Rear Brake totally out of order

[RoadsterRM]

Hi everyone, I'm new here so thank you for reading me, and for the great content on the site.

I bought a R&M Roadster Touring just after New year, three weeks later, for no apparent reason, the rear brake became totally loose and stopped functioning.
This happened while riding but I just started the ride so not sure if I used the rear brake before realising it was loose.
Has any of you experienced such issue?

The bike is brand new, barely 200 km, handled with care, but still showed many signs if imperfections: permanent really loud noise in the bosch engine, Bosch smartphone hub working really bad, the bike starts and stops for no reason, plastic or metallic noise in the rear wheel and the front fork....then the rear brakes dead!

Beside all the problems and noises, the bike is great, it's light, it's fast and it's smooth, I love riding it.

But I'm seriously disappointed and wondering if i'm just unlucky or if this happened to some in the past, or if it's known issues with R&M? I spent 4000 euros in this bike, it's the first time I spend that much in a bike and feel frustrated this is happening, plus R&M has a very arrogant attitude about this and refuses to accept the warranty. The store (Pastel Cycles in Paris) does a really good job in trying to fix this though , and putting pressure on R&M to act accordingly. Hands up to them !

Thanks in advance for your replies, and safe riding all!

 

[JVBulman]

"the brake is loose"

Do you mean physically mounted loosely on the bike, or does the lever feel soft, or?

 

[JRA]

The brakes are hydraulic and probably got air in the line somehow? That is if by loose you mean that the lever will come all the way back to the bar. Hopefully the shop you bought it at can bleed it for you.

A bit disturbing that with that many issues that R&M aren't being any help with warranty? Not sure what the laws regarding "fit for purpose" are in France but it sounds like you may have a case as your bike seems to be a bit of a lemon? At least they could do an exchange?

 

[RoadsterRM]

Hi everyone, thank you for your replies, yes all was checked, it's not the hydraulic system, it's not the lever, everything seems fine and the shop themselves don't understand where the problem is coming from. The lever went loose meaning no more brake at all, just a nimble lever...
R&M suggested to send the brake system to Magura for verification, without offering any other alternatives from their side... a 3 weeks old bike, bought 4300 euros, I sold my Golf IV less than that, and I loved that car !!
Now 4th week without my bike and still no answer or solution from R&M, starting to get seriously pissed with this.

 

[JVBulman]

Hi everyone, thank you for your replies, yes all was checked, it's not the hydraulic system, it's not the lever, everything seems fine and the shop themselves don't understand where the problem is coming from. The lever went loose meaning no more brake at all, just a nimble lever...
R&M suggested to send the brake system to Magura for verification, without offering any other alternatives from their side... a 3 weeks old bike, bought 4300 euros, I sold my Golf IV less than that, and I loved that car !!
Now 4th week without my bike and still no answer or solution from R&M, starting to get seriously pissed with this.

Your shop should be able to replace the brake lever, caliper and hose from their inventory and send you on you on your way then send the defective parts to Magura in exchange for warranty replacements for their inventory. There's no reason why you'd have to wait through the back-end investigation and warranty process when replacing the parts will solve your problem as the customer.

 

[rich c]

Sounds like you need to take it to a better bicycle shop. Hydraulic brakes are very simple. It's either leaking or it's not, it's either pumping or it's not, and that is about it.

 

[john peck]

Hi everyone, I'm new here so thank you for reading me, and for the great content on the site.

I bought a R&M Roadster Touring just after New year, three weeks later, for no apparent reason, the rear brake became totally loose and stopped functioning.
This happened while riding but I just started the ride so not sure if I used the rear brake before realising it was loose.
Has any of you experienced such issue?

The bike is brand new, barely 200 km, handled with care, but still showed many signs if imperfections: permanent really loud noise in the bosch engine, Bosch smartphone hub working really bad, the bike starts and stops for no reason, plastic or metallic noise in the rear wheel and the front fork....then the rear brakes dead!

Beside all the problems and noises, the bike is great, it's light, it's fast and it's smooth, I love riding it.

But I'm seriously disappointed and wondering if i'm just unlucky or if this happened to some in the past, or if it's known issues with R&M? I spent 4000 euros in this bike, it's the first time I spend that much in a bike and feel frustrated this is happening, plus R&M has a very arrogant attitude about this and refuses to accept the warranty. The store (Pastel Cycles in Paris) does a really good job in trying to fix this though , and putting pressure on R&M to act accordingly. Hands up to them !

Thanks in advance for your replies, and safe riding all!

One reason why I always preflight check tire pressure, spokes, wheel true, & brakes b4 every ride. The other
day I had over tightened the brake cable clamp & the tip portion had broken off right at the clamp.
Had I not caught it in time, I may very well have lost that brake on ride. Not at all surprised R &M is
arrogant. More expensive is not necessarily better.

 

[RoadsterRM]

Totally agree with you John, I was convinced to believe R&M is superior in quality when apparently and it's clearer now, they're just fancy looking bikes with top end equipments but probably not stronger or more solid than a decathlon top of the range shop.
As for the shop, they didn't have these parts in stock, space is limited for retail stores in paris. So they had to wait for R&M to ship the complete set from wherever they're storing it . But this is definitely my last experience with that brand, not just because of the bike, this can happen to any vehicle of any brand, but because of the attitude, for me this is a killer. No or bad customer service, i'm not going to promote your name

 

[john peck]

Totally agree with you John, I was convinced to believe R&M is superior in quality when apparently and it's clearer now, they're just fancy looking bikes with top end equipments but probably not stronger or more solid than a decathlon top of the range shop.
As for the shop, they didn't have these parts in stock, space is limited for retail stores in paris. So they had to wait for R&M to ship the complete set from wherever they're storing it . But this is definitely my last experience with that brand, not just because of the bike, this can happen to any vehicle of any brand, but because of the attitude, for me this is a killer. No or bad customer service, i'm not going to promote your name

Nice thing about my bike, may not have all the bells & whistles, but it´s basically a motored 90s mtn bike
with cheap readily available generic parts you can find in any bike shop.( or online) $1200, 4700 miles
with no issues other than the cheap stock tires.(well did replace chain & disc brake pads at 3000 mi)

 

[FiremarshallDave]

As a family we have 5 E bikes and the only issue other than tires and tubes occurred when my son changed the power level on his control screen and burned up a controller by flowing too many amps. He wanted to go faster. Hydro brakes go bad when the lever is pulled and the disc is not between the pads. It wrecks the seals on the caliper.

 

[JVBulman]

As a family we have 5 E bikes and the only issue other than tires and tubes occurred when my son changed the power level on his control screen and burned up a controller by flowing too many amps. He wanted to go faster. Hydro brakes go bad when the lever is pulled and the disc is not between the pads. It wrecks the seals on the caliper.

I'm curious to hear more about the hydraulic bit - I've never run into this issue.

 

[FiremarshallDave]

It's something I read from a manufacturer when responding to complaints about their product . They said excessive travel caused by the lever being pulled when the disc was not in place causes damage to the seals of the piston.

 

[JVBulman]

It's something I read from a manufacturer when responding to complaints about their product . They said excessive travel caused by the lever being pulled when the disc was not in place causes damage to the seals of the piston.

Interesting. Haven't run into anything like this with Magura. Maybe it's different for other brands.

 

[fooferdoggie]

It's something I read from a manufacturer when responding to complaints about their product . They said excessive travel caused by the lever being pulled when the disc was not in place causes damage to the seals of the piston.

it can push the pistons out too far and that screws up the seals. it may take more than one good hard full pull to do it.

 

[JVBulman]

it can push the pistons out too far and that screws up the seals. it may take more than one good hard full pull to do it.

I donno man - when cleaning and lubing the pistons, it's routine to remove the pads and extend them until they're 4-5mm from touching each other. I've never witnessed that damage the seals and you can't even get them that close with pads installed.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I donno man - when cleaning and lubing the pistons, it's routine to remove the pads and extend them until they're 4-5mm from touching each other. I've never witnessed that damage the seals and you can't even get them that close with pads installed.

I thin kit depends. like I have Shimano xt 4 piston on my commuter. I took the rear pads out to check wear needed to replace them. so I shift down and dumb me graded the brake lever to stop the wheel and one squeeze made the brake mushy after that and I had to bleed it. now my front with new pads had a bit to much pull after using a 10mm bleed block I wanted them to match so I made 9 mm bleed block put it on and squeezed the lever even several full squeezes the pistons did not clamp that block. but when I out the wheel back on the travel was about right. but the pistons never came out far enough to cause issues.