Front end not balanced, shakes, wobbles

[chgofirefighter]

The front wheel wobbles left and right shakes when I let go of the handlebars. however, When I'm riding, holding the handlebars there seems to be no issues. I almost crashed the other day when I let go of the handlebars and the front end started to wobble left and right to the point that I had to rapidly grab the handle bar to stabilize the wobble.
Chicago streets are all messed up, not sure what's the issue. Thoughts? It seems to be out of balance, have to be completely honest ever since I purchased this Stromer there has been nothing but issues after issues.

A bike that cost so much should be bullet proof!! I'm starting to question my investment and wondering if I should of purchased another less expensive brand. This is totally unacceptable that a customer has to be contacting customer service on a monthly basis for a bike that cost $7000+tax. how can one enjoy a bike that constantly breaks down. I have to admit that no ebike is "perfect" but this is unacceptable. More R&D should of been done in order to justify a bikes cost and marketing as one of the "best" ebikes on the market. Shoot, even the frame is made in Asia somewhere, I think Taiwan. Meaning that Stromer is enjoying a nice hefty profit on their ebikes for sure.

 

[bikerjohn]

I believe the issue is common with all bikes configured with Hub motor drives. I have the same issue with an EG Zurich which is a FWD hub set-up. I have expressed this opinion on another forum thread and no-one offered a better explanation. I would be curious if this is an issue on crank drive e-bikes.

 

[Cameron Newland]

The front wheel wobbles left and right shakes when I let go of the handlebars. however, When I'm riding, holding the handlebars there seems to be no issues. I almost crashed the other day when I let go of the handlebars and the front end started to wobble left and right to the point that I had to rapidly grab the handle bar to stabilize the wobble.
Chicago streets are all messed up, not sure what's the issue. Thoughts? It seems to be out of balance, have to be completely honest ever since I purchased this Stromer there has been nothing but issues after issues.

A bike that cost so much should be bullet proof!! I'm starting to question my investment and wondering if I should of purchased another less expensive brand. This is totally unacceptable that a customer has to be contacting customer service on a monthly basis for a bike that cost $7000+tax. how can one enjoy a bike that constantly breaks down. I have to admit that no ebike is "perfect" but this is unacceptable. More R&D should of been done in order to justify a bikes cost and marketing as one of the "best" ebikes on the market. Shoot, even the frame is made in Asia somewhere, I think Taiwan. Meaning that Stromer is enjoying a nice hefty profit on their ebikes for sure.

Solution: don't let go of the handlebars. ;-)

 

[Cnugget]

Bummer on the issues..

I had some wobble in my handlebars after a crash. The bike mechanic loosened the front wheel off then re-tightened it. Wobble is gone now. It was magical. Hoping your fix will be an easy one.

 

[drcollie]

This is called a 'speed wobble' and its the result of center of gravity, weight, and in some cases aerodynamics. I run into it frequently on motorcycles, when panniers (luggage) and top cases are put on the back of the motorcycle then loaded up. Speed and weight on the tail plus the airflow all contribute. Changing to thinner panniers helps, too in such case, or removing or adjusting the weight forward.

On an E-Bike, the rear motor hub is very heavy relative to the bike overall, and that's the root cause. Its compounded by models (such as A2B) that carry their battery over the rear wheel as well. When you decide to let go of the handlebars you are probably at a halfway decent speed and you sit up, thereby changing the balance and the aerodynamics of the machine. It wasn't designed to do that and the speed wobble is the result. Next time you want to release the handlebars, do so while staying down as if your hands were on the bars and don't 'sit upright'. You will find there is far less tendency for a speed wobble when you keep your body low to the frame.

The only way you are going to correct this and enable yourself to go hands-off at speed is to add some weights to the forks of the bike, probably start with around 10 lb and go from there. Experiment with the front end weights and placement if that hands-free mode is important to you.

 

[smitty]

The front wheel wobbles left and right shakes when I let go of the handlebars. however, When I'm riding, holding the handlebars there seems to be no issues. I almost crashed the other day when I let go of the handlebars and the front end started to wobble left and right to the point that I had to rapidly grab the handle bar to stabilize the wobble.
Chicago streets are all messed up, not sure what's the issue. Thoughts? It seems to be out of balance, have to be completely honest ever since I purchased this Stromer there has been nothing but issues after issues.

A bike that cost so much should be bullet proof!! I'm starting to question my investment and wondering if I should of purchased another less expensive brand. This is totally unacceptable that a customer has to be contacting customer service on a monthly basis for a bike that cost $7000+tax. how can one enjoy a bike that constantly breaks down. I have to admit that no ebike is "perfect" but this is unacceptable. More R&D should of been done in order to justify a bikes cost and marketing as one of the "best" ebikes on the market. Shoot, even the frame is made in Asia somewhere, I think Taiwan. Meaning that Stromer is enjoying a nice hefty profit on their ebikes for sure.

Feeling saddened by your troubles with the ST-2. My experience is that the bike has been virtually bullet-proof and well worth the money invested. Where does your dealer stand on all of this? It seems like they really should step up on the issues you have been having?? In terms of the wobble, my thought is that the bike is so back-end heavy that letting go of the handle bars is a sure way for the front wheel to take a vacation as it were and do its own thing. Because of the riding position on a Stromer, when you are reaching forward and thus transferring more weight to the front end, the bike is much better balanced in terms of the weight distribution...just my thoughts. I hope at some point you find the satisfaction that many of us have found with the ST-2 and Stromer in general. (Note: most every bike company in the World now have their frames made abroad and the Taiwanese frames are amongst the best of that lot).

 

[russ moir]

Dunno what all brands are made there, but in photos of the factory, Colnago frames at least are made in the same factory.
Used to be Colnago had a mom and pop Italian image. Have to wonder how much is to stay competitive due to volumes required to satisfy orders, vs corporate greed - build low, sell outrageously high.

 

[smitty]

Dunno what all brands are made there, but in photos of the factory, Colnago frames at least are made in the same factory.
Used to be Colnago had a mom and pop Italian image. Have to wonder how much is to stay competitive due to volumes required to satisfy orders, vs corporate greed - build low, sell outrageously high.

I recently parted with my Ciocc this summer and sold a Raleigh International with chromed lugs and stays a couple of years ago; beautifully crafted machines. I'm sure that there are still some frames being produced in small lots by decent bicycle makers, but they are definitely in a very small minority in this day and age. My sense of the ST-2 is that it is pretty well thought out and well-constrcted; let's hope that it will be a classic down the road...just hope we can continue to get batteries to run it, as time passes...

 

[Robie]

I have added a Arkel small handlebar bag to move some weight forward from my large panniers. Takes some getting used to as St2 handles differently now.But I noticed that previously the front tire was squirrel ly from lack of weight. This seems to have solved wobble issues also. Thanks to whomever mentioned Arkel bags. Top notch ! And the mounts just clear the St2 headlight.

 

[ex10psi]

yup, i have the same issue with my ST2. i agree it has to do with the rear hub motor weight bias causing the front end to be light. i had my stromer dealer look it over and nothing was noticeably wrong. i even test rode one of their ST2's they had on the showroom floor and that thing had a speed wobble too when hands off. except not as bad, simply because i have a side bag on the back of mine, the ST2 they had obviously was brand new so no bags. its just the nature of it. bummer i know.

 

[ex10psi]

This is called a 'speed wobble' and its the result of center of gravity, weight, and in some cases aerodynamics. I run into it frequently on motorcycles, when panniers (luggage) and top cases are put on the back of the motorcycle then loaded up. Speed and weight on the tail plus the airflow all contribute. Changing to thinner panniers helps, too in such case, or removing or adjusting the weight forward.

On an E-Bike, the rear motor hub is very heavy relative to the bike overall, and that's the root cause. Its compounded by models (such as A2B) that carry their battery over the rear wheel as well. When you decide to let go of the handlebars you are probably at a halfway decent speed and you sit up, thereby changing the balance and the aerodynamics of the machine. It wasn't designed to do that and the speed wobble is the result. Next time you want to release the handlebars, do so while staying down as if your hands were on the bars and don't 'sit upright'. You will find there is far less tendency for a speed wobble when you keep your body low to the frame.

The only way you are going to correct this and enable yourself to go hands-off at speed is to add some weights to the forks of the bike, probably start with around 10 lb and go from there. Experiment with the front end weights and placement if that hands-free mode is important to you.

this is the best explanation i have read regarding this issue. thank you for being smarter than every single one of the stromer dealers in my area.

 

[drcollie]

Aerodynamics and fore/weight balance greatly affect 2-wheelers, and most of us are so used to running around in cars we pay scant attention when we change the balance in our cars as it doesn't affect stability much. On motorcycles and bicycles, its HUGE. One of the many motorcycles I have owned was a KTM 990 Adventure, that came from the factory with a 21" front wheel. On my first trip on that bike to Ohio from Virginia, I fitted a set of Touratech Panniers and top case, plus a larger touring windscreen on it. The result was a disaster at 70 mph, the bike would almost go out-of-control when passing an 18-wheeler and speed wobbles were the norm - with my hands on the bars!. Because I was doing a lot of trips on the bike, I had to find a fix. I removed the topcase and went to slimmer luggage that was tucked in more, and back to the stock windscreen. MUCH better, but now I had a big wind blast on the bike and lacked luggage capacity, but now I knew I was on the right track. The key was to increase stability by a cleaner punch through the wind AND get more weight on the front. So I went to a half-height top case, kept the narrow profile luggage and re-installed the touring windscreen. The speed wobble returned but at 50% of what it was before. The next thing I decided to do was change the wheels, and take off the narrow 21" wheel and put on a wider, 19" one, then remove the rear 18" and drop to 17". That solved the problem entirely together with the other mods. Here's the bike in the blue with the new wheel setup and touring windscreen (panniers are on the wall)



So when you have handling issues, instead of blaming the bike or the dealer, look at what YOU are doing and think it through logically. Experiment. On my ST2-S, I noticed a speed wobble as well if I sat up on the bike over 18 mph and took my hands off the bars. I don't really need to ride hands-free, its not important to me, however what I did want was a hand position adjustment to change positions. So I installed a set of GP grips which have the 'horns' on them, That lets you move your hands up and forward, and changes your back angle some so you get a different riding position. And your weight is still on the front end of the bike as Stromer intended. This gives you more grip and comfort options, try a set and see what you think.



Here's a link:

http://www.ergon-bike.com/en/product.html?a=griffe

-Duane

 

[chgofirefighter]

Feeling saddened by your troubles with the ST-2. My experience is that the bike has been virtually bullet-proof and well worth the money invested. Where does your dealer stand on all of this? It seems like they really should step up on the issues you have been having?? In terms of the wobble, my thought is that the bike is so back-end heavy that letting go of the handle bars is a sure way for the front wheel to take a vacation as it were and do its own thing. Because of the riding position on a Stromer, when you are reaching forward and thus transferring more weight to the front end, the bike is much better balanced in terms of the weight distribution...just my thoughts. I hope at some point you find the satisfaction that many of us have found with the ST-2 and Stromer in general. (Note: most every bike company in the World now have their frames made abroad and the Taiwanese frames are amongst the best of that lot).

I purchased this bike outside of Chicago, drove approx 3 1/2 hours to Wisconsin, so I don't have a "local dealer" per se. Last time I took it for repairs they wanted to hit me up with a $276 repair bill OUCH! I'm in the process of taking the bike to a shop to have them install aero bars, and dial them in correctly, the bike is still under warranty but this wobble is a PITA... Didn't do that before but lets see what happens

 

[chgofirefighter]

Aerodynamics and fore/weight balance greatly affect 2-wheelers, and most of us are so used to running around in cars we pay scant attention when we change the balance in our cars as it doesn't affect stability much. On motorcycles and bicycles, its HUGE. One of the many motorcycles I have owned was a KTM 990 Adventure, that came from the factory with a 21" front wheel. On my first trip on that bike to Ohio from Virginia, I fitted a set of Touratech Panniers and top case, plus a larger touring windscreen on it. The result was a disaster at 70 mph, the bike would almost go out-of-control when passing an 18-wheeler and speed wobbles were the norm - with my hands on the bars!. Because I was doing a lot of trips on the bike, I had to find a fix. I removed the topcase and went to slimmer luggage that was tucked in more, and back to the stock windscreen. MUCH better, but now I had a big wind blast on the bike and lacked luggage capacity, but now I knew I was on the right track. The key was to increase stability by a cleaner punch through the wind AND get more weight on the front. So I went to a half-height top case, kept the narrow profile luggage and re-installed the touring windscreen. The speed wobble returned but at 50% of what it was before. The next thing I decided to do was change the wheels, and take off the narrow 21" wheel and put on a wider, 19" one, then remove the rear 18" and drop to 17". That solved the problem entirely together with the other mods. Here's the bike in the blue with the new wheel setup and touring windscreen (panniers are on the wall)



So when you have handling issues, instead of blaming the bike or the dealer, look at what YOU are doing and think it through logically. Experiment. On my ST2-S, I noticed a speed wobble as well if I sat up on the bike over 18 mph and took my hands off the bars. I don't really need to ride hands-free, its not important to me, however what I did want was a hand position adjustment to change positions. So I installed a set of GP grips which have the 'horns' on them, That lets you move your hands up and forward, and changes your back angle some so you get a different riding position. And your weight is still on the front end of the bike as Stromer intended. This gives you more grip and comfort options, try a set and see what you think.



Here's a link:

http://www.ergon-bike.com/en/product.html?a=griffe

-Duane

Thanks Duane, loving those grips going to look into them. Thank you~ I want to install Aero bars too

 

[David Thomas of Peshtigo]

If I take my hands off the bars and the front wheel wobbles, I press a knee against the top tube to dampen the oscillation until I can get my hands back on the bars.

 

[EriderM]

Strangely enough, my wobble seems to have gone away after I added the body float seatpost.

 

[chgofirefighter]

The front cassette needed to be retorqued, all gone now

 

[Berry78]

Fabulous!