What is going on with that guy's bike. It is like the Canyonero XL Extreme of bikes. What kind of riding is it suited to? You wouldn't pop down to the grocer in a Unimog, right?
'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
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Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#72What is going on with that guy's bike. It is like the Canyonero XL Extreme of bikes. What kind of riding is it suited to? You wouldn't pop down to the grocer in a Unimog, right?
It's hard to guess the use of a bike from its looks. When mountain bikes first appeared, most of the people who bought them intended to ride them on pavement, and perhaps rarely on trails. Likewise most pickup trucks and SUV's are bought for urban passenger use.
At the time, the perception was that mountain bikes were just more rugged and comfortable to ride. There was a not inconsequential amount of marketing hype about the condition of roads, and the roads in some areas were in fact pretty crappy. Just due to market timing, MTB's were also where most people first experienced indexed shifting, which did improve the ease of riding a bike.
In the case of e-bikes, there's a tendency to get "more bike than you really need" because the marginal cost is acceptable and the motor takes care of the added weight. And from a pragmatic standpoint, the difference may also be mostly aesthetic.
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#73If it's a Chinese e-bike, it's probably lying about being IPX67. OTOH, Riese & Müller $15k USD e-bikes aren't IPX anything because the Bosch components aren't. If you get it wet, just kiss that money goodbye. Absolutely bonkers.
I think it really pays to go with an e-bike from an actual bicycle company. The Trek TQ system for example is submersible (IP67) and has a 2-year warranty, same as Bosch.
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
The gear advantage of a mid-drive rocks but I was quite surprised that I chewed through a rear cassette in under a year / about 1k miles -- a 250W motor + heavy cargo bike + kid passenger + a large and pretty strong rider exert an awful lot of force. And with the assist, I almost never use the larger cogs, so all the wear gets concentrated. (This compares to many, many thousand miles on my road bike.) Still love the…
Would an internally geared hub solve for this type of wear?
IGH's are not all that rugged. Most have a published requirement for a minimum ratio between the chainring and cog, that translates into an approximate torque limit. I love my old Sturmey Archer AW hubs, but I'm not sure I'd recommend one for the aforementioned use case.
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any recommendations? I had guards and found they rattled, slowed me and were less effective than what I wanted.
This one is cheap and light and works great on various bikes but on a 29er: https://a.aliexpress.com/_Eu2mwYj
Link is broken, but my curiosity is piqued.
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#76it'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…
> they're typically placed at an angle that catches all the run off
aren't they also directly behind the front wheel?
fenders, fenders, fenders.
something unsexy with a flap / mudguard.
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have full mudguards/fenders?
No, and this would help. While it’s commuting, I’m taking a route 3-4x longer than I need and picking off PRs. The fender helped a little, but was also finicky and I didn’t get a lot of value from it. Your point is correct - some better gear would help.
Fenders needs to be big and cover all the way down to the ground back and front. Small fenders help with the worst, but good fenders are really worth it.
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was born in England, live in London, have a Dutch partner, and also travel to the Netherlands often enough. I agree completely. They have their problems too (from the political to having to tap out on buses), but the overall level of quality and care seems rather higher. The sense of decline and disengagement is strong too. Difficult to say much objective about that (though keep an eye on the turnout in the upcomin…
Why is tapping out on the bus a bad thing? It means you can pay for distance traveled instead of a flat fee.
It was sort of a joke, I’m mostly just not used to it - but also apparently it’s a pain if you forget to do it.
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#79I’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.
This is one reason I wish belt drives where more common.
It's not hard to find e-bikes with belt drives. Honestly, I think they'll take over the e-bikes market within 10 years or so (I think there are still some outstanding patents?). More expensive and slightly less efficient than a chain, but both of those are probably negligible for the context of e-bikes, and in exchange you never get grease on your pant leg, you never need to lube anything, you never need to worry about a derailleur needing to have its gears realigned or having the chain jump out (of course you could have an internally-geared chain bike).
Re: 'The big problem is water': UK ebike owners plagued by failing motors
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Use mudguards, chain guard and coat guards.
Any recommendations? I had guards and found they rattled, slowed me and were less effective than what I wanted.
Honjo or Velo Orange. Aluminum, come in a bunch of sizes, depending on the frame/tires you’re using.
You still might need additional mudflaps on the front to keep the spray off the bottom bracket and rear for others rig is with you.