independent e bike technician

[stevieb]

well i,m impressed Eddie ,

if you can ride down the terrian shown in your photos at any sort of speed on your hardtail emtb without any issues then you are a far better mountain biker than i am.
fair play to you.
if i could do that i would stick with the hardtail emtb and save spending money on a full sus emtb.
i have riden many trails around scotland on my non electric hardtail without much problem but if i try them on a hardtail emtb then i find it very harsh indeed.
(i have far better forks on my emtb)
i still use my emtb for light off roading but it just cannot compete (APPART FROM EFFORT REQUIRED! ) with my non electric bike which i now use for most of my more technical off roading.
i would like to continue using an ebike for mountainbiking and for me to ride the trails i currently do on my non ebike then i consider that a full susser has to be more suitable.

However i have given your comments some carefull consideration .
I am not as experienced as yourself when it comes to full sus emtbs and reading between the lines maybe a full sus emtb is not that much better than a hardtail and i would be disappointed ?
i have only limited experience of these full sussers after all.

Any thoughts on this ?

Thanks

 

[stevieb]

Overall I always recommend that that if entering e-biking, buy a hub motor if there's one that will meet your needs, and there are for the majority of users. Hub motor systems are cheaper, far more reliable, generally easy to repair and give the bicycle aspects like transmission a much easier life.

Thanks Flecc for all that info.
It is reassuring that motors can be built to a robust standard.
I couldn,t agree more with your comments re hub motors.
anyone looking to ebike without venturing too far off road would be advised to heed this.
the downside to hub motors , as you are aware, is for more serious off roading.
maybe thats something that could be explored more?
i know bultaco use hub motors but they are a different thing.

 

[EddiePJ]

Steve where are you based?

If it is in Sussex, you are more than welcome to try my bike.

I didn't really want to derail the thread any further than I already have, but I'll openly admit that there times where for my own use, a full suspension bike would certainly be more comfortable, and faster.
Oddly the comfort aspect isn't for when on rougher terrain, it is more when riding mid summer on the open South Downs, where speed is higher and the ground is covered by imprints left from livestock. The small for want of other wording 'stutter bumps' really don't do my back a lot of good.

The other occasion is when on group rides, and is quite evident that full suspension is both faster and smoother, and I am left catching up. When I ride a Full suspension bike, it is frequently the other way around. I tend to prefer to ride on my own, so this isn't really an issue for me.

Most of my riding time is spent at lower speed, exploring trails made by animals, stream beds, and very muddy and often technical terrain. When I owned both hardtail and full suspension eMTB's at the same time, the full suspension bike became used less and less, and in the end I just stopped using it altogether. At that time I was using a hardtail that had just 2.25 tyres, and when the full suspension bike sold, I also sold the hardtail, and bought a plus size with 2.8 tyres. The wider section size, and lower tyre pressure gave a good compromise over not having a full suspension bike.

Buying any eMTB is a tough choice, as there are just so many variables to think about, and the point that I was trying to make was that you don't have to rule out hard tails, but equally I would hate to steer someone in that direction and then have them be disappointed. My one suggestion is to try as many bikes as you possibly can, perhaps take advantage of the Rutlands 48hr demo offer, and then decided.

 

[Barrio Barranco]

Interesting thread this, living in the Scottish Highlands and having bought a KTM with CX drive from Merlin in Lancashire, what happens if I need a warranty claim?
The only KTM dealer I know of is 75 miles south in Perth and that's motorcycles only?
There are apparently local (Aviemore) Bosch trained shops but would they touch the bike?- maybe run a diagnostics? but if it was a faulty bearing grinding away would they, as Bosch representatives/dealers be obliged to remove the motor under warranty and send it to Magura?
Merlin say "Please note some items may need to be returned to the UK manufacturer/distributor for inspection/repair".....(Bosch parts)
Surely I'd be better removing the motor myself and sending it direct, I'm certainly not boxing up a bike and sending it back for them to do this....!
I think I'd probably enquire and if it was too much hassle just send it to the company who posted the excellent video on YouTube and offer varying levels of servicing to a full rebuild....
I'll need to learn more about replacing the main bearing that seems the main offender though and getting a spare one...rather not be sending anything away tbh.

 

[soundwave]

https://www.pro-cycling-golla.de/Antriebseinheit_Performance_CX_25_km/h.html

Only Performance CX can be exchanged for Performance CX engine.
If the e-bike is not yet 2 years old, we can also take over the warranty handling

 

[Barrio Barranco]

I'm sure Merlin would be fine under the need for a claim- probably send the motor to them and they'd send it to Magura but looks simple to remove and got all the necessary tools.

 

[soundwave]

it would be even more simple if we could send the motor to magura direct but thats not going to happen.

they like most will not deal with the public and only though dealers with accounts.

can be a problem if you buy 2nd hand then get a fault on even a new bike.

 

[stevieb]

thanks for the kind offer Eddie but i live in scotland , so not anywhere near you.
like you have suggested i will continue to try different bikes.
having ridden my emtb hardtail for a a couple of years now i was looking to change to full sus.
there are some amazing looking bikes out there but most are out of my price range so i will need to save up a while.
i don,t mind doing this but the bike has to be a long term proposition and not something that could be unusable while i get some cash together to pay for a new motor when its warranty runs out.
I also thought about getting a second hand bike , but this i feel is too risky as even if the warranty was transferable from the previous owner then the chances are that there would not be much time left on it.

having read all the replies to this subject it appears that the motors themselves are fairly well made .
maybe bearing failures being the main problem ?
so with this in mind it should not be too much of a risk for manufacturers to offer an extended warranty ?
this would help with the financial side but until local help is available then the chances are the bike would need to be sent somewhere.

like barrio barranco i also live in scotland , but near the dealer i bought the bike from.
when it stopped working i took it back to the shop .
they tried some fairly basic tests but eventually had to send it back to the importer.
the importer could not work out what the problem was so just replaced the whole motor under warranty.
I scored in a way as i got a new motor , but i would rather have not been without my bike for the weeks it was away.

So as i,ve said the reason i,ve resurrected this topic is to find out if its worth investing more money in this industry and spending quite a lot of money (for me anyway) or if i should hold off until like Flecc said there is a better infrastructure like in the netherlands ( or something acceptable) in place.

After hearing about my past issues more than a few people i know are of the same opinion and are holding off before buying their next ebike.
Many first time buyers will be unaware of these issues and hopefully will not have to deal with any.
If they knew would they be as keen buy in the first place?
I am in the fortunate position of already owning an emtb so i can wait .
I have also started using non electric mtbs again so that i have something to fall back on if i have any problems .

I will carry on with the bikes i have at the moment and by the time i have saved up enough maybe the situation will be better for me.

 

[Barrio Barranco]

My choice of E-Mtb was a kind of, err, impulse buy luxury item if I'm honest (on a new 28 month 0% credit card which is now like a lengthy loan) But I now work 1.5 miles from the house and am currently waiting on new discs and pads to arrive for my Combo van which is due it's MOT end of January and which I think I should sell as i only do 2-3,000 miles a year- it is now an expensive luxury (£240 tax and £150 insurance) which has got to the age (9yrs) where it is becoming that white elephant and god knows what huge bill or breakdown awaits me! If I sell the van I sell the trailer for it. I used to sea kayak a lot but rarely do these days so thinking on all that kit for sale too...keep 2 scabby old kayaks for a toodle on Loch Insh/Spey (400m from the house, make a wee kayak trailer for the bike or put them on the missuses car roof). My next thoughts were to convert one of my conventional bikes to E-bike to use as a road bike with panniers etc should I need to go into town even on a windy day it would be a doddle....

 

[flecc]

The only KTM dealer I know of is 75 miles south in Perth and that's motorcycles only?

KTM motorcycles and bicycles are two separate companies and that motorcycle dealer wouldn't handle anything on the bicycle side.

KTM bicycles are handled in the UK by FLIdistribution who are pedelecs.co.uk members and you'd need to contact them for advice on dealers etc.
.