Biktrix Ultra FS failed hub causing wipeout and stranding.

[Hintrod]

I have a May 2019 Biktrix Ultra FS, that is never taken off road and is ridden only in flat Florida. My bike had a horrible failed hub at 25 mph causing a bad crash for me, and a 6 mile walk back to my house.

My question is how often does this happen? And how do I get the hub replaced and which hub should be used? I have read about cheap hubs being used on the Biktrix Ultra FS and hopefully they have gone to a stronger one. If nothing else for customer safety….

I have 2.8” x 27.5 inch Schwalbe tires on my Biktrix and I recently had Velofix come and try to repair the hub, and after spending $120 dollars for their service it failed again the next day, again leaving me stranded.

Any advice from Biktrix or fellow Biktrix owners would be greatly appreciated.

Don Hinton

 

[Explorer-1]

Explain more about the failure, pictures would be great.

 

[Hintrod]

Explain more about the failure, pictures would be great.

A hub failure on a mid drive bike means the rear wheel starts freewheeling and you lose all method of propelling the bike. Even if you pedal the cassette does not engage with the rear wheel, it spins freely and can be very dangerous on a bicycle especially while going at a high speed with traffic.

the hub is an internal piece of the rear wheel so there are no pictures that show failure without disassembly of rear wheel.

 

[theemartymac]

I don't think it's a Biktrix thing, but Ultras break s*it. It's just the way of the beast! lol

I wore out a cassette in 500kms, and other folks on here have snapped chains. Many reports of broken spokes when improperly spec'd/built. They have trashed IGH rear ends for those who have tried to make them belt drive. There were even a few early models that were cracking frames. I think you can certainly expose any weak or reject parts in the drivetrain in a hurry.

 

[Hintrod]

FYI posted previously on the forum by another Biktrix owner


Late to the party here but I’ll take a shot. If you had the original hub repaired internally and it still isnt right they didnt correctly fix it. This bike comes with lower end hubs so throw it away and buy a brand new hub and build up another wheel and then your riding again. My friend that blew his up last year has not had any issues since we replaced and built up the new wheel. Biktrix bikes are a price point bike IMO. They use lower quality parts to make it affordable. The hubs are Quanta I think. Amazon $60 for a pair. DT Swiss, White Ind. $$ but never fail. I like Hope hubs $100 for a front, $200 for the rear. Any bike you purchase out of your area you better be prepared to fix things yourself or wait 6 months for ...

 

[greeno]

It's a Biktrix thing. The hubs are lower end like I stated earlier and when used with an Ultra motor it's probably just a matter of time unfortunately. Just saw a rear hub on e-bay for $49.99. Probably about the lowest you could pay for a rear hub compatible with Sram or Shimano.
I was the guy who posted the response that Hintrod mentioned above. My buddy crashed as well but was climbing up a short steep rocky area and didn't fair to badly. He also had to walk home. That was at least 6 months ago. With the rear hub spacing of 197mm we were kinda limited on replacement hubs. He ordered a DT swiss rear hub and a new Spank rim and I ordered some spokes and nipples and I built up the wheel for him with a standard 3 cross pattern. We just rode together last weekend and all is good and he's not easy on gear but it seems to be working out fine. He also has the Ultra FS Juggernaut model and he only rides on the trails and off road. Sorry for your troubles.

 

[joshuaho96]

That's just kind of how it goes with these bikes. The M620 is just too much motor to have any weak links, so expect to break the weakest link. Whatever breaks is worth overbuilding. If you have a frame failure contact Biktrix, they are one of the few companies I trust to actually make good on their warranty promises and the frame is lifetime warranty.

 

[ruffruff]

Biktrix hubs are garbage. Mine failed in under 100 miles with a BBSHD motor. Lots of reports on FaceBook about their rear hubs failing.

 

[roshan]

Biktrix hubs are garbage. Mine failed in under 100 miles with a BBSHD motor. Lots of reports on FaceBook about their rear hubs failing.

Still remains under 1% failure rate. Also, failures were mostly found on hub models prior to 2021 as we’ve reduced hub failures on models in 2021 to under 0.3%. Check out Facebook yourself

 

[traderfjp]

I would rather pay up and get bullet proof parts on these bikes. It costs more in the long run to have to replace parts that fail.