XM 700+ Trek 10,000+ mile report

Alan Acock

Alan Acock

Member
After 4 years I have 10,000+ miles. 95% of the miles have been road rides. I still like the bike. There were some problems. The original tires got frequent flats. I called the tire maker and they said Trek demanded an ultra soft tire with maximum traction. They sent me a quality ebike specific tire that was good for 5,000 miles and I replaced it then even though most people would have stayed with it. The initial chain lasted a few hundred miles. I got a high quality ebike chain and it lasted 5,000 miles. The front fork developed a crack while on warranty and Trek replaced it (slowly). At 8,000 miles I got a clicking sound as I pedaled. One bike shop said I probably needed to replace the motor. I took it to a second shop and they tightened 4 bolts to their proper torque. This solved the problem. Just a bit ago I replaced a chain and rear cluster. The shop also flopped the gear on the motor.

Since I ride the ebike on roads and bike paths and mostly in the eco level I’m not putting it under the amount of stress a lot of you would. The ebike is lighter than most but it would be nice to have a lighter ebike.
 
Alan, Do you have the bug for a different e-bike or are you totally satisfied with your XM 700+? Just curious and very good at spending OPM (other people's money.) Tim
 
Alan Acock said:
After 4 years I have 10,000+ miles. 95% of the miles have been road rides. I still like the bike. There were some problems. The original tires got frequent flats. I called the tire maker and they said Trek demanded an ultra soft tire with maximum traction. They sent me a quality ebike specific tire that was good for 5,000 miles and I replaced it then even though most people would have stayed with it. The initial chain lasted a few hundred miles. I got a high quality ebike chain and it lasted 5,000 miles. The front fork developed a crack while on warranty and Trek replaced it (slowly). At 8,000 miles I got a clicking sound as I pedaled. One bike shop said I probably needed to replace the motor. I took it to a second shop and they tightened 4 bolts to their proper torque. This solved the problem. Just a bit ago I replaced a chain and rear cluster. The shop also flopped the gear on the motor.

Since I ride the ebike on roads and bike paths and mostly in the eco level I’m not putting it under the amount of stress a lot of you would. The ebike is lighter than most but it would be nice to have a lighter ebike.
Click to expand...
Alan, you just beat me to the 10k mi mark on my XM700+ My odometer is sitting at 9860 mi. I also replaced the original tires and the rest of the wear items. Had to replace the battery last year, replaced the original 400W with a 500W. Still love it and ride as much as I can.
 
I forgot to mention I had to replace the battery (got the 500 too). The original battery range dropped from 50 miles to 15 all of a sudden after stopping a charge with an over heated warning
 
you guys are fun keep it up you may catch up :D
only 9000 miles a year average. but I did replace the whole drivetrain around 11,980 miles on the last chain change.
12000 miles.jpg
 
With all the problems we read on this board that folks are having with their inexpensive (cheap?) ebikes, it's good to confirm that buying quality bikes does indeed pay off in the long run!
 
retiredNH said:
With all the problems we read on this board that folks are having with their inexpensive (cheap?) ebikes, it's good to confirm that buying quality bikes does indeed pay off in the long run!
Click to expand...
My Trek shop gets many cheap ebikes brought in Dead For Repair. Nothing they can do most of the time.
 
Holland-Tim-Allant+8S said:
Alan, Out of curiosity, how many miles were on the battery when it needed replacing? Out of nosiness, how much did it cost? :) Tim
Click to expand...
8,000 miles. It was $800 or $900 for a Bosch 500 watt. I don’t think it wore out as it happened all of a sudden. A maximum of 50 miles every day with a little left and then 15 miles. There must have been a short or something that destroyed a bunch of cells. Possibly this was because of dropping it one too often
 
Alan Acock said:
8,000 miles. It was $800 or $900 for a Bosch 500 watt. I don’t think it wore out as it happened all of a sudden. A maximum of 50 miles every day with a little left and then 15 miles. There must have been a short or something that destroyed a bunch of cells. Possibly this was because of dropping it one too often
Click to expand...
Note to Self - Do not drop $$$ battery packs
 
Holland-Tim-Allant+8S said:
Note to Self - Do not drop $$$ battery packs
Click to expand...
Agree. Funny how folks worry about the best way to charge a battery for longevity, best temperature and so forth, but don't say much about careful handling! I do find it comforting to hear from folks who have quality batteries that lasted for years. Compare that to the DIYers who seem to buy what's cheap, then wonder why they die.
 
I'm in awe of the amount of miles! Have had mine for a bit over 3 years. Maybe this next summer I can get the mileage way up.
Tried the charge port for keeping my iPhone topped up while riding, but not enough wattage. Have taken to velcroing on a small booster pack for that. Added a rear rack, and happy with a Brooks saddle.
It took a long time to get mine to a point where it wasn't actively trying to hurt me (knees, hands, butt). Lot's of stems/saddles and adjusting. But we seem to have reached an understanding.
55 frame, which in some respects is a bit too big for me (NO top bar clearance!), but in other respects the 50 would have been too small.
It's in the shop for basic maintenance.
It is kind of punishing over uneven surfaces, so have been interested in the older reports of swapping the front fork. LBS heavily advised not doing so, claiming it would drastically change the geometry for the worse. One person pushed instead really supple tires. Another wasn't as enthusiastic about tires making much change, but did suggest fitting a Shockstop stem. The Kineckt seatpost was on my list, but I just don't have the clearance under the seat to fit one.
They noted the cassette should be replaced. I got excited seeing information about an 11-42 (rather than the stock 11-36) being available, But they noted that the derailleur wouldn't accommodate. Rats - there are a couple local hills where that would have been nicer!
Any words of wisdom about any of that, or other changes you have done to yours to make it even better?
 
sande005 said:
I'm in awe of the amount of miles! Have had mine for a bit over 3 years. Maybe this next summer I can get the mileage way up.
Tried the charge port for keeping my iPhone topped up while riding, but not enough wattage. Have taken to velcroing on a small booster pack for that. Added a rear rack, and happy with a Brooks saddle.
It took a long time to get mine to a point where it wasn't actively trying to hurt me (knees, hands, butt). Lot's of stems/saddles and adjusting. But we seem to have reached an understanding.
55 frame, which in some respects is a bit too big for me (NO top bar clearance!), but in other respects the 50 would have been too small.
It's in the shop for basic maintenance.
It is kind of punishing over uneven surfaces, so have been interested in the older reports of swapping the front fork. LBS heavily advised not doing so, claiming it would drastically change the geometry for the worse. One person pushed instead really supple tires. Another wasn't as enthusiastic about tires making much change, but did suggest fitting a Shockstop stem. The Kineckt seatpost was on my list, but I just don't have the clearance under the seat to fit one.
They noted the cassette should be replaced. I got excited seeing information about an 11-42 (rather than the stock 11-36) being available, But they noted that the derailleur wouldn't accommodate. Rats - there are a couple local hills where that would have been nicer!
Any words of wisdom about any of that, or other changes you have done to yours to make it even better?
Click to expand...
For what it’s worth, I just installed the Redshift Shockstop seat post on my Trek Allant+8S and wow!!! Transformational improvement to the ride. Since the seating position is almost upright the road shocks mostly take effect on your butt. Better than expected or even hoped. Really nice on a class 3 where those sharp bumps can hammer you at 20+ mph
 
Update: Two more bike shops were very negative on installing a suspension fork. But the bike wasn't with me, nor were they familiar with the one others have used. May have to do it myself. I tried a Shockstop stem, but because of the bar sweep back, there's no moment arm - it is designed to have the rider weight out in front of the head tube, like being on the hoods with a drop bar. Flatter bars may help, but that leads to concerns about too much reach on this bike...
Waiting on a Kinekt seatpost. Current Brooks saddle is on a 25mm seatpost, pushed all the way back. Selle Anatomica saddles say they have longer rails, so one is coming to see if I can get into a good range.
No big reason for picking the Kinekt over the Shockstop, except a bit of a unknown about what the Shockstop setback might actually be (and I got a "deal" on the Kinekt!). So the science experiment will continue...
 
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