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

[stevieray611]

no i use this tyre liner it goes between innertube and inside tyre . you can get it through most bike shops or amazon

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Panaracer Unisex Flataway Kevlar Puncture 700C Tyre Liner

 

[jkvt]

no i use this tyre liner it goes between innertube and inside tyre . you can get it through most bike shops or amazon

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Panaracer Unisex Flataway Kevlar Puncture 700C Tyre Liner

Oh neat. I'll have to check that out. Thanks.

 

[Pleinalr]

Just another tip; IF you have a flat in the middle of nowhere it's a long walk home if you not prepared to deal with it. I removed
the stock kickstand & replaced it with a dbl leg '&' a rear mount single stand. The dbl comes with an upper clamp you won't need.
Just run the the bolt thru the frame into the lower portion of the dbl. It will lock securely into the frame. (much simpler with wheel off)
Why am I doing this? To make tire repair in the field less of a nightmare! The dbl stand let's you drop out & replace the wheel without
turning the bike upside down & crushing your display, mirror, or whatever while making the process ' somewhat' easier.... but there's
a trick to it! A) Manually slack chain off the chainring. B) After disconnecting the power cable, ( at this point I tape a sharpie cap
over the end to protect the connector prongs), C) Remove all washers & nuts from the axle,(you can leave the right side hanging
on the power cable) If you simply loosen them, the nut will snag on the derailleur when you drop out the wheel. When tightened the
axle twists & locks into the drop out. To drop the wheel, carefully use a crescent on the flat sides to align the axle to drop out, avoiding
damage to the threads. (!) D) Slip chain off freewheel & slide out wheel.
Replacement: A) lift the stays, ( the frame will now rock forward on the dbl leg.) roll in wheel, loop chain onto freewheel, & lower
dropouts onto the axle being careful to align the flat sides of the axle with the dropout slots,( this is just easier without nuts & washers)
B) The washers with the tab insert with the tab "under the axle from the outside" first!, then lock washer, nut. Reconnect power cable
being 'very' careful to align the arrows!!

IF this sounds complicated, try doing it with the bike upside down in the field. There's just no simple way to deal with a rear motor
wheel, & it's easy to screw up if you don't get it 'exactly' right! This is the main plus for a mid-drive. The plus for a rear motor
is that it will get you home on throttle if you are injured or have broken a pedal or chain. Being able to rock the bike on a dbl leg
kickstand also makes doing the front easier too, as well as tuning, since your can turn the pedals without hitting the kickstand with
the wheel off the ground. (Things not mentioned in the manual )

Which kickstands did you buy?

 

[john peck]

Which kickstands did you buy?

I looked on ebay for a double legged kickstand, same for the rear mount single leg.
The ones I'm using have come off my other bikes. Greenfield makes a good rear mount.
The dbl. I don't know, generic?

 

[john peck]

I think for one thing the Das Kit operates at a lower speed, but higher torque. It works with me,
the more I put in the farther I can go. That's abstract, but I'm more attuned I to
the use of gear & mode matched to speed. I look at the display & see I'm not even using
juice much of the time. That's cool on 60 pds+ of bike. My range has increased by 25%

 

[Mlenenski]

Thousand mile evaluation of the NCM Moscow: No problem with the bike, but I did have a flat when a wire broke loose
from the tire bead & punctured the tube. The more i understand the German engineering, the better the performance
becomes. I'm a big guy & have put back some of the 100 pds I lost as muscle. This bike inspires one to put more self into
pedaling. Having a triple chainring is a real plus. There are lots of ups & downs here, but this bike will climb a tree. One
local hill ascends 115 ft up from the beach in a little more than a 1/4 mile, & the bike climbs it with ease on the middle
chainring. The owners manual is very useful for getting the most out of this modestly priced, rugged bike.
It's still quite rideable without power on the small chainring, & I often take shorter rides without installing the battery.
It's basically a hardtail Mtn. bike with power & 4 3/8" fork travel compared to 3" travel on my CCS, It's not as fast as
my CCS 'was'.
Changing a tire was so much easier, The symmetrical stays will handle a 3" tire, but the 2.25"s are just fine on the
beach except for loose dry sand.. It comes fairly bare bones, but cheaply enough with wiggle room to personalize.
I got mine at $1300 the day after order from Leoncycle-us in Seattle, but their latest email yesterday has it at $1059
That is a really good bargain if you are not put off by the name, Moscow. I think that was meant to sell this
German bike in Russia. The fat tire version is called Aspen,( trite). I'd have called it Cheyenne. All NCMs are named
for cities.
I've seen a bunch sold to other outfits with different paint & single chainrings going for $1500.
It's a bit noisy on take off, very torquey & a tad goosy. The motor has tempered metal gears, not plastic..
For $200 more you can get a Moscow+ with a 16Ah battery, 8 spd. & 2 motor cutoff levers, but I'm getting
better mileage with the single cutoff, 7 spd, 13Ah than I did with my 21Ah CCS.*
If you ease off pedal pressure upon shifting, it's very smooth with the 7 spd. Gearing is just fine with the old
standard mtn. 48 38 28/ 14-28. There's really no reason to mess with it, & it would void warranty any way.
The Schwalbe Smart Sams are surprisingly fast rolling, comfortable, & handle well on all surfaces, but after the
flat I put a more rugged Bontrager on the back. There's a simple trick to dropping the rear wheel. After loosening
the nuts just use a cone wrench to align the flat surfaces of the axle with the sides of the dropout. When tightened,
the axle locks into the dropout. There's no need to remove a retainer clip & the derailleur as with my CCS .
After adding a 5" riser bars, I had to move the thumb throttle to the left, Mounting points are a bit strange.
but I managed to reconfigure a rear rack with a space for a 2nd battery yet would still take panniers & tie-
down space on top. It was something of a challenge creating a mount for my single wheel Aesom trailer
which converts to a plow, harrow or rake,
My personal conclusion is the this is the best, most versatile bike you can buy for the price, including many
costing twice as much or more.

*I've fashioned an adapter that allows me to use the 2 shorter Juiced 21Ah & 8Ah batts. PS.Mine's a 29er, also comes 27.5"

I went over to juicedbikes to see what you were talking about. Tora Harris has to be given a lot of credit for building a line of bikes that people like. His latest are pretty much electric motorcycles. Anyway, he definitely builds bikes for speed and its funny how he said, "No more mechanical brakes" in his latest Scorpion promo video . You seem to be pretty happy with your regular old Moscow since it can pretty much go anywhere. The price on the regular Moscow seems terrific....but I weigh 250 and probably need the bigger battery and maybe a bigger rear tire. I will mostly ride on hilly backroads by my house in the country. Not too many trails, but who knows. My question is, what mph on flat asphalt can the Moscow do with pedal assist? And, do you wish you had hydraulic brakes?

 

[Pleinalr]

I weigh 260. I have the plus and 27.5" tires. I do about 40 miles a day. On the way to work I run in assist 5 so I don't sweat as much before work. Uses quite a bit more battery. It runs about 21 to 22 mph. On the way home I use pas2. I'm generally running about 17mph. I get home with about 44ish volts on the battery. Hard to compare hills with you though. bike path here follows a river so there's a lot of ups and downs. Some really big. Hope that helps. After having the bike a while I'm not concerned about going any faster.

 

[jkvt]

I weigh 260. I have the plus and 27.5" tires. I do about 40 miles a day. On the way to work I run in assist 5 so I don't sweat as much before work. Uses quite a bit more battery. It runs about 21 to 22 mph. On the way home I use pas2. I'm generally running about 17mph. I get home with about 44ish volts on the battery. Hard to compare hills with you though. bike path here follows a river so there's a lot of ups and downs. Some really big. Hope that helps. After having the bike a while I'm not concerned about going any faster.

Along these lines, do you know what voltage the power is cutoff? The other day I got it down to, I think 44.7, and the battery icon was blinking but I'm wondering how much further I could have gone.

 

[Pleinalr]

I'm not sure. I haven't had it cut off yet. I'll push it more when I get it back on the road to find out. Sourcing some new spokes for the rear right now.

 

[jkvt]

I'm not sure. I haven't had it cut off yet. I'll push it more when I get it back on the road to find out. Sourcing some new spokes for the rear right now.

btw, not sure if this helps, but there are places that make custom spokes if you are having trouble finding them.

 

[uvc8080]

U, I'm at 1400 mi. Taping over the switch was something I did as prevention on my CCS, so perhaps I should
on the NCM. I popped one spoke on a pothole, my fault, tire not properly inflated. With the warmer weather
& use, my cables stretched a bit I had to tune 'em some. The spoke thing is an issue, I think any motor
500 watts or more should have #11 spokes, THe replacement wheel I bought for the CCS has them.
That wheel is fine, but the CCS is now a parts bike, I have the 29er Moscow which is holding up well.
largely because of lessons learned on the CCS. I think a 29er is less prone to the spoke issues because
it spans over bumps & ruts better. I do think the discs are too thin, more so than the CCS. There's an
ever-so-slight warp in front I can feel at very low speed but not noticeable otherwise.
The biggest plus for this bike is how well it climbs. Not as fast as the CCS was, but there's a lot of steep
going here & the moscow climbs so well. There is good advice on shifting in the manual that
might have prevented U's broken derailleur cable. Take off in too high a gear is ill advised as is
with too low because this motor is very goosy with instant torque, For that reason. when starting
off, I tap the throttle a tad before stomping the pedal. When shifting you have to ease off pedal pressure
for a blink. If you are bearing down hard if may be too much for the cable.
My advice would be to read the manual carefully & follow it to the letter.

P.S. ya gotta keep an eye on tire pressure; too little & the rim will bottom out on bumps or holes
& pop spokes. This is important if you're a big rider like me.You might even want to go to a bigger
tire, 2.5" to 2.8" in the rear.

Agreed it’s a great climbing bike. I don’t have a throttle on mine as it’s not legal in Australia unless using on private property

Not sure why the derailleur cable broke as I’m experienced cyclist.

I ended up getting the rear wheel replaced. I haven’t done a lot of riding with it since it’s been replaced but so far so good. When I do I’m taking a fairly cautious approach to avoid spoke issues.

I prefer 29inch as well. I’ve got a 29 non electric XC hard tail which I really enjoy riding. My height is 177cm (I think that is 5’11) so 27.5 or 29 I’m ok with but the shop I bought it thought that the 27.5 was the better option.

For commuting I alternate between a non electric flat bar road bike & I bought a Merida eBig Tour 400 which uses Shimano Steps e7000 to replace the Moscow Plus. It has 29inch wheels & i really like the mid drive motor.

For now I’m going to keep the Moscow Plus & use it as a spare for shopping etc.

 

[AndyB]

no i use this tyre liner it goes between innertube and inside tyre . you can get it through most bike shops or amazon

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Panaracer Unisex Flataway Kevlar Puncture 700C Tyre Liner

Hi StevieRay have you had any issues with the liner causing punctures? I was going to buy one of these on the back of seeing your post, but on amazon there were quite a few reviews about the liners pinching the inner tube and puncturing them. Have you had any experience of this?

 

[john peck]

My flats are usually ripped sidewalls. Had a good one the other day. Stopped to put in a little air
with a small pump. Wouldn't clamp on, lost air. By the third try I was flat a mile & half from home
with a cheap pump had a busted clamp. The one I carry now has served 5 bikes & still works fine.

 

[wattrider]

Has anyone had moisture getting into the display? Bike has not been riden in the rain and is stored in the garage.
Glenn.

 

[john peck]

Yes, frequently, on two different bikes. You live in a rain forest too? humidity here seldom falls below 80%

 

[wattrider]

OK, we don't live in a rain forest, although I have taken the bike to the mountains several times now where it is heavily forested and probably quite humid. I hope the moisture doesn't damage the electronics. Have emailed our local dealer to see if they have a solution.

 

[john peck]

OK, we don't live in a rain forest, although I have taken the bike to the mountains several times now where it is heavily forested and probably quite humid. I hope the moisture doesn't damage the electronics. Have emailed our local dealer to see if they have a solution.

Well moisture tried to kill my first display...by inches, gradually losing functions one at a time. Still had speed when
i shot the bike & put it outa of it's misery.

 

[wmurch3]

I've only had my Moscow for two weeks and this part broke. Seems like others have had this issue? Sent an email to Leon but haven't received response yet. If I keep the battery in it's fine but I can't put it on my bike rack with the battery in.

 

[jkvt]

I've only had my Moscow for two weeks and this part broke. Seems like others have had this issue? Sent an email to Leon but haven't received response yet. If I keep the battery in it's fine but I can't put it on my bike rack with the battery in.

I'd suggest calling them. They are slow replying to emails.

 

[Papparay]

I'd suggest calling them. They are slow replying to emails.

Leon UK are next to useless with regards customer support. You do get a reply from Germany eventually. Maybe a phone call would be best.