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

Post by Angostura » Sun, Jun 16, 2024, 7:42 AM UTC

tacticalturtle wrote: post #89

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.

I never see them in the US outside of city bike share programs, but I feel like most casual bike users would be better served by internal gear hubs and similar closed systems. The maintenance is minimal, outside of dropping some oil in every year. But for some reason, every bike in a bike shop, including the most casual upright bike, has a finicky derailleur. So instead we’re doomed to a life of misaligned derailleur…

Post by petre » Sun, Jun 16, 2024, 7:44 AM UTC

nox101 wrote: post #158

petre wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What benefit does the bike get you that a motorcycle doesn't? Exercise and silence.

Most bikes are not silent. Worse, it's getting popular to make them loud. I was looking for an e-mtb recently. Tried a Trek ($4.5k down from $7.5k), ridiculously loud hub. Sales person claimed (falsely) that the more pro the hub the louder. Talked to another dealer who gave me the same story.

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jun 16, 2024, 7:45 AM UTC

ifwinterco wrote: post #142

kibwen wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 abo…

Motorbikes still overwhelmingly use chains, not sure why but there must be a good reason

Post by ivandenysov » Sun, Jun 16, 2024, 7:45 AM UTC

heresie-dabord wrote: post #103

tacticalturtle wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never see them in the US outside of city bike share programs, but I feel like most casual bike users would be better served by internal gear hubs and similar closed systems. The maintenance is minimal, outside of dropping some oil in every year. But for some reason, every bike in a bike shop, including the most casual upright bike, has a finicky derailleur. So instead we’re doomed to a life of misaligned derailleur…

If in a dry climate, a derailleur transmission can last a long time and will be cheap to maintain. But once a person starts replacing quality components with like quality, especially in a wet climate, a derailleur transmission can be expensive over 10 years. The set of my experience is { Shimano: [ $various_derailleurs, Nexus 3, Nexus 7, Alfine 11 ] , Rohloff: [14 speed], Other: [rear-hub e-bike] } $various_derailleu…

Post by walthamstow » Sun, Jun 16, 2024, 7:49 AM UTC

jdietrich wrote: post #112

joe_the_user wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't see how mid-drives are significantly superior. An electric motor doesn't need any gear advantage and sending more force to the rear wheel seems like it's actually a disadvantage since it put more stress on bicycle components that are often designed for just human levels of force. As far as I can tell, the mid-drives became dominant just 'cause people wanted to have something the looked more "seamless". I have…

In the EU, e-bikes are limited to a maximum power output of 250 watts - anything over that is a motorbike. That's basically the same power output as a decently fit cyclist. A mid-drive allows for sustained high torque even with limited power. Water ingress issues aside, mid-drives also tend to be more durable in off-road applications where the rear wheel is subject to severe shock and vibration.