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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

#41

Post by vr46 »

jsiepkes wrote: post #21

Friend of mine has a e-bike from cowboy. The thing is 8 years old and has rust and other forms of oxidation on all kinds of places. Meanwhile my 20 year old koga miyata bike (which I also used for 10 years for my commute in all kinds of weather) has no sign of rust anywhere.

Are you sure that's not just because it's cadmium plated or packed with other nasties that provided similar benefits? :D

The guy that sometimes services my BMW goes on frequent unprompted rants about how the modern bikes corrode so much more easily, etc etc etc. Not once has he looked into why.

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

#42

Post by nothercastle »

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...

It’s because you use it daily. If you used it once a month it would rot to hell.

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

#43

Post by pagra »

ulnarkressty wrote: post #40
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.

It sleeps inside, and parking is protected at work, sure it has some influence

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

#44

Post by etrautmann »

vr46 wrote: post #31
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.

Any brands for the bike sprays?

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

#45

Post by andrewshadura »

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.

Use mudguards, chain guard and coat guards.

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

#46

Post by prmoustache »

_oyks wrote: post #5
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?

Do the same bikes magically not fail and have cheaper replacement motors in the fabled Dutch paradise?

Well road condition can do a lot. Most of water that ingress into bike parts do not usually come from the rain directly but being sprayed by the wheels. So in theory well made/designed bike paths shouldn't induce as much dirty water spray as badly maintained roads full of puddles.

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

#47

Post by prmoustache »

andrewshadura wrote: post #15
jajko wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How come? Article doesn't seem to mention that. That Cube bike for 5k ain't British producer, manufacturer is german.

Cube is not a very popular brand of ebikes in the Netherlands as far as I'm aware. Definitely not for city bicycles. Gazelle, Batavus, Cortina, Vogue, Azor, but Cube? Not so much.

The bike brand doesn't really matter, the brand of the electrical motor system matters. There are 3 big leaders: Bosch and Shimano on the high end, Bafang on the low end with Brose, Yamaha and a handful of other smaller brands occupying a much smaller fraction of the market.

Bosch is also widely used in the Netherlands.

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

#48

Post by prmoustache »

tyingq wrote: post #34
TacticalCoder wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

This. Road condition is the key. Most of the water you collect while riding, even with full length fenders, is dirty water sprayed by your and other users tires. The rain itself usually account for very little in comparison.

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

#49

Post by andrewshadura »

etrautmann wrote: post #44
vr46 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Any brands for the bike sprays?

Cyclon, for example

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

#50

Post by andrewshadura »

prmoustache wrote: post #47
andrewshadura wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cube is not a very popular brand of ebikes in the Netherlands as far as I'm aware. Definitely not for city bicycles. Gazelle, Batavus, Cortina, Vogue, Azor, but Cube? Not so much.

The bike brand doesn't really matter, the brand of the electrical motor system matters. There are 3 big leaders: Bosch and Shimano on the high end, Bafang on the low end with Brose, Yamaha and a handful of other smaller brands occupying a much smaller fraction of the market. Bosch is also widely used in the Netherlands.

It does matter since different brands may offer different levels of weather protection. Typically only Dutch bicycle makers care about things like proper mudguards and chain guards, for example. And some, like Azor go crazy and test their parts in a rust chamber.

And, for example, the Cube bicycle as depicted in the article, is clearly not designed to be used in rainy weather. Who knows what else shortcuts they took?

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