Focus Jam2 with Shimano Motor

[brw0513]

Hi all.

A local bike shop has the Jam2 with Shimano E8000 motor, integral 385Wh battery with external TEC pack on special at the moment.

Can any here offer their first hand ownership experience?

This will be my first eMTB. It will be used on flowing trails on the weekends and commuting to work two or three times a week.

It is the XL size that will fit me.

The trip to work and back consumed 370Wh on a Turbo Levo in Eco mode. I hired that bike as a trial. I would be hoping to get a return trip out of the 385Wh Shimano battery.

Thanks.

 

[BBear]

Not sure how long your return commute is, but as an example I took my focus with same Shimano Motor and battery out last week as I had a mechanical on the road bike. It was a 30 mile loop slightly undulating And the battery was on the red when I got home. Eco all the way.

 

[brw0513]

According to Strava, my round trip is 46km with a total 500m elevation gain. That is probably close to your trip. So seems doable with a 385Wh battery in the lowest assistance mode.

 

[steve_sordy]

I have a Focus Jam 2 with the E8000 motor and the 378Whr battery and I have a TEC pack as well. I don't use it often, but I'm really glad I bought it. Mine too was on special offer. They are very difficult to come by as a one off and are much more expensive to buy later.

It all depends upon how you ride it. For your commute either pump up your tyres hard or put some faster rolling ones on. But I expect that you have the Rekons on, which are pretty fast rolling anyway, but pump them up!

The next thing to realise is that if you ride faster than 15.5mph you won't be consuming battery power anyway. Nor will you if you are coasting, whether on the flat or descending. Next thing is to stay out of Boost on those hills! Yes, I know that it feels great, but there is nothing more guaranteed to drain the battery than going faster uphill than you need to.

If you have the TEC pack, you have the perfect "get out of jail free" card.
Fit the TEC pack and go to work and back without connecting it with the cable. If you run out of charge on the frame battery you have the TEC pack to get you home. Use the TEC pack as your security blanket until you develop some working experience. There is nothing worse than range anxiety.

If it is touch and go; sometimes you make it and sometimes you don't, then it will probably be a headwind, or maybe a lot of stop/go traffic that causes you to do a lot of barking and accelerating which just wastes energy. (I don't commute, so I'm guessing). In which case, get used to travelling with the TEC pack. The TEC pack will give you more battery energy than nearly all emtbs out there! End of range anxiety!

 

[Shy Ted]

Going on my experience with that set up and comparing it to the 2020 bike with a 625WH Bosch battery and motor; I wouldn’t buy the Shimano version. The difference is like chalk and cheese. I have no range anxiety whatsoever with the Bosch set up whereas the shimano was a real worry. My example is purely off road, but the shimano set up gave me 15 miles; on the same ride with the new Bosch I’ve still got 70% battery life. I did borrow a tec pack for the shimano version and then it delivered a max of 30 miles (off road) the 2020 Bosch will deliver 40 miles plus....... and it’s all contained in the down tube. The 2020 Bosch has a removable battery so you can charge it indoors whereas the shimano has a fixed battery that Unless you can bring the bike indoors in the winter then could prove troublesome on the very cold nights. Of course, if it’s such a bargain and you don’t mind having to charge two batteries, and you don’t mind losing the aesthetics by having the tec pack on constantly then go for it. Don’t know which model you’re talking about but I loved my Jam2 6.8 so much I replaced it with the same, but obviously went from shimano to Bosch.

 

[aarfeldt]

Fit the TEC pack and go to work and back without connecting it with the cable. If you run out of charge on the frame battery you have the TEC pack to get you home.

Hmm...can you really do that ?
I thought the TEC pack only worked, if the internal battery was not empty.

 

[Shy Ted]

Oops just seen that you’re in Brisbane, I guess you won’t be getting any very cold nights to cause you a charging issue!

 

[steve_sordy]

Hmm...can you really do that ?
I thought the TEC pack only worked, if the internal battery was not empty.

That is an interesting comment, I have not heard that before! I have never run my battery down to complete flat and then expected the TEC pack to run, so I don't know whether what you say is right or wrong. But the answer is simple, if you have the TEC pack with you, don't run the frame battery down to zero. When the frame battery goes in the red it will still have some miles left on it, so if you wanted to you could extract a few more miles out of it by keeping an eye on the range remaining on the display. Then switch to the TEC pack.

 

[brw0513]

Hmm...can you really do that ?
I thought the TEC pack only worked, if the internal battery was not empty.

That is a good question. The salesman in the bike shop wasn't 100% convincing about the topic.

I was hoping the internal battery could be allowed to become exhausted, then the TEC pack installed if needed to give another full 385Wh of capacity. Perhaps there is some internal circuitry that prevents the batteries trying to equalise voltage when the are connected in parallel? Then again, maybe it doesn't matter.

 

[steve_sordy]

That is a good question. The salesman in the bike shop wasn't 100% convincing about the topic.

I was hoping the internal battery could be allowed to become exhausted, then the TEC pack installed if needed to give another full 385Wh of capacity. Perhaps there is some internal circuitry that prevents the batteries trying to equalise voltage when the are connected in parallel? Then again, maybe it doesn't matter.

My understanding was that the TEC pack and the frame battery are never connected to each other. The motor is either connected to the frame battery OR the TEC pack, never both. Have the system switched off before connecting the TEC pack. When you switch on, the TEC pack will be connected to the motor. I have no idea what would happen if you connected the TEC pack to the bike whilst the system was switched on. It never occurred to me to even try that because it is bad practice to connect equipment whilst live. There may be some software inside the bike that prevents anything bad happening, but why risk it?

 

[Shy Ted]

When I ran with the tec pack as my reserve I ran the frame battery right into the red with just a mile of range left before connecting the tec battery, that worked fine. But why not just run with both batteries fully charged and run on the tec battery and use your frame battery as the back up. Then it’s simple enough to remove the tec battery to charge it. I don’t remember if I ran it until it stopped before I plugged in the tec pack......once you’re in the red there’s not much else on your mind than “I wonder how much is really left”. But, even in the red you’ll still get an even more in the red warning as the whole screen gets a red/orange glow, not just your final charge “blob”.....but be warned this final red doesn’t last long, just a matter of 200 yards or so.
it may all sound confusing when using the tec pack but it’s all pretty simple, really.

 

[brw0513]

Wow! The TEC pack is a little bit on the fugly side. I thought it would look just like a water bottle rather than an obelisk. Sheesh. Best used in the dark.

 

[Shy Ted]

Indeed, which when you buy a bike partly for its aesthetics then add that ugly lump to it......but then again, when you’re riding you don’t actually look down at it.

 

[aarfeldt]

Wow! The TEC pack is a little bit on the fugly side.

That's why this was invented:

I have the 250w option....looks and woks great.

 

[aarfeldt]

When I ran with the tec pack as my reserve I ran the frame battery right into the red with just a mile of range left before connecting the tec battery, that worked fine.

As I recall it, if the internal battery is completely flat, the TEC pack will not run the motor.
Think we have to try it.....seems like everyone haven't done it

 

[brw0513]

That's why this was invented:
View attachment 33589

I have the 250w option....looks and woks great.

That's much better. Got a link at all @aarfeldt ?

 

[Peaky Rider]

I have a Jam 2 with the Shimano motor. I also have the TEC pack and an E-Booz (252wh) range extender.
If you 'plug' in the TEC pack, which you can do at any time, that will then power the motor until it is unplugged whatever the condition of the frame battery. When it runs out you have to unplug it before the frame battery can power the motor.

With the TEC pack you have a total of 756wh so just how Shy Ted can only get 30 miles out of this yet get 40 plus miles out of his 625wh Bosch set up is a bit of a puzzle. I think the worst I have ever got out of my frame motor is 18 miles and that was on a very muddy, very cold mid winter ride in the hilly Derbyshire Peak District where I live. In conditions such as we have now, 25 miles is the norm but there can be a bit of range anxiety involved.

The drawbacks with the TEC pack battery are that it is heavy, bulky and a pretty miserable design. That is why I bought the E-Booz range extender which gives a total of 630wh and 35 to 40 plus miles, weighs little more than a full water bottle and actually fits in your bottle cage. They are just a bugger to get hold of and the service from the manufacturer leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[aarfeldt]

That's much better. Got a link at all @aarfeldt ?

Sure....here we go.

Others had high delivery times from the factory, so I was very happy to buy a used one on this forum (only used once, as the original owner sold the bike)

 

[highpeakrider]

As I recall it, if the internal battery is completely flat, the TEC pack will not run the motor.
Think we have to try it.....seems like everyone haven't done it

The TEC pack runs as a completely independent battery, the internals senses if its connected.

 

[Spreaders]

Have recently purcahsed a new Jam² with shimano steps and TEC pack and have now put in a few miles. This arrived around 4 weeks after my wife's Thron² with new Bosch motor that was frequently "borrowed" whilst I waited for mine to arrive so able to make some rough comparisons.

Bosch, you can feel has more power but strangely seems to go through the battery slower (including allowing for one being 500wh and the other 378) under similar riding conditions, perhaps this newer motor is more efficient or proprietary battery of the Bosch versus custom 378 on the Focus performs better. Caveat this with it being a feeling from around 150 miles on each bike so hardly scientific.

Bosch Kiox display is BIG and looks like something off a shopper/tourer so that is a downside. Also Shimano seems to be easier to connect with phone for more info from the system (ST unlocker).

I started looking in to decent lights for the winter last night and discovered the Bosch (and Specialized) lighting circuit provides more power and therefore enables lights to run at around double the lumens output of the Shimano (see Exposure e bike wired lighting options/chart). This was an annoying post purchase discovery.

All said there is nothing wrong with the Shimano 8000 378/Tec pack combo imho. Whilst much older it seems a good motor plus there is the prospect of the new upgraded Shimano motor that should bolt straight in.

When factoring in price, as the deal I got was very good (nothing comparable avaialble on the bosch powered bikes), I am still happy with the purchase but at an equal price point I may not be so certain. Choice as always depends on balancing your needs, wants and budget so is personal but hope this helps. Best of luck with your choice/purchase and happy riding.

 

[brw0513]

Hi there Spreaders. Do you think any new Shimano motor would actually be a drop in fit? It would be great if that were the case!

 

[Spreaders]

Hi there Spreaders. Do you think any new Shimano motor would actually be a drop in fit? It would be great if that were the case!

There was a lot of talk about this after release of the Santa Cruz Heckler. Not sure I would bank on it but fair few saying it will be a direct fit.

I have no personal knowledge or insight, but lots of hope ?.

 

[Cbmojo]

That's why this was invented:
View attachment 33589

I have the 250w option....looks and woks great.

thats exactly what i need...Where did you get that?

 

[aarfeldt]

thats exactly what i need...Where did you get that?

It was for sale on this forum some month ago
Some german gentlemen bought a new bike, and did not need the extra battery any more.

You can get a new one from the factory - 250wh or 372wh.

 

[stiv674]

I use mine quite a lot, despite it ruining the looks of the bike. I used to run the frame battery flat first then fit the TEC battery which I carried on my back pack, I now do it the other way around so that the TEC battery gets used more often. The TEC battery will work if the frame battery goes completely flat, as in the motor turns off.

As I've said before on here I think it's a great idea but poorly executed. I had hopes of a British company on here making an extender but that isn't going to happen now, not sure whether to try the other option linked above.

It (obviously) will also depend on your own fitness, I've managed 45 miles on the frame battery a couple of times off road, that was hard work and was in dry conditions though, it's usually low 20s to mid 30s.

The size of the frame battery is pretty much the only reason that I'd change to another bike.

 

[brw0513]

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated.

All going to plan, I'll be a JAM2 6.8 Plus owner soon.

I can't take the 6.8 Plus for a decent test ride, so I've hired a Norco bike with the E8000 to get a feel for the Shimano motor. My only other experience to date has been with a Brose motor.

 

[Yorkshirelad]

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated.

All going to plan, I'll be a JAM2 6.8 Plus owner soon.

I can't take the 6.8 Plus for a decent test ride, so I've hired a Norco bike with the E8000 to get a feel for the Shimano motor. My only other experience to date has been with a Brose motor.

I’ve got a 6.8 plus Shimano without the tec pack and regularly get around 23 miles of trail center red route out of it, it’s a great bike!!

 

[MartinW148]

That's why this was invented:
View attachment 33589

I have the 250w option....looks and woks great.

Where did you get that...... is that the e-booz, I've only ever heard bad press about them.

 

[aarfeldt]

Where did you get that...... is that the e-booz, I've only ever heard bad press about them.

Yep....that's the e-booz external battery.
Until now, it's been working great.
Got it on the sales section on this forum (only used once, since the original owner got a new bike and did not need it anymore)

 

[MartinW148]

Yep....that's the e-booz external battery.
Until now, it's been working great.
Got it on the sales section on this forum (only used once, since the original owner got a new bike and did not need it anymore)

OK, admittedly the problems mostly been supply after payment or damaged in transit, not the battery's operation.

I would but one but the same as you