Carrerer Vengeance Stripped Planetary Gears

[simon.bendall]

Hi everyone,

My son has the above bike, riden it for 3 years over 4000 miles and a few days ago it started making a god awful noise, after stripping it down we found there are very little to no teeth left on the nylon planetary gears. They can easily be replaced but we are struggling to find them. They are 33T and we believe they measure 42mm (with teeth) and are 10mm wide.

Ive read a couple of posts reagarding others with the same issue and none had resolutions so we assume you cannot obtain the gears on their own so I think our only choice is to take a punt on a second hand wheel which is around £200, or possibly replace the hub along with controller, throttle, etc... which could work out cheaper and a possible upgrade? - The bike is a 36v and has been well looked after so we dont really want to shelve it.

Would anyone be kind enough to share suggestions.

 

[matthewslack]

How does 3 years and 4000 miles play in the post warranty 'right to expect better' branch of consumer law?

My 3 year total with admittedly very different bike was 17,000 miles and no trouble.

 

[saneagle]

Hi everyone,

My son has the above bike, riden it for 3 years over 4000 miles and a few days ago it started making a god awful noise, after stripping it down we found there are very little to no teeth left on the nylon planetary gears. They can easily be replaced but we are struggling to find them. They are 33T and we believe they measure 42mm (with teeth) and are 10mm wide.

Ive read a couple of posts reagarding others with the same issue and none had resolutions so we assume you cannot obtain the gears on their own so I think our only choice is to take a punt on a second hand wheel which is around £200, or possibly replace the hub along with controller, throttle, etc... which could work out cheaper and a possible upgrade? - The bike is a 36v and has been well looked after so we dont really want to shelve it.

Would anyone be kind enough to share suggestions.

It's your call. If you have the thick chainwheel with included torque sensor, it might be an idea to replace everything with standard Chinese stuff because there are flaws in that system, which will get you sooner or later. You could replace just the motor for now, and do the rest when either the torque sensor or battery gives up, which is the option I'd take. A standard Chinese motor should work with the Suntour stuff, but I haven't heard anybody test the compatability, and there is no way to adjust settings if it isn't. That means something like a 25% chance of it not working until someone can confirm one way or another.

 

[simon.bendall]

It's your call. If you have the thick chainwheel with included torque sensor, it might be an idea to replace everything with standard Chinese stuff because there are flaws in that system, which will get you sooner or later. You could replace just the motor for now, and do the rest when either the torque sensor or battery gives up, which is the option I'd take. A standard Chinese motor should work with the Suntour stuff, but I haven't heard anybody test the compatability, and there is no way to adjust settings if it isn't. That means something like a 25% chance of it not working until someone can confirm one way or another.

Thank you, and yes, we have the thick chainwheel with the sensor attached to the inside that gets ripped off everytime the chain comes off so maybe as you suggest, replace everything.

Any particular kit suggestions, this is a 250w but Ive seen 350w and 500w that are 36v, but dont want to push the battery too far.

 

[saneagle]

Thank you, and yes, we have the thick chainwheel with the sensor attached to the inside that gets ripped off everytime the chain comes off so maybe as you suggest, replace everything.

Any particular kit suggestions, this is a 250w but Ive seen 350w and 500w that are 36v, but dont want to push the battery too far.

My favourite would be the PSWpower one because they have KT controllers. That's if they have stock. You can buy the battery from UK if you want, which saves some customs issues, and you can get good batteries from Greenlance, YosePower and Woosh at good prices.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

How does 3 years and 4000 miles play in the post warranty 'right to expect better' branch of consumer law?

My 3 year total with admittedly very different bike was 17,000 miles and no trouble.

Yeah its not very impressive just 4,000 miles before failure but the Suntour HESC system is quite powerful for a hub motor with I think 60-65Nm torque which is 50% more than similar size hub motors maximum torque plus the Vengeance is a e-mountain bike so may have had more abuse off-road possibly and we don't know the weight of the rider or the amount of hills in the area. Still not a very impressive lifespan for the planetary gears. Of course there are always variations too in how long a product lasts based on manufacturing accuracy and the varying quality of the parts used. I'm sure I read somewhere that a Carrera E-Subway was approaching 20,000 miles use with heavy commuting which is 5x the miles of this.

You would think replacement planetary gears would be available somewhere even if it takes weeks to get from abroad. Aliexpress, Alibaba etc. They are still making Suntour HESC drivetrains and Suntour normally provides spares for their products. You can normally get planetary gears for around £15 or less so even if they are £45 a rip off price it is still cost effective to keep an ebike on the road. I would pester Halfords for assistance even their HQ is necessary.