What have you learned from your e-bike experiences?

[Base]

DON"T CALL ME A TROLL!!!

Velotric Go 1 Spokes Sheared Off at Hub!

So today I decided to do some upkeep on my Velotric Go 1 - Tire Pressure - Lube Chain & Gears - and Wipe Down with damp rag. Then I noticed I have 8 Broken Spokes on the right side of the rear hub. I put Blue Painters Tape on each of the broken spokes to make them easier to see. There are 36...

ebikesforum.com

It's all here

Just read the opening post with the pictures. I would count on my service colleagues to come to the conclusion that this rearwheel indeed would have been ridden over a longer period with a to low spoke tension. Based on where the spokes broke (elbow on trailing spokes on the Drive side).

How many km did you ride with this bike? And did the bike get a first tuneup in around 500Km ridden to check all bolton parts and things like cables tension and spoke tension.

Besides the non-warranty, we would discus this cases with our dealer who would have made the call the file a ticket. Usually we settle this with a good will gesture, so shipping some spokes if needed and a workshop fee to replace spokes and to get the customer back in the workshop to get the spoke tension checkt in 200Km. The other spokes on the Drive Side are likely to give some more broken ones as they have been beaten up. (Thats why we would send a lot more spokes just to cover that)

And yes in those wheels with a motor in it spoke tension is crucial, get it checked once in a while, especially the first checkup is important (usually around 500Km ridden)

If the D2C brand did not give you this advice that would be a shame and Sorry for the support for this call from the brand.

 

[Underdog]

I can only imagine with 8 broken spokes that rear wheel must have been wobbling bad, luckily no one got hurt. Velotric really needs to get this corrected, refusing to fix warranty claims is a recipe for disaster with future return business. I own 2 Velotric bikes and they have been awesome, no issues.

 

[stompandgo]

I did not see that post because it is on another forum. Blasting the company all over the internet does not help your case.

If this bike had come into our Velotric dealership, I would want to know exactly why Velotric would not replace the wheel under warranty. We are only getting half of the story. If they had a good reason, and the bike was bought from us, then we would find a goodwill solution to make it right. Since the bike was bought direct, all we can do is advocate for the customer.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Another thing I've learned from riding in a place crawling with ebikes: People have all kinds of reasons for riding them — utility, pure transportation, pleasure, fitness, bum knees and other physical limitations, etc.

As long as they're riding responsibly, who am I to say that they should be putting effort into the pedals or riding a certain kind of ebike?

Utility and transportation seem to the main reasons in my hilly area. And for those riders, throttling around and ghost-pedaling seem to be norm. Most are on RadRunner-like cadence-sensing 20" fat-tire hub-drives with throttles.

Yes, they're using their ebikes like motorcycles or scooters. So what? Nearly all of those ebikes represent a car not on the road and fossil fuel not burned.

Isn't car replacement what we all want?

 

[Slaphappygamer]

I saw a kid, on a Radrunner, pedaling with all his efforts up a hill. He had a girl on the rear seat. They were all smiles while I passed them. So they were having fun with it. Well, she was anyway. lol.

I can only imagine he learned that even though his battery gauge showed 2, of 5 bars, that the battery will sag while going up hill with a heavy load and cut off power to the bike.

I’m very confident he will be sure to think ahead and have proper charge for the riding he will be doing the next day. At least maybe his passenger might remind him.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I saw a kid, on a Radrunner, pedaling with all his efforts up a hill. He had a girl on the rear seat.

Lots of young teen girls riding their own ebikes here in coastal SoCal — often with another girl on back, clearly enjoying being out and about on their own. Nearly always with helmets.

Overall, the safest riders I see here, adults included. Don't get me started about some of their male counterparts.

 

[Slaphappygamer]

Oh yea. They both had helmets. I thought that was cool. Helmets look good with bikes. It’s odd when I see one without the other, but sometimes there is good reason. Most people I’ve seen on a 20” fat tire bike like that was 3. Only the rider had a helmet.

My kid rides a radrunner. I noticed, one day, one of the foot pegs was down. So I asked, “are you giving someone a ride”. They said yes. So I grabbed an old extra helmet and strapped it to the rear seat. “Here you go, now your friend can have a helmet too.” They were good with that. I see the helmet strapped in different ways, so I know someone is using it. They are learning. They are being very good about letting me know when the bike needs to be worked on.

A couple of (12-14 years old maybe) boys jam around on surron style bikes. They have full face helmets. They do wheelies and ride in the street all willy nilly like. They are not safe. I’m sure they will learn, one day, that a helmet alone may not save you from bodily injury. Time will tell.

I used to work with a guy who thought he was indestructible when he has a safety vest on. I’m like “Dude, watch the traffic, not me!”. I don’t work with him any more. He had a hard time learning and would argue with me. It wasn’t just me, some of the other guys refused to help him because of his arguing.

I’ve learned so much from owning my ebike in the last 4-5 years. I’m very confident around e-bikes now. I know they are all different, but at their core, they are all the same. I’ve fixed a couple of e-scooters as well. Those are very similar too.

I’m taking on a conversion now. I am my own customer. A friend of mine gave me his ebike stash, since he will be retiring and is clearing out space. He gave me his front AND rear hub motors. They are both 48v 1000w motors already laced into a 26” rim.

I have an old EVG 24v bike that looks like it could handle having dual motors. The frame is very sturdy and in good shape since it was in an attic for 20 years. I’ve seen others update this bike from 400W brushed motor to 1000W brushless motor. They also install a larger chainring. So they can pedal the bike up to 30mph, with motor assist. So, when I’m feeling better, I’ll get cranking on this. I have the front motor sitting in the fork now. Got to get some hardware before I can call that wheel “DONE”, but I’ll have to be patient. This will be fun.

As the bike is geared now, pedaling over 12 mph does absolutely nothing. You can’t get in a gear that will let you go faster. The 24v 400w motor won’t help you either. You’re just ghost pedaling at 12mph. It’s ridiculous, so I’ll be learning about gearing.

 

[Senior_Cruiser]

I read that thread. Wow. Thats quite an escapade. Glad you didn’t get hurt on that thing. It’s awesome that the dealer is advocating for you and working the phones/emails.

Despite the Dealer's efforts Velotric is still refusing to do anything.

 

[Senior_Cruiser]

I can only imagine with 8 broken spokes that rear wheel must have been wobbling bad, luckily no one got hurt. Velotric really needs to get this corrected, refusing to fix warranty claims is a recipe for disaster with future return business. I own 2 Velotric bikes and they have been awesome, no issues.

I've had 3 other things break on my Velotric and since they were relatively minor I didn't even bother to contact them.

However having 8 Spokes break all on the same side of the rear hub and not on the left side and not on the front indicates something is wrong.
Velotric refuses to consider that it may be a design flaw or that the original spokes might be too weak!
Velotric refuses to consider that maybe the spokes we improperly installed or adjusted at the factory!

 

[Tom@WashDC]

Despite the Dealer's efforts Velotric is still refusing to do anything.

Sorry to hear that. It would be nice if they covered it, but from what I can see from your post the manufacturer has no liability.

From what I can deduce, you did not perform routine monthly maintenance checks on your spokes.

You Just noticed 8 spokes were broken only when you were wiping down your bike?
Spoke maintenance is a must. That includes checking spokes for proper tension once a month. Certainly checking for loose or broken spokes.

If you did not do proper spoke maintenance over 1.5 years, the manufacture cannot be held responsible for any damage to the motor.
As for the spokes themselves, they do break sometimes. The way to prevent that is to make sure they are properly tensioned at least once per month if you ride regularly. As you broke more spokes, you increased the strain on the other spokes and hub spoke mounts.

Your hub is most likely fine. Inspect each spoke hole for integrity.

Get a spoke tension meter on Amazon for $16-$20. Watch a video on Youtube. Replacing spokes, building a wheel, and truing your wheel are very easy. Frist time is the learning curve, but you can do it while watching TV. Learn a new skill, it's Easy Peazy.

Or, pay your dealer to do it.

Get out and ride, enjoy your biking, "time's winged chariot" is hurrying near.

 

[Base]

Based on the pictures ive seen this pattern of breaking spikes is caused by riding a longer period with a low spoke tension.

With high end non-e MTBs you see the same patern on the nds caused bike the 203 4 piston rear brake pushing against exactly the spokes en mirror

Still no answer to my questions on km's and maintenance. So I guess that that is the root cause for those spokes to snap the elbows of

 

[stompandgo]

No answer as to what the dealer asked Velotric to cover and no details regarding their answer, and why they feel that way.

 

[MrClortho]

I've had 3 other things break on my Velotric and since they were relatively minor I didn't even bother to contact them.

However having 8 Spokes break all on the same side of the rear hub and not on the left side and not on the front indicates something is wrong.
Velotric refuses to consider that it may be a design flaw or that the original spokes might be too weak!
Velotric refuses to consider that maybe the spokes we improperly installed or adjusted at the factory!

I sometimes forget the differences between the mountain bike and the transportation or bike path bike worlds in what is considered a big issue. Spoke maintenance is like lubing the chain. On mountain bikes and breaking them is a right of passage that sometimes comes with a taco'ed wheel. I am pleasantly surprised if all my spokes are in good shape when I check them and there are always a few that are slightly loose...always.

If they broke less than a month after purchase, I can see a gripe and expectation of a warranty claim because that was an installation error. If it has been several months or years and several rides, the company cannot be sure if spoke tension was maintained or what type of abuse the bike underwent (were you jumping paint cans with the local neighborhood kids on their homemade ramps? ). When one or two spokes break, it puts that much more stress on the others nearby, and it can be a domino effect. It could of been a piece of debris that snapped one or two, maybe a cinch strap on a bike rack, etc, and the rest followed soon after. It is a good thing it was noticed before the beforementioned "Taco effect" of the wheel occurred. Combine this with the additional torque the motor supplies and spoke maintenance and regular checking becomes even more important.

Solution: pick up some spokes (they are cheap) and a spoke wrench (also cheap but and adjustable wrench will work in a pinch), watch some videos and replace them in an easy afternoon while sipping your favorite craft beer or whiskey with the game on TV. If unsure, any bike shop will help with ease.