George S.
Well-Known Member
I took the rear wheel off my Prodeco X3, to change the tire and tube. Removing it was enough of a chore, since the wheel had to be pried out. Swapping tires and tubes was painless.
To reinstall the rear wheel? The manual says that you have to pull the chain over the sprockets and then:
"Slide the motor into the frame dropouts by aligning the axle into the dropouts"
Well, gee. That isn't remotely what you have to do. First off, the chain is going to fight you all the way. Second, the derailleur is going to be in the way. Third, the axle has flat sides so you have to align the wheel at a very precise point, but then you have to come in, over the derailleur. Four, the disc brake is going to hang unless it is precisely aligned to slide in. That means aligning two things precisely, at the same time, with a tensioned derailleur and balky chain. I tried ten times, maybe more, over 90 minutes. I thought I had found a system just to keep the chain and derailleur out of the way. Nothing I tried came close to getting the wheel in the dropouts, and this is a heavy piece of equipment to deal with.
I took it to the ebike shop (where I bought it) the next day. I asked how hard this was supposed to be? They smiled and said "You need to have the bike on a repair stand." When I went back to pick it up they said it had taken two guys and several tries.
I'm miffed because I scratched stuff up and I was afraid I'd bent the disc brake. The shop was fantastic, saying they would treat it as a warranty issue, even though it isn't. I bought some tire liners.
I didn't realize they would have a massive problem with the reinstallation. At that point, I really felt I should swap the rear tire for the absolute most bullet proof tire I could find, maybe the Schwalbe Marathon, which they stocked. It is very thick. I put some tire liners in the new tire and new thick tube. I hope that works. I don't see how I could fix this beside the road, and having a loose rear wheel would make life really complicated 10 miles from nowhere. I'm so glad I tried to do this at home.
I signed up for road service a few months back. It's a bike policy from Better World. I will not try to remove the rear wheel again, especially out in the field. I carry a can of inflator stuff with goo to seal holes. I would not use slime, all the time. In general, the thorns have caused slow leaks in my bike tires, and very slow leaks if I don't remove the thorns.
I've changed the rear wheel on two other bikes, non-electrics, and it is not much of a deal. The chain makes it messy, but the wheel doesn't have to be aligned precisely. One wheel has a disk brake.
I posted this on another bike brand forum, so I guess it is a common problem.
Prodeco might want to rethink that manual.
To reinstall the rear wheel? The manual says that you have to pull the chain over the sprockets and then:
"Slide the motor into the frame dropouts by aligning the axle into the dropouts"
Well, gee. That isn't remotely what you have to do. First off, the chain is going to fight you all the way. Second, the derailleur is going to be in the way. Third, the axle has flat sides so you have to align the wheel at a very precise point, but then you have to come in, over the derailleur. Four, the disc brake is going to hang unless it is precisely aligned to slide in. That means aligning two things precisely, at the same time, with a tensioned derailleur and balky chain. I tried ten times, maybe more, over 90 minutes. I thought I had found a system just to keep the chain and derailleur out of the way. Nothing I tried came close to getting the wheel in the dropouts, and this is a heavy piece of equipment to deal with.
I took it to the ebike shop (where I bought it) the next day. I asked how hard this was supposed to be? They smiled and said "You need to have the bike on a repair stand." When I went back to pick it up they said it had taken two guys and several tries.
I'm miffed because I scratched stuff up and I was afraid I'd bent the disc brake. The shop was fantastic, saying they would treat it as a warranty issue, even though it isn't. I bought some tire liners.
I didn't realize they would have a massive problem with the reinstallation. At that point, I really felt I should swap the rear tire for the absolute most bullet proof tire I could find, maybe the Schwalbe Marathon, which they stocked. It is very thick. I put some tire liners in the new tire and new thick tube. I hope that works. I don't see how I could fix this beside the road, and having a loose rear wheel would make life really complicated 10 miles from nowhere. I'm so glad I tried to do this at home.
I signed up for road service a few months back. It's a bike policy from Better World. I will not try to remove the rear wheel again, especially out in the field. I carry a can of inflator stuff with goo to seal holes. I would not use slime, all the time. In general, the thorns have caused slow leaks in my bike tires, and very slow leaks if I don't remove the thorns.
I've changed the rear wheel on two other bikes, non-electrics, and it is not much of a deal. The chain makes it messy, but the wheel doesn't have to be aligned precisely. One wheel has a disk brake.
I posted this on another bike brand forum, so I guess it is a common problem.
Prodeco might want to rethink that manual.
