what's the problem

thierry.dewijn

New Member
Region
Europe
Hi fellow bike riders,
There is a problem with my Decathlon e-bike. it's a mountain bike. And the problem started after less than a year. First I noticed it was loosing power. And after some time on steep hills the whole system blocks. It gives a sound like the brakes are on. After some time waiting it goes again, but then the problem comes back quickly.
Brought the bike back for maintenance. After 3 rounds of that motor and torque sensor are replaced (free of charge). But problems continue.
Does somebody understand the mechanical side of this or found
a solution for similar problems?
Thanks so much for any advice.
Thierry
 
Thierry,
I guess your motor or battery get overheated, and the system switches the assistance off for your own safety. Possible? (Is it the e-bike with the Brose motor?)
Also, have you checked if your wheels spin freely when you rise front then back of the bike? Anything with brakes?
 
Thanks. Though about that. Maybe then a new battery will solve it. Decathlon designed this motor with a company called Vision (Chinese). Brakes seem fine.
 
Really hard to say, the model number might be helpful. Are Decathlon designed by Aventon? Is this one of the Aventon 500W variants-- hard tail with suspension in front but not in the rear?

Stefan's theory is quite reasonable, could be overheating. How steep are you climbing and how long? I don't know a lot about hub drives, but I do have a 250W front hub drive kit on one of my bikes. It can climb about 800 to 1,000 vertical feet of moderate grade in three or four miles, or short stretches of (two blocks or so) of a really steep grade, but I feel like that's pushing it.

Another possibility is the controller. When the controller died on my hub drive, it had some of the same symptoms you describe: My buddy was riding it up a steep hill, so similar situation-- and another similarity: The motor did work again, intermittently, for a while before dying completely, though it was barely rideable.

That was a MUCH more primitive system-- no computer, just a front wheel motor, a throttle, a battery, and a bunch of cables. It was under warranty, Clean Republic was great about it, just shipped me a new controller, which I installed myself.

I did waste some time testing the battery, even though I know this is the kind of electrical work I absolutely cannot do. I can replace a GFCI flawlessly, probably because I know that when I've killed the mains, there's no power supplied to the outlet... but if there's live current anywhere, I'll find a way to destroy something. If you ever see me with a soldering iron in my hand, don't even bother trying to reason with me, just call the fire department immediately.

Huge spark and a bang, big puff of bright blue smoke... but the battery was fine. I'm still using it.
 
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