Summary - My bike's been off the road for a month now -- this is getting old.
Here's my story: my rear hub staring making groaning sounds under load after a few hundred miles. It's gradually gotten louder, and I was afraid it would fail entirely the day after the warranty was up. To me, it's pretty obvious that the freewheel clutch is slipping. It uses rollers which are pinched when the hub wants to turn faster than the wheel -- that is, when power is applied. Pretty clearly, one or more of the rollers aren't totally locking up. They may be worn or cracked, or maybe the tapered channeld they run in are worn or cracked.
So I contacted Juiced on November 4. After they had me rule out some other possible causes, they told me to send back the wheel. (By the way, I offered to put in a new freewheel if they sent it to me. That would save a lot of time and shipping costs. But they said they have to follow their procedures). On November 6, I got RMA number and shipping label.
It was a fair amount of work on my end to safely pack the wheel. The axle ends are fragile especially the right side where the electrical cable comes out. So I used a hole saw to cut 2.5 inch holes in a couple of 2x6 blocks and zip tied them over each side of axle. On the right side I made an cutout area for the cable so it wouldn't get pinched. I got a bike box from the local bike store and cut it down to size. Juiced told me to clean the cassette, but that's all. I affixed labels with the RMA number on the hub and one of the spokes. I took the package to UPS on November 7, the day after the RMA was issued.
A week goes by. Juiced has had the wheel for 5 days. On November 15 I emailed support, but no response. But later that day, I got emails saying my "order" was ready to ship, and then it was "on the way." But no tracking information was available. Two days later, on November 16, I emailed them saying that UPS had not received the shipment. After that, there were multiple calls, emails, and online messaging. Most of the phone calls resulted in my having to leave a callback message, which was never returned.
Finally, on Nov 21 I got an email from Juiced that my "order" had been delivered. I'm out of town for Thanksgiving, so can't open the box until November 24. I unpack it, and what do I find? A whole new wheel, tire, and cassette! The hub has a few scratches on it, so maybe it's not so new. But what's NOT on the wheel are the brake disk and the axle spacers, washers, and nuts.
I contact Juiced immediately, but it took 3 days to get a response to many phone messages and emails. I finally get hold of someone during the lunch hour on November 27. I was promised the parts would ship ASAP. (I told them if they could just find my old wheel, they could take the parts off of it, or just send me the whole thing). Anyway, two days later on November 29, I got an email from a support person that my shipment was going out that day, and then an automated email with a tracking number. But here it is, December 4, and UPS is still waiting for the package with my parts.
So it's been a month, and still nothing to ride ! The people at Juiced are quite nice, one you get hold of them. But commitments were not kept. Also, this repair is costing Juiced lots of money. I didn't need a new rim, tire, spokes, cassette, hub, and motor. Bafang freewheels only cost around $30, and there's a YouTube of someone changing one in less than a minute.
Now I wish I'd just waited for the freewheel to fail and fixed it myself. It's also possible that it would have quieted down after a while. Juiced sells great bikes at a great price. But they have some work to do to fix their service department. I get the feeling they're more than disorganized than understaffed.
Here's my story: my rear hub staring making groaning sounds under load after a few hundred miles. It's gradually gotten louder, and I was afraid it would fail entirely the day after the warranty was up. To me, it's pretty obvious that the freewheel clutch is slipping. It uses rollers which are pinched when the hub wants to turn faster than the wheel -- that is, when power is applied. Pretty clearly, one or more of the rollers aren't totally locking up. They may be worn or cracked, or maybe the tapered channeld they run in are worn or cracked.
So I contacted Juiced on November 4. After they had me rule out some other possible causes, they told me to send back the wheel. (By the way, I offered to put in a new freewheel if they sent it to me. That would save a lot of time and shipping costs. But they said they have to follow their procedures). On November 6, I got RMA number and shipping label.
It was a fair amount of work on my end to safely pack the wheel. The axle ends are fragile especially the right side where the electrical cable comes out. So I used a hole saw to cut 2.5 inch holes in a couple of 2x6 blocks and zip tied them over each side of axle. On the right side I made an cutout area for the cable so it wouldn't get pinched. I got a bike box from the local bike store and cut it down to size. Juiced told me to clean the cassette, but that's all. I affixed labels with the RMA number on the hub and one of the spokes. I took the package to UPS on November 7, the day after the RMA was issued.
A week goes by. Juiced has had the wheel for 5 days. On November 15 I emailed support, but no response. But later that day, I got emails saying my "order" was ready to ship, and then it was "on the way." But no tracking information was available. Two days later, on November 16, I emailed them saying that UPS had not received the shipment. After that, there were multiple calls, emails, and online messaging. Most of the phone calls resulted in my having to leave a callback message, which was never returned.
Finally, on Nov 21 I got an email from Juiced that my "order" had been delivered. I'm out of town for Thanksgiving, so can't open the box until November 24. I unpack it, and what do I find? A whole new wheel, tire, and cassette! The hub has a few scratches on it, so maybe it's not so new. But what's NOT on the wheel are the brake disk and the axle spacers, washers, and nuts.
I contact Juiced immediately, but it took 3 days to get a response to many phone messages and emails. I finally get hold of someone during the lunch hour on November 27. I was promised the parts would ship ASAP. (I told them if they could just find my old wheel, they could take the parts off of it, or just send me the whole thing). Anyway, two days later on November 29, I got an email from a support person that my shipment was going out that day, and then an automated email with a tracking number. But here it is, December 4, and UPS is still waiting for the package with my parts.
So it's been a month, and still nothing to ride ! The people at Juiced are quite nice, one you get hold of them. But commitments were not kept. Also, this repair is costing Juiced lots of money. I didn't need a new rim, tire, spokes, cassette, hub, and motor. Bafang freewheels only cost around $30, and there's a YouTube of someone changing one in less than a minute.
Now I wish I'd just waited for the freewheel to fail and fixed it myself. It's also possible that it would have quieted down after a while. Juiced sells great bikes at a great price. But they have some work to do to fix their service department. I get the feeling they're more than disorganized than understaffed.
