Returning my ebike to Decathlon tonight and here's why

[tillson]

i see what you mean re. the rear wheel nut and your weapon of choice, the `adjustable spanner`

View attachment 24347
however, could i introduce you to an item called the `Ring Spanner`??
Or how about purchasing a nice new shiny `Socket Set`

I thought the same thing when I read the original post. Those rear nuts can be pretty tight, sometimes in the order of 45NM. An adjustable spanner is not the correct tool for the job.

 

[Woosh]

Firstly, the back wheel is an absolute pig to remove. The rear mech rubs badly with the nuts that hold the wheel on the axle

you have to take the drive side nut out completely before pulling the wheel out of the dropout. Otherwise the wheel nut gets tangled against the derailleur hanger.

many people make that mistake the first time. Don't worry about it.

 

[DynatechFan]

Anyway taken the bike back to the shop and they just said they hoped I'd find a bike I like in the future

Wow! Cant decide if I am impressed with Decathlon, or gob smacked

My folks sold maybe 50,000 bikes over the years they were in the trade and would absolutely not do a full refund on a bike that had been used for months and done nearly a thousand miles. My guess would be something like 50% refund or 75% against another bike

Though I do remember one customer broke his bonded Titanium frame and he refused a 'like for like' exchange, insisting it was replaced with a fully welded Ti frame that cost >3x as much. Raleigh had a custom 853 frame made for him instead but he refused to have it (!) - I know this story well because it was a simply beautiful frame. I stilll have it, though my dad made me pay for it . . .

 

[rower]

I suppose that's the advantage of being a big operation like Decathlon, they've got the scale to absorb a small loss in this instance in the expectation that in the big picture and in the long run this approach will do them favours.

 

[Stumpi]

I suppose that's the advantage of being a big operation like Decathlon, they've got the scale to absorb a small loss in this instance in the expectation that in the big picture and in the long run this approach will do them favours.

I'm impressed with their customer service for sure

 

[soundwave]

if it was ebike shop you would loose 40% just buy taking it out the box and a roll round the living room.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

you have to take the drive side nut out completely before pulling the wheel out of the dropout. Otherwise the wheel nut gets tangled against the derailleur hanger.

Many people make that mistake the first time. Don't worry about it.

That's the same on most hub-motor bikes. It's no big deal. You just unscrew the nut a bit further with your fingers. It takes about 3 seconds. I can't see what you're complaining about. Most people would only take the wheel off once in the bike's lifetime to replace a tyre. Why did you take yours off?

 

[rower]

Took it off for thorough maintenance and cleaning. But when I own a bike I want to be able to do a tyre change on the roadside with relative ease. You can't see what I'm complaining about because you've never owned the bike!

 

[flecc]

Yes exactly, sadly I don't have a saddle bag that fits a socket set! Just baffles me that they didn't design it with being able to fix it with a regular compact toolset when on the roadside (or at least use the same size nuts on the front wheel?).

Most hub motors have to use a larger diameter spindle than the bicycle norms, hence the larger nut at the rear.

As for storing spanner length on the bike, chrome-vanadium hacksaws and files ok so they can be cut down to suit. This kit on one of mine shows shortened open and ring spanners to suit:

 

[anotherkiwi]

Are you using old boxer shorts as rags too?

 

[flecc]

Are you using old boxer shorts as rags too?

No, it was once a casual shirt.
.

 

[Crockers]

So you received a receipt for your bike. Did they say you'd get the full refund ?

I hope you do but will be amazed if the full amount appears in your bank.

I'm thinking of buying one and sending it back every 6 months and then buying a new one.

 

[Charliefox]

i see what you mean re. the rear wheel nut and your weapon of choice, the `adjustable spanner`

View attachment 24347
however, could i introduce you to an item called the `Ring Spanner`??
Or how about purchasing a nice new shiny `Socket Set`

I have a similar problem of a fiddly rear hub wheel removal and replacement even with proper ring spanners. So now I remove the rear disc caliper and the gear changer before loosening the hub nuts and easily removing the wheel. It may sound more work but is actually quicker and less chance the motor wiring gets caught up in the chain. I do use a slime filled inner tube to avoid punctures if possible though.

 

[rower]

So you received a receipt for your bike. Did they say you'd get the full refund ?

I hope you do but will be amazed if the full amount appears in your bank.

I'm thinking of buying one and sending it back every 6 months and then buying a new one.

Yes it quotes a full refund within 7 business days of my return of the bike to Decathlon.

Contrary to some of the snide, nasty posts in this thread this wasn't my master plan all along, I'm just not happy with it, and good on Decathlon for standing by their products so robustly.

Next bike is one of the 1980s steel framed hybrids lying around at home, will help me get fitter if nothing else. Getting up the home hill will be a bugger though!

 

[Danidl]

I have been reading your description of your woes with an increasing sense of disbelief. I am not one to use labels but the term snowflake comes to mind. Bearing in mind I have sons of your age....
1. To use an adjustable spanner vise grip etc is an insult to mechanical engineering, they always rip material from the nut and make it round. Spanner sets and ring spanners were developed for a reason.
2. Aluminium does not rust. Steel does.
3. It is very normal to have different diameter nuts and shafts on rear wheels than on front wheels. The back wheel has to withstand torque while the front one just need to rotate. Newton s laws etc.
4. An electric bicycle comprises three elements each of approx equal cost. A frame , a motor and a battery. Now if the entire bike cost 1000 then you have the mechanicals of a 300 quid machine.
5. There is only one test that any court would use.. was the product of merchantability quality and did it give good service?. To use a product for a year, and it is still operational , means it passed that test. User satisfaction or dissatisfaction is not a factor, ...
I could go on but will stop here. You suggested you weren't looking for sympathy, that's good...

 

[DynatechFan]

OP might want to update their profile sig which had been singing the praises of this bike. Guess their review will be (have been ) updated

 

[ianboydsnr]

Yes it quotes a full refund within 7 business days of my return of the bike to Decathlon.

Contrary to some of the snide, nasty posts in this thread this wasn't my master plan all along, I'm just not happy with it, and good on Decathlon for standing by their products so robustly.

Next bike is one of the 1980s steel framed hybrids lying around at home, will help me get fitter if nothing else. Getting up the home hill will be a bugger though!

Snide, nasty posts, not unexpected giving that your not even going to get an ebike that addresses the issues that you claim is the reason you returned the product.

 

[mike killay]

Sounds like a mega case of 'Buyers Remorse' to me.
Still, if that is the way Decathlon wish to do business, that is up to them.

 

[rower]

I am not one to use labels but the term snowflake comes to mind.

Perhaps you should read less Breitbart News and Daily Mail, stop listening to Katie Hopkins and Julia Hartley Brewer on the radio, and get a grip, then. Clearly my case for a return was good enough for Decathlon, but may you spend a happy life picking at posts on the internet wringing your hands about your terror of 'snowflakes' who don't go out riding with a socket set... Perhaps you can reminisce on the good old days when anyone could hang up a 'no blacks no dogs no Irish' signs or something? Just do it somewhere else and don't bother me about it.

 

[flecc]

Perhaps you can reminisce on the good old days when anyone could hang up a 'no blacks no dogs no Irish' signs or something?

. Danidl is from Ireland as you might have noticed had you looked.
.