Help! Volt Infinity LS or Cube Town RT Hybrid Exc 500?

[ismangil]

At first I was set in my mind to look for only Bosch motors. In Sheffield, Cube dealer is JE James which I know well having bought several (non-electric) bikes over the past two years.

Then as I was looking through Shimano system, Volt Infinity LS seems a nice package too, similar price range... The dealer in Sheffield Langsett Cycles is a long time bike shop (though I've never been a customer).

So, Shimano Steps E6100 (Alfine 8) vs Bosch Performance Gen3 (Nexus 8) - any thoughts??

 

[Trek]

Hi I have the Volt Axis with same Shimano Steps and gear system and am very impressed with machine and Volt back up , dealer to me local. Crank drive super easy as is gear changes. Excellent on hills and very good battery range. Bike specs and build excellent. Cannot comment on Bosch never used one.

 

[Nealh]

We hear quite a lot about Bosch and issues though given the ten's of thousands of bikes sold I doubt the known actual failure figures are known.
Shimano we haven't heard of many issues yet with but guess if a web search was carried they may crop up. Like Bosch any issue and the dealer will have to refer it back to the manufacturer for warranty repair/replacement.
The Alfine is a refinement over the Nexus and is a bit more robust, the former is grease lubricated and the latter oil.

 

[TedG]

I have owned a Volt Infinity for over four years.
Due to the infamous Northern Ireland debacle regarding "mopeds" I have only been able to put less than 2,000 light miles on it.
As an ex-auto engineer in a past life I can say that it is excellently engineered and the features are top class especially the Alfine 11 gears. Very smooth and rewarding to use. Overall build quality excellent and brakes superb.
However the Shimano Steps motor has been troublesome in that it had to be torqued up once at 1,000 miles approx as it appeared to be coming apart!
It had also come loose in the cradle and that was remedied by the dealer.
I had used it only on cycle paths, decent(ish) roads and tarmac tow paths.
It has never seen rain, grass or mud.
At 1,300 miles it began showing the same symptoms accompanied by what I would interpret as a bearing "whine".
I spoke to Volt who were "rather busy" apparently at that time which was during the demand for bikes at the beginning of the virus.
I took it to a local Shimano specialist as the dealer was also "too busy" (and it was out of warranty despite being forced into little use over the first 1,000 miles.)
The specialist re-torqued the motor but shortly after I noticed that there was still some axial (lateral) play in the crank.
Now at 1,450 miles the play has increased and the whine continues.
I know enough to be unhappy so I will continue to use it and monitor it until the winter months when I intend taking it back to the dealers and requesting that he follow Volt's later recommendations to send the motor back to them for inspection / repair / replacement.
I will be interested in what cost would be directed at me as the initial fault was reported while the bike was still in the 2 year warranty period.
Otherwise the motor was excellent giving more than enough power for normal leisure use by a pensioner with several health issues.
30 mile days were no problem and my back gave out well before the battery which usually showed 12 - 16 miles left.
Because of my limitations I was using max assist 80% of the time.
Would I recommend an Infinity at this stage?
I would need a conclusion to the motor issues before I would do that.
My wife has a Volt Pulse which has been faultless.

 

[ismangil]

Would I recommend an Infinity at this stage?
I would need a conclusion to the motor issues before I would do that.
My wife has a Volt Pulse which has been faultless.

Very useful, thank you very much. It does reinforce my notion local dealer support is essential in any ebike purchase!

The Volt Pulse is using a totally different motor system - good that's it's reliable yet worrisome it's proprietary

 

[Samcycles]

I have a 2019 Cube Town hybrid SL 500 with Bosch ALP and the nexus 8 with Di2 shift. I've had no issues so far and am very happy with the bike. I researched a long time before buying and ALL ebike motors have problems, the ebr forum had lots of information on known issues with all the main players. What makes a difference is how the manufacturer deals with the issue. From what I read Bosch, Shamano and Yamaha seem to take their faulty motors back and replace with new as a general rule. Trans X motors had a lot of issues a couple of years back with 2016/17 model mid drive that they generally sorted them with updated replacement too. How they deal with issues post warranty will be what really matters. A good LBS who has trained ebike mechanics will be very handy whichever you decide on.

 

[ismangil]

I have a 2019 Cube Town hybrid SL 500 with Bosch ALP and the nexus 8 with Di2 shift.

A good LBS who has trained ebike mechanics will be very handy whichever you decide on.

The 2021 version is now manual shifter

Very true on local dealers. That's why I'm focusing on just these two motors, dealers here seems qualified. I'm staying away from proprietary motors for now...