Asking for a friend as I can’t quite believe what he is being told by Ribble.

On my advice he bought a Ribble AL e 8 months ago and has since done 300 miles on it. The freehub no longer engages and he was told that the MAHLE SmartBike Systems X35+ 250W motor only has a 90 day warranty although the frame has 3 years. I find it hard to believe that it is possible to sell new electrical goods for consumer use and only offer a 90 day warranty.

The freehub is not user serviceable.

Any direct experience or thoughts on this?

8 months is within the 9 month timeframe so should be warranty-able…

Yes there’s only 10 days in a month.

Consumer law still applies regardless of any warranty terms, this should be on Ribble to repair or replace if they’ve sold a faulty product.

Yes, ignore the warranty. It’s a consumer law issue – look up SADFART on money saving expert

The FAQ on their webpage says it has a 2 year warranty

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-hybrid-al-e/

What is the warranty on the frame?
The frame is warranted against manufacturing defects for a period of 3 years. All other parts are covered by the manufacturer’s standard warranty. The MAHLE X35 system is covered against manufacturing defects for a period of 2-years.

Click on “show more” on the FAQ

It really annoys me when a motor bike is cheaper with better warranties than an ebike.

Has he got this in writing from ribble? Who would ever buy an ebike with a 90 day warranty?

For clarity he was informed during a phone conversation with Ribble that the hub motor had a 90 DAY manufacturers warranty.

Ribble have sent him a box to return the rear wheel assembly for inspection.

Ribble said via telephone that components are only covered by the manufacturers warranty. My understanding is that the consumers contract is with the retailer not the components suppliers.

Ribble’s website suggests they will only warranty Ribble own brand products and that everything else is warrantee’d by the components manufacturer. The more I read / experience about Ribble the more I’m thinking they’re worth a giant swerve.

They wouldn’t even let me sit on a bike in the shop to try for size – it was on display on the right size in front of me – but oh no – I’d have to wait for their fitting jig to become available and someone had just gone on it so would have been more than a 30 min wait. I was there with 5 year old in tow so they lost a customer as I walked out the door. I bought a different manufacturers frame shortly after.

I find it hard to believe Mahle motors only have a 90 day warranty – from a search around – other bikes with their motors in have a 2 year warranty on the motor. Mahle’s website seems to miss mentioning warranty at all from what I can find though.

Ultimately it’s a new product that has failed in short order and Ribble are the retailer so they should be on the hook to sort it out.

It sounds like the freehub has gone – I think on this hub it’s part of the plate on the side of the hub / motor so it’s not an easy part to pick up / fix.

Consumer law still applies regardless of any warranty terms, this should be on Ribble to repair or replace if they’ve sold a faulty product.

This.

The ebike they sold has to be of reasonable quality, which includes expected durability, and dying after 300 miles is not reasonable quality. (With the caveat that it needs to have been looked after and not abused during that period).

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

So it’s not really about whether it was faulty when they sold it (which will be hard to prove because the onus is on OP’s mate after six months). It’s about the expected lifespan of expensive mechanical devices.

EDIT: Or is just the freehub that’s busted? Yes, they can go pop, particularly under ebike loads, so he might have to accept that this is a consumable on this type of bike.

EDIT2: I see your post about it being an integral part of the motor, and not that easy to replace. I guess he needs to find someone who knows whether the whole motor is junked as a result, or if it’s prohibitively expensive to replace, in which case it’s not really a consumable after all.

Ribble said via telephone that components are only covered by the manufacturers warranty. My understanding is that the consumers contract is with the retailer not the components suppliers.

This seems to be a thing with bike retailers but it doesn’t absolve them of responsibility. If you buy a laptop from Currys and the hard drive fails they can’t say not our problem, talk to Samsung.

Unless there’s some obvious negligence on the part of your friend I don’t know how they can claim 8 months and 300 miles is a reasonable lifetime for any new bike part.

Just re-reading this thread…absolutely no idea what my first post means as I can’t work out why I’ve read 90 days as 9 months! These varifocals really aren’t helping me.

UPDATE:

Mate had a response direct from Mahle Germany stating that the warranty is 2 years and suggesting that the matter is resolved with the company where he purchased the bike.

They stated, slightly tongue in cheek I reckon, that before Brexit every product has a 12 month warranty and 24 months for electronic devices. As the UK gov is far too busy to unwind EU legislation, Ribble are talking a load of piffle and balderdash.

Latest Update

Mate got his wheel/hub motor assembly back from Ribble, repaired free of charge. Took far too long to sort and the misinformation given on the phone has left him feeling distinctly dischuffed.

Let’s see how long it lasts.

Hmmmm that’s really poor.

One of the things that puts me off an ebike is maintenance and repairs and costs.

A company that won’t back their product would be avoided.

In their defence (kind of) when I bought a ribble bike and the internal cables rattled because they didn’t out any foam in, they sent a mobile van mechanic round to my house to repair it free of charge. Resolved in 7 days. I was really impressed until less than a mile into my ride when I stopped at the traffic lights I nearly fell off because they hadn’t tightened the stem bolts and the bars twisted one way and the wheel the other. I wasn’t happy.