christob
Well-Known Member
Not a common bike model here (Vintage Electric - Cafe) but a strange development which I'm hoping could have common troubleshooting steps with other bikes...
Background: I'm around 800 total miles in on the basically new bike (had it in my possession for 11 weeks today.)
A rear-wheel squeak/chirping sound developed early-on; after a few unproductive investigations and adjustment attempts at LBS, Vintage decided to send me a new rear wheel with new hub-motor. That was installed by LBS last weekend; I picked up the bike late Monday night.
Tuesday morning (5/15) was my first ride on the bike with the new wheel -- blissfully silent, no chirping/squeak! So awesome after many weeks with that squeak! Rode to work (6.7 miles) as normal on a full battery (charged the night before.) On the ride home, stopped by the LBS to tell them the happy news that "the squeak is gone!" and to buy a few things.
About 3 miles after leaving the shop, I came to realize my Assist was no longer actually assisting. At all. It had been, all morning and I believe it had been on the evening ride to the shop (now, thinking back, I'm wondering if the Assist was starting to fade on that evening ride to the shop.) The LCD panel was still on & responding to my inputs -- I could select any Assist from 0 to 5; but it didn't matter -- on a flat stretch of paved trail, it made no difference (and normally, just going from Level 1 to Level 2 on a flat stretch, you immediately feel the boost...) No assist was happening.
Stopped riding, turned it all off, removed the battery, reseated the battery, turned it all back on... still no Assist at any level. (However, Walk Mode would actually spin the rear wheel at that point.)
Called to Vintage Support and to LBS from the bike trail -- after trying various suggestions (mostly ensuring the various visible / reachable wiring connections where tightly seated, etc., that the wiring down inside the seatpost (for an integrated saddle rear LED I was no longer using) wasn't kinked/pinched) -- no luck. LBS guy suggested turning it off, riding it @2 minutes in manual-power-only, then parking it, remove the battery, put it back on, then turn it back on. When I followed that plan surprisingly at that point, the LCD screen would no longer power on.
Rode home on pedal power, and thought perhaps the battery somehow really had died/depleted (despite only about 10 easy miles in Level 1 and 2, against a full charge; I have gone 35 miles in the past with charge left to spare.) So I fully charged it anyway (off the bike) and reseated it -- still not able to power on the LCD screen...
So. Vintage's support said the LCD not coming on was actually promising -- in that it very likely pointed to a wiring snafu at the controller (housed inside the battery-mount bracket on my downtube.) They felt that it is likely to be something wiring-based that could have been damaged/pulled loose, or loose enough (during the LBS new-wheel install) that the vibrations of my ~10 miles ride were enough to fully disconnect that wiring.
But I'm just curious if there are other things you all can suggest, which I can self-help examine in the mean time... Thanks!
Background: I'm around 800 total miles in on the basically new bike (had it in my possession for 11 weeks today.)
A rear-wheel squeak/chirping sound developed early-on; after a few unproductive investigations and adjustment attempts at LBS, Vintage decided to send me a new rear wheel with new hub-motor. That was installed by LBS last weekend; I picked up the bike late Monday night.
Tuesday morning (5/15) was my first ride on the bike with the new wheel -- blissfully silent, no chirping/squeak! So awesome after many weeks with that squeak! Rode to work (6.7 miles) as normal on a full battery (charged the night before.) On the ride home, stopped by the LBS to tell them the happy news that "the squeak is gone!" and to buy a few things.
About 3 miles after leaving the shop, I came to realize my Assist was no longer actually assisting. At all. It had been, all morning and I believe it had been on the evening ride to the shop (now, thinking back, I'm wondering if the Assist was starting to fade on that evening ride to the shop.) The LCD panel was still on & responding to my inputs -- I could select any Assist from 0 to 5; but it didn't matter -- on a flat stretch of paved trail, it made no difference (and normally, just going from Level 1 to Level 2 on a flat stretch, you immediately feel the boost...) No assist was happening.
Stopped riding, turned it all off, removed the battery, reseated the battery, turned it all back on... still no Assist at any level. (However, Walk Mode would actually spin the rear wheel at that point.)
Called to Vintage Support and to LBS from the bike trail -- after trying various suggestions (mostly ensuring the various visible / reachable wiring connections where tightly seated, etc., that the wiring down inside the seatpost (for an integrated saddle rear LED I was no longer using) wasn't kinked/pinched) -- no luck. LBS guy suggested turning it off, riding it @2 minutes in manual-power-only, then parking it, remove the battery, put it back on, then turn it back on. When I followed that plan surprisingly at that point, the LCD screen would no longer power on.
Rode home on pedal power, and thought perhaps the battery somehow really had died/depleted (despite only about 10 easy miles in Level 1 and 2, against a full charge; I have gone 35 miles in the past with charge left to spare.) So I fully charged it anyway (off the bike) and reseated it -- still not able to power on the LCD screen...
So. Vintage's support said the LCD not coming on was actually promising -- in that it very likely pointed to a wiring snafu at the controller (housed inside the battery-mount bracket on my downtube.) They felt that it is likely to be something wiring-based that could have been damaged/pulled loose, or loose enough (during the LBS new-wheel install) that the vibrations of my ~10 miles ride were enough to fully disconnect that wiring.
But I'm just curious if there are other things you all can suggest, which I can self-help examine in the mean time... Thanks!
