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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

#281

Post by kersplody »

Too wrote: post #162
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…

Mountain bikers run on "finicky" derailleurs over rocks and through wet mud and sand all day. They are unbelievably reliable. With the modern 1x10 or even 1x12 systems, you get enough range to remove the front shifter, reducing maintenance even more, remove almost all sources of jumping chain and allows fitting chain guard with better coverage. SRAM has a famous video where they lay the bike sideways and jump on the…

Wet mud and sand is far easier to clean than the thick black tar that accumulates on road bike chains. Tire and tarmac dust is nasty.

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

#283

Post by [deleted] »

wyre wrote: post #143
nradov wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A derailleur makes it a lot easier to maintain correct chain tension. Fixing a rear flat by the side of the road is more of a hassle with an internal transmission hub (or a fixie).

I’d argue fixing a flat on a IGH or fixed gear/single speed is easier than a geared bike. Hardest thing about a single speed is needing the proper tool to remove the axle nuts, but after that take the chain off the cog and the wheel will slip right out, just as easy to put back in, just reverse the process. Getting chain tension can be tricky, but tighten the drive side bolt first at the point the chainline has about…

[deleted]

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

#284

Post by bell-cot »

bjackman wrote: post #247
bell-cot wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"In a healthy city..." Speaking of things which are (evidently) "tricky to achieve"...

There are dozens of such cities all over Europe, doesn't seem that hard to me if you actually care about it as a goal!

True. But a great many things are easy to achieve if you presuppose competent and honest (at least on the given issue) politicians.

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

#285

Post by IshKebab »

7bit wrote: post #204
IshKebab wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can be parked anywhere Jesus I wouldn't park a $15k bike anywhere...

You took the Most expensive example to make your Point. Who even owns a 15k bike? 0.0001 % of the population?

Did you actually read this thread? We're specifically talking about a $15k ebike.

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

#286

Post by dghlsakjg »

Etheryte wrote: post #225
dghlsakjg wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An internal transmission hub replaces a hub, cassette, and derailleur and starts at less than $100 for the whole kit. A derailleur can cost $10, but it won’t be nearly as durable. Buying a high quality one is gonna cost in the same neighborhood as $100.

I'm not really seeing the argument. I've never had a derailleur break, if anything, this sounds like some supreme yak shaving. Granted, I don't ride bikes for a living, but I ride a bike every day and durability isn't even remotely as big of an issue as you make it out to be.

I have broken derailleurs, and I’ve also had them bumped out of adjustment and damaged at bike racks.

Switching is probably a bit of an unecessary faff. But if you want a drivetrain that can be ignored or neglected and never complain, an internal gear is really great.

For a commuter bike it also allows you to fully cover the chain and chainring if you want.

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

#287

Post by RobinL »

The article provides zero insight beyond anecodes. The fact a a specialist ebike repair company sees lots of broken ebikes tells you practically nothing about the frequency of problems. The anecdote about 5 failures in a warranty period sounds a bit suspicious and if true is probably a combination of bad luck and extreme usage, or possibly a design flaw in a specific bike model. It's also from a forum post from 5 years ago . That said, as a Bosch ebike owner myself, I'd love to see some decent stats on reliability of different systems. Had no problems myself so far and love it.

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

#288

Post by Huppie »

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...

Our experiences differ sadly.

My bafang motor has seen a lot of issues in the ~1.5 years I had it. The bike shop (also) claimed rain and mud where a problem and they considered the ~1000 km per month I rode it 'misuse'.

I had a good run with electric bikes up until that time (~10 years with a front-hub motor and after that the Bafang) but to be honest I'm kinda glad it died because I've been riding a decent non-electric bike ever since and monthly visits to the bike shop became yearly visits instead.

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

#289

Post by r00fus »

nradov wrote: post #207
wyre wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d argue fixing a flat on a IGH or fixed gear/single speed is easier than a geared bike. Hardest thing about a single speed is needing the proper tool to remove the axle nuts, but after that take the chain off the cog and the wheel will slip right out, just as easy to put back in, just reverse the process. Getting chain tension can be tricky, but tighten the drive side bolt first at the point the chainline has about…

Tubeless sucks. I've seen several cyclists on group rides running tubeless tires have flats that couldn't be fixed at all, or required installing a tube to get home. Maybe it works well enough for mountain bikes but for road bikes the tubeless tires seem too weak.

Anyone running tubeless who doesn't also bring a tube or two in their underseat bag is not doing it right.

Having a properly packed underseat bag is essential to any long ride.

Also I have never run tubeless at 25mm. Most folks I see running tubeless have 28mm at the smallest.

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

#290

Post by Huppie »

t0mas88 wrote: post #20
_oyks wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Different bike brands, but the same motor is very common in NL as well. Never heard a lot of failures and e-bikes are absolutely everywhere. One factor may be that in most of the UK biking is done on the road mixed with cars which may have more oil, sooth or other things in the water that gets on the bike, compared to dedicated bike lanes in the Netherlands. A lot of those lanes here aren't just a part of the same ro…

You may nog hear it a lot because it's mostly warranty issues and consumer protection is pretty good here so with most issues it'll be handled quickly and under warranty.

I've had pretty much my entire electric drive system replaced under warranty with my first electric bike (admittedly I rode a _lot_ of km with that one.) Then on the second it's been in the shop at least once a month for ~1.5 years. Sure it was all covered by warranty but the amount of hassle did make me reconsider and go back to a regular bike.

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