adrianandlaura Well thats not good. I hope spaces like this help us all to correlate faults and issues on what is an expensive e-bike, so we can see if some things are more common than others and or expensive to fix! MM
@@markymarkreviews your videos convinced me to get the GC. I have had 5 faulty Brompton Electrics in a year, so am a bit worried about e-bikes now. GC seems to have been made a lot better. I think my issue may be gear cable stretch, and the gears may need a small adjustment.
I was thinking that the upshifts were ‘effort’ related rather than ‘speed’ related, which has reassured me.
@@adrianandlaura I love Bromptons but the electric was an obvious retrofit and very messy. I did test ride one before getting the GC. Carrying the battery around after folding the Brompton did not appeal either and changing modes/power levels, I think you had to be stationary. 5 faulty ones is definitely not good! I felt starting this long term review would help others decide. I am a paying customer after all and not connected with GoCycle, so I am hoping mine remains reliable. It is a joy to ride. Will hopefully do a 1000 mile review soon.
Mark, can the battery be charged when it is removed from the Gocycle?
Hi there! Great reviews. So relatable. Well done. I was wondering if the throttle can be held down all the time or if it’s merely a boost? Thanks!
If the bike is set up for the N. American market, (via the app) then the boost "collar" works as a moped. As long as it is twisted and held in position it you can ride without pedalling. Higher top speed also. Not entirely legal in the UK though without insurance etc. Mine is set up for the UK (now) after initially being set up from purchase for the N. American market.
Hi Mark great video, I have Question can the gears work manually with out the assist ? ( like normal bike) I like the option of using assist in the morning going to work so I don't sweat, and coming back manually so I get some exercise. thank you :)
Yes you can still choose the gear you want using the right hand side twist grip collar. Twist the collar towards you to move up a gear and away from you to move down a gear. The collar is spring loaded/self centres each time the gear is changed. There are only 3 gears though. Which is enough as it is a road/commuter bike and not a mountain bike. Or you can set the bike up via the app so that you turn off the Predictive Shifting and then you have full control of the gears at all times. Instead of the bike choosing the gears, which relates to how fast you are going, and you overriding what the bike chooses using the twist grip collar mechanism. If you don’t want to sweat at all, you can use the left hand side grip Throttle mode, so that it becomes a moped😉. No need to pedal at all then! But will use up the battery a lot more. MM
@@markymarkreviews thank you so much ❤️ that answered all my questions.
Great review Mark. I have a question. I just ordered one for my wife and one for me. We will have to lift the bike up 10 wooden entry steps into the house, and since we are very senior citizens it will be difficult. I am thinking of building a ramp at one side of the stairs using, say, a 2" x 10" built into the wooden stairs and front landing so that we could use bike power to give an assist up the stairs. However, I wonder if this is possible, since someone I talked with mentioned that electric assist only kicks in once the bike is pedaled to a speed of 8km/hr. Can you please advise if we could use the bike from a standing start to help us mount the stairs as opposed to having to fold then lug it up by hand?
You can definitely use electric assist from a standing start. Previous generation GoCycles only assisted you at speeds above 4mph. However the latest G4 series assists from around 1-2mph OR you can use the THROTTLE boost button on the G4 or THROTTLE Twist grip on the G4i and G4i+ models for proper strong motor assist from 0mph. If a steep ramp would may be still need a bit of a run up to build momentum? Hope that helps. MM
@@markymarkreviews Yes, very helpful, thanks.
@@markymarkreviews Hello Mark, I have located 2 G4is here in Montreal Canada which I intend to purchase, but when I forwarded to them your reply to my question of 3 months ago, they were unable to verify the "THROTTLE Twist grip on the G4i and G4i+ models for proper strong motor assist from 0mph." that you mentioned. They said that you have to be pedaling to get any Throttle assist. Can you please confirm that you can get some power from the motor from 0mph by twisting the Throttle?
@@keithcarrier1910 You do not need to be pedalling to use the throttle! That is when I use the throttle most such going up a steep hill as it allows me to stop pedalling for a few seconds to rest my legs😀. And the throttle keeps my momentum going on up the hill. And for the whole hill if I wanted. As long as you have juice in the battery. And yes it works from zero or perhaps 1mph.From stationary in effect. The bike has be set up in the right mode. In the UK it is not “meant” to have the throttle mode active but it was set up as a “USA” bike from the shop. As throttle mode allowed there. This can be changed by you the user/owner at any time.
Many thanks, my bike shop confirmed this after contact with Gocycle
One question from a new Gocycle owner: how do you secure your bike with a lock?
I fear the bike could easily be stolen if I lock the frame to a post, because the folding mechanism might be broken easily and then one could steal the bike in a second.
I don't. My whole plan with this bike was that I would fold it up and take it with me. That includes in my local supermarket where I use it as a trolley by putting a large re-useable bag on the front when the bike is folded as it is easy to push. Bike theft is endemic in the UK. Whether a bike is locked up or not. I would never leave it outside and unattended. It will be stolen. It is small and expensive after all. If you think you will often have to leave it locked up on a street setting frequently I would advise you to get a cheap normal bike I am afraid. If there is one thing I have learnt from my bike riding friends is just how many bikes they have all had stolen. It is sad state of affairs. MM
What do you normally use in day to day life, manual or predictive shifting?
Predictive. Never used manual. It is very intelligent and seamless, at all times. Great when coming to a standstill at the traffic lights as shifts down to 1st gear so always ready to scoot off fast.
Thanks again! Is it rideable with a dead battery, or battery removed? Is there an Apple Watch app? They should be paying you!
Hi Will, Funnily enough I have actually started riding the GoCycle momentarily without first remembering to turn it on, on one occasion, and it felt fine! You soon realise though, as you don’t get that tell tale “surge” when pulling away from stationary. Helps that it is still relatively light for a bike. I think I did ask the guys at Fully Charged before buying it, the very same question, for example if you ran out of battery power on a long ride, and they replied Yes, you could still ride it.
I would double check with GoCycle though. Don’t think it would cause any damage by doing so. It would just stay in 1 gear though.
No Apple Watch linked GoCycle app afaik. I wear an Apple Watch but use the Apple Activity app which logs different types of exercise, so I choose “Outdoor Cycling” mode on that app. The app then also tracks your route, so you can see where you have ridden, as well as heart rate & calories burned etc. MM
@@markymarkreviews you’re the best! Think I’m going to pull the trigger. One more question… what’s the waterproofing situation? I can’t find anything official, but it would be okay in rain?
I have gocycle g2 and power management is amazing. When battery is empty it will occasionally get back to life after some idle time and bike will again assist you. It will continue like this for some time and then it will no longer assist. However I was newer leftout of juce for shifting it self. Hopefully it is same for g4i.
GoCycle don’t seem to have given it an official “IP” rating but had my test ride before purchasing mine in London on the Fully Charged demo G4i+ model in monsoon conditions! 30-40 mins in terrible rain & poor visibility. And that was still when I was still a total novice rider! They said it was perfectly able to ride in the rain. And GC also say this in their literature but advise to avoid very deep puddles and give it a quick dry & wipe down when you finish. And definitely no high pressure jet washing when cleaning it. As it is such a clean design a damp cloth seems more than enough to make it look as good as new.
@@markymarkreviews okay… one more odd question… how strong is the kickstand. Could you sit on the seat with it deployed? Great info!
Thanks but it's tour
Mark can the battery be charged when removed from the Gocycle?
Yes. Fold the bike in half. Slide the battery out. Can still be plugged in using the charger brick and cable. MM