e-bikes forum

[splat]

Not sure where to post this, but:

 

Police hunt for e-bike artist drawing 'explicit images' on the pavement

 

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-15-december-2020-279481

[Paul Ruinaard]

Hmm so i have had a second failure with the wifes Specialized Levo e bike.

 

First one was the motor - repaired under warranty. Now the battery fails, Working then not working. So basically a new bike - but the battery failure i am getting a discounted price on the battery as that wasn't what was fixed under warranty.

 

THe bike is my wifes and she loves it - it allowed her to stay with me on many rides nd she did the Argus on it with 2 x batteries and loved it. SO all good on e bikes.

 

Just ebike reliability and the fact they use batteries and solid state electronics which fail is the real concern, and when they fail the repairs are spectacularly expensive. The battery alone costs the price of a decent hardtail.

 

And in speaking to the shops that have handled e bikes especially good second hand ones they seem to have stopped dealing in them because of this issue where the bikes fail. 

 

WE truly have hardly ridden the bike and mostly on the road so it's not like its lived a hard life. Also used the Specialized Mission Control apps to monitor health and charged according to the rules. I understand how these things need to be treated,

 

Be aware - these tings do fail and like everything electronic they fail in ways that you can't simply repair. Alos the troubleshooting capacity of the LBS's that deal in them  is limited - like a solid state ECU in a car - you just clip n a replacement and dont do much diagnosis. Except R 18k for the battery is not a small charge

 

I dont think its a Specialized thing alone - but open to comments. How many times has your ebike failed?

 

 

[aquaratza]

My friend has a 2020 Specialized eBike. He rides it hard and multiple times a week. He's complained about the brakes but so far the "e" part of the bike has been fine.

 

I've got a 2017 Specialized eBike that I got around 4 months ago with around 300km on it. I've since put 900km onto it. I've modded it with an outboard battery, among other things. It had some water ingress around the controller buttons, but I sealed that with silicone. Apart from that it hasn't given any issues so far. Oh and a motor mount bolt was loose when I first got it.

 

You may just have gotten unlucky :/, it does happen.

[NotSoBigBen]

Hmm so i have had a second failure with the wifes Specialized Levo e bike.

 

First one was the motor - repaired under warranty. Now the battery fails, Working then not working. So basically a new bike - but the battery failure i am getting a discounted price on the battery as that wasn't what was fixed under warranty.

 

THe bike is my wifes and she loves it - it allowed her to stay with me on many rides nd she did the Argus on it with 2 x batteries and loved it. SO all good on e bikes.

 

Just ebike reliability and the fact they use batteries and solid state electronics which fail is the real concern, and when they fail the repairs are spectacularly expensive. The battery alone costs the price of a decent hardtail.

 

And in speaking to the shops that have handled e bikes especially good second hand ones they seem to have stopped dealing in them because of this issue where the bikes fail.

 

WE truly have hardly ridden the bike and mostly on the road so it's not like its lived a hard life. Also used the Specialized Mission Control apps to monitor health and charged according to the rules. I understand how these things need to be treated,

 

Be aware - these tings do fail and like everything electronic they fail in ways that you can't simply repair. Alos the troubleshooting capacity of the LBS's that deal in them is limited - like a solid state ECU in a car - you just clip n a replacement and dont do much diagnosis. Except R 18k for the battery is not a small charge

 

I dont think its a Specialized thing alone - but open to comments. How many times has your ebike failed?

Might be worth having a chat to this guy [emoji848]

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/index.php?/topic/187427-E-Bike-Spares,-Im-Here-to-Help

[Paul Ruinaard]

In ineone In one sentence you say she used it on many rides to keep up with you. Then you say it is hardly used? Just checking on which one. Is it new or like new if you were to list it for sale?

Hmm not sure what the value of this post is and whether you are trolling me?

 

Anyway in the interests of assuming you had a valid question:

 

Not sure  how much you know about ebikes and the histories of charge cycles that the batteries keep? Which can be accessed by the app.THese have the life history of the battery in them - very detailed. Also can be accessed by third party software - motor state etc.

 

The battery in question (which failed) had about 30 charge cycles - which is very low. These are meant to be able to last for hundreds of charge cycles on average in their normal duty cycle of a battery of this type. So when it failed like this according to whatever skewed definitions of new vs almost new vs used (which i still don't get) its definitely used but nowhere near what it's meant to be capable of, which would indicate defects (latent or patent if you know what they are)

 

So lets be specific - in car terms it was driven by one old lady and had 10 000 kms on it. yet its engine failed and its whole injection and combustion system then failed. One after the other. Which would lead to me looking at sites where hey presto it's been documented by other owners. 

 

Hope that makes it clearer?

[IceCreamMan]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington/121625298/number-of-ebike-imports-hits-record-high-could-soon-overtake-new-cars

[Pure Savage]

We have someone that now joins us on the morning ride on a unlimited ebike, he can keep up in most places besides the flats back to town. Its said its the first time he has been able to ride with a group since his accident with his hip 10 years ago. 

 

So its another person enjoying getting outside and even thought its un limited he is still out of breath at the top of the climbs. 

 

Kudos, think its rad.

 

Another person to buy coffee

[Sid the Sloth]

We have someone that now joins us on the morning ride on a unlimited ebike, he can keep up in most places besides the flats back to town. Its said its the first time he has been able to ride with a group since his accident with his hip 10 years ago. 

 

So its another person enjoying getting outside and even thought its un limited he is still out of breath at the top of the climbs. 

 

Kudos, think its rad.

 

Another person to buy coffee

Looking forward to his leadout on Chappies soon... 

[ChrisF]

Hmm not sure what the value of this post is and whether you are trolling me?

 

Anyway in the interests of assuming you had a valid question:

 

Not sure how much you know about ebikes and the histories of charge cycles that the batteries keep? Which can be accessed by the app.THese have the life history of the battery in them - very detailed. Also can be accessed by third party software - motor state etc.

 

The battery in question (which failed) had about 30 charge cycles - which is very low. These are meant to be able to last for hundreds of charge cycles on average in their normal duty cycle of a battery of this type. So when it failed like this according to whatever skewed definitions of new vs almost new vs used (which i still don't get) its definitely used but nowhere near what it's meant to be capable of, which would indicate defects (latent or patent if you know what they are)

 

So lets be specific - in car terms it was driven by one old lady and had 10 000 kms on it. yet its engine failed and its whole injection and combustion system then failed. One after the other. Which would lead to me looking at sites where hey presto it's been documented by other owners.

 

Hope that makes it clearer?

Paul both Spez and Giant claims at least a thousand charge cycles on the battery.

 

Really sounds like a warantee claim ....

 

First time I took my bike in, the dealer plugged it in, looked at the stats ... and asked why I have hardly used the boost setting ....

 

That computer loggs a LOT of data ....

 

 

Short of fidling with the speed control that really should be a warantee claim.

[Andrewdevil]

Hi. Anyone have experience with rear wheel drive conversions. Looking at converting the wife's Momsen so we can ride together. Max distance would be around 30km's- forestry roads and jeap tracks, fair amount of hills.

Thanks.

[ChrisF]

Hi. Anyone have experience with rear wheel drive conversions. Looking at converting the wife's Momsen so we can ride together. Max distance would be around 30km's- forestry roads and jeap tracks, fair amount of hills.

Thanks.

Go for it

 

 

 

Tip .... rule of thumb ... 100Wh for every 10 km range. The typical 500Wh battery should easily give her a 50km range, for typical riding.

 

I once had less range ... but had gale force wind, and lots of hills.

 

Did 55km and 1100m climbing on 500Wh this morning. Less climbing and the range increase....

 

 

 

If you can ..... get a 625 or even a 750Wh battery.

Edited December 29, 2020 by ChrisF

[Beer4Recovery]

Hi, is there an e-bike forum on the "bike hub"? or a South African forum. They are becoming popular and Im considering getting one. Age and fitness catching up on me.

 

Hi rossbotha, I follow this forum https://www.emtbforums.com/community/

 

It’s got a ton of info and reviews, I also suggest you follow Rob’s YouTube channel : https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxVMLv0XwgrIvWBjf4lWRBA

 

And you can check this one as well: https://youtube.com/c/EMTBVideos

 

Hope this helps.

[Hairy]

Finally an e-bike I will swing a leg over

[Beer4Recovery]

Cool project from Rob, "the Cheeb"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot8rxRnd2DQ&feature=emb_title

 

 

[MTBeer]

asking for a friend. No really.

 

What are the best (not necessarily top-end) e-mtb to look at when buying. Talking quality, battery life, ride comfort, etc.

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

Some really nice e-bike wheel upgrades finally available in SA.

 

Rims and hubs from RaceFace and a super duper rim from DT Swiss.

 

More info on these here: http://www.wheelbuilder.co.za/e-bike-wheels/