Hydra as a commuter?

[Deacon Blues]

Rotors on my other 3 bikes (1 non electric and 2 electric) haven't given me any trouble (about 17,000km).
My carbon road bike has 140s, while I think my e-gravel bike has 160s. I'm not sure what's on my UC Pro, but the rotors have been trouble-free on that bike too.
The rear rotor seems fine on my Hydra, so maybe it's just a one-off quality issue with the front rotor.

 

[bexamous]

I went from A4 to MT7 brakes on front, both used the same 2-piece Magura rotor, it was not changed. A4 rubbing was never issue. MT7 I've bled them 4 times, got the LBS to do it once. They always rub a tiny tiny amount. When riding I don't notice it. Its mainly when I'm stopped if I move front wheel very slowly it like resonates and makes an afwul noise.. and only for one section of rotor. So usualy I'd blame this on rotor, seems like it must be warped/bent just a little. But man its so close to perfect. And A4 had no issue on this exact same rotor. I feel like the MT7 pistons are not retracting enough leaving like zero margin for error.

I dunno.

If you google 'MT7 brake dragging' you'll find a million people being unable to get MT7 totally perfect.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Today I switched front rotors with my UC Pro and Hydra. The UC Pro has zero rubbing, but when I put that rotor in the Hydra it still rubbed once every rotor rotation, like the rotor was warped.
I plan on waiting until the pads wear down a bit and see if that makes a difference.

 

[Deacon Blues]

In my search for ways to carry items on my Hydra I tried mounting a seat/post bag that's on my road bike. Because the frame is carbon I can't mount a regular rear rack.

So, I put it on, along with a fender off my e-gravel bike and when for a ride.
I had fender rub while riding on a gravel pathway, so I took the fender off. I was surprised when the back tire made contact with the bag when I went over a small ditch.
Looks like this seat/tube bag won't work on my Hydra.
I think I'll order the Osprey fanny pack that was recently mentioned and forget about trying to find a seat or frame rack/bag that will work with this bike.

 

[loamoaf]

Floppy fenders bother me. I ordered a Mucky Nutz for the rear on mine to keep debris off my butt and dropper post but it has not arrived yet - I wish there were a few nicer options for fat tires out there but at least it was cheap if it doesn't work well. Wild the suspension travels enough for the tire to hit your bag but I can definitely see it when the dropper is down and it's much closer to the tire. You probably want to find a fender that secures to the rear triangle so it moves with the suspension like what @Rome has. Also... Rome... is that a cable lock you're using for your bike? Please get a Pewag/Abus security chain for your bike man, those cables cut like soggy spaghetti!

I'm on the list for a Rockgeist frame bag - wish I had placed the order a loooooooong time ago though as they have a long lead time current and I don't expect my bag for another couple months. They're not cheap but pretty sweet and it's something I can get my job to reimburse me for. Ordered with the bolt-on bottom & lace-up top for best stability on my frame (and no strap on the bottom in the way of the battery). I also sent them measurements of the downtube's width to see if they can make the base of the bag match that - just maybe about 0.7" wider than they normally do their bags for wider frames. All the bags come with a hydration port up at the top/front, and some other features, multiple materials available to use, some other options add on if you like spending even more money... I got mine in Coyote Brown like the 3rd pic - they also make tons of other bags too!

 

[rtp]

In my search for ways to carry items on my Hydra I tried mounting a seat/post bag that's on my road bike. Because the frame is carbon I can't mount a regular rear rack.

View attachment 132154

So, I put it on, along with a fender off my e-gravel bike and when for a ride.
I had fender rub while riding on a gravel pathway, so I took the fender off. I was surprised when the back tire made contact with the bag when I went over a small ditch.
Looks like this seat/tube bag won't work on my Hydra.
I think I'll order the Osprey fanny pack that was recently mentioned and forget about trying to find a seat or frame rack/bag that will work with this bike.

That's too bad - this was looking pretty clean/promising!

 

[Deacon Blues]

A downside to using the seat/tube bag was I could no longer use my dropper, which was something I could do without to get the storage.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I installed my two most recent purchases: a set of Ergon grips and a handlebar with some rise and 16 degrees of back sweep. I went for a 55km ride, with a mix of trail and pavement and I really like the grip/handlebar swap.
I also swapped the seat and display from my UC Pro.
I have front and rear fenders coming and I plan on re-installing the seat post bag from my road bike, because the bag works so damn well, so I'm willing to forgo the use of my dropper seatpost (which isn't really needed for the (weanie) way I ride trails....remember, I 'm 70).
I also plan on purchasing a suspension pump so I can set up the shocks to my weight.

As I mentioned above, I took the bike on a 55km ride and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. This bike, with the Kinderney hub and street/trail tires is everything I could have hopped for.
The Kindernay V11 speed hub feels like it was made for this bike! The shifting takes a bit of time to get used to. For me, it shifts best when I momentarily stop pedaling while I shift. More experimenting needed here though.

My UC Pro is gathering dust in my shop.......

 

[perseverantone2.0]

I went from A4 to MT7 brakes on front, both used the same 2-piece Magura rotor, it was not changed. A4 rubbing was never issue. MT7 I've bled them 4 times, got the LBS to do it once. They always rub a tiny tiny amount. When riding I don't notice it. Its mainly when I'm stopped if I move front wheel very slowly it like resonates and makes an afwul noise.. and only for one section of rotor. So usualy I'd blame this on rotor, seems like it must be warped/bent just a little. But man its so close to perfect. And A4 had no issue on this exact same rotor. I feel like the MT7 pistons are not retracting enough leaving like zero margin for error.

I dunno.

If you google 'MT7 brake dragging' you'll find a million people being unable to get MT7 totally perfect.

I run MT5E on my FLX and love them way more than the SRAM Guide G2s I have on my X2 Ludicrous. But I was considering eventually converting to the MT7E setup. I almost bought the HYDRA, sometimes wondering if I should have. Because my front travel on the X2 nearly Bottoms off of a 2-foot bunny hop. Guessing they are undercharged. The MT7 and MT5 both have issues when you use the 2 brake pad setup, Convert to the single pad if you haven't already and that may fix your issue. It did with us and now the Magura MT5E(Just regular MT5 Levers) works perfectly, we did need to bleed and redo the fluid from scratch, but it was a super quick fix for us. Hope this helps some.

 

[perseverantone2.0]

In my search for ways to carry items on my Hydra I tried mounting a seat/post bag that's on my road bike. Because the frame is carbon I can't mount a regular rear rack.

View attachment 132154

So, I put it on, along with a fender off my e-gravel bike and when for a ride.
I had fender rub while riding on a gravel pathway, so I took the fender off. I was surprised when the back tire made contact with the bag when I went over a small ditch.
Looks like this seat/tube bag won't work on my Hydra.
I think I'll order the Osprey fanny pack that was recently mentioned and forget about trying to find a seat or frame rack/bag that will work with this bike.

Gotta know... How is the Travel on the rear shock, & front shocks are you feeling they are worth the upgrade? I like the suspension on my X2 ludicrous, but it definitely needs some shock tweaks or upgrades to hit those Enduro Tracks with any gusto.

 

[perseverantone2.0]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2NR3MJT?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Good between the legs bag/phone holder that stays out of the way and fits the E10 should fit your Hydra. Sadly not in this photo.

 

[kwseattle]

I've had similar issues with rotor rub, not actually on my ebike but on my other mtb. I installed MT7 Pros on my Santa Cruz Bronson - it took a couple of weeks of adjusting the calipers and truing the rotors to get it to a point where it was not rubbing. I've got 203mm Storm HC front and 180mm Storm HC rear rotors. One thing that helped was taking some 120-ish grit sandpaper on a flat surface (I used a table saw) and sanding down the surface of the brake pads to remove just a little bit of material (until they look clean).

Brake squeal was a huge issue, though, even with the stock Magura pads on the MT7 brakes. It was so unbelievably loud it was getting dangerous because I would avoid braking in situations when I really needed to. I ended up installing some MTX Braking red pads to see if it would help, and after break in they were just as loud. I swapped on the Magura 9P single piece pads from the MT5s on my Hydra and ended up discovering that the Storm HC rotors REALLY do not like the two piece pads that come on MT7s and are sold as most aftermarket performance pads. The single piece pads were silent and still are a few weeks later. I put the MTX pads on my Hydra and there's no squeal at all, thankfully, so I ended up ordering some MDR-C rotors for my Bronson to match the MDR-C rotors on my Hydra. I'm assuming the lightweight rotors have a poorly tuned resonant frequency that is excited by the two piece pads whereas the MDR-C ebike rotors damp that out.

 

[Deacon Blues]

On my Hydra the noise has, for the most part, gone away. I suspect the pads have worn in enough so that they no longer rub on the rotor.
The motor is still a noisy beast, but the power is addictive.

 

[Csubi]

On my Hydra the noise has, for the most part, gone away. I suspect the pads have worn in enough so that they no longer rub on the rotor.
The motor is still a noisy beast, but the power is addictive.

Too lazy to read back, have you re-greased the motor? I read it helps with the sound?!?!

 

[loamoaf]

Pushkar announced a while back they're doing the repack with SHC-100 when they install the X1 controller for all motors now, not as an add-on. When I got my motor it was definitely packed... a little pink squeezing grease out and the axle was notably harder to turn (without cranks on, with cranks can't really tell a difference)

I think the PEEK gear investigation was their attempt at mitigating the M620's noise issue beyond what the grease can manage

 

[Deacon Blues]

This summer I ordered a MuckyNutz front fender and a SKS rear fender.
I installed the MuckyNutz and went for a ride today and it looks like I'll be looking for another type/style of front fender.

The photos below show that the fender fits very close to the tire and I could actually hear the fender making contact on todays ride which included wide, easy trails and gravel roads.
I took the fender off when I got home and noticed a break in one of the support 'arms'.
I'm not sure if the break was my fault, or poor quality on MuckyNutz's part. I will say that the fender is very thin, especially the support arms that attach to the fork.

The SKS rear fender looks to be a more quality fender, but then-again, it was more expensive.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I went for a 30km ride today (all pavement) and I had the same problem I've had on previous rides, in that the power goes to zero in level 1, at an easy torque and lower cadence.

I can be going along at 22-25kph, in level 1, with light pedalling, and the power goes to 0. This has even happened when I'm going up a slight grade. The power just shuts off.
Sometime standing on the pedals and increasing the torque help, but in most cases dropping down a gear or two and increasing the cadence brings the motor back to life.
I'm thinking there is a torque problem here?
Anyone else having this problem?

 

[Deacon Blues]

I ordered an Evoc 3 L hip pack today. For some strange reason the best price and cheapest (out of Canada) shipping is from Germany, which is where I ordered the pack from (Bike24).

https://www.bike24.com/p2300837.html?source=SRP&indexName=production_SEARCH_INDEX_EN&objectId=EVO400654&queryId=516310cb9d68abe3728d1886123a1c18&userToken=4685c985-4456-412c-889e-f1f9c44f9866

 

[Deacon Blues]

I'm still getting the power going to zero a number of times while riding at a leisurely pace in level one. It's almost like the torque sensor is malfunctioning, because when I apply force to the pedals nothing happens, but when I gear down and increase my cadence the power come back on.
I'll have to text Pushkar and discus this with him.

 

[loamoaf]

Sucks to hear you're having this issue. It may be something in the controller settings as well that's causing this but a torque-sensor issue isn't out of the realm of possibilities. Not sure how thoroughly WW repacks the motor with grease but IIRC removing the axle is the number 1 procedure where people goof up and damage the torque sensor.

If you have the programming cable you can try setting up an assist level to only use the torque-sensing and not use cadence at all, and see how it responds to inputs then.

I told ya any EU product and many international products are retail for us cheaper buying them overseas than buying them domestic, or buying them if we were EU citizens - their laws state that full price including tax must be displayed, their retail prices often match or are lower than ours after sales tax, but their sales tax is 20% and we don't have to pay that (how they encourage exports?) Pretty sweet pack though - looks like it would sit at about where I am the sweatiest! Don't recall if you ordered you SQ Lab stuff but Bike24 usually has good prices on their stuff - that's where I got my 710 grips and 410 bar ends, I even grabbed a pair of FOX gloves for $30 off retail here. Placing an order from the EU is always the best time to snag another pair of Schwalbes too if you'll need them soon - maybe you'd get lucky and one of the big retailers there carries Kindernay oil and you can lump that in there as well?

I keep checking Rockgeist's queue tracker and they haven't really budged in the past few weeks, granted they're pretty vague with giving blocks of orders ("39000-40000 in progress") so doubtful I will get to use my frame bag before winter - so many times I looked at their order page back before Spring and should have ordered then! Speakig of winter, I'm currently trying to figure out a fun little setup with a PID & resistive kapton heaters for a temp-controlled winter pack - maintain 20-25°C minimum to ensure full capacity/power.