Bosch Performance Line 3.0 65Nm owners please respond.

[JohnRC]

I have written about this before but so far after almost a year of ownership I do not have answers and would like to find a solution.
From day one my bike this motor has ”rattled/clunked“ when I go over bumps. This happens with or without assist when the cranks are horizontal without any pressure on them. (coasting). To me it is a clunk of metal in the core of the motor and can be felt more in the left foot than the right. Two Bosch mechanics and I have removed possible parts that were doing this and the sides of the motor have been removed and checked.

While this is going on I think the motor is gradually becoming louder. I like this bike very much. It is the most comfortable and best ebike ride I have had. It just seems that for a bike this expensive it should not have this rattling.clunking going on.

It appears to me that it is coming from the mechanism that powers the bike. One mechanic says it is normal the other is more willing to check farther. One person responded on the Gazelle thread that he had something like this and Bosch had a shim kit that fixed it all. I am trying to contact this person to verify whether or not he has the same motor.

Has anyone else had anything like this going on? If you have hand any similar experiences please let me know about them and your solutions.

Thanks,
John

 

[Dallant]

Hmmm, it does sound a bit like a loose motor getting looser with time and use. Have you contacted Gazelle?
Best of luck getting this straightened out.

 

[JohnRC]

Hi Dallant.
If only it was loose motor nuts. It is not. Gazelle wants the local dealer to deal with it. I boils down to Bosch because it is their motor. This is why I posted this here.

 

[Dallant]

Hi Dallant.
If only it was loose motor nuts. It is not. Gazelle wants the local dealer to deal with it. I boils down to Bosch because it is their motor. This is why I posted this here.

You were talking about a Bosch shim kit. What specifically would that do? What did Bosch say when you called their support line about a shim kit?

 

[drodg]

My Domane does this also. I thought I read somewhere from Bosch that it was normal? Not real sure.

 

[rich c]

Have you talked to a certified Bosch technician at a bicycle shop? Talking to a certified tech is way better than trying to bounce around inside corporations.

 

[William - Bosch Team]

There is a small amount of play between the (2) gears used inside a Gen3 DU design- this allows for a smooth and efficient gear mesh. No play would mean more tension/resistance, which would mean less efficiency. Since you have a 65Nm version of the Gen3, I believe both internal gears are metallic, which would mean more noise when the gears lightly tap each other over bumps with level cranks. There is also some movement between the crank spindle, and the chainring spindle that it mounts inside of. They are loosely locked together with a set of splines. [edit 7/15/21- this is most likely the cause of the noise]

Hard for me to say if this is what you are experiencing since I can't ride your bike, but it sounds like it. Maybe encourage your mechanic to call the Bosch Tech Hotline again?

- What model and year is your bike?
- Does everything seem normal when pedaling, both with and without assistance?

Depending on the DU, Bosch offers several different kits to update the washer/seal etc. on the outside bearing behind the lockring, but these kits are more about bearing protection in harsh environments. Bosch does not offer any shim kits.

I just made a video of my Gen3 65Nm making a noise that I think is what you are describing. It has less than 10 miles on the odometer, and the noise shown in the video is normal.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=505450104041784

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

There is a small amount of play between the (2) gears used inside a Gen3 DU design- this allows for a smooth and efficient gear mesh. No play would mean more tension/resistance, which would mean less efficiency. Since you have a 65Nm version of the Gen3, I believe both internal gears are metallic, which would mean more noise when the gears lightly tap each other over bumps with level cranks. There is also some movement between the crank spindle, and the chainring spindle that it mounts inside of. They are loosely locked together with a set of splines.

Hard for me to say if this is what you are experiencing since I can't ride your bike, but it sounds like it. Maybe encourage your mechanic to call the Bosch Tech Hotline again?

- What model and year is your bike?
- Does everything seem normal when pedaling, both with and without assistance?

Depending on the DU, Bosch offers several different kits to update the washer/seal etc. on the outside bearing behind the lockring, but these kits are more about bearing protection in harsh environments. Bosch does not offer any shim kits.

I just made a video of my Gen3 65Nm making a noise that I think is what you are describing. It has less than 10 miles on the odometer, and the noise shown in the video is normal.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=505450104041784

Thanks for this helpful insight!

 

[William - Bosch Team]

Thanks for this helpful insight!

You are welcome!

I have a crank spindle/chainring spindle that I removed from a Gen3 DU- I'll share a video of the "play" I described once I figure out where I lost it.

 

[JohnRC]

William: I was away for 2 weeks and not on line much. Thank you so much for this.
My bike is a 2020 and yes the noise happen is when on assist or not or off completely.
I ride my bike a lot without assist and I think many people are on assist most of the time and peddling there would be less chance of the rattle.
I guess this is the reality of this machine. It is disappointing. I prefer quiet bikes. Thought I had one.
John