Known Issues & Problems with Riese & Müller Products + Help, Solutions & Fixes

[Chris Nolte]

About 8 days ago, the dealer was finally able to upgrade the software, which remedied the trouble charging both batteries fully. Although the dealer has certainly had growing pains, they seem to be staffing up, bought a computer, and are striving to figure out what they're doing... Hardly praise, but they are headed in the right direction.

Now I have a question for those who might have some insider knowledge of the Bosch programming, since I am sure my dealer isn't going to know what I'm talking about. I have made some comparisons between riding my Felt NINEe 20 and the Charger. On the Felt, I can cover my commute consistently at exactly 1h30m in turbo mode, including a stop to swap batteries. On the Charger, it takes me 1h35m. The distance reported is also about 1.5 mi less on the Charger. My conclusion based on this was that the wheel circumference was set slightly higher on the Charger, resulting in a shorter trip distance, and slightly lower cruising speed, since the power begins to clips out at about 27.5 mph. Naturally, I began setting the wheel circumference down in increments of about 20 to see if I could normalize the distance and times between the two bikes...

However, on the Charger, as I dialed the wheel circumference down, my trip times stayed *exactly* the same, and the speed at which the assist begins to clip began to decrease, so that power was starting clip under 26 mph! One explanation of this would be if the Bosch controller has a hard coded minimum wheel circumference, or some other factory or dealer set limit. This would make sense to prevent people from reducing the wheel circumference to some arbitrary value (like half actual, to effectively double the speed of the bike, for example.) However, I cannot make the speed of the bike accurate without reducing the assist at the higher speeds because I seem to be hitting some sort of hard-coded limit. Should the dealer be able to adjust this? What should I ask them to adjust? (please be specific because they are likely going to have to call for tech support) Can anyone confirm if what I'm seeing makes sense, or am I just doing something wrong?

What is your tire inflation set to? The dealer won't be able to change the wheel circumference any more than you, you can only go + or - 5% from the factory set circumference. Regarding the speed change, unfortunately it's not possible to change it. The idea is that you can offset the change associated with tire swaps, but the bike maintains effectively the same top speed.

Also - Does the Felt have the original tires on it? Maybe the Felt is off?

 

[BurbManDan]

Certainly could be the Felt that is "off" insofar as there is nothing standard about it's current configuration... It is upgraded to a true US spec Bosch S-pedelec (not a speed kit or hack), running Schwalbe Marathon 700x45c at 50psi, as opposed to the knobby tires it was spec'd with. I'm not really making a claim that one or the other is accurate, as in calibrated - only that the Felt assist cuts out at a higher actual speed... What really made me question the Charger's settings were two radar units setup in school zones to slow drivers. Before dialing down the circumference, when I cruised past them on the Charger at a claimed 26.5 mph, they indicated 25 mph. After my adjustments, they now indicate 25 mph, when I'm going by at 25.5 mph indicated on the bike. But, at these settings, on flat ground it is all but impossible to push the bike past an indicated 27.0 mph, since power starts to cut out at just over 26 mph. These settings result in an almost matching distance reading between the two bikes, so I think the adjustment has matched speed and distance, which also matches distances measured by GPS apps on my phone. Eureka - GPS!!! Hadn't thought of that until I typed those words... My Garmin virb camera will overlay speed measured by GPS real-time on a video, so I can make a comparison of the speeds by GPS against speeds measured by the bike at specific points. I don't use the Garmin's software much anymore, since I mostly just pull small clips of interest off the camera directly, and run the camera more for safety and capturing the odd interesting thing.

I'll have to use the camera to compare the speeds measured with the Felt... I haven't ridden the Felt since late June, and missed riding altogether most of August (I was carpooling with my daughter), so I'm only just settling in again on the Charger with about 2200 miles on it, but that's enough to be riding really consistent times over my commute. I've got the big things dialed in now where I like them, and I'm starting to work on the details. I run the Moto-X tires at about 35psi...

 

[Over50]

... My Garmin virb camera will overlay speed measured by GPS real-time ..

I did the same early in my commuting with the Riese and Muller. It was a little tricky matching the GPS files with the video and I can't say I had an exact match as I am a Garmin Virb novice. But my general impression after trying this on a couple of occasions is that the Bosch controller had a slightly faster MPH reading than the GPS had (I captured the Intuvia display in the video). At the end however, the GPS and the Intuvia were fairly close in total time, distance and average time. But your posts have got me thinking about giving it another try with my recently purchased Haibike just to ensure that the three are fairly consistent (I also have a Lezyne GPS watch I should try).

 

[Dmitri]

My issues with my R&M Delite after ~6 months:

• The Suntour Aion fork freezes in negative temperatures and works badly. Funny that my RS Reveleration on my other bike does not. The Aion has go to go, already ordered a Fox 34 to replace it.
• The fenders are annoyingly narrow. I installed Schwalbe Ice Spiker 27.5/2.6 and they scratch on the part of the rear fender that cannot even be moved anywhere and had to be filed. I'm moving to 45NRTH 27.5/3.0 soon, which means the fenders will be useless and need to be replaced have been replaced with Pletscher R80 fenders. Also, front fender attachment to fork really flimsy, I scraped the fork on one side and the entire ziptie-like attachment tore off. Very unreliable stuff.
• Bosch Nyon is glitchy and generally not worth the money. I even had to do a hard reset at one point. GPS recording is inconsistent (it breaks my ride into multiple, with gaps in between), navigation is based on OSM so is always just blatantly wrong/insane.
• Minor, but: the reflectors (Busch & Muller, I think) are really bad. Don't install them, get other ones. The mounting mechanism on these is insecure and I had one detach at high speeds with predictable results.

 

[WelshBazinNZ]

My issues with my R&M Delite after ~6 months:

• The fenders are annoyingly narrow. I installed Schwalbe Ice Spiker 27.5/2.6 and they scratch on the part of the rear fender that cannot even be moved anywhere and had to be filed. I'm moving to 45NRTH 27.5/3.0 soon, which means the fenders will be useless and need to be replaced. Also, front fender attachment to fork really flimsy, I scraped the fork on one side and the entire ziptie-like attachment tore off. Very unreliable stuff.

With regards to your issue with the front fender attachment, I believe that a lot of fenders are designed to do this on the front as a safety feature. If something gets jammed between the front tyre and the fender then the fender detaches rather than locks and throws you over the handlebars.

 

[Dmitri]

Well the rear fender problem is due to incorrect frame design, which I cover in my video on the bike. The front fender, well, fair enough. Now that I've switched to a Fox 34 it's being held in 2 out of 3 places by zip ties. Not great. I really want the front fender to be somewhere around 85mm or so to cover the 3" tires I intend to put on. Same with the rear fender though that's problematic.

 

[niveksilliw]

My Tinker HS just arrived and I’m trying to tighten the seat post to no avail. It moves around very easily. I have a thudbuster suspension seat and it seems there is a shim. The whole seatpost is kind of greasy. Is this how it should be? I saw one video on YouTube that mentioned cleaning the post with alcohol so it is less slippery. This makes logic to me but I’m a little hesitant to try this as a brand new 5K bike. Any suggestions?

 

[Nova Haibike]

My Tinker HS just arrived and I’m trying to tighten the seat post to no avail. It moves around very easily. I have a thudbuster suspension seat and it seems there is a shim. The whole seatpost is kind of greasy. Is this how it should be? I saw one video on YouTube that mentioned cleaning the post with alcohol so it is less slippery. This makes logic to me but I’m a little hesitant to try this as a brand new 5K bike. Any suggestions?

I will assume your bike was shipped with the correct seatpost and shim; both do come in different sizes. I am also going to assume that if the seatpost clamp is of the quick-release variety, it is properly adjusted. You can certainly remove the grease from the post; normally it is there to prevent to post from getting stuck in the frame due to corrosion. If you are worried about it getting stuck, use an anti-sieze paste instead of grease.

 

[niveksilliw]

Thanks for the advice! It worked! Just put me down as an anxious newbie eager to get out in the morning on his brand new bike!

 

[Nova Haibike]

Congrats on the new bike; it is very nice! (and outta my league, price-wise. LOL)

 

[Over50]

Thanks for the advice! It worked! Just put me down as an anxious newbie eager to get out in the morning on his brand new bike!

Yes, nice little bikes. I would have preferred the Tinker over the Tern Vektron (purchased for both me and my wife to share) but the price tag was a bit higher on the Tinker.

On my bikes with QR seat clamps, I usually tighten the clamp to the point where there is some decent resistance when opening the clamp. Perhaps to where it is a bit difficult to open. I usually make this adjustment gradually after riding until I find the spot where the seatpost won't slip when riding. Sometimes I've had to stop on a ride and make the adjustment because they will feel tight when stationary but hit a big bump and the seatpost slips. Back when I first got my human powered Terns I was having some issue with a seatpost slipping and the Tern guy told me to remove all the grease and to tighten the clamp to where it requires a little muscle power to open.

 

[michael mitchell]

Thanks for the advice! It worked! Just put me down as an anxious newbie eager to get out in the morning on his brand new bike!

Please please please write a review for us. I've been curious about the HS Tinker for quite some time. It seems to have the perfect combination of compact size and high speed.

 

[GillBoyNewn]

Anyone had to use the walk assist on the R&M Delite (or tried it just for fun!)? I find that its speed is set too high - even pushing a heavy load (two full panniers and rack bag) up a 14% hill the walk assist had me running to catch up (for short distances - come on)! Can this be adjusted?

 

[DataSquid]

Anyone had to use the walk assist on the R&M Delite (or tried it just for fun!)? I find that its speed is set too high - even pushing a heavy load (two full panniers and rack bag) up a 14% hill the walk assist had me running to catch up (for short distances - come on)! Can this be adjusted?

Have you tried the lowest gear? That should reduce output speed. I'm just going through the manual for my new R&M Charger and got to this part and saw nothing mentioned other than that.

 

[dblhelix]

Anyone had to use the walk assist on the R&M Delite (or tried it just for fun!)? I find that its speed is set too high - even pushing a heavy load (two full panniers and rack bag) up a 14% hill the walk assist had me running to catch up (for short distances - come on)! Can this be adjusted?

I think it varies with assist setting, so try ECO if you were in a higher setting earlier ....

 

[FoxLane]

My bike is a Supercharger with two batteries. The problem I've had with mine is with the battery covers. Both have fell off after the wind blew them open. The flimsy rubber strap just snapped. I never take the batteries out to charge them, I just charge them in-situ. When I spoke to the dealer he said the magnet isn't the main method of holding the cover in place but the cover fixes in position like the lid of a Tupperware container. They must have different Tupperware to me. I now use a couple of velcro straps to stop the covers opening but it's not really a solution. Am I missing something? Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[Chris Nolte]

My bike is a Supercharger with two batteries. The problem I've had with mine is with the battery covers. Both have fell off after the wind blew them open. The flimsy rubber strap just snapped. I never take the batteries out to charge them, I just charge them in-situ. When I spoke to the dealer he said the magnet isn't the main method of holding the cover in place but the cover fixes in position like the lid of a Tupperware container. They must have different Tupperware to me. I now use a couple of velcro straps to stop the covers opening but it's not really a solution. Am I missing something? Has anyone else had this problem?

There are new straps. Have you had yours replaced? You should only need straps when transporting the bike on a car carrier.

 

[steve mercier]

Unlike Dmitri I quite like the Aion air fork on my Charger GT tour. Also I had no problem with Ice spikers clearing fenders in Winter but mine are 27.5 x 2.25 . I like the fenders , they have taken a licking and kept on ticking. I did have issues with brakes overheating on long hills so I upgraded to 203 mm Ice Tech rotors and metallic finned pads . Also as I am 5' 8" I found the bars a bit wide so I cut 1" off each end. The plate that joins the frame to the rear rack cracked and broke for no apparent reason. We shall see how long it takes to get a new one, and I cannot use the rack again until I get it fixed. I really enjoy the rubber bungee on that rack but I think the design of the rack is a bit odd, since the support arms are not straight up and down. I have upgraded the grips and pedals and seat as we all do but the stock items were acceptable. I bought a 2nd battery to increase my range and a bar bag to store it and this is awesome as I can now go anyhere until I am spent. I am on my 3rd chain and 2nd gear cluster now and I think one can expect to pay about $1000 cdn dollars per year on routine maintainance unless you do it all yourself. Perhaps in hindsight the belt drive option would be cheaper in the long run but I am not sure. The Intuvia display battery died on me once so now I carry a pocket USB charger. I love this bike when everything is running smoothly. Very solid feeling frame and the Bosch system integrates the power most smoothly to support your pedal strokes.

 

[dblhelix]

Unlike Dmitri I quite like the Aion air fork on my Charger GT tour. Also I had no problem with Ice spikers clearing fenders in Winter but mine are 27.5 x 2.25 . I like the fenders , they have taken a licking and kept on ticking. I did have issues with brakes overheating on long hills so I upgraded to 203 mm Ice Tech rotors and metallic finned pads . Also as I am 5' 8" I found the bars a bit wide so I cut 1" off each end. The plate that joins the frame to the rear rack cracked and broke for no apparent reason. We shall see how long it takes to get a new one, and I cannot use the rack again until I get it fixed. I really enjoy the rubber bungee on that rack but I think the design of the rack is a bit odd, since the support arms are not straight up and down. I have upgraded the grips and pedals and seat as we all do but the stock items were acceptable. I bought a 2nd battery to increase my range and a bar bag to store it and this is awesome as I can now go anyhere until I am spent. I am on my 3rd chain and 2nd gear cluster now and I think one can expect to pay about $1000 cdn dollars per year on routine maintainance unless you do it all yourself. Perhaps in hindsight the belt drive option would be cheaper in the long run but I am not sure. The Intuvia display battery died on me once so now I carry a pocket USB charger. I love this bike when everything is running smoothly. Very solid feeling frame and the Bosch system integrates the power most smoothly to support your pedal strokes.

There is an 11-pg thread at pedelec.de where people are posting their cracked rack/rack plate on Charger/Supercharger models. It's in German but you can translate, or pictures speak for themselves.

https://www.pedelecforum.de/forum/i...harger-supercharger-gepäckträgerbrüche.60546/

There are numerous links to other pages, like a Dutch facebook page complaining of the same.

I consider it a vanity project on RM's part to deviate from proven solutions. I get nervous every time I look at that welded rack plate.

 

[dblhelix]

Thanks that is very good to know! It seems wrong for sure ...just a straight piece of alloy with 4 holes in it. I am no engineer but it looks like they spent little thought on it. I wonder if I should get a piece of steel fabricated myself. After reading and looking at the pics on that site .....I think the whole rack is garbage! Too brittle , too much flex ....I feel like removing the whole thing and finding my own solution. It will not be pretty but damn I just bought a Thule Yepp Nexxt Maxxi child carrier for my grandaughter and it pisses me off that I cannot use it. Even if they sent me a new plate I will not trust the rack now since the pics show more cracks on the rack itself. GRRRRR...J U N K

I don’t get why they undermine themselves like this. I would speculate that they perhaps have an arrangement with the Euro rack bag makers or perhaps are contemplating a side business in trunk bags. Pure speculation on my part. I would let customers fit their own rack — a German Tubus or other proven racks.