Allant+ 7s cracked rear wheel

[jimmy_montrose]

I took my Allant+ 7s to the bike shop the other day to get it upgraded to a 10 speed. While the shop was inspecting things they found the rear wheel's outer rim was cracked severely enough that they don't think it is safe to ride on. I don't have a picture of it yet but will post later. They mentioned that they have seen a few bikes come back this way. They will submit it for warranty coverage. But, to get another rear wheel for an Allant+ 7s it will be a wait of 5 months! I called the other bike shop I work with in my state. Same story. A few bikes come in with this issue, there are no replacement wheels available. So this is a big problem for me. I sold my car and use my Allant+ 7s as my main mode of transportation. Between the two shops the consensus seems to be to try and piece together a new wheel from parts, potentially. Has anyone else heard of this problem? Any solutions or suggestions?

I have a little over 5000 miles on the bike. Ridden only on the pavement. I use turbo mode pretty much all the time because I like going fast. Always recharge to 100% after every ride-no issues with the battery.

Really though maybe it is because i ride in turbo mode all the time but it seems to tear the crap out of the rear sprocket. It has been replaced three times because it eventually starts skipping over teeth.

The front light system is improperly designed. It has a wire that passes through the body of the bike to the front light via a hole in the frame. The light is mounted on the fork so it moves with the fork when riding. The wire has cracked and split where it passes through the frame. Even with the plastic rub strip. The light should not be mounted to the fork causing the wire to move around with the light. This seems like pretty basic mechanical design error. The light should be mounted to a fixed point. Or, the wire needs to be clamped tighter and its insulator would need to be like 10 times stronger than it is. The shop is going to put a new light on also under warranty. It will fail again because of the design of the bike. Bought a battery powered light and put it on the handle bar so I don't get stuck in the dark with a broken wire.

Those problems are a pain, but the greatest thing about the Trek eBike - it enabled me to get out and bike comfortably. It opened my eyes to how important it is for me to be outside off the computer, off the phone every day. I love the bike and love biking so I hope I can get it back on the road soon

 

[2wheels4fun]

I had the rim on my electra townie crack near the spoke nipple, I think it’s the same 27.5 inch rim your bike has.
I was given a 9 month warranty eta for a new rim by the dealer(summer of 21).
I ordered a new rim from velocity wheels and haven’t had a rim issue, so far 5,000 miles. I also ditched the bike shop for velofix, way more competent.
I am 250 lbs, so I pushed the stock rear rim.
Good luck and merry Christmas

 

[fooferdoggie]

cracked rims can happen no matter what. my bulls had a cracked rim after 8000 miles. I had a wheel set built for our e tandem with velocity cliffhanger rims very strong rims. they guy is a master wheel builder but it cracked after maybe 2000 miles. my bulls had a fork mounted light and thats typical with a suspension fork. the light can be mounted on the stem or the bars. I have a trek light fitted onto our tandem and it's mounted on the bar.

 

[rob feature]

There's nothing bike specific about the wheel. You should be able to find a replacement. Just get the hub specs and rim size right and you're good to go. Worst case you can have one built. Warranty might not cover that but it'll get you back on the bike.

I'll somewhat agree that the light isn't elegant, but at least it's mounted on the sprung part of the fork. It does not actually move up and down with the fork legs. I wound up pushing the wire into the frame and securing it to the Purion cable with some Tesa tape. I find the light inadequate and ride with either Cygolites or Nite Riders when I need to see in the dark. Or both . Stock light is good for <15 MPH, but anything over that I find I need moar gusto.

 

[Captain Slow]

I agree with Rob, it shouldn't be that hard to buy another wheel right away. You might be out of pocket, but if you commute regularly then it's useful to have a second wheel and you'll eventually need another one anyways.

I find it can be handy as you can have one set of wheels for city riding and another for trails/gravel. I've generally had more than one set of wheels for many of the bikes I've owned in the past.

 

[California Flash]

I took my Allant+ 7s to the bike shop the other day to get it upgraded to a 10 speed. While the shop was inspecting things they found the rear wheel's outer rim was cracked severely enough that they don't think it is safe to ride on. I don't have a picture of it yet but will post later. They mentioned that they have seen a few bikes come back this way. They will submit it for warranty coverage. But, to get another rear wheel for an Allant+ 7s it will be a wait of 5 months! I called the other bike shop I work with in my state. Same story. A few bikes come in with this issue, there are no replacement wheels available. So this is a big problem for me. I sold my car and use my Allant+ 7s as my main mode of transportation. Between the two shops the consensus seems to be to try and piece together a new wheel from parts, potentially. Has anyone else heard of this problem? Any solutions or suggestions?

I have a little over 5000 miles on the bike. Ridden only on the pavement. I use turbo mode pretty much all the time because I like going fast. Always recharge to 100% after every ride-no issues with the battery.

Really though maybe it is because i ride in turbo mode all the time but it seems to tear the crap out of the rear sprocket. It has been replaced three times because it eventually starts skipping over teeth.

The front light system is improperly designed. It has a wire that passes through the body of the bike to the front light via a hole in the frame. The light is mounted on the fork so it moves with the fork when riding. The wire has cracked and split where it passes through the frame. Even with the plastic rub strip. The light should not be mounted to the fork causing the wire to move around with the light. This seems like pretty basic mechanical design error. The light should be mounted to a fixed point. Or, the wire needs to be clamped tighter and its insulator would need to be like 10 times stronger than it is. The shop is going to put a new light on also under warranty. It will fail again because of the design of the bike. Bought a battery powered light and put it on the handle bar so I don't get stuck in the dark with a broken wire.

Those problems are a pain, but the greatest thing about the Trek eBike - it enabled me to get out and bike comfortably. It opened my eyes to how important it is for me to be outside off the computer, off the phone every day. I love the bike and love biking so I hope I can get it back on the road soon

I had the same problem with the rear wheel on my Allant + 8s. In fact, every Trek bike I have owned (around 10) has had issues with cracked wheels or excessive spokes that break.

Had the same issue with Trek not having replacement wheels. They told me 9 months I had to wait for a replacement. Obviously I am not going to let my $5,000 bike sit in my garage waiting 9 months for a wheel replacement.

After a lot of back and forth with Trek, they agreed to pay for two replacement wheels. I chose Velocity Cliffhanger wheels, 48 spoke rear, 40 spoke front. I also have another Allant + 8s bike that I added the same Velocity wheels to at my expense.

It appears there is no safety fudge factor added to Trek wheels. If you push the 300 pound limit, they will fail. No one want to have a wheel explode when going down a steep hill at 30 miles per hour.

Best money I ever spent for my peace of mind. About 5,000 miles with no failures.

In addition, buy a quality ebike tire that is made specifically for and rated for class 3 ebikes. I have two types of Schwalbe tires and they have performed flawlessly.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I had the same problem with the rear wheel on my Allant + 8s. In fact, every Trek bike I have owned (around 10) has had issues with cracked wheels or excessive spokes that break.

Had the same issue with Trek not having replacement wheels. They told me 9 months I had to wait for a replacement. Obviously I am not going to let my $5,000 bike sit in my garage waiting 9 months for a wheel replacement.

After a lot of back and forth with Trek, they agreed to pay for two replacement wheels. I chose Velocity Cliffhanger wheels, 48 spoke rear, 40 spoke front. I also have another Allant + 8s bike that I added the same Velocity wheels to at my expense.

It appears there is no safety fudge factor added to Trek wheels. If you push the 300 pound limit, they will fail. No one want to have a wheel explode when going down a steep hill at 30 miles per hour.

Best money I ever spent for my peace of mind. About 5,000 miles with no failures.

In addition, buy a quality ebike tire that is made specifically for and rated for class 3 ebikes. I have two types of Schwalbe tires and they have performed flawlessly.

mine cracked too but a replacement wheel did not take a long time to come. but I wanted narrower rims so I had wheels built dt-swiss hubs and rims. the rims on the 8 are way wider then needed. the cliffhanger is a bit wide too. I went with 32 spokes need for more on bikes anymore.