Bafang mid drive pedals spin with no chainring???

[Jitss617]

Just driving home my bike became extremely slow, and all of a sudden stopped working I kept peddling but the chain ring would not move. My throttle didn’t even work? Any idea? Even if my middrive broke or my battery died I should still be able to pedal? Please any help. Thanks

 

[harryS]

THe pedals will spin freely if all is well, but they are connected to the motor by a clutch . If the clutch fails, then they turn with the motor, and if that gets tsuck, then it probably is hard to pedal.

 

[tomjasz]

Clutch replacement is pretty straight forward a fairly common and relatively inexpensive repair. Just pay attention to the pawl orientation. Easier with the BBSHD. See YouTube for several good how to videos.

 

[Jitss617]

THe pedals will spin freely if all is well, but they are connected to the motor by a clutch . If the clutch fails, then they turn with the motor, and if that gets tsuck, then it probably is hard to pedal.

I decided to check the battery it was completely empty I guess it wasn’t plugged in all the way, so going to try it today, but I thought you could still pedal with out a battery.

 

[tomjasz]

Hello! What voltage are you calling completely empty?

 

[J.R.]

but I thought you could still pedal with out a battery.

You can pedal without assist if all is well in the drive. All bikes are able to free wheel and drive (except for fixies). There is a "clutch", some call it a "ratchet", springs and pawls. Just like the pull start on a lawn mower. When a lawn mower is working correctly, you pull the cord and it spins the crank. When the pull cord doesn't spin the crank, the pawls aren't engaging. A ratchet wrench works the same way.

When you spin the cranks is the chain moving? If the chain is moving then the problem is in the hub/freewheel.