Known Issues & Problems with Brose Products + Help, Solutions & Fixes

[Ann M.]

No ebike is perfect, this is a thread dedicated to sharing known issues or problems with electric mid drive motors from Brose as well as any help and solutions you know of. Sometimes that means a DIY fix and other times it can mean a recall, software update or part replacement by a dealer.

Please be respectful and constructive with feedback, this is not a space for hate speech. In many cases, representatives from the company will see feedback and use it to improve their product. In the end, the goal is to enjoy riding and help each other go further and be safer.

 

[Sadikin]

My Bulls Brose have power cut for 1 or 2 sec

 

[dan73]

My Bulls Brose have power cut for 1 or 2 sec

I have had this problem also. First bring the bike to dealer and have them update your firmware. Check the position of the speed sensor and adjust till you find a sweet spot.
The power cutting occurs when in highest level of assist. If you are pedaling easyly, the cutting out of power will happen. In the highest level you have to be pedaling fast and hard. I have had to addjust the way I ride my e-bike to accomidate for this anomaly.

 

[Ann M.]

@Rotwilder is looking for some help programming his Rotwild system...anyone have some info???
"Does anyone know of a Team Viewer programme that would update the Brose motor remotely? Otherwise it means a 150 mile round trip to get it done. Rotwild have announced there is the latest update available."

 

[Robie]

Brose has a new motor , ( Brose S )
Google e mountain bike magazine for information also Bosch a link has abs braking now , further down the page click

 

[LimboJim]

During my first several rides on my Bulls w/Brose, I noticed that my fully-charged battery level indicator dropped quickly from 5 bars to 4. It would then take a LONG time to drop from 4 to 3 bars.

Now, it stays on 5 bars for much longer, so I attributed it to the "break-in" period (?). It being a 650Wh battery and me being a fairly fit rider, it never got below 3 bars in 20+ rides, but yesterday I did a 3+ hour, 25-mile offroad excursion and finally saw it get down to 2 bars.

Before I even got to one bar (min. 20% battery left, supposedly), the bike's power suddenly shut down and wouldn't turn on again. Fortunately I was almost home, and the last leg of my ride was mostly downhill. I charged it back to 5 bars and everything's working fine, but I have to ask if anyone reading this has experienced anything like this with a Brose system?

I also have a 400Wh Yamaha-powered Haibike that died suddenly at 10% battery level on its 5th outing, in much the same way. I haven't pushed that bike that hard since, but now I have two awesome eMTBs that give me range anxiety when I dip to low battery levels.

Is it possible they both just needed to reach their lower levels to "set" their software?

 

[Camac]

I don't think the battery level has much to do with it. I've had my E-stream EVO/FS 3 29 for 8 months now and during that time I have only once used more than 20% of the battery capacity. Rides have been generally 25km with some up to 40k. Since the upgrade to the latest software and controller 2 months ago which gave another 4 levels of power I have had power to the motor cut out on 5 or 6 occasions. These occasions have been when I'm using full power, high cadence, and climbing hills. The power to the motor has cut out but the motor has stayed connected to the drive so I'm pedaling against the drive too. The agent is 2 hours away so it will be a week or so before I get down to see him.

 

[LimboJim]

Thanx for your input, Cadac. I've made no effort to get the software/controller "upgrade." Assist Levels 1 & 2 have served me well on my few dozen excursions, so it seemed pointless to me...

In addition to being down to 2 battery bars, I was in high power when the display went dark and the motor cut out. It was the end of a very long ride and I was exhausted, so I kicked in Level 3 for the first time that whole ride.

I was also climbing in high cadence at the time, so maybe it was simply too much demand and a temperature sensor shut the whole system down. From now on I'll stick to sporadic, brief uses of my Bulls' Highest Power, and hope for the best.

 

[Camac]

The upgrade gives 4 levels of power and increases the upper speed assist from 25 to 32kph. I usually ride at level 2 but on a hill go to 3 or 4 depending on grade. Hoping to see the agent next week but there is a 12 hour time delay between here and Germany so any unresolved problems could result in me doing a second 4 hour round trip to get it sorted.
I'll keep you posted.

 

[Leandro]

Recently warranted a Brose motor from a 2016 Specialized Turbo Levo Expert. The motor was making a very loud whirring sound when pedaling at high cadence, especially in lower gears. Not sure what internals were causing this noise to happen.

 

[PistolPete]

Hey @Leandro I'm taking my 2016 Levo Expert in this morning for the same reason - a loud whirring sound coming from the motor. Was Specialized good about stepping up for the motor replacement? How long did it take? And was the full motor replaced only, anything else? Thanks.

Mine started to whir intermittently at about 3,000 miles total mileage (12 months of use). Over the course of a mile it would whir 10-15 times, sounded like something coming from the gearbox - like in a gear that was spinning at about 1/4 the speed of the pedal cadence. Looking at the motor schematics I see that there are several gears in there that could be causing that. Over the course of a month, the whirring increased in frequency to occurring on EVERY PEDAL stroke. If the battery was unplugged or the motor was off, no sound would occur. If the bike wasn't under a load, the sound is minimal. But under heavy load it's super noisy.

Fact is, I would never buy a bike that made this noise, so Specialized needs to step up within their 24 month warranty period and fix this.

 

[Leandro]

Hey @Leandro I'm taking my 2016 Levo Expert in this morning for the same reason - a loud whirring sound coming from the motor. Was Specialized good about stepping up for the motor replacement? How long did it take? And was the full motor replaced only, anything else? Thanks.

Mine started to whir intermittently at about 3,000 miles total mileage (12 months of use). Over the course of a mile it would whir 10-15 times, sounded like something coming from the gearbox - like in a gear that was spinning at about 1/4 the speed of the pedal cadence. Looking at the motor schematics I see that there are several gears in there that could be causing that. Over the course of a month, the whirring increased in frequency to occurring on EVERY PEDAL stroke. If the battery was unplugged or the motor was off, no sound would occur. If the bike wasn't under a load, the sound is minimal. But under heavy load it's super noisy.

Fact is, I would never buy a bike that made this noise, so Specialized needs to step up within their 24 month warranty period and fix this.

@PistolPete As long as the bike is still within the warranty period, I see you having no problem replacing the motor through warranty. The motor was the only part that required replacement in order to mitigate the whirring. They may want you to bring the bike along with the proof of purchase in to your local Specialized dealer to have the warranty processed. I am sure they are aware that this is a common problem and will take care of you.

 

[PistolPete]

@PistolPete As long as the bike is still within the warranty period, I see you having no problem replacing the motor through warranty. The motor was the only part that required replacement in order to mitigate the whirring. They may want you to bring the bike along with the proof of purchase in to your local Specialized dealer to have the warranty processed. I am sure they are aware that this is a common problem and will take care of you.

Thanks @Leandro . I dropped it off today and we'll see how it goes. I will keep everyone posted. For reference, I've attached a couple of photos of the Brose motor that shows the gears where I believe the sound is coming from. I think it's the white "planetary gears" that are generating the noise.

 

[Billperry]

Hey @Leandro I'm taking my 2016 Levo Expert in this morning for the same reason - a loud whirring sound coming from the motor. Was Specialized good about stepping up for the motor replacement? How long did it take? And was the full motor replaced only, anything else? Thanks.

How did Specialized handle this?

 

[Leandro]

The whole process took between 2-3 weeks. Only the motor needed replacing.

 

[2wheels]

Thank your for providing this forum to discuss Brose Motors.

I recently wrote a piece about the first 9 months / 5000 miles on my Specialized Vado 5.0 which houses a Brose 1.2s Motor (TF C97292 according to your write up above). You can see it here on EBR. An excerpt from that entry is below:

The Brose motor has now been replaced 3 times. Should you buy this bike, buy it from a shop with excellent service. I bought mine from Cynergy. Cynergy has given me bike loaners while my bike is being repaired which has been awesome. I unfortunately anticipate replacing this motor every 3 months. The 2 year warranty has covered the repair each time. The best (and lackluster) advice I got from Specialized is to not mash my gears and to downshift when approaching a stop. I rarely mash my gears and always downshift. I have recently begun downshift 7-9 gears to determine if this make a difference. Any insight to this would be appreciated. Brose are you listening? I would love to hear from you....​

​

Specialized via Cynergy has replaced the brose motor each time it has failed. I've been told by Cynergy, that these failures are of great concern to Specialized. The motor has failed at about 2000 miles each time. Though I have not heard anything specific from Brose or Specialized about the motor failures, I will continue to inquire about the nature of the motor failure as I estimate I will be receiving 4 more motors before the warranty is up and would like to avoid this, especially when the warranty is up. This is one reason I'm reaching out to the EBR network and others in the industry. ​

Current theories on my thread mention my size and riding style. I spoke to the manager at Cynergy about this a while ago and he assured me that my size and style of riding are accommodated by Specialized Designers. Another EBR member mentioned I'm likely overheating the motor and that I should test it with laser temp. Thoughts on laser temp? I used my hand this morning and did not feel any warmth near the motor this morning. Should you or anyone else have insight into why the Brose motor has failed 3 times on my Specialized Vado 5.0, I would appreciate it.

A bike mechanic recently told me I needed to replace the chain ring. In a previous conversation with that same mechanic I asked whether I could increase the chain ring size to decrease the wear on the cassette or at least the wear on the 11t and 13t cog. The mechanic thought I would disrupt the motor, but now I'm wondering if I should revisit that discussion. Has anyone increased the chain ring size on their OEM bike with a Brose motor?

Any questions, let me know

Thanks.

 

[downhouse]

I've noticed with my Brose S driven bike that if I completely turn off the assistance the bike is *very* heavy to pedal, far more than an ordinary bike.
It's not supposed to be like that, is it? I'm assuming the motor drive is not disconnecting from the pedals?
Is there an easy fix for this, or do I need to make a mention of it once I take the bike to be serviced? I've only had it for about a quarter.

 

[LimboJim]

I've noticed with my Brose S driven bike that if I completely turn off the assistance the bike is *very* heavy to pedal, far more than an ordinary bike.
It's not supposed to be like that, is it? I'm assuming the motor drive is not disconnecting from the pedals?
Is there an easy fix for this, or do I need to make a mention of it once I take the bike to be serviced? I've only had it for about a quarter.

My Bulls w/Brose T also seems "heavy" with assist off (compared to "acoustic" MTBs), but that's normal IMO. eMTBs are generally twice the weight, so...

I also have extensive trail miles on Shimano e8000, Bosch CX and Yamama PW equipped bikes, and they're all pretty much like that. The Bosch seems to have the most drag of them all, the Brose among the least...

 

[Schaeff264]

Hey @Leandro I'm taking my 2016 Levo Expert in this morning for the same reason - a loud whirring sound coming from the motor. Was Specialized good about stepping up for the motor replacement? How long did it take? And was the full motor replaced only, anything else? Thanks.

Mine started to whir intermittently at about 3,000 miles total mileage (12 months of use). Over the course of a mile it would whir 10-15 times, sounded like something coming from the gearbox - like in a gear that was spinning at about 1/4 the speed of the pedal cadence. Looking at the motor schematics I see that there are several gears in there that could be causing that. Over the course of a month, the whirring increased in frequency to occurring on EVERY PEDAL stroke. If the battery was unplugged or the motor was off, no sound would occur. If the bike wasn't under a load, the sound is minimal. But under heavy load it's super noisy.

Fact is, I would never buy a bike that made this noise, so Specialized needs to step up within their 24 month warranty period and fix this.

Thank your for providing this forum to discuss Brose Motors.

I recently wrote a piece about the first 9 months / 5000 miles on my Specialized Vado 5.0 which houses a Brose 1.2s Motor (TF C97292 according to your write up above). You can see it here on EBR. An excerpt from that entry is below:

The Brose motor has now been replaced 3 times. Should you buy this bike, buy it from a shop with excellent service. I bought mine from Cynergy. Cynergy has given me bike loaners while my bike is being repaired which has been awesome. I unfortunately anticipate replacing this motor every 3 months. The 2 year warranty has covered the repair each time. The best (and lackluster) advice I got from Specialized is to not mash my gears and to downshift when approaching a stop. I rarely mash my gears and always downshift. I have recently begun downshift 7-9 gears to determine if this make a difference. Any insight to this would be appreciated. Brose are you listening? I would love to hear from you....​

​

Specialized via Cynergy has replaced the brose motor each time it has failed. I've been told by Cynergy, that these failures are of great concern to Specialized. The motor has failed at about 2000 miles each time. Though I have not heard anything specific from Brose or Specialized about the motor failures, I will continue to inquire about the nature of the motor failure as I estimate I will be receiving 4 more motors before the warranty is up and would like to avoid this, especially when the warranty is up. This is one reason I'm reaching out to the EBR network and others in the industry. ​

Current theories on my thread mention my size and riding style. I spoke to the manager at Cynergy about this a while ago and he assured me that my size and style of riding are accommodated by Specialized Designers. Another EBR member mentioned I'm likely overheating the motor and that I should test it with laser temp. Thoughts on laser temp? I used my hand this morning and did not feel any warmth near the motor this morning. Should you or anyone else have insight into why the Brose motor has failed 3 times on my Specialized Vado 5.0, I would appreciate it.

A bike mechanic recently told me I needed to replace the chain ring. In a previous conversation with that same mechanic I asked whether I could increase the chain ring size to decrease the wear on the cassette or at least the wear on the 11t and 13t cog. The mechanic thought I would disrupt the motor, but now I'm wondering if I should revisit that discussion. Has anyone increased the chain ring size on their OEM bike with a Brose motor?

Any questions, let me know

Thanks.

I'm having the exact same issue with my Bulls Evo 45 2017 I'm on my 5th Brose motor seems to go every 2500miles.. I ride my bike every single day so this is every 3 months..and it takes me a month to get the motor from Bulls since I'm in New York.. and there in California. Has anyone seen a fix or update from them because although Bulls is extremely helpful they seemed perplexed by the nature of the Bros Motors design flaw..

 

[Schaeff264]

I'm having the exact same issue with my Bulls Evo 45 2017 I'm on my 5th Brose motor seems to go every 2500miles.. I ride my bike every single day so this is every 3 months..and it takes me a month to get the motor from Bulls since I'm in New York.. and there in California. Has anyone seen a fix or update from them because although Bulls is extremely helpful they seemed perplexed by the nature of the Bros Motors design flaw..

I do not believe that the

I'm having the exact same issue with my Bulls Evo 45 2017 I'm on my 5th Brose motor seems to go every 2500miles.. I ride my bike every single day so this is every 3 months..and it takes me a month to get the motor from Bulls since I'm in New York.. and there in California. Has anyone seen a fix or update from them because although Bulls is extremely helpful they seemed perplexed by the nature of the Bros Motors design flaw..

Anyone interested in talking to me directly about the brose motor issue can email me at [email protected]
My name is Clifford