Avanti simply falling to pieces - 2 months old!

[Back_in_the_Saddle!]

Lots of problems with my bike, im unhappy, disgruntled. The bike was delivered start of March, has done around 230 miles. My problems are:

1) Crankset is moving to the degree where the chain rubs the gear change mechanism during 1 whole revolultion

2) I twist the throttle and the motor does not engage. Twist off and on and the motor engages. This is intermittant and happens around 5% of the time.

3) I have a vibration from the motor hub when its engaged.

4) Possible battery fault.

Add to this a few minor things I have had to do as well, and im now fed up of having a bike that im scared to use as it constantly has things going wrong with it.

I have contacted the supplier by email (I remember when buying te bike it took 3 weeks to get a respnose to my call!) but responses are sluggish to say the best, as an indication (and to be as fair as i can to the supplier I will use business days and hours as a measure), it took till the end of the 3rd working day to get a response (after I prompted for one), then 5 working days to get another repsonse (after more prompting) and in a couple of hours today, it will be 3 whole business days to get a response to my latest request for help (even though I updated the supplier yesterday morning of the worsening issues).

When you have a bike that is seemingly falling apart and you are reliant on it - am i being unreasonable in expecting help? Expecting it speedily?

The supplier has offered to fix the bike if i send it back to him at my expense and if sent in original packaging, or to send the parts to me for a bike shop to repair. I have asked who will pay the bike shop for labour and if a bike shop will be able to fix the electric propblems, but am still waiting for an answer. I am now taking advice from trading standards as I am disgruntled with the whole affair.

What do you guys suggest I can do?

Thanks
G

 

[flecc]

A bike shop won't fix the electrical problems, so back to the supplier (Synergie?) is the only way to make sure of fixing the problems.

There may be a poor Hall sensor connection since that could both cause the failure to start sometimes and the vibration at other times. Not something for you to mess about with though, as it could be within the hub spindle.

The gears any competent cycle tech should be able to sort, but best done at the same time as the motor so as not to impair your warranty rights.
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[Kal]

A bike shop won't fix the electrical problems, so back to the supplier (Synergie?) is the only way to make sure of fixing the problems.

There may be a poor Hall sensor connection since that could both cause the failure to start sometimes and the vibration at other times. Not something for you to mess about with though, as it could be within the hub spindle.

The gears any competent cycle tech should be able to sort, but best done at the same time as the motor so as not to impair your warranty rights.
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From the photo Flecc, the front hub motor on the Synergie G2 Avanti looks just like the Mistral rear wheel "brush" hub motor on my Synergie G2 Mistral, so no Hall sensor. Mine's a 36v motor and the Avanti is a 24v. Same throttle as well. Not that it helps.. but I've had no trouble at all with my Mistral in over 600 miles.

I would check for:

1) Bent chain ring.

2) Poor throttle electrical connections or damp.

3) The hub motor on my Mistral is not silent but there is no vibration.

4) Battery problem could be a charger problem.

Synergie e-bikes had quality problems in the past but this has improved and most people seem to be satisfied with their purchases now. The eBay dealer importer has been trading for 18 years and there are good reports of them being helpful if problems arise.

Taken from the eBay dealer website 12 months return to base warranty:
"..you will be responsible for the cost of return to us. Following the repair we will, though, pay for the cost of shipment back.."

"..not covered by warranty are tyres, chains, brakes, cables, plastics and general wear and tear as you would expect."
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[Back_in_the_Saddle!]

Cheersk for the responses guys.

The most frustrating thing is the uncertainty over the future of the bike, which isnt helped by the slow responses by the reseller to my problems. I didnt get the bike directly from Synergy, but one of the resellers they use. I havent mentioned the name of the company on here as it could be a glitch in thier customer service issues and I want to be as fair as possible and give them every opprotunity to fix the situation.

Unfortunatly I cannot go without a bike, so sending it back to the reseller would be a huge inconvience. To be fair, I dont see why I should be inconvienced with a bike 2 months old having done 230 miles.

Legally, from what I understand, a retailer cannot make you out of pocket if an item is under warrenty, so I would have to ask the legallity of any seller asking for payment to have the bike returned to them (eBay sellers especially as through Paypal, a buyer can claw back the money with buyer protection) for repair.

 

[stokepa31_mk2]

Legally, from what I understand, a retailer cannot make you out of pocket if an item is under warrenty.

This is my understanding too. I recently sent back a 1tb Lacie hard drive to amazon that failed after 6 months. Amazon refunded my outward postage.

hope you get it sorted

Regards
Paul

 

[flecc]

From the photo Flecc, the front hub motor on the Synergie G2 Avanti looks just like the Mistral rear wheel "brush" hub motor on my Synergie G2 Mistral, so no Hall sensor.
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Thanks for the tip Kal, I wasn't familiar with the Avanti, and it's increasingly unusual to still find brush motors now.
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