The 1000 KM update

[Redskulls]

Sept 6th
Received the call confirming The Red Baron is ready for pick up. To eager to wait for after work, on my lunch break went to Teo HQ. 4 pm hits I head home, once there , I eagerly put The Red Baron together. Took him for a test ride, nothing wrong except for the front disk rotor which was fixed at a local shop.

Sept 11th
First day of commuting begins, the mornings are the best for me. No cars, clear roads in front of me.

Each day after I take slightly different routes to and from work to keep things a tad interesting.

Sept 19th
I needed to remove the back wheel due to the rear fender. The openings for the fender opened wider and now rattles on one opening and the other its like no screw there to secure it. I had to add 2 washers on each side to secure the fender. Added lock tight to the screws as well. During the time the rear wheel was off the Baron, I noted 2 silver marks on the rear rack. It turns out the rack has cracked in 2 spots, both joints. The day after I noticed Had a FB conversation with Benoit, I sent pictures and he asked for me to come on Monday so he can see the rack. I commuted to work that day, during that commute the rack cracked in 2 other spots. now there is 2 cracks on each side at the same spots.
So once at Teo HQ, Benoit looked at the rack. He said the rack only hold 15kg load. I confirmed with a picture of my trunk back everything inside weighs total 3.58 kg (Picture taken). Benoit offered a 50%off a new rack for replacement. I was surprised that it was not under warranty so I declined. I did purchase another charger, no discount offered there though.

Sept 26th
While commuting to work, I noticed creaking sound coming from the rear wheel. it was slowly getting worse. Took the Baron to my LBS and relieved my concerns from being a rear motor issue to the spokes need tightening up. Once tightened the creaking disappeared.


My last three / four weeks commuting to and from work and going on errands have been great. Only disappointed at the one issue was not resolved to my satisfaction.

Counting the days when the snow is here

Redskulls

 

[Stoker283]

View attachment 18623


Sept 6th
Received the call confirming The Red Baron is ready for pick up. To eager to wait for after work, on my lunch break went to Teo HQ. 4 pm hits I head home, once there , I eagerly put The Red Baron together. Took him for a test ride, nothing wrong except for the front disk rotor which was fixed at a local shop.

Sept 11th
First day of commuting begins, the mornings are the best for me. No cars, clear roads in front of me.

Each day after I take slightly different routes to and from work to keep things a tad interesting.

Sept 19th
I needed to remove the back wheel due to the rear fender. The openings for the fender opened wider and now rattles on one opening and the other its like no screw there to secure it. I had to add 2 washers on each side to secure the fender. Added lock tight to the screws as well. During the time the rear wheel was off the Baron, I noted 2 silver marks on the rear rack. It turns out the rack has cracked in 2 spots, both joints. The day after I noticed Had a FB conversation with Benoit, I sent pictures and he asked for me to come on Monday so he can see the rack. I commuted to work that day, during that commute the rack cracked in 2 other spots. now there is 2 cracks on each side at the same spots.
So once at Teo HQ, Benoit looked at the rack. He said the rack only hold 15kg load. I confirmed with a picture of my trunk back everything inside weighs total 3.58 kg (Picture taken). Benoit offered a 50%off a new rack for replacement. I was surprised that it was not under warranty so I declined. I did purchase another charger, no discount offered there though.

Sept 26th
While commuting to work, I noticed creaking sound coming from the rear wheel. it was slowly getting worse. Took the Baron to my LBS and relieved my concerns from being a rear motor issue to the spokes need tightening up. Once tightened the creaking disappeared.


My last three / four weeks commuting to and from work and going on errands have been great. Only disappointed at the one issue was not resolved to my satisfaction.

Counting the days when the snow is here

Redskulls

This is good to hear @Redskulls, I also experience some of the same issues. The wheels creaking did happen to me too, mine was both wheel. I booked Velofix and they came right at my door and test drive the bike and right away he knew that was loose spokes. So he tighten them all and he told me that is normal maintenance to do. Since I am not an expert in bicycle, it is sure nice to find out those kind of things. And he also did readjust my derailleur, which it was off a little bit.

And that famous middle screw for the rear fender just did let go on mine and I am going to fix that this weekend. It is so a pain to get at also and I don't like taking the rear wheel off, so I will try just to deflate the tire and get at it this way. I read that from another post before.

It is good to know about the rear rack cracking issue, would you mind to post your picture of the cracks. I would like to know where yours did crack and I will keep an eye on mine.

Cheers

 

[AguassissiM]

@Redskulls
Thank you for the heads up on the rack cracks and the 15 kg capacity, did not think that it was able to hold as much.
On a side note I have seen racks with panniers on Amazon for about $170.

Another pesky screw is the one that secures the kickstand lenght, make sure it is tight or you will loose the bottom half.

@Stoker283
How much did Velofix charge to make the adjustment?

 

[Stoker283]

@Redskulls
Thank you for the heads up on the rack cracks and the 15 kg capacity, did not think that it was able to hold as much.
On a side note I have seen racks with panniers on Amazon for about $170.

Another pesky screw is the one that secures the kickstand lenght, make sure it is tight or you will loose the bottom half.

@Stoker283
How much did Velofix charge to make the adjustment?

They have a minimum fee of $69.95 and that is all they charge me, it is like a basic maintenance for adjustments. And they are offering free coffee with WIFI while you are waiting. Sometime you can see them at different events around town and they do offer some free maintenance.

I sure recommend them again, I did like not having to move my bike for maintenance work.

Thanks also of the heads up on the kickstand screw, I will look that up now.

 

[AguassissiM]

They have a minimum fee of $69.95 and that is all they charge me, it is like a basic maintenance for adjustments. And they are offering free coffee with WIFI while you are waiting. Sometime you can see them at different events around town and they do offer some free maintenance.

I sure recommend them again, I did like not having to move my bike for maintenance work.

Thanks also of the heads up on the kickstand screw, I will look that up now.

O wow, that is quite reasonable considering that they come to you. Thank you @Stoker283 .

 

[Denis Shelston]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Great to know.

Velofix is a great success story.

I'm surprised by the 15kg rating on the rack, as most are rated for 25kg...will check mine for points of failure. It's OK now, we'll I think!

I have tightened my spokes. I read if you run your fingers on them, like playing the guitar, you will hear right away which ones needs tightening. Found some great tutorials online explaining it well.

 

[Redskulls]

Ah Yes, completely forgot about the kick stand screws. Both screws havelock nuts on them. Unfortunately the screws are not long enough and the lock nut only screws in 1/2 to the screw. When i did notice the kick stand, both lock nuts were missing and the screws were almost out of there sockets. When I gone to my LBS for the spokes, I also mentioned that and he replaced the originals with a little longer screws and lock nuts. Two weeks now and they are still tight.

@Stocker283
Here are pictures of the first 2 cracks on the rear rack:

The next 2 cracks were on the front down tubes. Don't have a picture of that one but Here is where they cracks were circled in red:

I still believe that as per Benoit he confirmed 5 KG is max and my bags 3.5' ish Kg, the rack should have been covered on warranty. Because of that when I had the issue with the lose spokes creaking. I thought it might be the motor, and with the service I got with the rack I believe I would have gotten the same results Benoit offering me 50% off a replacement motor.

Funny thing is now I ride with My trunk back at 2 panniers, no issues with the 2nd rack, the first rack was just trunk bag.
Benoit said the rack is aluminum, must be made with low quality aluminum for it to crack with 3 .5 ish kg of weight.


But other than that I am happy, like any purchase there is ups and downs, I am just glad the downs are negligible compared to the goods.

 

[AguassissiM]

@Redskulls

Thank you for the pictures,
i`m no expert in welding aluminum however looking at your picture that looks to me like a really poor welding job (too much heat was used while welding the two parts together) and not a material stress fail, that should have been covered under warranty.

 

[Denis Shelston]

@Redskulls

Thank you for the pictures,
i`m no expert in welding aluminum however looking at your picture that looks to me like a really poor welding job (too much heat was used while welding the two parts together) and not a material stress fail, that should have been covered under warranty.

Agreed 100% that is a warranty issue. I would still insist in getting a free replacement, even if you do not need it now. The replacement you just got may be universal, you could take it off, move it to another bike and put the new original back on your Téo.

Something bothers me with capacity... 5 kg, 15 kg, did I not hear Court mention it was around 22 kgs or 50 lbs...

I checked mine, no cracks nothing, I'm only at 800 km's mind you...

 

[Stoker283]

Ah Yes, completely forgot about the kick stand screws. Both screws havelock nuts on them. Unfortunately the screws are not long enough and the lock nut only screws in 1/2 to the screw. When i did notice the kick stand, both lock nuts were missing and the screws were almost out of there sockets. When I gone to my LBS for the spokes, I also mentioned that and he replaced the originals with a little longer screws and lock nuts. Two weeks now and they are still tight.

@Stocker283
Here are pictures of the first 2 cracks on the rear rack:
View attachment 18642 View attachment 18643 View attachment 18644

The next 2 cracks were on the front down tubes. Don't have a picture of that one but Here is where they cracks were circled in red:
View attachment 18645

I still believe that as per Benoit he confirmed 5 KG is max and my bags 3.5' ish Kg, the rack should have been covered on warranty. Because of that when I had the issue with the lose spokes creaking. I thought it might be the motor, and with the service I got with the rack I believe I would have gotten the same results Benoit offering me 50% off a replacement motor.

Funny thing is now I ride with My trunk back at 2 panniers, no issues with the 2nd rack, the first rack was just trunk bag.
Benoit said the rack is aluminum, must be made with low quality aluminum for it to crack with 3 .5 ish kg of weight.


But other than that I am happy, like any purchase there is ups and downs, I am just glad the downs are negligible compared to the goods.

Thank you @Redskulls for the pictures. But like @AguassissiM said, this is poor welding job. Normally the weld should be to strongest point after it is done properly. It may crack next to it but not in the middle of it. Well it is made in China after all... I believe the other two crack at the bottom only happen because of the first two, which will increase stress at those point, you weren't getting anymore a proper weight distribution.
I was going to purchase some saddle bags for mine, was that what you use on yours?
Did you end up getting an after market rack like the one @america94 has?

 

[AguassissiM]

@Stoker283
if i may suggest a saddle bag like this one, thanks to @Denis Shelston i replaced my original one with it
since it fell apart only after a month of using it, really happy with the RockBros.

 

[Redskulls]

I also agree it should have been covered under warranty, Benoit disagrees and offered 50% of the replacement.

On the original rack I was only using the trunk bag, my panniers would not fit on the bars to clip in:

Also took a picture of my bag with all items, and as you see the scale says 3.7, I also added all my lights in the bag even though when riding they aren't in there:

Now I am running the Evo back and 2 Louise Garneau panniers with no issues:

Also yesterday I lost the rear reflector / light, I got home and thee is no reflector, just the rear case thats bolted to the rear rack. Seeing I do not go off roading with the Baron I am wondering how mine fell off, but the people who off road hasn't.

I am just bothered now thinking If anything else should go wrong, the warranty will not be honoured just like the rear rack.

 

[Stoker283]

@Stoker283
if i may suggest a saddle bag like this one, thanks to @Denis Shelston i replaced my original one with it
since it fell apart only after a month of using it, really happy with the RockBros.

View attachment 18654

I just add this to my cart. Thanks @AguassissiM I saw it before but they were sold out for the longest time.

That's sure is very weird to fail that easy! Again I don't believe the Quality Assurance is very good in some factory in China. We could even consider this a Friday afternoon assembly... I sorry that you had to experience that and I am sure surprise that Benoit wouldn't honour his warranty for that!

 

[Cnugget]

@Redskulls That is a bummer to hear. Hopefully they change their mind at some point and give you a new rack.

 

[Denis Shelston]

Ah Yes, completely forgot about the kick stand screws. Both screws havelock nuts on them. Unfortunately the screws are not long enough and the lock nut only screws in 1/2 to the screw. When i did notice the kick stand, both lock nuts were missing and the screws were almost out of there sockets. When I gone to my LBS for the spokes, I also mentioned that and he replaced the originals with a little longer screws and lock nuts....

Not sure we're talking about the same screw... The lone screw is on the kickstand itself, and it allows to shorten or lengthen the kickstand.

You may be referring to the 2 screws securing the kickstand to the frame...

In any event, tighten that single screw on the backside of the kickstand, or it may fall off.

Just to be sure you're screwing the right thing

 

[Redskulls]

oh, Didn't notice there was a screw on the stand itself other than the joint. I checked the screw it is tight.
Yes I am talking about the 2 screws. I had to changed both of them to longer screws and added lock nuts as well to secure them, so far no issues.