been on 2 rides where someones non ebike axs batteries have died, does that count!
I don't quite understand when they've now integrated the mech hanger, derailleur and cassette into one standard with UDH why they couldn't power it off a magnet in the cassette or jockey wheel like those super-simple pulsing dynamo lights that rely on a magnet in the spokes and a coil on the fork leg. Or put it in the disk rotor and run the wire through the axle. We're probably talking fractions of a milliwatt to keep the battery topped up. The rectifier circuit in a dynamo is probably lighter than the battery!
bedfordrdFull Member
Apologies – double post (website slow to respond)
36% of ebike owners say the STW website goes wrong?
I wonder how ebikes compare to e-vehicles as far as these stats go... Only one I'm aware of is a neighbour's Golf. Seems to have courtesy car on the drive more often than his own car 🙂
We've currently 11 bikes on the fleet. 3 are off-road, 2 of those under 7 years old are no longer repairable due to no parts being available. Any car manufacturer getting into that state would be rightfully pilloried in the press.
Some of our stolen new bikes had faults out of the box. 1 controller replaced, 1 motor replaced. That's out of 5 bikes 2024 vintage. Really quite woeful for bikes that are £2.5k retail and spend their lives riding quiet back roads with irregular cyclists who do take care because we will charge for breakages not down to fair wear and tear.
Bosch and Brose definitely refurbish warrantied motors and that’s what is used for further warranty replacements. When this information appeared on the EMTB forum my dramaqueenometer exploded from all the whining. ? 😆
Edit: I see emojis still don’t display.
I don't often hear about Yamaha equipped ebikes, good or bad.
I'm assuming that's a good sign?
I'm buying my first one tomorrow for self uplifting and big mountain days, it's going to get a beating so hopefully it goes wrong under warranty. If it keeps me doing what I like I'm happy to take the punt on one. Buying from a Specialised Store so problems under warranty will hopefully be hassle free for me.
It seems (anecdotally of course) that even out of warranty people are getting newmotors free of charge.
-a friend of mine just had a new shimano motor in his 3 year old rise foc
-another friend had a bosch CX gen 4 foc in his 3 year old orbea wild fs
-and I've just had the tq motor in my trek replaced foc just outside the warranty period.
So it seems that (some of?) the manufacturers are standing behind their products.
Also with regard to ongoing support, bosch have stated that they will continue to provide support for at least 10 years after the motor was first introduced, that seems pretty reasonable to me.
Interesting. My mate just paid about £400 for a new Mahle motor for his OOW KSL.
I am surprised it is that few but then maybe it includes all those used occasionally on a Sunday in the summer. I also assume that this only considers the Ebike specific bits. Bit pointless otherwise surely?
IIRC, some of the "seals" on earlier Bosch motors were made of felt. Yes, FELT!
My Gen1 Levo, 4 motors. Gen 3, one so far. The seals might be more appropriate, but I still try to avoid water. I don't ride in the rain and I don't ride if it is still significantly environmentally wet. Given I live in Scotland, this can be restricting.
What I always want to know is why did the motor fail. They can never tell me.
I still try to avoid water. I don’t ride in the rain and I don’t ride if it is still significantly environmentally wet. Given I live in Scotland, this can be restricting.
What I always want to know is why did the motor fail. They can never tell me
A broken heart? 😉
Got my Bosch gen 4 back yesterday and it's in a box in the lounge waiting to get fitted back on today.
From new, it had a pronounced ratchet sound when you back pedaled. Quite loud.
This seems to have gone now it's back from service so I presume there is extra grease and seals there making it quieter.
I don’t often hear about Yamaha equipped ebikes, good or bad.
I’m assuming that’s a good sign?
Or reflects the fact that there aren't that many out there relative to Shimano, Bosch or Brose etc?
My Gen1 Levo, 4 motors. Gen 3, one so far. The seals might be more appropriate, but I still try to avoid water. I don’t ride in the rain and I don’t ride if it is still significantly environmentally wet. Given I live in Scotland, this can be restricting.
What I always want to know is why did the motor fail. They can never tell me.
The out of warranty motor on my occasional Levo failed and was repaired by the ebike motor centre guys - https://www.ebikemotorcentre.com - who are ace and thoroughly recommended. The issue with the earlier Spesh/Brose motors was mostly that they had very little sealing to stop the outside world getting at the main crank bearings, at which point they rust and fail, sometimes taking the expensive crank with them. The other issue they have, apparently, is that the sprag clutch fails after hard pedal strikes, it basically breaks.
They do an upgrade service where they rebuild with actual seals and added marine grease barriers plus upgraded sprag bearings. Had that done, cost around £230 I think. Motor has been sweet as a nut since. They say it should be fine with wet weather use, but obviously not to submerge it... Mostly I avoid wet conditions, but as I don't use it often, it's not exactly a problem.
Good to hear that later motors appear to be more reliable. If you think about it, e-bike crank bearings are basically doing what bottom bracket bearings do on a conventional bike, but without being easily replaceable.
It's a shame motor mounts aren't more standardised.
I’ve had my first ebike in November, I’m always waiting for the first thing to go wrong
I believe that motors / batteries are getting more reliable as they go on, but I do feel the customer is being used to do the r&d and the manufacturers are building the cost of replacement into the equipment
the 36% go wrong stat will be difficult to quantify as it isn’t representative, plus I would be interested to see how that compares to E motor bikes, and e cars where i imagine the r&d is done before going to market.
It all does sound random. Some people are getting huge mileage without issues, others get 50 miles.
I demoed a new bike when th a Bosch CX motor and it went wrong whilst riding it .
Also watch a YT vid from pinned TV who get Orbea ebikes through sponsorship. Their motor failed when almost new because they hung the bike by the rear wheel
I'd love an emtb but hard to justify at the mo especially as my legs can still get me up most hills
I'm holding out for when I hit 50 and by then hopefully bikes with Pinion MGU/Intradrive (or equivalent) will be the norm
Until then I'll just hire one from time to time and let someone else worry about the reliability
(Although I should add that my tern with Bosch CX has been faultless after 5000 miles)
They say it should be fine with wet weather use, but obviously not to submerge it…
Can confirm that this is a bad idea, one of our previously dead bikes had an unscheduled dump into a ford. It did not enjoy the experience.
Steve Jones/GMBN did a video at The Bike Motor Centre. It gives a good insight into how to avoid some self inflicted issues. (sorry I can't get a link to copy to the post)
"How Affordable Is eBike Motor Repair | Behind The Scenes"
Steve Jones/GMBN did a video at The Bike Motor Centre
Unfortunately I don’t trust anything he says. I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice chap, but he’s so far in deep with the industry BS on the various channels he works on you have to take everything he says with a massive pinch of salt
I know the vid your on about, but you can’t say these bikes are awesome and can do everything (when convenient and trying to sell bikes) and then say buy you can’t do c, y or z, or their are ‘rules’ associated with use
Question (as I'm not heading off to 'E-bike world' or whoever) was this survey on EEEBs within their warranty periods or did it cover their entire life span? Did they differentiate between E-MTBs and other types of E-Bike? Is a cargo or utility type E-Bike more or less prone to breakdowns?
I get the impression (from all the anecdotes online mostly) that bolting a motor to your BB and then stomping it down trails and through mud is the main challenge to E-bike reliability. I also note that E-MTBs seems to have become the default winter tool for a certain subset, which is fine. But I don't think I will ever want to buy an E-MTB and definitely not a used one...
Over half of the people in my MTB club have an e-MTB and there are only two I can think of that got through the 2-year warranty period without going back to the dealers due to issues with the motor , battery or control system. So 80-90% "went wrong".
I've owned several normal MTBs and road bikes that have got beyond 10 000km or 2 years with only routine servicing and consumables. An ageing Lapierre x-control that's been through some foul conditions is still on the original frame bearings, Rochshox shock (never serviced, yes the bushes clunk a bit) and Rockshox fork (several oil changes no parts needed).