What have you learned from your e-bike experiences?

[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.

 

[MrClortho]

There is something to be said about spokes now that I have a couple hundred miles on my Rail 7. I found a couple that needed some snugging up already on the rear, which seems to be a bit quicker than on my traditional mountain bikes.

 

[MrClortho]

Three months ago, I had my Trek Rail 7, a Scott RC Comp mtb, a Scott Spark mtb and a Scott Scale mtb hard tail. I have since sold the Scale and the Spark and put the RC Comp up for sale last weekend. Coming from a mtb rider that said I would never do the emtb thing, I have done a complete turnaround and am going all in by selling all my standard mtb's. I suppose once you go emtb, you don't want to go back, haha.

 

[Roamers]

Isn't car replacement what we all want?

Not everybody does. No evidence (except those I know that are bicycle riders) are "supplement" riders.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Big lesson just learned the hard way: Take care of your butt. Listen when it talks to you. Seek professional help early when something new seems to going on.

Just now clearing a rash in, shall we say, the saddle contact area that ultimatey required topical and oral antibiotics. Off the bike for 2 weeks now. Short test ride tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Should've had a doc look at it early on, as I wasted 3 weeks with various home and OTC remedies that in retrospect would never have worked.

Possible contributing factors (from various cycling sites) — all from riding my Vado SL 1 gravel bike 10-20 mi a day:
o Sweatier bum lately due to unusually warm weather
o Several 10-20 mi rides in a row without padded shorts (no problem on commuter but apparently NOT OK on gravel bike's harder, narrower saddle)
o Wearing briefs under padded shorts (thinking to keep pads cleaner)
o Failure to ride with fresh padded shorts every time

This wasn't the usual long-ride butt pain. Mostly itching instead, eventually pretty intense. My butt was raising a flag that something new was going on, and I simply didn't take it seriously enough at first.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Big lesson just learned the hard way: Take care of your butt. Listen when it talks to you. Seek professional help early when something new seems to going on.

Just now clearing a rash in, shall we say, the saddle contact area that ultimatey required topical and oral antibiotics. Off the bike for 2 weeks now. Short test ride tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Should've had a doc look at it early on, as I wasted 3 weeks with various home and OTC remedies that in retrospect would never have worked.

Possible contributing factors (from various cycling sites) — all from riding my Vado SL 1 gravel bike 10-20 mi a day:
o Sweatier bum lately due to unusually warm weather
o Several 10-20 mi rides in a row without padded shorts (no problem on commuter but apparently NOT OK on gravel bike's harder, narrower saddle)
o Wearing briefs under padded shorts (thinking to keep pads cleaner)
o Failure to ride with fresh padded shorts every time

This wasn't the usual long-ride butt pain. Mostly itching instead, eventually pretty intense. My butt was raising a flag that something new was going on, and I simply didn't take it seriously enough at first.

Might be too much information... butt..
What I do when wearing padded shorts is...
one... Be as clean as can be. Bidet is helpful.
two... I take one square of quality, soft multi_ply toilet paper and fold it twice to make a small square. Put a pea size dab of hand lotion in the center of the square, then squat down and tuck it right on the bulls_eye. After a moment you don't even feel it and it stays in place and stops any unwanted @_juice from making it to the padded shorts. Especially helpful after eating Mexican
I've ridden over 40 miles on/off road without issue doing this.
y@jmv

 

[Chargeride]

Puts down nutella spread sandwich

 

[DDBB]

I have learned not to wave at guys on dino bikes dressed in their kit. They despise us.. Not all of them but it's a pretty fair generalization.

 

[DDBB]

Might be too much information... butt..
What I do when wearing padded shorts is...
one... Be as clean as can be. Bidet is helpful.
two... I take one square of quality, soft multi_ply toilet paper and fold it twice to make a small square. Put a pea size dab of hand lotion in the center of the square, then squat down and tuck it right on the bulls_eye. After a moment you don't even feel it and it stays in place and stops any unwanted @_juice from making it to the padded shorts. Especially helpful after eating Mexican
I've ridden over 40 miles on/off road without issue doing this.
y@jmv

Making gravy while riding is not a good past time

 

[mschwett]

Big lesson just learned the hard way: Take care of your butt. Listen when it talks to you. Seek professional help early when something new seems to going on.

Just now clearing a rash in, shall we say, the saddle contact area that ultimatey required topical and oral antibiotics. Off the bike for 2 weeks now. Short test ride tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Should've had a doc look at it early on, as I wasted 3 weeks with various home and OTC remedies that in retrospect would never have worked.

Possible contributing factors (from various cycling sites) — all from riding my Vado SL 1 gravel bike 10-20 mi a day:
o Sweatier bum lately due to unusually warm weather
o Several 10-20 mi rides in a row without padded shorts (no problem on commuter but apparently NOT OK on gravel bike's harder, narrower saddle)
o Wearing briefs under padded shorts (thinking to keep pads cleaner)
o Failure to ride with fresh padded shorts every time

This wasn't the usual long-ride butt pain. Mostly itching instead, eventually pretty intense. My butt was raising a flag that something new was going on, and I simply didn't take it seriously enough at first.

oh looooordy! glad you’re recovering, but those are some major errors!

i have three pairs of padded shorts. nothing goes under them. nothing. wear each in sequence, then wash. repeat. no cream, no lotion, shower after each ride.

i am cringing at the idea of underwear under padded shorts. prayers for a speedy recovery!