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'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

theguardian.com

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Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

#31

Post by vr46 »

lostlogin wrote: post #16

I’ve been doing a bit of (non e-bike) riding in poor weather of late, and it’s really surprising just how wet and dirty everything gets. After a wet road ride, every surface is covered in black, greasy dirt. It rots fabric, makes grinding paste in mechanical parts and generally makes everything worse. You need really good seals to keep that crap out.

As a biker, cyclist, skater, and ebiker, I’ve settled about various wax-like sprays to keep crap off and out. ACF-50 for the motorbike, various protective wax sprays for the bicycles, Vaseline for skate bearings.

Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

#32

Post by makingstuffs »

graemep wrote: post #22
makingstuffs wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone living in London and travelling to The Netherlands on a regular basis (intending to migrate), I have to say, pretty much everything from public transport to supermarket design seems of a much, much higher standard than its British equivalent. Further to that, it generally feels as though the UK is a country massively in decline and this transcends down to the quality of goods which we pass as acceptable. T…

> Further to that, it generally feels as though the UK is a country massively in decline To a large extent it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. People expect decline so it happens. It has been happening for a long time - back to the 1960s or so when the UK became the only only country ever (still true) to have a space launch capability and lose it. That said, IMO the causes of this are widespread across the west. It is…

> drift away from competitive free markets, the rise of culture war politics, short termism is business and politics, naivety about the rest of the world (disastrously reflected in foreign policy - Russia being the obvious example) and so on seem to be spreading.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head here. Especially the naivety about the rest of the world. As someone whom travels to India regularly (my family are there) I have to say, people have no clue about the rate of change happening over there.

In an extremely short space of time (I want to say at most a couple years) I’ve seen what used to be an all day journey from Delhi to Meerut be cut down to a couple hour bus trip through the building of the Delhi - Meerut expressway.

I’ve seen the Delhi metro continue to expand its reach and new expressways begging building (in our home city of Batala a new motorway was recently started to take us to Delhi directly)

Meanwhile the M25 continues to be a massive pothole with indefinite road works that never seem to complete

Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

#34

Post by tyingq »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #8
andrewshadura wrote: post #3

Somehow this is not a big deal across the Channel in the Netherlands. Yet another case of the British not learning from the Dutch?

> Yet another case of the British not learning from the Dutch? This apparently affects Bosch motors. Bosch is a reputable company. Maybe they screwed up on these motors but I don't see how bikes used in the Netherlands, if they're using the same Bosch motors, wouldn't be affected. Especially seen the shitty all year weather we're all "enjoying" in our countries (UK / .nl / .be / .lu etc.). It's been, what, 8 months o…

The Netherlands does have a reputation for the best built/maintained roads in Europe. Maybe better drainage, fewer puddles and potholes? Plus flatter terrain, so less overall strain on the motor.

Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

#35

Post by hi-v-rocknroll »

krisoft wrote: post #2

From my perspective water is only at best a proximal cause. The big problem is that if the motor needs replacing five times during a two year waranty period that is a lemon and the manufacurer should give back the money one paid for it.

It sounds like a Kaabo e-scooter, a Samsung refrigerator, and most consumer electronics and appliances. Designed to fail because parts = $$$.*

* In fairness, Kaabo e-scooters aren't designed, they're thrown together and spaghetti wire is rammed in every crevice without a sensible circuit or terminal diagram.

Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

#37

Post by gjadi »

serf wrote: post #11

it's not surprising to me that the bosch mid-drives are failing, they're typically placed at an angle that catches all the run off from every tube at the lowest point on the bike (except on recumbents), and the controller is (usually) integrated. mid-drives are great, the gear advantage rocks; the bosch units suck but unfortunately they had so much industry sway that a lot of ebike frames are coming out built around…

My local bike shop said they are all in Bosch because they had better reliability and less issues with their support compared to other companies and because of the commitment to long term spare parts availability.

Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

#39

Post by zeristor »

andrewshadura wrote: post #3

Somehow this is not a big deal across the Channel in the Netherlands. Yet another case of the British not learning from the Dutch?

Maybe the UK has the wrong kind of rain?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_wrong_type_of_snow

Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors

#40

Post by ulnarkressty »

pagra wrote: post #38

I mount a 350€ Bafang motor on my bike five years ago. I use it almost every day to go to work, even on rainy days (and this year is very wet). The display now shows almost 16000km. It never failed, although it's given as NOT waterproof...

Do you also leave it outside to sit in the rain? I found that bringing a bike indoors (regardless of it being electric or not) significantly improves the lifespan of most parts.
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