I have yet to do an article on a BBSxx display because frankly I’ve never been moved to. I did a short article that describes the differences between the many different kinds of displays here, which has been one of the more popular articles on this blog. I’m quite certain that Bafang does not actually build these displays, but buys them from other different companies and puts their logo on them. They often disable the functionality of the displays leaving BBSxx customers in a lurch with a display that was built with certain functions that they cannot access or change. The different B&W displays for the BBSxx units can be quite different, but they all have one thing in common. They suck.

I had high hopes for the DPC-10 which was released several months ago. Although it was a B&W display it said it would have a watt meter and a clock and it also looked different than any other display they have made to date. The coolest feature was a USB port in the display that people could use to power their Cell Phones and GPS units. The DPC-10 turned out to be a bomb. It had no clock or watt meter, the USB port was not powerful enough to drive many higher power USB LED bicycle headlights. Many people who sprung the DPC-10 ended up being pretty disappointed with it. I never got my hands on one for testing so I honestly can’t say one way or the other.

Because everyone was so down on the DPC-10 I did not have big expectations for the DPC-14. I figured it was going to be more of the same, but in color. When the DPC-14 I ordered from Lunacycle.com showed up I somewhat reluctantly threw it on my commuter. After using it for a few hundred miles, I have to say that now I’m in love with it and when I have to ride one of my other 10 ebikes without a DPC-14 I’m always left disappointed every time I have to squint and lean over to try to read the tiny watt meter on the C965 or ride without a clock or without having a damn clue how much juice is left in my battery.

When the DPC-14 first showed up I couldn’t read it in direct daylight. The units ship with the display brightness turned all the way down. If you are building a stealth ebike for poaching trails in the woods you probably want to keep the display brightness set on low, but if you have a commuter for the road then you will almost certainly want it set to full brightness. The DPC also has 2 modes one for daytime and one for night, a long press on the + button will switch modes. In order to turn the drive unit on you also must press the power button for about 2 seconds which seems longer than the other displays.

The settings menu is easy to get into, two short presses on the power button will get you into that menu. Most of the settings are pretty straight forward. For the ‘scenes’ button to switch from digital to analog means it changes the display instead of reading exact numbers (digital) it will use bars that move left and right (analog). I prefer digital for everything. I really liked how they show the exact voltage of the battery as well as a more accurate bar that empties out and fills up. In the advanced menu you can set the battery voltage to be User Defined and the display seems to take the voltage that the battery is at initially when you plug it in and assume that it is at full power and then the battery gage moves down appropriately as the battery gets used up. This is a very simple feature but it makes it much easier to use high power 52v batteries on your BBSxx units (you should never use anything else).

The advanced menu gives you control over things that you previously could never change on any display. It allows you to set your battery voltage (set it to User Defined for a 52v pack). The speed limit is set to 99kph which your BBSxx ebike will probably never be able to do.

I really like using the trip meter (press both the + & – together to reset) to see how far I’ve gone. I was pretty disappointed that this display did not have an Ah meter or a temperature gauge for inside the drive unit. Those are two things that Bafang desperately needs to add. The ability to add a password to your ebike to help prevent theft is an amazing feature that might help keep your ebike from getting jacked.

There is a short video that shows the DPC-14 right here on Youtube. The manual for the DPC-14 is also located here if you’re more of a reader than a watcher (I sure am, I love to RTFM). If you have any questions the best place to post them is on the electricbike.com forum located here. One of the little Luna elves will respond very quickly to all your questions. The DPC-14 works with the BBS01, BBS02 & the BBSHD ( or the BBS03 as some Chinese are calling it).

The DPC-14 is available from Lunacycle here for $85 or they are offering it as a free add-on with a BBS02 or BBSHD drive unit (this almost certainly will end soon). If you have ever bought a BBS02 or BBSHD from Lunacycle and use the coupon code LOYALTY then you can whack $20 off the price of this display. Is it worth upgrading? I probably won’t spent $85 just to get the color screen and better functionality and visibility, but if I was buying a new drive unit I would not consider anything else (even if it cost a little extra).

The DPC-14 is a clear winner in the BBSxx display arena and probably will be for several years to come.

Ride on.