The Phaserunner arrived, but not the adapter cable for hooking up the display! Fortunately, the Phaserunner does not NEED a display to work as a basic throttle-only controller. So, I built a wiring harness for the motor phase wires and hall sensor lines, made the connector for power, and a new line for the throttle. This way, I was able to install the new controller, set it up, and do testing. There were several issues, like the throttle wiring colors not even being close, weak off the line acceleration, and a few other configuration nuances, but I was able to resolve those.
The Phaserunner is not a typical sine wave or trapezoidal wave controller, and must be configured and "tuned" for each specific motor. Even after making the necessary wiring connectors and running the autotune program (which only sets a few parameters), there was several hours spent making adjustments and getting the throttle working. I finished my test rides at 2am, then did further adjustments the next day. How is it? Silent and buttery smooth. I powered the bike past my wife in the living room of our house, and she could not even hear the motor. On the road it's silky smoothness is deceiving, and I looked down at the GPS to see it hit 34 mph with a moderate amount of field weakening (think of it as a boost mode).
On the plus side:
1. Small size.
2. High total power and virtually infinite power adjustment.
3. Fine control over acceleration and throttle sensitivity.
4. GPS verified throttle only speed of 28 mph in standard mode, 34mph+ in boost mode.
5. Throttle is constant torque instead of constant voltage, making it easier to control.
6. Opens the door for using 48, 52, 60, and 72 volt batteries with a simple setting change.
7. Top speed with 72 volts and this controller on 20 inch wheels is 43 mph without boost.
8. It's QUIET!
There are downsides though:
1. Controller will need a heatsink to use it's full power.
2. Slight efficiency losses in boost mode.
3. Without the Cycle Analyzer display, there is no pedal assist or cruise control.
4. Even with the Cycle Analyzer display, you still have no automatic brake light.
I may have a group ride in Connecticut this weekend, and I'm fine going with my reliable 35 amp controller. But, if all the cables and parts come in, and I'm able to get it just the way I want, I may do the trip with the Phaserunner installed. The good thing is that, with all the work I put into making custom wiring harnesses, I can swap back to the other controller or even go back to stock with no damage (except my wallet!)