Hi From a Proud Ribble owner and PulsarOne question

[Lentilbake]

Been a few months now of trying to get the firmware updated on my Ribble and still no real solution. A few weeks ago Ribble told me via email that Pure Electric (eBike store near me in Bristol) would be able to do the update and I went to see them to check. They said they had the cables/apps etc to do the upgrade and if I bought the bike in they'd do it. I took the bike in last Monday and after a week of trying they couldn't get the update files from Ribble. Ribble now tell me that a third party dealer wouldn't be able to update the firmware because they won't release the files to them. Ribble say the only option is to pack the bike up in a box and send it to them at their Preston HQ (200 miles away from me) at my expense. They do have two 'mobile mechanics' who could do it but they only operate in the Preston area. Ridiculous really as they do have a local 'Showroom' very near to me but they're only interested in selling more bikes from there, not looking after the ones they've sold.

Not sure what I'm going to do, don't really want to pack the bike up and pay to ship it...

UPDATE: I gave up trying to get the firmware updated and have lived with the Pulsar One reliability problems until now. I notice that Mahle are strongly advocating that you keep the firmware updated and are giving instructions on how to do this for x35/x20 systems on their website and are supplying the update files for download (https://mahle-smartbike.com/firmware-update/). I'm told by Ribble that the files supplied by Mahle will work OK. One of My Local eBike shops in Bristol is now offering firmware updates on any x35 system for £45 (a bit steep for a few minutes work with a laptop and a cable which Mahle supplies to their dealers for free IMHO). Ribble are now charging £75 to send/return a bike to Preston for the 'free' upgrade under warranty (very steep and possibly in contravention of consumer rights IMHO!). I've decided to buy a cable (£129) as I've got two bikes to update and a few others belonging to friends that will need doing, currently waiting for cable to arrive from Igneous Sports in Weston Super Mare who said it was in stock. Will report back with progress....

 

[Lentilbake]

Can anyone here make head or tail of the Mahle firmware numbering? On the website the latest version is Q3.2 (19.9.22) but this number seems to have little relationship to the firmware versions listed on the app. Mine is as in the attached photo. Can anyone having the Q3.2 version installed please post what the details look like in the app.

 

[Lentilbake]

UPDATE: I finally bought my own GCU cable to update the firmware (£115 from Velo-Store France), seeing as the firmware and installer package and instructions are now available on the Mahle website (https://mahle-smartbike.com/firmware-update/).
I ran the update on my Ribble CGR-ALe and in a couple minutes the firmwares had been updated, from the My Smartbike app the Joystick controller is now iM2EM126 (was iM2EM101), the battery controller is now 51 (was 45) and the iWOC controller stayed the same at 4701 (that's supposed to happen according to Mahle). The Pulsar One now seems to work correctly. Success!

My wife's Ribble Hybrid AL-e suffers from the pink flashing 903 error every time it's charged up to %100 and the firmware update is supposed to fix this so I tried it. The first time I ran the update (carefully following the instructions on the website) only the Joystick controller firmware was updated so I ran the update again as it explains on the website. During the update something went wrong and the iWOC light turned hard pink and stayed there, the bike has gone into 'Safe Mode'. I checked the pen drive used in the update and it wouldn't read in my laptop/PC, I checked the GCU cable and it was completely dead (no indicator lights showing when plugged into the PSU)! The cable is going back for a refund.

I've now taken the bike to my local Mahle dealer who with the help of Mahle is trying to get the bike going again with no luck so far. He managed to get it out of Safe Mode but the motor didn't work.

I have to say that Mahle have been pretty helpful trying to sort out the problem, sending me instructions on how to fix it etc but I'd already taken it to the shop by then. The bike shop asked me for proof of purchase from Ribble to check warranty status but I don't know what that means, it's probably out of warrant by now?

Thinking this is going to cost me money...

 

[Lentilbake]

Update: dealer says my battery is no good. Mahle say that it had an error code back in July and could have gone wrong any time even if the update had worked. Cost about £600, battery is out of warranty.