Just got a city mid drive,. Have gone from a Rize step leisure. Shifting seems awkward

[Rick badgolfer]

I would look into further educating yourself regarding a rock solid derailleur adjustment. Watch a few videos. Find one that makes sense, and follow all the procedures from start to finish to fully convince yourself it's all set perfectly. Then go for a test ride, and don't be REAL surprised if you need to tweek it!

Do not make a bet on the derailleur adjustment being spot on when you get the bike on a manf. direct shipment. It may be fine, but there's just as good a chance it won't be. There's no smoke or mirrors involved. It's all a series of easy adjustments.

 

[Rick badgolfer]

Thanks, Hopefully, will go for a good ride soon. Roads still a bit scary here, lots of gravel from sand trucks over the worst winter here since 1972...50 years. Bikes only got 2.1 tires with out big grips.
But on my short test ride.....like a rocket. Derailleurs have always befuddled me, unlike brakes. Guess I'm going to have to smarten up. Cheers

 

[Rick badgolfer]

Further update, just broke 2 or 3 cogs on highest gear#7. Spoke with Rize bikes, evidently this has happened to SOME of mid drive bikes, l don't know how many. They will send me a new freewheel as soon as they can.... that's fair. But... here's my question....product says it's a nickel plated 11-32 t. 7 gear item
Told a good bike shop about this and they suggested due to 120Newtons of power the Bafang mid drive has,. l would be smarter getting a better quality freewheel. Makes sense. Looking around on line, l see some but they seem to have 8 or 9 gears. Not having a clue...what would someone viewing this post suggest. The Rize is not a super expensive bike, and l am new to mid drives. I was shifting it correctly when gear broke, was on flat ground, p.a.s.1 and moving normally. My fear is that the torque of md motor is too strong for the stock freewheel. Opinions!

 

[BeltzerNYC]

Further update, just broke 2 or 3 cogs on highest gear#7. Spoke with Rize bikes, evidently this has happened to SOME of mid drive bikes, l don't know how many. They will send me a new freewheel as soon as they can.... that's fair. But... here's my question....product says it's a nickel plated 11-32 t. 7 gear item
Told a good bike shop about this and they suggested due to 120Newtons of power the Bafang mid drive has,. l would be smarter getting a better quality freewheel. Makes sense. Looking around on line, l see some but they seem to have 8 or 9 gears. Not having a clue...what would someone viewing this post suggest. The Rize is not a super expensive bike, and l am new to mid drives. I was shifting it correctly when gear broke, was on flat ground, p.a.s.1 and moving normally. My fear is that the torque of md motor is too strong for the stock freewheel. Opinions!

yes I think the cassette is cheap, which is what my LBS said. they also said they ship me a new cassette(will they pay for labor?)

I'm looking for suggestions as well (I have an MD with 7 speed)

 

[Rick badgolfer]

I'm assuming you're experience is similar to mine. Hopefully, this is a one off. As I've said in previous posts, l have a Rize step leisure bike.... it's been great. My gut feeling is the city md is overpowered for the other parts. Hope I'm wrong. Cheers

 

[AHicks]

Further update, just broke 2 or 3 cogs on highest gear#7. Spoke with Rize bikes, evidently this has happened to SOME of mid drive bikes, l don't know how many. They will send me a new freewheel as soon as they can.... that's fair. But... here's my question....product says it's a nickel plated 11-32 t. 7 gear item
Told a good bike shop about this and they suggested due to 120Newtons of power the Bafang mid drive has,. l would be smarter getting a better quality freewheel. Makes sense. Looking around on line, l see some but they seem to have 8 or 9 gears. Not having a clue...what would someone viewing this post suggest. The Rize is not a super expensive bike, and l am new to mid drives. I was shifting it correctly when gear broke, was on flat ground, p.a.s.1 and moving normally. My fear is that the torque of md motor is too strong for the stock freewheel. Opinions!

Rick, there's quite a bit of difference between a bike equipped with a "freewheel" type rear cluster (generally used with a rear hub drive), and a "cassette" type cluster generally used with a mid drive. They are NOT interchangeable.

And I get the fact Rize specs show it as a freewheel. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt that. If the Rize rep told you it was a "freewheel" I would have some doubt regarding his competency, or possibly he misunderstood/forgot what kind of bike you have/were talking about.

Converting to a cassette with more gears (8, 9, or more) isn't going to help a thing IMHO, when it comes to the strength of that 11t/top/7th gear. They are an issue on ANY type gear cluster. The problem is there aren't enough teeth in play at any given time, and for that reason, are generally the gear that wears out first. For the same reason, they do not fare well when it comes to shifting errors either.... -Al

 

[AHicks]

yes I think the cassette is cheap, which is what my LBS said. they also said they ship me a new cassette(will they pay for labor?)

I'm looking for suggestions as well (I have an MD with 7 speed)

After purchasing a bike from a source other than them, or due to absolute ignorance regarding what you have, comments from bike shop employees are often negative. Suggest you take them with a grain of salt.

After sharing the fact he thought your cassette was cheap, did he have any suggestions for anything that might hold up better?

 

[BeltzerNYC]

Rick, there's quite a bit of difference between a bike equipped with a "freewheel" type rear cluster (generally used with a rear hub drive), and a "cassette" type cluster generally used with a mid drive. They are NOT interchangeable.

And I get the fact Rize specs show it as a freewheel. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt that. If the Rize rep told you it was a "freewheel" I would have some doubt regarding his competency, or possibly he misunderstood/forgot what kind of bike you have/were talking about.

Converting to a cassette with more gears (8, 9, or more) isn't going to help a thing IMHO, when it comes to the strength of that 11t/top/7th gear. They are an issue on ANY type gear cluster. The problem is there aren't enough teeth in play at any given time, and for that reason, are generally the gear that wears out first. For the same reason, they do not fare well when it comes to shifting errors either.... -Al

just realizing this isnt the thread i thought. my issue is a popping sound while pedaling. sounds like it comes from the back. sometimes its a few bangs in a row. listen here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O9IhJn7_HTEGIPjuw8DC-D2VuZF3DIIt/view?usp=drivesdk

I have issues on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th cogs. it is mainly in higher PAS but occurs both on hills and on flat land. this is since new and it only has a few dozen miles on it. shifts fine and LBSs don't see anything really wrong. I had one mile of ride gear 4 just made the worst noise anytime I tried to go into it. teeth look fine and the cogs don't move by touch. One LBS said the cassette was cheap but another person in the shop said it might be the plastic pulley gear? I dunno I haven't been riding it until I hear more from service.

 

[AHicks]

just realizing this isnt the thread i thought. my issue is a popping sound while pedaling. sounds like it comes from the back. sometimes its a few bangs in a row. listen here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O9IhJn7_HTEGIPjuw8DC-D2VuZF3DIIt/view?usp=drivesdk

I have issues on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th cogs. it is mainly in higher PAS but occurs both on hills and on flat land. this is since new and it only has a few dozen miles on it. shifts fine and LBSs don't see anything really wrong. I had one mile of ride gear 4 just made the worst noise anytime I tried to go into it. teeth look fine and the cogs don't move by touch. One LBS said the cassette was cheap but another person in the shop said it might be the plastic pulley gear? I dunno I haven't been riding it until I hear more from service.

I would not return to that shop. I hope you didn't have to pay for that "advice". For starters cassettes don't need to be 150 bucks to work right when set up properly....

Without knowing anything else, my best guess is that the shift cable is out of adjustment, holding the derailleur "between gears" and the chain is hopping back and forth between them, making the popping noise as it does. The length of the shift cable determines where the derailleur is positioned, and there's an adjuster at each end (near the shifter and back on the derailleur) that can be used to make minor adjustments to the cable length. Usually a little adjustment at either end goes a long way. 1/4 turn can make a difference!

I would highly recommend grabbing a cup of coffee and taking the time to brief yourself regarding the derailleur adjustments. YouTube has dozens of them. I see this one mentioned frequently:

Rear Derailleur Adjustment

The article will discuss adjustment of rear derailleur limit screws and indexing.

www.parktool.com

Looking for something quick and dirty? Try turning one of the adjusters (either end) 1 full turn (no more) to see if the problem gets better or worse. Some adjusters will need to be pulled out slightly before they can be turned. Don't just put a pair of pliers on it and force it. This should be able to be done easily with just your fingers. You should see a significant difference with that full turn.

If that does take care of most of it, try another 1/2 turn one way, then the other to see if it improves. As mentioned, this is the quick and dirty method. For Pete's sake, don't take it as gospel. You should still familiarize yourself with the correct procedure -OR- find a competent shop that knows what they are doing. Techs talking about "cheap parts" are exposing their complete lack of knowledge/competency. Ignore them! Plastic pulley gear........right...... -Al

 

[BeltzerNYC]

I would not return to that shop. I hope you didn't have to pay for that "advice". For starters cassettes don't need to be 150 bucks to work right when set up properly....

Without knowing anything else, my best guess is that the shift cable is out of adjustment, holding the derailleur "between gears" and the chain is hopping back and forth between them, making the popping noise as it does. The length of the shift cable determines where the derailleur is positioned, and there's an adjuster at each end (near the shifter and back on the derailleur) that can be used to make minor adjustments to the cable length. Usually a little adjustment at either end goes a long way. 1/4 turn can make a difference!

I would highly recommend grabbing a cup of coffee and taking the time to brief yourself regarding the derailleur adjustments. YouTube has dozens of them. I see this one mentioned frequently:

Rear Derailleur Adjustment

The article will discuss adjustment of rear derailleur limit screws and indexing.

www.parktool.com

Looking for something quick and dirty? Try turning one of the adjusters (either end) 1 full turn (no more) to see if the problem gets better or worse. Some adjusters will need to be pulled out slightly before they can be turned. Don't just put a pair of pliers on it and force it. This should be able to be done easily with just your fingers. You should see a significant difference with that full turn.

If that does take care of most of it, try another 1/2 turn one way, then the other to see if it improves. As mentioned, this is the quick and dirty method. For Pete's sake, don't take it as gospel. You should still familiarize yourself with the correct procedure -OR- find a competent shop that knows what they are doing. Techs talking about "cheap parts" are exposing their complete lack of knowledge/competency. Ignore them! Plastic pulley gear........right...... went to two shops and again the bike shifts fine and I have no really problems shifting. the clank comes well after

I would not return to that shop. I hope you didn't have to pay for that "advice". For starters cassettes don't need to be 150 bucks to work right when set up properly....

Without knowing anything else, my best guess is that the shift cable is out of adjustment, holding the derailleur "between gears" and the chain is hopping back and forth between them, making the popping noise as it does. The length of the shift cable determines where the derailleur is positioned, and there's an adjuster at each end (near the shifter and back on the derailleur) that can be used to make minor adjustments to the cable length. Usually a little adjustment at either end goes a long way. 1/4 turn can make a difference!

I would highly recommend grabbing a cup of coffee and taking the time to brief yourself regarding the derailleur adjustments. YouTube has dozens of them. I see this one mentioned frequently:

Rear Derailleur Adjustment

The article will discuss adjustment of rear derailleur limit screws and indexing.

www.parktool.com

Looking for something quick and dirty? Try turning one of the adjusters (either end) 1 full turn (no more) to see if the problem gets better or worse. Some adjusters will need to be pulled out slightly before they can be turned. Don't just put a pair of pliers on it and force it. This should be able to be done easily with just your fingers. You should see a significant difference with that full turn.

If that does take care of most of it, try another 1/2 turn one way, then the other to see if it improves. As mentioned, this is the quick and dirty method. For Pete's sake, don't take it as gospel. You should still familiarize yourself with the correct procedure -OR- find a competent shop that knows what they are doing. Techs talking about "cheap parts" are exposing their complete lack of knowledge/competency. Ignore them! Plastic pulley gear........right...... -Al

so I went to two shops (no charge, they both have worked on my other bike, including a full wheel rebuild) and they both said it shifts fine. it shifts good, the issue comes well after the shifts, and happens maybe a few times on a ride. did you click the video? the chain stays in gear and I can keep pedaling before and after the clank occurs. Rize said ut could be the cassette and are thinking of sending me another one, but they are still determining. they have not been pointing to adjusting derailleur.

 

[AHicks]

Yep, watched/listened to the video.
If it's confirmed shifting properly, the chain may not have enough tension, especially when you're running on the smaller gears, and that pop is the chain skipping. Case made for this occurence when you say it's happening when you apply a lot of power. Dunno. Just guessing here, tossing out ideas. Pretty much have to have something like that right in front of you to see what's really going on.

I really doubt it's the cassette itself...... It would seem to me like that would allow it to happen in ALL of the gears. -Al

 

[Rick badgolfer]

Al Hickman, just spoke with Rize bike fellow, said it is a free wheel on the city MD bike. From my impression there were a few of the gear cog breakdowns. Where customers could get local service in the Vancouver area, he said that the vast majority of the replacement free wheels did the job without having a similar issue. I'm hoping to get my part in a week or so, hopefully, then will find out. My gut feeling is the Md which supposedly can manufacture 120 newtons is too much torque for a lower end bike. I hope I'm wrong! Cheers, Rick.

 

[AHicks]

Al Hickman, just spoke with Rize bike fellow, said it is a free wheel on the city MD bike. From my impression there were a few of the gear cog breakdowns. Where customers could get local service in the Vancouver area, he said that the vast majority of the replacement free wheels did the job without having a similar issue. I'm hoping to get my part in a week or so, hopefully, then will find out. My gut feeling is the Md which supposedly can manufacture 120 newtons is too much torque for a lower end bike. I hope I'm wrong! Cheers, Rick.

You believe what you want to, but if that were true, all of the guys running the Ultra powered (conservatively rated at 160nm) "lower end bikes" would be having issues as well. That has not been the case at all.......

 

[Rick badgolfer]

Al, l trust your knowledge and judgement over mine!

 

[Bill Owen]

Rick, there's quite a bit of difference between a bike equipped with a "freewheel" type rear cluster (generally used with a rear hub drive), and a "cassette" type cluster generally used with a mid drive. They are NOT interchangeable.

And I get the fact Rize specs show it as a freewheel. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt that. If the Rize rep told you it was a "freewheel" I would have some doubt regarding his competency, or possibly he misunderstood/forgot what kind of bike you have/were talking about.

Converting to a cassette with more gears (8, 9, or more) isn't going to help a thing IMHO, when it comes to the strength of that 11t/top/7th gear. They are an issue on ANY type gear cluster. The problem is there aren't enough teeth in play at any given time, and for that reason, are generally the gear that wears out first. For the same reason, they do not fare well when it comes to shifting errors either.... -Al

I have a Rize MD (it's a garbage bike) and am on my second freewheel. It is definitely a freewheel, it screws on, it's a freewheel. My second just fell apart yesterday.

 

[Bill Owen]

Al Hickman, just spoke with Rize bike fellow, said it is a free wheel on the city MD bike. From my impression there were a few of the gear cog breakdowns. Where customers could get local service in the Vancouver area, he said that the vast majority of the replacement free wheels did the job without having a similar issue. I'm hoping to get my part in a week or so, hopefully, then will find out. My gut feeling is the Md which supposedly can manufacture 120 newtons is too much torque for a lower end bike. I hope I'm wrong! Cheers, Rick.

I have the Rize. I shift correctly. The motor is far too powerful for the sad excuse of a freewheel that they ship with the bike. The replacement one is identical. My second freewheel just completely fell apart yesterday as I was pedalling on a level at about 15 kph. I will sell this bike next spring for what I can get for it, which won't be much as I will be honest about how horrendously bad it is. I know how to adjust a derailleur, and no matter what I do it still skips and stutters. Three bike mechanics have adjusted it too. No effect. We got our money stolen.

 

[Bill Owen]

yes I think the cassette is cheap, which is what my LBS said. they also said they ship me a new cassette(will they pay for labor?)

I'm looking for suggestions as well (I have an MD with 7 speed)

The solution is to buy a new wheel and to install a Link Glide drivetrain which is designed to take the crazy torque that ebike puts out. The Rize motor is very powerful. Too powerful for $12 freewheel made from low grade 'steel'. You need the new wheel (or at least a new hub, as the link glide needs a cassette.

 

[Bill Owen]

yes I think the cassette is cheap, which is what my LBS said. they also said they ship me a new cassette(will they pay for labor?)

I'm looking for suggestions as well (I have an MD with 7 speed)

It's a freewheel, not a cassette. They told me they were sending a replacement cassette, it's not.

 

[Bill Owen]

yes I think the cassette is cheap, which is what my LBS said. they also said they ship me a new cassette(will they pay for labor?)

I'm looking for suggestions as well (I have an MD with 7 speed)

Sell it for what you can get, and buy a good bike. (I have one)