More ebike woes

[RobF]

I really dont like naming and shaming as I'm sure for every one bad review they have 10 good ones, but its only fair people are aware of what can go wrong.

Anyone who has travelled the Trans Pennine Trail between Manchester and Warrington will know them.

Devereaux Cycles.

Anyone reading the thread will conclude you are a reasonable man who just wants his bike fixed in a timely manner.

There are still a handful of bike shop proprietors who seem to get off on being rude to customers.

The bike trade remains a strange one in some respects.

 

[Steve A]

I've lost total faith in my local bike shops. Now use a local lad, one man band working from van and does a lot of support for local bike clubs / races. He's not perfect, but i'ma bit anal and prefer to do work myself where possible.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

One guy got lucky. He rang up Kudos about getting his Safari fixed because it wasn't working, As he lived not too far from me, they suggested that they give me a ring. They brought the bike over and left the bike with me for a day, and got the following;

Two broken spokes in the rear wheel replaced;
All the spokes re-tensioned and the wheel trued;
Motor cable sealed;
Melted motor connectors fixed;
Broken display bypassed (He only used throttle and level 1, so no change);
Brakes adjusted;
All cables oiled;
Chain oiled;
Battery tested;
Seized forks freed off and lubricated;

That was about 5 hours work. It didn't cost him a penny.

I was surprised about how much torque that bike had. Maybe it had had a shunt mod, which would explain the melted motor wires, but the controller looked untouched and the motor didn't feel strained. Anyway, it was very easy to pedal up my 14% test hill. Maybe it just has a low speed motor winding.

 

[soundwave]

i bet you cant fix what is wrong with my bike

 

[Deleted member 4366]

i bet you cant fix what is wrong with my bike

Yes, bikes I can fix, but not the riders!

 

[soundwave]

its to slow its to heavy and it dont go far enough.

it has to be under 15kg.

have a top speed of 100mph

and sustain that speed for 150 miles.

got a link

 

[awol]

I've just been helping a guy with his gears. He paid £200 for a new bottom bracket and rear mech, but found afterwards that he couldn't get all the gears.

I wish I lived near you, I recently changed my entire drive/gear system of:-
Rear gear cable, chain, front cogs, cassette, jockey wheels.
And now I have to change down/up 2 or 3 speeds at a time to change a speed, then quickly change up/down the other way to get it to stay in that gear, or sometimes it jumps to the next cog on it's own.
Got any good links to a guide on how to set it up from the beginning if I undo everything, I tried following a youtube video but only got to where I am now not understanding why it won't work.
My only thought is could be the derailleur spring is too worn now?

 

[Nealh]

Yes, bikes I can fix, but not the riders!

Brilliant .

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I wish I lived near you, I recently changed my entire drive/gear system of:-
Rear gear cable, chain, front cogs, cassette, jockey wheels.
And now I have to change down/up 2 or 3 speeds at a time to change a speed, then quickly change up/down the other way to get it to stay in that gear, or sometimes it jumps to the next cog on it's own.
Got any good links to a guide on how to set it up from the beginning if I undo everything, I tried following a youtube video but only got to where I am now not understanding why it won't work.
My only thought is could be the derailleur spring is too worn now?

There's various youtube vids on how to do it. Watch at least three because they often miss important things.

Basically, put in top gear; adjust the end-stop screw; adjust the cable clamp until the cable just takes up the tension( cable tension adjuster/s screwed right in); press the changer to go down one gear; adjust the cable tension until that one gear changes properly; pull it all the way to bottom gear and adjust the end-stop; check the position of the upper jockey wheel that should just have a bit of clearance from the first gear; adjust it with the screw behind the axle; check that all the gears change properly; make fine adjustments to the cable tension if they don't.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Well, Devereaux Cycles Lymm

What can I say.

They deleted my review, after they had posted some interesting replies to mine, which they deleted immediately after posting, calling me a liar about the damage.
I have screenshots.

To cap it all, the day after I also found paintwork damage around the stem area which in my mind was done by a bike stand grip. It certainly wasnt there before I took it into them.

Then today, I give the bike a full check over, and find the gear cable is not fitted correctly and is brushing against the crank. Starting to fray, a couple more days and it would have gone no doubt.

And they have the audacity to post on their page that they will no longer service cheap electric bikes due to the poor quality of the components!!

Well and truly fuming with these cowboys.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Jeez, that's bad. no wonder they had trouble with the gears.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Is it possible that the paint damage on the stem is caused by cable rub? Maybe I missed it before, and started looking for things after it came back from the shop

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Is it possible that the paint damage on the stem is caused by cable rub? Maybe I missed it before, and started looking for things after it came back from the shop

Yes.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Yes.

OK, humble pie served up for that one then!

 

[RobF]

Almost certainly cable rub, which can happen on any bike regardless of price.

You can get frame protector stickers, although it's a bit late now.

I see the bike looks a bit grubby.

No mechanic likes working on a dirty bike, so I always present mine clean.

Easier for me than you, because I only ride my bikes one or twice a week.

A wash, or at least a wipe, after every ride is the way to do it.

Although I would struggle to motivate myself to do that after a day's toil.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Yes, it was spanking clean that morning I left for work. An hour later and it was plastered in mud....so it was like that when I stopped at the bike shop on my way home when the problems started, so not much I could do to hide the embarrassment of the muck at the time

As a rule it always gets a wipe down at the end of each day as it lives in the hallway, and a proper wash every weekend.

 

[RobF]

It's a shame the shop has gone to such great lengths to disguise their ineptitude.

While I'm not the biggest fan of this type of bike, it is just that, a budget bike, apart from the electrics.

There's no reason why they shouldn't be able to fettle the brakes and gears, and they will have push bikes of similar quality in every day.

Spa Cycles in Harrogate, a legend in touring circles, refuses to work on 'Chinese bikes'.

That's another shop with a famously, er, individual attitude to customer service.

Although they get away with it because they are very good at their chosen market niche.

As ebikes become slowly more popular, the shop you went to may find they will be turning away more work than they would like.

 

[soundwave]

if they cant even mount the gear cable in the right place then id not take a expensive bike in there it be fooked worse than halfords hack job.

given the amount of time they had the bike there is no reason to do that as that cable is now also shot.

 

[Woosh]

A wash, or at least a wipe, after every ride is the way to do it.

that's true but.. The underside of the bottom bracket area will always collect a lot of mud and is exposed to water. The best way is to make sure that no electronics will be exposed and no cable left unprotected. Like a totally sealed pedal sensor. A good design would avoid the problem in the first place. Here is the underside of the Woosh Zephyr-2017.

 

[RobF]

Exposed pedal sensors - how quaint.

Only kidding, I'm sure your remarks on the care of this type of ebike are sound.