Frey CC
- Thread starter TomD
- Start date
Dave Thefonziscool
Member
I am also getting a real rhythmic thumping from my rear brakes, but unlike you my front brakes work great (but also make that noise but to less extreme). So I'm bummed to hear the Magura adapters did not alleviate the noise. Crap! Hey as I mentioned before I wonder if this relates to the caliper mount machining on the frame? It must be 90 degrees to the rotor, it cannot be off, and Park has a tool where they can do this right in the bike shop to "re machine them" & make them perfectly 90° to the rotor. What else is left to check?
Dave Thefonziscool
Member
I believe that bleeding may be the answer for non working front brakes. You must use Magura Royal Blood. I got a bleed kit for $23 and havent taken it out if the box yet luckily.
Dave Thefonziscool
Member
Magura Storm HC rotors catching pads??
forums.mtbr.com
Here is a thread about Magura rotor noise
TomD
Well-Known Member
Hi Dave, I haven't actually gotten my magura adapters yet. I just swapped the front and rear adapters that FREY installed. The rear adapter was ground down. The front adapter was not ground down. If you read up thread apparently FREY thought the rear needed more braking power which is why they ground them down. I have no idea which is closer to the original adapters.
Dave Thefonziscool
Member
Oh cool- thanks! Did you see that link i put up? It seems to be related to those storm HC rotors maybe? I also requested the magura adapters and Ivy said she was putting them in the mail for me
Ebike Addict
Member
I received my Frey CC bike yesterday and have so far ridden 15 miles on a gravel trail to get a feel on how it performs. Here are my first impressions.
The bike is everything I was hoping for and I think Frey has managed to come up with a winner.
I have another hard-tail e-bike with a rear hub motor and I usually try to go around bumps and holes when I ride that bike. With the CC, the drive is so smooth that I find myself aiming for the bumps and holes because it is so much fun; it is like riding on a cloud.
Positive impressions:
- The Maxxis 2.8" nubby tires: I ride exclusively on trails (gravel, dirt, forest) and the control offered by those tires is amazing, especially in conditions that would be slippery with my other bike.
- Magura MT5 brakes: I have been following the braking noise issues reported by Tom and Dave. So far, I have not noticed any noise coming from the braking system. I have a different set of rim/tires and I don't know if this might play a role. As well, so far I have noticed that both the rear and front brakes are very efficient, either when used together or one at the time. No complaint on the brake bite so far.
- The motor controller: I have exercised all the PAS levels (1-5) in Eco mode, going rapidly back and forth between the levels, and found a very good responsiveness of the motor. Increasing the pressure on the pedals causes the motor to quickly respond in kind and it makes you feel like superman at times. I have not tried the Sport mode yet.
- Stand-up Height: The CC stand-up height is very comfortable with the CC. I did measure 25.5" from the ground to the top of the cross bar, which is exactly what Frey had in their CC geometry specs.
Items that may benefit from improvements:
- Water Bottle Holder: I found that water bottle holder is often in the way when mounting/dismounting the bike. I may simply remove it.
- The Rear Light: When I opened the bike package, I found the rear light was dislodged from the rack and just hanging by its wires. It became loose as a result of the shipping. The rear light is precariously held by only two very small screws that could easily become loose with the vibrations of the rack. As a general comment, I would have been happier to pay extra money for a set of front and rear lights that are commensurate with the quality of the CC bike.
Item under investigation:
- I have noticed an occasional clattering sound (click, click,...click) that appears to be coming from the area of the motor, I think. I am trying to pin it down more specifically. It may be just the normal working of the motor. I am planning to check with Frey about it.
Here is my bike below. I am also trying a combination of Topeak rack and bag. The bag slides on a track and locks at the end of track. It is very sturdy and there is enough clearance with the stock rack at the bottom. I will likely take out the stock rack and move the rear light on the Topeak rack.
Thank you for reading,
Stay safe
The bike is everything I was hoping for and I think Frey has managed to come up with a winner.
I have another hard-tail e-bike with a rear hub motor and I usually try to go around bumps and holes when I ride that bike. With the CC, the drive is so smooth that I find myself aiming for the bumps and holes because it is so much fun; it is like riding on a cloud.
Positive impressions:
- The Maxxis 2.8" nubby tires: I ride exclusively on trails (gravel, dirt, forest) and the control offered by those tires is amazing, especially in conditions that would be slippery with my other bike.
- Magura MT5 brakes: I have been following the braking noise issues reported by Tom and Dave. So far, I have not noticed any noise coming from the braking system. I have a different set of rim/tires and I don't know if this might play a role. As well, so far I have noticed that both the rear and front brakes are very efficient, either when used together or one at the time. No complaint on the brake bite so far.
- The motor controller: I have exercised all the PAS levels (1-5) in Eco mode, going rapidly back and forth between the levels, and found a very good responsiveness of the motor. Increasing the pressure on the pedals causes the motor to quickly respond in kind and it makes you feel like superman at times. I have not tried the Sport mode yet.
- Stand-up Height: The CC stand-up height is very comfortable with the CC. I did measure 25.5" from the ground to the top of the cross bar, which is exactly what Frey had in their CC geometry specs.
Items that may benefit from improvements:
- Water Bottle Holder: I found that water bottle holder is often in the way when mounting/dismounting the bike. I may simply remove it.
- The Rear Light: When I opened the bike package, I found the rear light was dislodged from the rack and just hanging by its wires. It became loose as a result of the shipping. The rear light is precariously held by only two very small screws that could easily become loose with the vibrations of the rack. As a general comment, I would have been happier to pay extra money for a set of front and rear lights that are commensurate with the quality of the CC bike.
Item under investigation:
- I have noticed an occasional clattering sound (click, click,...click) that appears to be coming from the area of the motor, I think. I am trying to pin it down more specifically. It may be just the normal working of the motor. I am planning to check with Frey about it.
Here is my bike below. I am also trying a combination of Topeak rack and bag. The bag slides on a track and locks at the end of track. It is very sturdy and there is enough clearance with the stock rack at the bottom. I will likely take out the stock rack and move the rear light on the Topeak rack.
Thank you for reading,
Stay safe
Dave Thefonziscool
Member
Nice bike! I do like my moto-x slick style tires for urban riding but i just got a pair of maxxis minion ss exo tires for my trips to Bend where i will do mostly off road riding. Im planning on removing my fenders and rack for these trips. I figured I'd just splice in a snap- socket of sorts into the rear light wire for quick connect/ disconnect convenience. I like your topeak rack i have not noticed that style very cool. Thanks!
Ebike Addict
Member
Hi
It is also the same model that you demonstrated in one of your video, with the Maxxis tires. Yes I prefer the saddle pointing down a little bit but it is currently too tilted and I need to adjust it a bit better. Thanks!
brake034
Active Member
- Region
- Asia
Thanks but I think that's not me, I don't do video's but I do post them
TomD
Well-Known Member
I actually like the water bottle placement and don't find it in the way. Using the step thru much more than I anticipated. It's really helpful when the bike is weighed down with panniers.
One thing I'm finding is the paint chips very easily. The paint job looks high end, but not sure it's going to hold up over time. A bit surprised FREY didn't include a slap guard. Already seeing chips from the chain. Might find some red tape to protect the swing arm.
One thing I'm finding is the paint chips very easily. The paint job looks high end, but not sure it's going to hold up over time. A bit surprised FREY didn't include a slap guard. Already seeing chips from the chain. Might find some red tape to protect the swing arm.
Slap Guard
You can get the same guard shown in the Electrek video on the AM1000
They come in a few different colors (including red) with the video showing blue on a yellow frame.
See:
https://www.amazon.com/Mantain-Bicy...ords=bicycle+slap+guard&qid=1590838150&sr=8-1
I have the standard black on my cream CC --- they zip tie on just like the front fender.
CC Suspension Tuning
At 185 lbs, I find I need to set the rear shock pressure at a little over 200 psi to get about a 30% indicated static sag and about 115 psi for the forks for similar sag. According to the YouTube videos I’ve perused, to fine tune this and adjust the damping, mountain bikers bunny hop the bike to get the fore and aft lift off points balanced for predictable jumping/landing behavior. Since I’m hoping mostly to stay attached to the earth at all times I assume all this fussing over chassis dynamics isn’t really required for a rider like me?
TomD
Well-Known Member
Mine was hard and mushy so I don't think it was air. Today I decided to clean the rotors again and take another look at the pads. I had swapped the front PM adapter (which wasn't ground down) with the rear (which was ground) and now the rear pads show obvious wear due to the rotor not catching the pad. Not sure I believe FREY's claim that they ground down the rear adapter to provide more braking power than the front. I am pretty sure they ground it down to try and match the length of the OEM adapters and forgot to grind the front. I will find out tomorrow when my Magura adapters arrive. My pads are looking pretty sick:
Unfortunately curiosity got the best of me with the pads removed and I decided to check the piston action. When pulling the front brake I noticed one of the pistons moved a lot more than the others. I thought that was odd so pulled a couple more times which led to the piston pushing all the way out along with hydraulic fluid. Doh! I was able to push the piston back in to stop the bleeding but there is obviously lots of air in the front brake line now! I looked at a few videos online and it doesn't seem too hard to bleed brakes but perhaps it's time to let a pro do it. Just for grins I checked the rear brake pistons and they did the same thing, not all moved in unison so seems normal. Oh, well, another hopefully not too expensive lesson learned.
Dave Thefonziscool
Member
I stopped at the Ebike store today (rosa parks blvd portland) to pick up a KMC missing link to keep with patch kit etc. They're friendly and work on all ebikes. Anyhow i asked about my brake noise and explained it was new and the calipers appear to be correctly set. First thing he says "are those Magura MT5's?". No joke. He goes on to explain that some of the Magura rotors and especially when used in the mt5 set up just make noise, there is not much you can do about it short of replacing the rotors. He explained that the noisy ones they encountered still work great and stop strong. Crazy! I wanted to mention that my front brakes are now also noisy, I think I just wasn't using them as much & thought they didn't make the noise but they do, yet at the same time my brakes work incredibly well. But still the noise is disconcerting, and i would like to silence it.
Last edited:
TomD
Well-Known Member
My Magura post mount adapters arrived today. The rear ground aftermarket adapter comes close to the OEM spec. I'm not sure why Frey did not grind my front adapter. Seems like they forgot and just came up with a nonsense excuse rather than just own up to it. I will test the rear brakes later tonight but I doubt it is going to solve the noise problem. I won't be able to teat the front brakes until velofix drops in tomorrow to bleed my front brake.
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In a break from the 24/7 George Floyd coverage (I live in Minneapolis), I looked at my CC’s brakes in more detail. So far (a hundred miles or so), they work just fine with good power and modulation feel; they’re just annoyingly noisy especially in rolling to a stop, although recently the rear howls a bit when pressed lightly alerting all the dogs along the path.
I also have the modified Tektro caliper adapters with the front as described by Tom above with only its lower stanchion ground down. I think this was done so that the caliper tilt is fine tuned so that both pairs of pistons are equidistant from the edge of the rotors --- from the factory the all 4 front pads overhang the rotor by a mm or so and the front brake functions just fine this way except for the noise. To maybe mitigate this, I’ve installed a MDR-P (203mm) rotor paired with new green “Sport” compound pads so that the front matches Magura’s current ebike specification.
For the rear, I’ve replaced the black pads with “comfort” blues, kept the Storm HC rotor, but shimmed (with shaped M6 fender washers) the caliper to match the front’s pad overhang.
After another 50 miles or so, I’ll report on whether any of these mods helped or not.
Also my second TurnLife battery has performed very similarly to my first, i.e., pretty well.
Stay well and avoid the night time streets for now.
Dave Thefonziscool
Member
Hi, what is a TurnLife battery? Aftermarket? Thx
As per a previous post, they are a battery manufacturing company Frey outsourced at least some of their CC group order production to. Both battieries I ordered with my CC have TurnLife labels/serial numbers on their cases. They are a much bigger company than Frey itself.
I take it your battery has no such labels??
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