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

[john peck]

With the conditions you are riding in I first unplug as many connectors exposed to the elements and spray with electronic cleaner. After drying then I would apply a light coating of di-electric grease to keep out moisture and maintain electrical contact. Just my 2 cents.

Endless-sphere.com

Another forum that could be of assistance.

Sounds like good advice no matter what you ride under those conditions

 

[OldMoe]

I'm still trying to sort out whether this happened when I shipped the bike, the shop messed up or if it is a "known" issue. The LBS that assembled my ST2 (not an authorized dealer) claimed that the hydraulic line to the front brake was kinked inside the frame and had to be removed and replaced. Has anyone else experienced this? I am dubious.

Hi,

I purchased my ST2 on December 22nd, 2017. I noticed the rear brake worked, however was very “squishy” as compared to the front one. My bike shop identified a leak and ultimately had to order replacement parts from Stromer. Took over two weeks to resolve and I just got my bike back yesterday.

Now when walking the bike, I hear and feel what seems to be an intermittent faint rub in the rear disc brake area, as if there is a very slight warp of the disc itself.

Between traveling for the holidays and work,.. and the approximately two weeks it was back in the shop I haven’t had a chance to fully digest the bike yet, however looking forward to it though...

Will advise when the root cause of the slight rub is determined. It’s disappointing more than anything else based on the expectations I had considering my purchase price.

 

[J.R.]

Hi,

I purchased my ST2 on December 22nd, 2017. I noticed the rear brake worked, however was very “squishy” as compared to the front one. My bike shop identified a leak and ultimately had to order replacement parts from Stromer. Took over two weeks to resolve and I just got my bike back yesterday.

Now when walking the bike, I hear and feel what seems to be an intermittent faint rub in the rear disc brake area, as if there is a very slight warp of the disc itself.

Between traveling for the holidays and work,.. and the approximately two weeks it was back in the shop I haven’t had a chance to fully digest the bike yet, however looking forward to it though...

Will advise when the root cause of the slight rub is determined. It’s disappointing more than anything else based on the expectations I had considering my purchase price.

Hopefully it all works out. This might help you check in order to confirm or refute your suspicions. It can also show you what the shop might, or should do.

 

[Scooteretti]

@OldMoe the clearance on the rear Magura brakes found on the ST2 series bikes is quite tight. It's extremely important that the caliper be correctly aligned and or else there will be rubbing which will wear the pads out unevenly and cause a lot of noise. There are a couple of things to check:

1- Make sure caliper is straight
2- Make sure rotor is straight. The rotors on the ST2 and ST2 X are quite thick so normally the rotors are quite true
3- If the caliper is not perfectly aligned with the rotor then the caliper mounting surface needs to be inspected and resurfaced to ensure precise alignment. The dealer who sold the bike should also check this before sending out a bike.
4- If a bleed was done and the rear line is squishy then there is probably air in the line that will need to be removed.

hope this helps,


Will

 

[OldMoe]

Just seeing these responses, thanks a lot. Will thoroughly read the info and step through it. Truly appreciated!

Also, does it seem right that I killed (6% left after starting at 100%) my new battery (814 WH) today after 25.7 miles? I was riding mostly at full speed (other than traffic lights etc) on level ground the whole time in 70+ degree weather?

I have two very low cost (kind way to say cheap) electric bikes that my wife I used to ride for a similar distance. After our ride we would have a small percentage of charge left over,.. almost identical path as I took today, unfortunately the batteries died after about two years and was not able to replace them.

 

[Scooteretti]

@OldMoe

Keep us posted on how you make out with the rear brake.

Range is a tough one to answer but if you had your levels set at the max you should probably be closer to the 40 mile mark per charge which is about what I would get maxed on my ST2. Your tire pressures should be about 5 PSI less than the max so just double check that they were properly inflated. If the battery hasn't gone through 5 full charges / discharges then this may also be the reason, as the batteries do get better after a few cycles.

regards,


Will
Website: shop.scooteretti.com

Youtube: Scooteretti Youtube Channel

 

[OldMoe]

Thanks, definitely have not gone through 5 complete discharge cycles, glad to hear there is hope for better performance. The bike and I have only been under the same roof about 12 days so far.

 

[Scooteretti]

Try doing a few more deep discharges as this should resolve the issue. Keep me posted on how you make out.

 

[OldMoe]

Thanks again for all of your help and insight. Another issue is that my front wheel system seems to have something not quite tight. When I am riding over pavement irregularities there is a slight internal movement that can be felt through the handlebar, which seems to either be coming from the front brake calipers or fender (which I can accept). When I brake hard, the brake seems to catch hard, then it seems like the caliper assembly moves forward a very small bit before settling and completing the brake, if that makes any sense. As you can imagine when I’m riding/braking hard I’m not looking down in that area too much and am focused on stopping. I haven’t been able to pinpoint it yet, but was curious to know if anyone else has experienced this?

 

[Scooteretti]

@OldMoe, If this is happening then you should definitely check out the following: 1- Ensure that the 2 bolts securing the caliper to fork are tight 2- Ensure that the bolts holding the disc brake rotor are tight 3- Ensure the thru axle on the front wheel is torqued to 20Nm (carbon fork) and ensure the quick release is tight on a suspension fork model 3- With the wheel turned 90 degrees, push the bike back and forth while placing your hand over the top of the headset (area where the handlebar stem mates the frame). If there is movement then the headset is too loose and needs to be torqued down 4- Ensure all bolts are tight on the stem and handlebar The Stromer ST2 is a stiff and vibration bike (if you have the carbon fork). If you have the suspension fork then you need to make sure there is little to no play. hope this help, Will shop.scooteretti.com

 

[OldMoe]

Thanks after my ride last night I held the front wheel between my feet and determined that at least one issue is the headset area as you describe is loose. I don’t have a suspension fork. I tightened the four bolts that tighten the handlebar to the stem assembly and it’s still loose. It was hard to get to them because the headlight is right there and I didn’t want to snap it off. Also, didn’t want to overtighten or strip out the bolts. Also, tightened the bolt under the rubber cap in the top of the stem. Still loose. Will take it back to shop.

 

[Scooteretti]

@OldMoe, Glad to hear you were able to find the issue. Ideally you want to torque these down to the specifications (Nm) listed on the components. A bike shop will be able to do this and make sure they use a torque wrench to to tighten the components. You should be all set after that and have a bike that rides so much better! regards, Will Scooteretti

 

[OldMoe]

Turns out a bolt is missing, it should have been securing what I’m calling the collar, the piece between the handlebars and frame of the bike.

 

[Nicolas Rouquette]

What happens when the cellular radio of the OMNI controller fails?

My wife and I have ST2 bikes from 2015 (https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/st2-the-ultimate-ebike-machine.2176/). On her bike, the OMNI controller radio failed and now the battery is completely dead.
It made sense to replace the battery but the out-of-warranty replacement cost for the OMNI controller was excessive: $600.

There's one more annoying problem: her bike's front headlight is always on; the right switch is ineffective.
At the bike shop, the mechanic said that this is a common problem that he could fix with his computer if the OMNI radio worked...
But the radio doesn't work! Effectively, we have a deaf & mute OMNI controller without any means of communication with the Stromer diagnostic equipment! I suppose that outside the normal maintenance procedures, one could consider opening the OMNI controller to access the internal electronics; however, it's unclear whether this would provide any physical connectivity options.

Now, I'm wondering how common is it for the OMNI controller radio to fail on ST2?

The shop was offering me a "demo" ST2S for $6K but I declined -- it's basically the same as the ST2 except for electronic shifting and a weak horn. Looking at the ST5, it seems to inherit the weak horn of the ST2S and the push for even more OMNI integration now raises a concern:
what if the radio fails on an ST5? One can't even remove the battery! Now what?

 

[OldMoe]

What happens when the cellular radio of the OMNI controller fails?

My wife and I have ST2 bikes from 2015 (https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/st2-the-ultimate-ebike-machine.2176/). On her bike, the OMNI controller radio failed and now the battery is completely dead.
It made sense to replace the battery but the out-of-warranty replacement cost for the OMNI controller was excessive: $600.

There's one more annoying problem: her bike's front headlight is always on; the right switch is ineffective.
At the bike shop, the mechanic said that this is a common problem that he could fix with his computer if the OMNI radio worked...
But the radio doesn't work! Effectively, we have a deaf & mute OMNI controller without any means of communication with the Stromer diagnostic equipment! I suppose that outside the normal maintenance procedures, one could consider opening the OMNI controller to access the internal electronics; however, it's unclear whether this would provide any physical connectivity options.

Now, I'm wondering how common is it for the OMNI controller radio to fail on ST2?

The shop was offering me a "demo" ST2S for $6K but I declined -- it's basically the same as the ST2 except for electronic shifting and a weak horn. Looking at the ST5, it seems to inherit the weak horn of the ST2S and the push for even more OMNI integration now raises a concern:
what if the radio fails on an ST5? One can't even remove the battery! Now what?

Check the connector on the right side, mine had come apart after a few rides and I lost OMNI and the front headlight too.

Losing OMNI that easily brings up other concerns. It seems that there should be a strain relief or this should be a screw connection. The connection on my bike is more of a one thread snap than a screw on.

 

[OldMoe]

Turns out a bolt is missing, it should have been securing what I’m calling the collar, the piece between the handlebars and frame of the bike.

Hi,

I received the bike back and the fork / handlebars were reassembled to tighten the looseness. The bolt was added to the ‘collar’, however my dealer said it was only cosmetic, (not sure about it only being cosmetic, as it has a torque value stenciled on it). The main thing is that the front end finally feels tight and reliable.

Thanks again for all of your help and time replying!

 

[Scooteretti]

@OldMoe great news about getting that sorted out. Your Stromer should ride the way it should. The screw is used to keep everything tight during fork assembly and disassembly since the Stromer's use an expansion plug system to tighten things up.

This expansion plug inserts inside the steering column and then expands when tightened and jams against the inside walls. This system is quite common on bikes with carbon steering columns.

enjoy your bike,



Will
shop.scooteretti.com

 

[Leandro]

It has been a while since the release of the ST1X, though I feel this is necessary to mention and I have not seen it elsewhere in this thread or any other.

A few weeks after the release of the ST1X, a customer of ours returned to the shop for a flat fix. After performing the flat fix, reinstalling the wheel, and tightening the rear axle to spec, I took the bike out for a quick spin to make sure the bike was ready for pick-up. To my surprise, the bike didn't even make it up the block before the bike shuddered to a stop and tons of errors started popping up on the Omni. Come to find out, the rear axle had spun out of the drop out and wrapped the motor cable around the wheel's axle. The tension in the cable in effect caused all of the errors to display on the Omni. I was shocked and thought I had done something erroneous when reinstalling the wheel.

I immediately got Stomer on the phone. They mentioned that this is a problem that had already been diagnosed and that they had also sent out a memo stating that this was a problem. Our shop unfortunately had never received this memo and I was dumbfounded when it all happened. The solution to this issue is a shim that fits over the wheel's axle, so that the wheel fits more securely within the dropout. This in turn does not allow the wheel to spin within the aluminum dropout and damage the frame under high torque.

This issue could have been diagnosed and fixed before the release of the bike, though I was glad with the quick resolve of Stromer. All ST1X's are now shipped from the warehouse with the shim pre-installed, so this is no longer an issue.

 

[Scooteretti]

@Leandro like automobiles sometimes issues are discovered after the fact. All dealers were sent an email advising of the issue. The best part is the Stromer portal identifies the VIN and customer names the bikes were sold to. Like us those customers who required the spacer had it within weeks.

Luckily non of our clients had an issues. From our perspective Stromer handled this is a very prompt and professional way and the safety spacer works like a charm and is a simple install.

Wish more companies would be proactive like this.

 

[Frank D]

@OldMoe the clearance on the rear Magura brakes found on the ST2 series bikes is quite tight. It's extremely important that the caliper be correctly aligned and or else there will be rubbing which will wear the pads out unevenly and cause a lot of noise. There are a couple of things to check:

1- Make sure caliper is straight
2- Make sure rotor is straight. The rotors on the ST2 and ST2 X are quite thick so normally the rotors are quite true
3- If the caliper is not perfectly aligned with the rotor then the caliper mounting surface needs to be inspected and resurfaced to ensure precise alignment. The dealer who sold the bike should also check this before sending out a bike.
4- If a bleed was done and the rear line is squishy then there is probably air in the line that will need to be removed.

hope this helps,


Will

Hi,
What system would you recommend for winter riding in Canada/Montreal ? Bosch or Strömer ?