Anyone Fancying a PUNT on the new Impulse Evo bike in 2016

[countarthur]

I wish I'd read this post before my purchase last week. Is this a factory fault on all Evo motors ? Do you have a link to the you tube videos? The bikes have a 2 year warranty though.

I spoke with 50 cycles about this issue and they came back to me immediately via e mail - and gave me permission to quote the content here. Its given me some reassurance and good customer service. As said on the forum putting on the miles is the test so either way I'll put an update here in months ahead. I've read up on the comments re bearings and don't know enough about mechanics as to whether a 'software update' as quoted would resolve it. The bottom line is - at the moment the bike is going like a dream and very pleased with it.

Quote:
"The Impulse Evo & Evo RS motors have been very trouble free for us - I think I've seen one back in for repair in the Bristol store since their release in August. The "clacking" issue that is mentioned on Pedelecs on occasion is pretty much solely with the Impulse 2.0 motors, which has been rectified with a software update. With regards to that user's comments - it seems like he is based in Australia. At 50cycles, we would never open up a motor whilst it is in it's warranty period. Even if we know what is causing the issue - we will not open up the motor, it will go through our warranty procedure and sent back to Germany. This is the quickest and most effective way with dealing with any issues with motors - and current turn-around from initial contact for the Bristol store is less than 24 hours to get you back on the road should anything happen".

"Just to put your mind at ease, to keep your warranty valid, we require no proof of servicing especially not every 1000km. As long as your are still in your 2 year period (10 years for the frame) we will be able to process a warranty request. However, I still recommend at least annual servicing of your bike. Run the bike through winter, let the crud build up then bring it in to us in February / March to strip everything down and make sure it runs like new again." Unquote

 

[Cold Water]

It's nice of 50 cycles not to require servicing every 1000km. This is something the dealer offers, it's still not manufacturer's warranty. 50 cycles may be large enough to offer it. My dealer in Australia is of no such size. If servicing requirements were:

• once a year by an authorized dealer (proof required, including stamping).
• every 1000km recommended, can be carried out by the owner.

why wouldn't Kalkhoff put that in the booklet? I would prefer to have manufacturer's warranty, so that I can take my bike to ANY authorized dealer to fix it if anything goes wrong within the warranty period and then bill Kalkhoff for the repair cost, not me.

 

[Cold Water]

I received a reply from Kalkhoff's customer service. The key sentence says:

"The service intervals are not so prescribed by us, only recommended."

So, I guess, that means that the warranty requirement about regular maintenance can now be interpreted in a more loosely way.

The dealer also agreed to take the bicycle back, after some disagreement about what is a reasonable expectation when a fault happens. In my view:

• if the motor fails on my way out of the shop, on my first day of ownership, the proper action is to replace the whole bicycle. Justification: a major failure of the quality control increases the risk that there may be other issues with the bicycle.
• if the motor fails within the warranty period, then replacing the whole motor is a proper action. Justification: it represents a significant portion of the bike's value and obviously had a fault that made it not reach the normal service life expectancy.
• if the motor fails outside of the warranty period, then fixing it with glue is fine.

 

[Tomtomato]

Quote:
"The Impulse Evo & Evo RS motors have been very trouble free for us - I think I've seen one back in for repair in the Bristol store since their release in August.

Thanks for quoting what they said. Arguably, they did post on this site initially that they had no issues with Impulse 2 motors either, just to correct their statement a few months later admitting there was a fault, after Kalkhoff did the same...

current turn-around from initial contact for the Bristol store is less than 24 hours to get you back on the road should anything happen".

Glad to see this has improved. When I had a fault on my Impulse 2 motor, it took 2 weeks to get the bike back with a new motor, and another 2 visits to the shop to get other issues resolved. It was not the Bristol shop though.

The Impulse motors are supposed to be non-serviceable items, so as 50 Cycles indicates, a reseller should just get a full replacement motor installed in case of issues.

It's a shame to see that Impulse Evo motors may also have issues...

 

[English Tim]

I have a 3 month old Kalkhoff Premium Include, which I believe has a 3.0 motor. I have loved it until it developed a fault, where the drive fails and I get error message, 'wait for drive'. The bike also occasionally makes banging noises when putting effort into pedalling.

My dealer tells me Kalkhoff say it needs a software update, which will hopefully happen next week. I'll keep you posted.

 

[oriteroom]

Tim, see you've only very recently joined, just in case you've not picked up the thread, have you seen the very long thread on Impulse motors etc, which has been running for more than 2.5 years....I copied your post here onto that thread

Ongoing reliability of Kalkhoff/Focus Impulse 2 motors