Haibike sDuro HardSeven SL 2015 Yamaha 10 year Update.
Taken today with the new transmission and front wheel in evidence.
View from the other side
Transmission
I said in my 9 year update which I posted on March the 29th 2024 that," I fitted a new transmission on the 17th of March 2023, with new Cassette, chain ring, chain, and jockey wheels, as well as a thorough clean of the rear Mech. I put a new chain on at some point during 2023 when the first on reached .5 and then have run through the Winter on that second chain. It is now stretched beyond the point that I can put a new chain on, and i will just run this until I judge it time to change everything. It is still working well, with no skipping under load, but I will need to change everything probably quite soon. This transmission is over a year old now and has around 1,450 miles on it, which includes a high proportion of off road miles, which from my perspective as a heavy rider is a respectable mileage to reach".
Well quite remarkably that well worn transmission lasted another year and two years in total. I have just changed it and noted that even by my own wear it till it drops off standards it was very knackered. As previously when I change the transmission it entails a new chain ring, chain, rear cassette, and new jockey wheels. It all looks lovely with nice crisp changes. It will get as hard a life as all my previous transmissions, so this newness will not last long.
Out in the snow
Battery
Well the startling news is that on the 9th of September 2024, I bought a new battery and charger for the bike. The old battery did not fail, but the old charger did.
As I had needed to replace the old battery and charger connections myself when they had failed around the 26th of April 2018, and the new charger came with the Yamaha proprietary connectors. I could not therefore attach the new charger to the old battery.
I thought I could buy the correct Yamaha connectors for my old battery from ebay, but had to return the connectors I bought after two attempted purchases when they proved not to be able to connect to my new charger. I contemplated buying a generic Yamaha charger to swap the non standard connecter I had used from my old charger over to, so as to allow me to charge the old battery, but would have had to spend a hundred pounds on that new generic charger with every possibility of not connecting it correctly and wasting my money. So the old battery came out of service after 9 and a half years. A slightly ignominious end as the old battery shows a 70% charge and was working perfectly up until my old charger died.
I bought the new charger and battery from the bike shop I bought my bike from (Ebike shop Farnham) ,and which were in stock and able to be bought straight away. So no waiting around or lack of availability for a battery/charger combination that is no longer used by Yamaha for a bike that is ten years old.
I may have another go at finding a charging solution for my old battery, but for now am just enjoying riding my bike using my new battery and charger.
Motor
I said last year that I had my motor refurbished by Peter at Performance line bearings around the 18th of November 2022 . It continues to work brilliantly. As all experienced crank drive riders know, keeping water out of the motor is key to its longevity. I had one ride on the tow path of the River Wey where I live where to river had in places flooded the tow path. Turning around where you could not see the junction between the river and the tow path was problematic so I carried on to the next place I could exit the tow path. In places my feet were well into the water at the bottom of the pedal stroke. It seems I have got away with that escapade, but time will tell.
Wear and Tear
I am still running the Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35, run tubeless on the rear that I fitted on the on the 7th of December 2023. I do a lot of off road riding and find it reassuringly tough with good grip.
I had been keeping an eye on the wheel bearings of my front wheel as they were showing signs of getting to the end of their life. I had paired this front wheel with a part worn Schwalbe Smart Sam plus tyre I found in the garage. The wheel bearing eventually failed a week or so ago. They are not ones you can replace. Again from my garage I found an Alexrims wheel that I had put on my KTM650B analogue hard tail bike, when I had used its front wheel on my Haibike. So I have put the Alexrims wheel on my Haibike and the worn out bearing wheel on The KTM until I get a replacement. I can easily swap the front wheels over if I fancy a non electric ride on The KTM.
One embarrassing part of this saga was that the tyre on the Alexrims wheel was flat and the valve of the presta valve tube seized solid. I tried freeing it up with some WD40 but the following tap from a hammer did not go well. Easy enough at that point to put a new tube in you would have thought. Anyway I just could not get the tyre of the rim. I was getting to the point of potentially using a flat head screwdriver. Not a good idea. Anyway I took the wheel over to a bike shop I really like, and to my embarrassment, the guy just squeezed the tyre off the rim with his thumbs. I must be a wimp. They put some new rim tape on as they said that was not helping and a tube and I drove back and put it on the bike.
I changed both the front and rear brake pads in mid January.
Conclusion
At the age the bike has reached now I almost did not post an update as these updates are now more for me than much use to anyone else. But I thought I would anyway as the anniversary of my purchase comes around again.
Very much the same as last year with a lot of great fitness/ leisure rides, but also a regular cross country ride to shop at The Lidl in Guildford as my town does not have one. Once laden up with shopping I ride to Guildford Railway station and get the train back to my home town Godalming and ride back to my house from the Station. So as I said last year the bike is proving to be a tough, capable and very durable machine. It had good entry level components when I bought it which have stood up very well to a lot of use. The brakes and front forks are still functioning well. I think a nine speed transmission is a sweet spot choice for a crank drive you intend to ride a lot as it has a reasonable range of gears and is very economical when you need to replace parts. The biggest change I made to the bike was to fit a much better and much stronger hand built rear wheel. As I age I keep pondering the question of whether I will I wear out before the bike and noted the degenerative arthritis to both knees and also have meniscal injuries to both knees, and that the bike is looking a stronger bet than me! At least I now need an electric bike!
Well so far so good and my knees are holding up fine. I even went skiing in January with my young son and had a great time. Just reds and blues but I had a fabulous time and will definitely go again if I get the chance.
However this year unlike the previous ones I have had to spend a bit of money on the bike replacing my battery and charger.
Taken today with the new transmission and front wheel in evidence.
View from the other side
Transmission
I said in my 9 year update which I posted on March the 29th 2024 that," I fitted a new transmission on the 17th of March 2023, with new Cassette, chain ring, chain, and jockey wheels, as well as a thorough clean of the rear Mech. I put a new chain on at some point during 2023 when the first on reached .5 and then have run through the Winter on that second chain. It is now stretched beyond the point that I can put a new chain on, and i will just run this until I judge it time to change everything. It is still working well, with no skipping under load, but I will need to change everything probably quite soon. This transmission is over a year old now and has around 1,450 miles on it, which includes a high proportion of off road miles, which from my perspective as a heavy rider is a respectable mileage to reach".
Well quite remarkably that well worn transmission lasted another year and two years in total. I have just changed it and noted that even by my own wear it till it drops off standards it was very knackered. As previously when I change the transmission it entails a new chain ring, chain, rear cassette, and new jockey wheels. It all looks lovely with nice crisp changes. It will get as hard a life as all my previous transmissions, so this newness will not last long.
Out in the snow
Battery
Well the startling news is that on the 9th of September 2024, I bought a new battery and charger for the bike. The old battery did not fail, but the old charger did.
As I had needed to replace the old battery and charger connections myself when they had failed around the 26th of April 2018, and the new charger came with the Yamaha proprietary connectors. I could not therefore attach the new charger to the old battery.
I thought I could buy the correct Yamaha connectors for my old battery from ebay, but had to return the connectors I bought after two attempted purchases when they proved not to be able to connect to my new charger. I contemplated buying a generic Yamaha charger to swap the non standard connecter I had used from my old charger over to, so as to allow me to charge the old battery, but would have had to spend a hundred pounds on that new generic charger with every possibility of not connecting it correctly and wasting my money. So the old battery came out of service after 9 and a half years. A slightly ignominious end as the old battery shows a 70% charge and was working perfectly up until my old charger died.
I bought the new charger and battery from the bike shop I bought my bike from (Ebike shop Farnham) ,and which were in stock and able to be bought straight away. So no waiting around or lack of availability for a battery/charger combination that is no longer used by Yamaha for a bike that is ten years old.
I may have another go at finding a charging solution for my old battery, but for now am just enjoying riding my bike using my new battery and charger.
Motor
I said last year that I had my motor refurbished by Peter at Performance line bearings around the 18th of November 2022 . It continues to work brilliantly. As all experienced crank drive riders know, keeping water out of the motor is key to its longevity. I had one ride on the tow path of the River Wey where I live where to river had in places flooded the tow path. Turning around where you could not see the junction between the river and the tow path was problematic so I carried on to the next place I could exit the tow path. In places my feet were well into the water at the bottom of the pedal stroke. It seems I have got away with that escapade, but time will tell.
Wear and Tear
I am still running the Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35, run tubeless on the rear that I fitted on the on the 7th of December 2023. I do a lot of off road riding and find it reassuringly tough with good grip.
I had been keeping an eye on the wheel bearings of my front wheel as they were showing signs of getting to the end of their life. I had paired this front wheel with a part worn Schwalbe Smart Sam plus tyre I found in the garage. The wheel bearing eventually failed a week or so ago. They are not ones you can replace. Again from my garage I found an Alexrims wheel that I had put on my KTM650B analogue hard tail bike, when I had used its front wheel on my Haibike. So I have put the Alexrims wheel on my Haibike and the worn out bearing wheel on The KTM until I get a replacement. I can easily swap the front wheels over if I fancy a non electric ride on The KTM.
One embarrassing part of this saga was that the tyre on the Alexrims wheel was flat and the valve of the presta valve tube seized solid. I tried freeing it up with some WD40 but the following tap from a hammer did not go well. Easy enough at that point to put a new tube in you would have thought. Anyway I just could not get the tyre of the rim. I was getting to the point of potentially using a flat head screwdriver. Not a good idea. Anyway I took the wheel over to a bike shop I really like, and to my embarrassment, the guy just squeezed the tyre off the rim with his thumbs. I must be a wimp. They put some new rim tape on as they said that was not helping and a tube and I drove back and put it on the bike.
I changed both the front and rear brake pads in mid January.
Conclusion
At the age the bike has reached now I almost did not post an update as these updates are now more for me than much use to anyone else. But I thought I would anyway as the anniversary of my purchase comes around again.
Very much the same as last year with a lot of great fitness/ leisure rides, but also a regular cross country ride to shop at The Lidl in Guildford as my town does not have one. Once laden up with shopping I ride to Guildford Railway station and get the train back to my home town Godalming and ride back to my house from the Station. So as I said last year the bike is proving to be a tough, capable and very durable machine. It had good entry level components when I bought it which have stood up very well to a lot of use. The brakes and front forks are still functioning well. I think a nine speed transmission is a sweet spot choice for a crank drive you intend to ride a lot as it has a reasonable range of gears and is very economical when you need to replace parts. The biggest change I made to the bike was to fit a much better and much stronger hand built rear wheel. As I age I keep pondering the question of whether I will I wear out before the bike and noted the degenerative arthritis to both knees and also have meniscal injuries to both knees, and that the bike is looking a stronger bet than me! At least I now need an electric bike!
Well so far so good and my knees are holding up fine. I even went skiing in January with my young son and had a great time. Just reds and blues but I had a fabulous time and will definitely go again if I get the chance.
However this year unlike the previous ones I have had to spend a bit of money on the bike replacing my battery and charger.
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