We have two SuperDelites with E14 Rohloff from April 2020, we have have had some issues… our dealer in the UK , Edemo has been great. There have been quite a few occasions requiring the kiox to be removed and replaced to restore electric gear changes , not a huge problem, both bikes suffered occasional significant issues with gear changes, but this was found to be due to incorrect tightening of the sprockets at the time of manufacture, once diagnosed and fixed this has been fine.
However in August one bike lost the ability to change gears and removing and replacing the kiox unit did not help, the original thought was of an electronic failure of the communications unit between motor and hub, it turned out to be the E14 selector had failed and there was also a significant oil leak, the hub and spare wheel went back to Germany in September and it’s still there to my knowledge ….
I bought a new ‘spare’ bike (Tern HAD S+
to keep us cycling but I don’t have much faith in Rohloff long term. It’s disappointing but reliability and confidence that things work and can be fixed readily means that we have ordered two new Homages with Vario hubs.
The chances are that these problems are just a tiny subset of all the Rohloffs out there and the repaired bike will be just great for many years. However I will be happier with the Enviolo hub, technically not quite as good, but in the event of failure in the future, less expensive to replace than the Rohloff.
We have been very pleased with the support from the dealer Edemo and he shares our frustration with getting this resolved speedily and has helped considerably.
*The Tern was available for almost immediate delivery and will be a useful bike for future shopping trips etc and has proved to be a great little bike.
Ha! I don’t doubt Edemo have given you great service as it sounds like you’ve bought a few eBikes from them now! Good on you.
it seems people on this forum are split into those with considerable disposable income who are able to buy high end eBikes and other toys and have alternative options if it goes bad, and those that see a single R&M as a massive investment that needs serious savings and deliberations and really can’t afford to have a bad experience on a car-replacement level eBike.
I admit I was a bit wary when the LBS explained the R&M warranty and how it explicitly excluded key components- the Bosch motor, the gearbox etc. I admit I didn’t understand that side of things and like some other commentators on this thread, feel like it’s not a great Approach given R&M choose their suppliers for presumably their own reasons and beliefs they’re good.
However, it’s also not hard to see how complex these sub components are and why they need speciality support and warranty. The challenge, as I see it, is we are used to our vehicle warranties being honoured by a single manufacturer- Toyota, Honda, BMW etc - we don’t expect to be sent somewhere separately for the motor, wheels, gearbox etc.
no easy solution in the end.
my SC2 is 18months old, 5k on it and only minor niggles I’d classify as usual wear and tear. My wife and I both ride it and I had fully anticipated getting a second in the event I could afford it.
strangely, even to me, I’ve decided to go with an eMTB instead - picking up a Specialized Turbo Levo Comp for NZD$12,500 later this month (my SC2 was shop floor unit for $10k). Whilst I want a different bike for different riding needs, I confess some of these forum concerns have led me to diversify by bike fleet a little!
I certainly don’t have unlimited discretionary spending so it was a real eye opener the price on these eMTB and I’ve got the 2/5 in the model range i.e. second to bottom! Top of range is NZD$18,500! And here I thought R&M was premium!
Despite everything, all my rides on my SC2 leave me happy and a smile on my face - few other purchases deliver that outcome so consistently.
cheers
Sam