Short Term update on my bike and needed repairs, misc rambling

[opimax]

hi, a couple days ago as i was riding in Georgetown my left crank arm hit a curb and appears and feels to be bent. I have about 4200 miles on the bike and seems like it is time to get all my issues looked at. I called Stromer USA and spoke to Chan. I am going to take it to Big Wheel bikes in Arlington which a current dealer.

The arm can only be bought in pairs. I verified this is not a proprietary Stromer part, always looking to upgrade, lets see what the shop says , $130 for the pair

my rear tire is worn and I have had issues w/the fender rubbing, both may be replaced under warranty if the shop says the fender was bent, hoping... tire is $54 for a replacement . The Continentals on the new S are not available so i wont be replacing w/those but I would like to

the front suspension kit is now available , the shop can order it, it doesn't have to be a Stromer either as long as it fits and the part is better (Fox ?) Stromer says $695 for the it include fender and clamps

the bike has a buzzy vibration the starts just before 23mph and also show ups when using regen. This along with my perception of a spazzy power delivery in level 3 is worth looking at . We will see if the shop can duplicate and confirm it is too much and precede from there

I called Big Wheel and they were receptive to the above list . the shop says he can get just 1 arm , order the tires and shock kit and have it just a couple days. They will check my chain and gear cog and then I will listen to add'l work they find.

any other items that should be checked at 4200 miles?

 

[David1]

Check for movement in the Head Yoke.True rear wheel.Make sure nothing happened to the bearings where the crank arm attaches .Might need a new pedal. Shaft could have bent on impact.

 

[Jim123]

Hitting a pedal on a curb can bend it, that feels really bad after a while. Court in his reviews points out the quality of pedals. And the difference between a Wellgo brand and a department store brand is night and day. Good pedals won't break on 1 hit.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Top Contact seems a great tire but M+ has better puncture protection. Also, I asked the product manager of Stromer as to why they picked Top Contact. I will post the video sometime later.

http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews/continental-top-contact-ii-2015

FOX is a better shock. You could ask them to get the fender clamps and replace the Suntour with a Fox.

At 4200 miles. Truing the wheels is a must. Removing the BB and cleaning it also would help.

 

[Streumer]

For the shock consider a different/cheaper approch.

Stafast or Shockstop

I like to go for the Shockstop as the price is very affordable.

 

[opimax]

spoke to shop today. here are results so far. Stromer is replacing the rear rack/fender. they will sell my a tire for 1/2 off (I do have 4300miles on it ), mechanic at shop thought my bike was not as smooth as others in power level 3 he has driven and Stromer has given him some things to check beofore anything else. Next report will be after Friday

 

[opimax]

Here are the results of my repair. I received a new rear fender and rack from Stromer. I also purchased a new tire. Stromer offered to split a new Big Ben since I did have 4K on the bike but I said thx but no thx , wasn't worth 25 bucks for a small favor, I told Chan I would save it till I really needed a large favor. The shop, Patrice, said he felt the surge at first and said it was gone after the repair. I am so happy to report that he was correct!

I have gone from sorry I bought the bike to this why I paid so much and feel good about it. I did pay Crazy Lenny price but still not free .

I received a Big Apple 50-559 26x2.0 and I asked for a match for the front. I called Schwalbe to get details between the tires since I am uneducated . This what we discussed.

The tires are very similar in construction but the Big Apple isn't ebike certified. He said it would most likely pass if thy tried to get certified but no need. The tire is slightly smaller in diameter and rolls easier. So these factors go o to how damn fast the bike feels now, speedometer is off slightly , possible a little extra toque from the smaller size and the rolling resistance being less. I checked a mile on the trail compared the bike and it is under by 1 sec at 15mph.

All that being said he thought the new tube was the biggest difference. He strongly recommends the tire perform the protection and get the lightest tube possible, biggest rolling resist effort change , more than the tires and size difference. I had a extra heavy duty tube installed when I purchased the bike.

Currently I am waiting for the front tire and I will confirm that nothing else was done to repair the surge. If that is the case it was a bearing problem, too tight had caused the surge and vibration I no longer have.

Any ST 2 owners in the area should test this, I am very impressed with the way it is currently running


Edit he also said get the Marathon model next time which I will if is current when I need tires again. I am putting my good front tire on my wife's rear wheel since the tire is past worn out and it won't go to waste. He also said he would recommend a better fork then the one in the kit, apparently he was familiar with the Suntour

 

[opimax]

I was asked in a PM:

You think the light tube made a significant performance improvement?

My answer is I have no idea since the repair, different tube and new tire were done concurrently. I am not able to make a judgement on this. I got that info form Schwalbe rep on the phone. I will say the combination of those 3 things make my bike AWESOME. hoping to ride today

 

[opimax]

Yesterday I headed out for a ride, heard a chirping noise. Squeezed the brakes went away, thinking my brakes started to rub. I was about 2 miles form home. Got off the bike and started looking around at the brakes. I started probing pushing and to my surprise the wheel was loose. I thought for a bit, continue riding? No way. Walk home? No way. Ride slowly? OK. Made it home. I have never removed a wheel on a bike that did not have drop outs. I stuck my Allen wrench in the hole and it found something to grab. I tightened it as much as I could as I didn’t have much leverage w/the wrench I used but backed off a tiny amount in case it has anything to do with the bearings . I checked the wheel, it was tight, yea, and I can go riding if the bight works ok. I went for a test ride around the block. No rubbing noises, no squeaking and most unexpected and probably the best part my surging had disappeared. The bike was never so smooth running!



Out of the 5700 miles I have ridden at least a few hundred have been pleasurable the other were a frustration of a very "spazzy" riding bike. I have spoken to Stromer USA multiple times about this. I have had issues w/the person I bought this bike from because of my complaining , my wife has gotten tired of me whining about and even said so. If this is all because of my wheel being too loose (maybe too tight at one time for all I know) seems like a small fix for a very annoying problem. The mechanic felt the problem when he worked on it. He replaced the tire and when I got the bike back it was great, we both agreed the problem existed and then it was fine. He said he really didn't do anything to fix the problem. After a short time the problem started to come back slowly. That makes sense now as the wheel got loose the torque sensor would have a hard time reading the tension of a loosening wheel.


My next thought is if the bike is running so well are there any adjustments which need to be checked after the wheel had come loose?