Cube Reaction hardwork

[pebblebed]

My wife has just upgraded cube reaction pro 625 and is having issues. The dealer is saying that it is her riding style.
Basically the bike is very hard work the assist will not kick in until she is pedalling at a fast pace.
Background she is waiting for knee replacement so rides sitting down and I have to be careful with this bit! she is a larger lady.
Before this she had a axcess camaruge (cheap import eMTB) but it did her well for 7K miles over 2 years. She has also ridden other hire eMTB' on holiday no problem.
But fundamentally she has now bought a bike that she cannot use. Dealer is being difficult. It was sold as lots of power to get you up the hills.
Advice sought. Is this expected behaviour of bosch cx powered bike? Or is it faulty
Many Thanks

 

[soundwave]

assist should kick in with a peddle turn and on my bike with a cx gen 2 motor in turbo you have to be careful going through u shaped bollards.

i take it there are no error codes on the display and the wheel size is set to the right size wheel but it can only be out a few % or will get a 503 error.

did they try a firmware update to the motor and display, or try another display on that motor or let her try a another bike with the same motor and see if she has the same problem?

could also be a faulty speed sensor did they replace that ?

 

[sjpt]

That doesn't sound right. One advantage of the torque sensor Bosch (and other) bikes is that the motor should take up immediately you push on the pedal.

What it might not do is give assistance at cruising speed with no input from her, a basic speed or current based sensor on a more basic bike is better for that.

 

[saneagle]

My wife has just upgraded cube reaction pro 625 and is having issues. The dealer is saying that it is her riding style.
Basically the bike is very hard work the assist will not kick in until she is pedalling at a fast pace.
Background she is waiting for knee replacement so rides sitting down and I have to be careful with this bit! she is a larger lady.
Before this she had a axcess camaruge (cheap import eMTB) but it did her well for 7K miles over 2 years. She has also ridden other hire eMTB' on holiday no problem.
But fundamentally she has now bought a bike that she cannot use. Dealer is being difficult. It was sold as lots of power to get you up the hills.
Advice sought. Is this expected behaviour of bosch cx powered bike? Or is it faulty
Many Thanks

The power should kick in immediately she starts pedalling, so if it doesn't do that, it's faulty. These crank-drive bikes aren't nearly as easy to ride as hub-motored bikes. You need to be in the right gear all the time and you need to pedal at around 80 rpm. I'd say that it's totally the wrong bike for her. When you pay more money, you don't get a better bike. What's better or best depends on you and what you want to do with the bike.

It might be an idea to get the bike checked by another Bosch dealer.

 

[AndyBike]

On the quality industry leader of Ebike motors, power is pretty much instant even on a partial turn of the cranks. Certainly sounds like something is very amiss.

Being new, you have the guarantee and just hold firm for a refund or replacement. The dealer has no leg to stand on.

 

[Az.]

My wife has just upgraded cube reaction pro 625 and is having issues. The dealer is saying that it is her riding style.

If dealer says bike is not suitable for your wife, then simply ask for refund and buy Wisper/Woosh bike. There is no point to spend so much money and feel miserable. On my cheap bike assistance is instantaneous and I can ghost pedal if I feel lazy.

 

[saneagle]

If dealer says bike is not suitable for your wife, then simply ask for refund and buy Wisper/Woosh bike. There is no point to spend so much money and feel miserable. On my cheap bike assistance is instantaneous and I can ghost pedal if I feel lazy.

That's a good point. when a shop sells you something it has to be fit for purpose. That's your purpose, not theirs. The obligation is on them to make sure that it meets your requirements. Next time you see them, just mention that you have an appointment with Citizens Advice next week to see what you can do to sort it out.

 

[matthewslack]

It would be straightforward for anyone who has their own torque sensor bike to have a quick ride on your wife's bike and give an informed opinion. And the dealer will know immediately from their experience of many bikes if it is behaving as it should. I would not rule out them being right about the bike.

The only circumstance in which my Shimano bike behaves as you describe is when I try to pull away in too high a gear. Assistance is instant, but only if the motor is turning fast enough. Otherwise there is nothing until either I change down, or my cadence is fast enough.

I have never measured it, but my sense is that 45 degrees of pedal rotation is enough, and cadence only needs to reach 50 or so, less than 1rpm, before I am away.

Try the pulling away behaviour in bottom gear and maximum assist. Does that solve it?

There are two non-negotiable demands on the rider on these torque sensor bikes. First and vital to understand is that 'the rider must always contribute'. There is no ghost pedalling. Even the top end Bosch is only contributing 400% of rider effort. 400% of nothing is nothing. So a rider who cannot contribute will feel the bike is hard to ride.

Second is managing the gears. Especially for lower physical ability riders. The rider must change down when stopping. You cannot just pull away in top gear and expect the motor to cope. It won't, and the bike will seem hard to ride.

 

[cyclebuddy]

Before this she had a axcess camaruge (cheap import eMTB) but it did her well

I think most here are missing the bleedin' obvious. As far as I can tell from google, the Axcess Camargue is a rear hub, cadence sensor e-bike. You only need to turn the pedals to make the motor work, even just gently.

My wife has just upgraded cube reaction pro 625 and is having issues.

That's a torque sensor e-bike. You need to apply PRESSURE TO THE PEDALS to make it work.

Background she is waiting for knee replacement.

That makes your choice of a torque sensor e-bike wholly unsuitable for her.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

I would agree with others this is completely the wrong ebike for her. Something like a Wisper ebike with a throttle would be much easier and safer and mechanically much simpler too so should last longer. The Cube looks like a decent enough mid-drive hybrid bike with basic x-fusion forks but really for someone with existing fitness who wants to get up steep hills more easily. I can't see a person with a knee issue wanting to provide strong pedal pressure and a high cadence to get the best out of that motor. Plenty of bike shops around here only sell high end mid-drive ebikes so no surprise that is what they sell to people even if completely wrong for many applications. You don't go into a Rolls Royce dealership looking for a compact hybrid or hands on sports car. To a degree you have to choose the right shop for your type of purchase and that is true of bike shops too. The only shops around here that have a wide range of bikes including ebikes is Evans and Halfords and Halfords aren't so good for high end ebikes compared to Evans.

 

[enrili]

The problem is clearly not your wife's riding style. If the dealer denies everything, contact Cube support and report the problem.

 

[matthewslack]

The problem is clearly not your wife's riding style. If the dealer denies everything, contact Cube support and report the problem.

Have you read the thread?