And the problems continue with my ST2 :(

[chgofirefighter]

Hi Joel,

Thanks for responding, not truly sure what’s happening but now I'm having problems with the kickstand, when I pedal as a ride the Stromer, the left pedal strikes the kick stand. I posted pictures. When I picked up the bike from service, this wasn't an issue. Just notice this as I was riding to school yesterday evening. It's very annoying to the least. For a bike that one pays a lot of money for these bikes should be somewhat better designed and bullet proof. Having a customer experience issues after issues does not make a product appear to be of higher quality as advertised.

First battery charging issues subsequently followed by a bad torque sensor that was defective from factory, that contributed to a bad riding experience. After repairs of the torque sensor being hit with a $210 repair bill what was not covered by its warranty. I had to resort to contact you directly in order to avoid paying a bill that should have been covered by warranty. Subsequently, I didn’t end up paying for the repair cost but that was after numerous calls, emails to Stromer. Then automatically locking itself up with no user control, key lock issues for the battery compartment, pin changed by repair techs, now kickstand issues. I really don’t know what to expect next!? I truly love this bike, but now I am having some serious doubts about its quality control.

I will once again have to either take this bike for service or find another solution for this new issue. Recommendations? Joel, I can't continue to be inconvenience by these ongoing problems. I will be meeting with Ravie, tomorrow he’s the person who sold me the bike from Lenny's ebike from Wisconsin. To see how these continued issues get somewhat rectified. I may have been sold a lemon, not quite sure what to assume anymore. I'm sure that no ebike is "perfect" but one should not have to experience these types of ongoing problems. See the attached photos~

Thanks again Joel,


Robert

 

[smitty]

Hi Joel,

Thanks for responding, not truly sure what’s happening but now I'm having problems with the kickstand, when I pedal as a ride the Stromer, the left pedal strikes the kick stand. I posted pictures. When I picked up the bike from service, this wasn't an issue. Just notice this as I was riding to school yesterday evening. It's very annoying to the least. For a bike that one pays a lot of money for these bikes should be somewhat better designed and bullet proof. Having a customer experience issues after issues does not make a product appear to be of higher quality as advertised.

First battery charging issues subsequently followed by a bad torque sensor that was defective from factory, that contributed to a bad riding experience. After repairs of the torque sensor being hit with a $210 repair bill what was not covered by its warranty. I had to resort to contact you directly in order to avoid paying a bill that should have been covered by warranty. Subsequently, I didn’t end up paying for the repair cost but that was after numerous calls, emails to Stromer. Then automatically locking itself up with no user control, key lock issues for the battery compartment, pin changed by repair techs, now kickstand issues. I really don’t know what to expect next!? I truly love this bike, but now I am having some serious doubts about its quality control.

I will once again have to either take this bike for service or find another solution for this new issue. Recommendations? Joel, I can't continue to be inconvenience by these ongoing problems. I will be meeting with Ravie, tomorrow he’s the person who sold me the bike from Lenny's ebike from Wisconsin. To see how these continued issues get somewhat rectified. I may have been sold a lemon, not quite sure what to assume anymore. I'm sure that no ebike is "perfect" but one should not have to experience these types of ongoing problems. See the attached photos~

Thanks again Joel,


Robert

Joel is a good guy to work with...hope that you find a decent solution. Ravi knows as much as anyone about Stromer's so maybe help is on the way. I haven't really looked at the kickstand on my ST-2, but normally, kickstands are adjustable via the clamp used to attach them to the frame of the bike. I guess I'd better take a peek. Good luck and keep the faith...it's a great bike when it is running right...

 

[chgofirefighter]

Joel responded via email~ He said that the kickstand needs to be re aligned by a bolt just not sure where those bolts are on the kickstand~

 

[russ moir]

speaking generally without going outside to look - every other one I had the bolt clamping it to the bike was directly under facing up.
Loosen, align, tighten. Should be obvious. Might be easier to flip bike upside down to work on that.

I try to do all my own maintenance. Learned through trial and error when I was a kid. Great videos on you tube for pretty much every task these days. I dont trust kids with minimal training to do a great job. Just my probably slanted perception of bike shop 'techs'.

Re the torque sensor problem though - I'd do as you did and take it in. When it comes to the hub/controller/motor I'm comfortable doing a swap, but not cracking it open. Mechanical work and adjustments in my mind are basic skills an owner should be up to. Its pretty easy, minimal tools.
My local Stromer dealer already mentioned warranty work is $75/hr, and parts are free. What kind of warranty is that !! Hopefully the owner would be an enthusiast with skills and would do the troubleshooting on the electronics.

 

[John ware]

Robert, it pains me to see you go through these challenges with your ST2. I’ve owned one for about 18 months now and put 2700 miles on it including an 500 mile week long trip with a 60lb trailer with all my self supported gear.


Two things I accepted when I bought my ST2 was that it is not a piece of technology that has been on the market for many years where they have attained product perfection. Low production quantities and rapidly evolving technology means that any of the ebikes you buy today are only just beginning to move from the early adopter to the mass commoditization phase and problems are bound to exist. Think Tesla and paying 100K plus for a car that still has bugs in its “AutoPilot”.


The second thing I accepted is the importance of a local dealer in my purchase. I know CL is a great retailer, offering awesome pricing and that there is no better advocate for these bikes than Ravi (OK maybe Court), however the norm is that there will be things that needed sorting out, at least in the early debugging phase. While I have a new Stromer dealer literally 2 blocks from my house, I still put my bike on the rack and drive an hour and a half up to San Francisco to have it serviced at the dealer where I paid full price for it. Why? Because they’ve sold and serviced a bunch of these ebikes and the knowledge, expertise and their relationship with Stromer is worth something.


I’ve had the privilege to meet and get to know a number of the people from Stromer and the one thing I can tell you is they are a great bunch of people, truly committed to designing, building and supporting the best ebikes on the market.


My recommendation is to work with Ravi/CL, keep the Stromer folks in the loop and get your machine dialed in, because once you do all the pain will fall away and you will be in love with the thing. I still grin from ear to ear on my late night rides through the vacant streets of our little town, and there’s no reason you shouldn't be picking those bugs out of your big grin too.


ps. Specifically regarding the crank arm clipping the retracting kickstand, mine did seem damn thing, you can clean and tweak its position, even develop a little heal slapping cadence to push it in, but the truth is, its a bug. Look back at the forum and you’ll find people have suggested an alternative kickstand, it should also be noted that I believe the newer ST2 have dropped the Euro required retracting kickstand in favor of non clipping, non retracting one. Perhaps Ravi/CL can help you out with that as well.

 

[russ moir]

Remember riding my g/f's high end campy equipped road bike (she never rode it) 23km to work each way one summer.
Everything fell off or got loose in the first couple weeks. Wheels had to be trued a couple times a week.
Considering its pedigree, I thought that was terrible.
Once I tuned and locktighted everything that I had issues with it became a very dependable ride.
break-in issues...

 

[chgofirefighter]

Robert, it pains me to see you go through these challenges with your ST2. I’ve owned one for about 18 months now and put 2700 miles on it including an 500 mile week long trip with a 60lb trailer with all my self supported gear.


Two things I accepted when I bought my ST2 was that it is not a piece of technology that has been on the market for many years where they have attained product perfection. Low production quantities and rapidly evolving technology means that any of the ebikes you buy today are only just beginning to move from the early adopter to the mass commoditization phase and problems are bound to exist. Think Tesla and paying 100K plus for a car that still has bugs in its “AutoPilot”.


The second thing I accepted is the importance of a local dealer in my purchase. I know CL is a great retailer, offering awesome pricing and that there is no better advocate for these bikes than Ravi (OK maybe Court), however the norm is that there will be things that needed sorting out, at least in the early debugging phase. While I have a new Stromer dealer literally 2 blocks from my house, I still put my bike on the rack and drive an hour and a half up to San Francisco to have it serviced at the dealer where I paid full price for it. Why? Because they’ve sold and serviced a bunch of these ebikes and the knowledge, expertise and their relationship with Stromer is worth something.


I’ve had the privilege to meet and get to know a number of the people from Stromer and the one thing I can tell you is they are a great bunch of people, truly committed to designing, building and supporting the best ebikes on the market.


My recommendation is to work with Ravi/CL, keep the Stromer folks in the loop and get your machine dialed in, because once you do all the pain will fall away and you will be in love with the thing. I still grin from ear to ear on my late night rides through the vacant streets of our little town, and there’s no reason you shouldn't be picking those bugs out of your big grin too.


ps. Specifically regarding the crank arm clipping the retracting kickstand, mine did seem damn thing, you can clean and tweak its position, even develop a little heal slapping cadence to push it in, but the truth is, its a bug. Look back at the forum and you’ll find people have suggested an alternative kickstand, it should also be noted that I believe the newer ST2 have dropped the Euro required retracting kickstand in favor of non clipping, non retracting one. Perhaps Ravi/CL can help you out with that as well.

Thanks lots of good info, it may need to have this kickstand either modified or perhaps replaced. I will talk to Ravi and see what we can come up with. Sadly, Wisconsin is about a 2 1/2 drive OUCH! I would of purchased the ST2 here locally but they wouldn't cut me a nice deal on it so I decided to look elsewhere such as CL~ Thanks

 

[smitty]

speaking generally without going outside to look - every other one I had the bolt clamping it to the bike was directly under facing up.
Loosen, align, tighten. Should be obvious. Might be easier to flip bike upside down to work on that.

I try to do all my own maintenance. Learned through trial and error when I was a kid. Great videos on you tube for pretty much every task these days. I dont trust kids with minimal training to do a great job. Just my probably slanted perception of bike shop 'techs'.

Re the torque sensor problem though - I'd do as you did and take it in. When it comes to the hub/controller/motor I'm comfortable doing a swap, but not cracking it open. Mechanical work and adjustments in my mind are basic skills an owner should be up to. Its pretty easy, minimal tools.
My local Stromer dealer already mentioned warranty work is $75/hr, and parts are free. What kind of warranty is that !! Hopefully the owner would be an enthusiast with skills and would do the troubleshooting on the electronics.

interesting Russ...I'm thinking that Stromer better make it clear in their warranty if it is parts only?? For 7G's, I don't expect tp be paying any
hourly repair work on a part that is under warranty...guess I'll find out at some point...

 

[russ moir]

had to flip mine over for a bit of maintenance - stand has one hex key bolt holding it. Interesting is a pair of ridges keeping the base of the stand from getting out of alignment. If the ST2 is similar, then the stand is likely bent or faulty.

Yeah Smitty - looks like its up to the dealer to decide how much they are willing to invest free for goodwill service. Doesnt appear Stromer re-imburses them.

Think a note to Stromer is in order to clarify.

 

[smitty]

had to flip mine over for a bit of maintenance - stand has one hex key bolt holding it. Interesting is a pair of ridges keeping the base of the stand from getting out of alignment. If the ST2 is similar, then the stand is likely bent or faulty.

Yeah Smitty - looks like its up to the dealer to decide how much they are willing to invest free for goodwill service. Doesnt appear Stromer re-imburses them.

Think a note to Stromer is in order to clarify.

Thank you Russ for the clarification and it makes some sense. My personal feeling is that with the so very limited Stromer dealerships available, I have to travel a minimum of 4 - 5 hours simply to get to one; then for 7G's, the dealer ought to provide a little goodwill which in turn ought, at the least, to be shared with Stromer themselves. Translation, if you are making/selling a "quality" product then stand behind it!

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Robert,
I live in Chicago now and would be happy to help you.
This kickstand issue is something I have faced. Because we use it 100's of times, the bolt comes loose and re-tightening it would solve the problem. This is NOT a QC issue. As you remember, when you were at the Store, we made you test ride the bike before you left to Chicago.

Having ridden the ST2/ST2-s for over 10,000 mile cumulative, I can say that many solutions are quite simple.

Also, this kind of kickstand issue can occur on any bike if the bolt is not tightened.

 

[chgofirefighter]

Robert,
I live in Chicago now and would be happy to help you.
This kickstand issue is something I have faced. Because we use it 100's of times, the bolt comes loose and re-tightening it would solve the problem. This is NOT a QC issue. As you remember, when you were at the Store, we made you test ride the bike before you left to Chicago.

Having ridden the ST2/ST2-s for over 10,000 mile cumulative, I can say that many solutions are quite simple.

Also, this kind of kickstand issue can occur on any bike if the bolt is not tightened.

Thanks Ravi, I will be in touch. The bolt is not loose, the kickstands seems to be the issue but I will look into it.