ollo_ollo

Schwinn Tailwind Review
I am a 76 y.o., former year round bicycle commuter. Before retirement, I logged 4,000 to 6,000 bicycle miles yearly. I retired in 2006, re-located to the Salem, OR area and spent the next 6 years building/finishing our current home. I quickly got out of cycling shape & seldom rode until last Fall.

I recently decided to investigate an electric bike, as "pedal assist" sounded attractive. I test rode a couple of E-bikes: (500W & 750W motors) liked the pedal assist & found the twist throttle addictive. But the $$ required conflicted with my frugal nature.

Eventually I found New 2008-2011 Schwinn Tailwind Bikes with "bad" batteries available on e-Bay for $300 with free shipping. Since they were equipped with a Nexus 8 spd IGH that, when built into a 700C wheel, sells for $450, this seemed to be a no brainer. I could always move the 8 spd hub over to a frame I had, put a single speed rear wheel on the Tailwind and flip it if I didn’t like the 250W, front drive electric.

So I bought one, expecting to buy a replacement for the non-working battery. But, I had read a review of the Tailwind by a fellow named "syonyk" on his blog. He also did a teardown/investigation of the Lithium Titanate battery. He explained that sitting unused, the batteries needed a charge every 3 months or voltage would drop so low, the battery management system would not allow a charge or discharge. He describes how he by-passed the battery management system to allow re-charging and use.

Once I read his write up a few times and understood the simple fix, I took my battery pack apart, soldered in 2 short bypass wires and had myself a working. pedal assist e-bike. The bike was well packed and it took me about 6 hours spread over 3 evening sessions to unpack and assemble everything.

Like all electric bikes, it is heavy…about 58 pounds ready to ride. I really like the Nexus 8 speed hub and find the bike quite useful for errands around town. My locale is quite flat overall, but there are a few hills and I live at the top of one. Using first gear, with no electric assist, and some effort, I can ride up the steepest hills around here. So I can still get around if the battery poops out. It was easier than riding a loaded touring bike. With pedal assist I easily top the short, steep hills in my area. With medium assist setting, I rode right up gentler hills in 4th or 5th gear. My longest ride with pedal assist all the way was only 11 miles round trip on mostly flat country riding with a 45* cross wind. Battery had ½ charge when I got back home, so possibly an 18-20 mile range with full assist. I have not yet found the max range, will update if I do. The battery locks in place with a key.

Charging time for the 24V Lithium Titanate battery is short for the way I use the bike: only 5 or 10 minutes after a 3-6 mile shopping trip. 30 minutes after the 12 mile trip. When I first unpacked the bike, my battery indicated a very low 1.7 volts. After bypassing the BMS, I used a 12 volt battery tender to bring pack voltage up to 13 volts then hooked up the Schwinn charger and it took only 43 minutes to show a green light and shut off. Battery indicated 26 volts at this point.

Since you only get electric assist if you pedal, the bike encouraged me to help out and work to maintain speed or get up a hill. This unexpected bonus got me back in shape rapidly and now I use pedal assist for hill topping or to mitigate contrary winds. I find myself doing recreational riding on my other bikes more often too.

Pros: Bang for buck, You can’t find a new electric bike at this price, not a good buy at the original $3200 but 1/10 of that is great, get 1 while they last. Helps get you fit & gets you around with less effort, Ignition and battery lock plus a built in rear wheel lock. This is a good bike, with good brakes, tires and accessories for the $$. Fast charging & very long lasting battery (Schwinn claimed 1,000-2,000 cycles and there is speculation of possibly 10,000 cycles), Adjustable stem allows a less upright/more comfortable riding position. Internal hub rear brake stops fine after adjustment

Cons: Short range (4 amp hour), with low power motor (250W) = 100 WH capacity. Uncomfortable Saddle after 10 mins. I replaced mine with an old Brooks. Heel can hit chain guard if not centered on pedal. No water bottle braze on. I zip tied a cage onto the seat tube. Internal hub brake can over heat and damage unit. Plastic Chain Guard fastener broke. Re-attached to bike with a zip tie. Size: I am small, old age has reduced me to 5’6” 150# and I’m almost too big for the Medium size bike. Seat post is at max extension. The average guy will want the Large size bike. Big Guys probably won’t fit this bike at all. Appears no ladies step thru models are available now and there are no small or extra large sizes. Generator light system doesn’t work. Probably open circuit somewhere as never saw a bottle generator that didn’t work, don’t ride at night so haven’t looked into fixing this. Don

ollo_ollo

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2old

Excellent story and review.

awm72

Wow. You have a great bike for that price. That generator doesn't seemd to be connected to anything, did you remove the wires. also the bike looks brand new, or you really know how to take care of a bike. Impressive! great review, more realistic and straight forward wording no snow job, thanks.

350htrr

WOW, I'm looking at those pic s and thinking... That's a $1,000,000. smack smuggling operation happening there, with those batteries...

Doc_Wui

Well done, both in choice of retirement locale and bike utility!

NoPhart

Nice score! The seat is 1/4 the cost of the bike. Looks like it is nice and broken in too. The best kind...

ollo_ollo

Thanks all: Received the bike new in the box back in May & have only about 200 miles on it, as I'm riding my other bikes more again.

When I photographed the generator, the wires weren't hooked up yet. They are routed internally in the frame & when I attached them, lights didn't work. I think there is a short somewhere, but I will eventually get it working. May need to re-do the wires.

The Brooks saddle I got at a swap meet years ago, near new, but only $10 because seller applied too much Proofide and it had sagged badly, very uncomfortable, then I laced it with a leather boot lace underneath. Been very comfortable since.

Although packed well, there were a few places on the rack where paint wore through to bare metal. Don't know how many times the bike was shipped before it came to me & I built it up.

Pictures are in the little town of Stayton, population about 8,000. Located 17miles SE of Salem, OR in foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Don

alkusanke

i just bought a tailwind 300$
from tx
the batt is bad
tell me please the bypass wire solder points tp fix the e schwinn battery

speedy25

Glad you cheapie purchase turned into something good.

Thanks for the detailed info.

-SP

davefield

I want to say i just love the brooks saddle so much. before i had exact same one until it was stolen.

2old

Possibly the deal of the century if this style appeals to you and they're still available; especially if you can "resurrect" the battery.

ollo_ollo

Here's a link to instructions I used to bypass the Battery Management System on my Tailwind:

https://syonyk.blogspot.com/2015/07/...d-battery.html

The author doesn't like the Tailwind much, but I disagree, mine gets the job done and I still use it regularly for local errands. After I did my soldering, the charge indicator on rear of my battery doesn't work.(no BMS) So what? I use indicator on the bar mounted controller anyway, so not a problem for me. Don

edit: where he used 2 wires for a single connection, I substituted a single, heavier 10 gauge one. Like the other connection.

ollo_ollo

Update to report my regular use of the Tailwind. Zero problems, but for the 1 time I got careless with its kickstand and the bike fell over as I walked away. Currently using it mainly as a grocery getter. I zip tied a milk crate to the battery rack, so it can haul a goodly amount. Both local shopping centers are 2-3 miles away = 6 miles round trip & Tailwind is ideally suited for this use. Don

speedy25

I chatted lately with a local dealer that decided to have these bikes in his store when they came out.

Yeah, they had problems. Problems arent too bad until Schwinn says we cant help you! Suddenly he had an inventory of broken product and angry customers and no way to rectify it.

He's almost over that bad taste and will carry some e-bikes again.

Glad to see your long term report is positive.

-SP

ollo_ollo

So long as they are available new on e-Bay for $300-$400, the relatively simple process to bypass the battery management system makes them the easiest and cheapest way to explore using an electric bike. Even if a replacement battery needs to be adapted at some point, it is still an easy way to go electric compared to building your own from a kit. The negatives aren't really that bad. Don

ollo_ollo

Update: Still using my Tailwind e-bike for errands and small grocery shopping trips. Recently, had my 1st flat, quickly followed by a flat on the other wheel. Bike was 4 years old but new in box, when I built it April 2016. Flats were caused by the Chinese inner tubes rotting and required new tubes. Both times, the wheel went flat overnight at home and I replaced with Continental tubes.

Dealing with a flat was much more trouble than on any of my non-e bikes and would have been far worse on the road. (I would likely have phoned home for a pickup with the station wagon) It was an obvious negative though, and to be expected, due to having to unhook/re-attach motor wiring from the front wheel and having to remove/re-attach the chain guard and internal hub shifting/brake linkage from the rear wheel.

During the 21 months of riding, the tubes held pressure quite well, only needing an occasional pump up. My skinny tire road bikes all need a pump every few days, are always flat if left for a few weeks. Don

MikeinFL

thanks for the review! where can I get one?

fietsbob

Everything shown, included?

MikeinFL

They are all sold out. One used step-through on ebay at the moment

ollo_ollo

[url]https://www.ebay.com/itm/Schwinn-Tailwind-Electric-Bike/162742197182?
First step through model I've seen except for a few back when they first began selling them. (think I'd rather have his other listing, 39 Chevy convertible)

I got mine from ebay seller "chacalona" in Texas. Don

ollo_ollo

Moot, since none on ebay now, but everything shown was included plus the battery charger, which isn't shown. That used step thru with 2 spare batteries + spare front(wi motor) and rear(wi 8 spd hub) wheels could be good if the reserve price isn't too high. Don

MikeinFL

Schwinn put a hub motor on a front suspension fork?

any idea what the motor and battery power is on it?

ollo_ollo

Yes! There is a lock out, which I use the (rare) times when just riding on flats with out pedal assist, but generally I leave the fork active to lessen the harsh aluminum frame ride on poor condition street pavement. Frame is definitely aluminum, but fork could be steel, I'll have to check.

Embossed into the motor casing is "24V 220W" but Schwinn specs in owners manual says 250 W "peak power" which is probably what you get freshly charged as indicated volts are about 26-27.5
Don

ollo_ollo

Fork is a SunTour Nex 4510 and specs says material "steerer: Steel, lower: Alloy". When I was researching before buying, I read that Schwinn chose pedal assist, with no throttle, + 250W, 15 mph cutoff, for marketing reasons to comply with EU regulations of the time. Battery cap is only 4 amp hours, so would go down really fast if using a throttle, but with pedal assist, I have ridden over 1 hour without using up battery. Compared to bikes with a throttle that have larger capacity batteries and more powerful motors, the Tail Wind is only helping out and expects you to do a share of the work. Don