E-bikes: an extremely unreliable form of transportation

[morph999]

Get some Armadillo crossroads and never have a flat. In some ways, that's more reliable than a car.

 

[WonderProfessor]

Get some Armadillo crossroads and never have a flat. In some ways, that's more reliable than a car.

... except for when the valve stem is sliced as you are pumping air into it with your tiny portable bike pump.

When was the last time any of your steel-belted, radial car tires had a flat? For me, not one in 26 years.

 

[Rifle]

When was the last time any of your steel-belted, radial car tires had a flat? For me, not one in 26 years.

I had never had a flat tire on a car in my life and then I had 4 this summer. Which brings me to my next point. MY THROTTLE BROKE AGAIN. That's 5 throttles in 6 months. You'd think my controller was destroying them or something, except they have broke in different ways. This one is clearly a mechanical failure. I haven't opened it up yet, but I'd guess the magnet fell out of place somehow. Something is definitely lose in there. I should be able to fix it, but wtf with these shitty throttles.

 

[dogman dan]

You gotta rain cloud following you around for sure. I have thousands and thousands of miles on the same cheap throttles. I allways break the thumb tab off by hitting bumps full speed, but never had the thing fail to work ever.

You gonna go on a tire forum, and say car tires are an extremely unreliable way to roll a car now?

 

[johnrobholmes]

I have never broken a Magura throttle. I ride offroad, jump down stairs, and use the throttle for all it is worth.

Cheap china throttles, I have broken a few and had a few that were just plain bad from the box. Then I switched to magura.

 

[USAEBIKECO]

My electric cruiser is going on 900 miles with no problems. Its been highly reliable and much better option than the train or bus. Forget driving a car in Chicago, costs too much.

You have to do your homework as to whom to buy your ebike and parts from.

 

[Rifle]

I have never broken a Magura throttle. I ride offroad, jump down stairs, and use the throttle for all it is worth.

Cheap china throttles, I have broken a few and had a few that were just plain bad from the box. Then I switched to magura.

My electric cruiser is going on 900 miles with no problems. Its been highly reliable and much better option than the train or bus. Forget driving a car in Chicago, costs too much.

You have to do your homework as to whom to buy your ebike and parts from.

Problem is, as far as I can tell Magura only makes a twist type throttle, and I need a thumb throttle. All the Hall effect thumb throttles appear to be the same "brand". I did try to buy a potentiometer throttle to modify to work with my controller, but the place canceled my order because they aren't made any more, so I decided I'd give the chinese crap one last shot since it seems to work for other people.

I was lucky enough to have my e-bike w/ me last time I was in Chicago. Sure made the city seam a lot smaller.

You gotta rain cloud following you around for sure. I have thousands and thousands of miles on the same cheap throttles. I allways break the thumb tab off by hitting bumps full speed, but never had the thing fail to work ever.

You gonna go on a tire forum, and say car tires are an extremely unreliable way to roll a car now?

I don't know what type of people wheel and tire enthusiasts are so maybe I should avoid pissing them off until I make sure they aren't violent. And also I've had many years of 1st hand experience with tires being dependable, unlike e-bikes where I have no 1st hand knowledge of them going a month without breaking. Also, the title was made when I thought it was a dependable 9C motor that was having issues. I guess I leave the title how it is simply for trolling purposes.

 

[Affliction]

Well let me be the first to agree with you

E-bikes: an extremely unreliable form of transportation

They are extremely unreliable! :lol: You should have bought a $2700 Bionx kit if you wanted fully warrantied reliability!
Bionx is owned by Magna which is an auto parts manufacturer Based in Canada.
You're really cussing because you bought a cheap chinese kit that WE at the Sphere love to death because we love to tinker with them!
And it doesn't always work for you....... Cry me a river! Do you think any of us had absolutely no problems when we first delved into E-bikes?
By design these chinese kits are always going to have something broken. It's all piss-poor! :lol:
You should sell your kit and go buy a Bionx.

 

[steveo]

Bionx kits are way overpriced

you have to have alot of paitence when you have a problem to properly fix it ..

I've gone through phases during controller diy'ing myself .. i've blow about 2 controllers a week testing at high voltage of 133v.. after about 10 controllers.. i finally got it right .. and it work reliably .. however.. you could do 50v and have a hell of alot less problems..

give me 2700$ .. i'll build you a reliable bike .. with a steveo warrenty

-steveo

 

[deardancer3]

Bionx kits are way overpriced

you have to have alot of paitence when you have a problem to properly fix it ..

I've gone through phases during controller diy'ing myself .. i've blow about 2 controllers a week testing at high voltage of 133v.. after about 10 controllers.. i finally got it right .. and it work reliably .. however.. you could do 50v and have a hell of alot less problems..

give me 2700$ .. i'll build you a reliable bike .. with a steveo warrenty

-steveo

A guess its beauty in the eyes of the beholder.

the bionx comes with a two year warranty and doesn't cost 2700, and has lots of features.

I'm sure yours would have more brute force power though.

On a slightly different ebike, My giant Lafree Lite has never failed. original battery. My Lafree sport never failed.

d

 

[Affliction]

A guess its beauty in the eyes of the beholder.

the bionx comes with a two year warranty and doesn't cost 2700, and has lots of features

d

The full most powerfull kit is $2700 taxes in! My brother bought one and he turned off the speed limiter and he can keep up with my dual hub bike!

 

[DahonElectric]

A guess its beauty in the eyes of the beholder.

the bionx comes with a two year warranty and doesn't cost 2700, and has lots of features

d

The full most powerfull kit is $2700 taxes in! My brother bought one and he turned off the speed limiter and he can keep up with my dual hub bike!

Oh my, what are we turning into now -- my rod is longer than yours and my house is bigger than you?!?

A typical ebike is as reliable as the person who puts it together!! Charles Bronson once said, "I'm not afraid of the gun; I am afraid who is behind that gun!" I work in the electronic industry and we service equipment and usually and as always, I found that it's the fault of the technician who is repairing or installing the equipment, not the equipment itself. Perhaps the original poster could share a photo to us how his throttle system was installed and wired? Perhaps then this can shed some light into your problem. Ebikes in general are quite reliable when it is properly installed and maintained. I have a fast 9C kit here with a Chinese made hall throttle (twist grip) and it has been reliable from the day it was put on. I also have a Bionx bike that is less powered and doesn't cost $2700 and it too is quite reliable, rain or shine.

DE.

 

[Affliction]

Oh my, what are we turning into now -- my rod is longer than yours and my house is bigger than you?!?

A typical ebike is as reliable as the person who puts it together!! Charles Bronson once said, "I'm not afraid of the gun; I am afraid who is behind that gun!" I work in the electronic industry and we service equipment and usually and as always, I found that it's the fault of the technician who is repairing or installing the equipment, not the equipment itself. Perhaps the original poster could share a photo to us how his throttle system was installed and wired? Perhaps then this can shed some light into your problem. Ebikes in general are quite reliable when it is properly installed and maintained. I have a fast 9C kit here with a Chinese made hall throttle (twist grip) and it has been reliable from the day it was put on. I also have a Bionx bike that is less powered and doesn't cost $2700 and it too is quite reliable, rain or shine.

DE.

Ya figured... Bionx 250 with 24 volts of Nimh. Ya quite useless and entry level for sure :lol:
That's a $1200 kit.
Do you live in the Rust belt Dahon? I happen to have to live with roadsalt 5 months of the year.
I don't care who installs a bike kit! it's all gonna frock up!

 

[USAEBIKECO]

Any ebike over $1000 is a rip off. It must be nice to have that kind of money to throw at a bike that could be stolen in a second by a master bike theif. Might as well buy a moped for $1000.

Wilderness energy systems has been very reliable in my experience. I have retrofitted alot of bikes for customers and rarely do i have complaints. Plus their parts are not expensive like bionx to replace.

 

[dogman dan]

I agree. I went through some WE brushed motors that were crappy but the brushless one is very good. WE did, at least in the past, ship a lot of untested stuff. Chargers especially would go poof. Mabye there is a bad run of throttles out there now, just like the bad run of chargers that hit WE two years ago. A good supplier will test every component before sending it out. Can't trust the factory to do it.

But really, some kind of hoodoo is on you to have that much problem with throttles. Or, a jerk supplier may be sending you his leftover junk to replace your throttle. Try a better supplier for your next throttle, such as Ebikes-ca , Ebike kit, or High Tech Bikes if you need the 4 pin throttle.

I couldn't resist rubbing your fur backwards after that title. I'm just joking about the tires. I feel for your run of bad luck, I've been having one for a few years now. Several years ago something really bad happend every year in May. This year, on June 1, I was like hot damn I made it! But it was only put off till August when my beloved subaru caught on fire! Poof goes 2 grand. Three years now straight, something comes up every year to spend all my money on. Give to me break!

 

[DahonElectric]

Oh my, what are we turning into now -- my rod is longer than yours and my house is bigger than you?!?

A typical ebike is as reliable as the person who puts it together!! Charles Bronson once said, "I'm not afraid of the gun; I am afraid who is behind that gun!" I work in the electronic industry and we service equipment and usually and as always, I found that it's the fault of the technician who is repairing or installing the equipment, not the equipment itself. Perhaps the original poster could share a photo to us how his throttle system was installed and wired? Perhaps then this can shed some light into your problem. Ebikes in general are quite reliable when it is properly installed and maintained. I have a fast 9C kit here with a Chinese made hall throttle (twist grip) and it has been reliable from the day it was put on. I also have a Bionx bike that is less powered and doesn't cost $2700 and it too is quite reliable, rain or shine.

DE.

Ya figured... Bionx 250 with 24 volts of Nimh. Ya quite useless and entry level for sure :lol:
That's a $1200 kit.
Do you live in the Rust belt Dahon? I happen to have to live with roadsalt 5 months of the year.
I don't care who installs a bike kit! it's all gonna frock up!

It is entry level no doubt, but a typical roadie will have a hard time catching up with me if I pedal and have assist at the same time. I can not compete against someone who's riding at 40 to 45km/h. Besides, he's not riding a bike, he's driving it, so don't pretend you are cyclist. And no cyclist can do 32km/h at 8% grade every day, day in and day out 7 days a week and not feel pain and soreness either! So I value the $1200 kit because it is the only kit system that allows assist to sync with pedal strokes automatically.

No ebike system is robust either. If it's made by a human, it will be broken by nature. This thinking of ebike never fails is simply childish! As I said before, I work in the electronic industry selling equipment for more than 2 decades sometime military grade and yes, they break! Otherwise, why would we employ or deploy technicians to fix things or to train army personnel to maintain them?

DE.

 

[DahonElectric]

Any ebike over $1000 is a rip off. It must be nice to have that kind of money to throw at a bike that could be stolen in a second by a master bike theif. Might as well buy a moped for $1000.

Wilderness energy systems has been very reliable in my experience. I have retrofitted alot of bikes for customers and rarely do i have complaints. Plus their parts are not expensive like bionx to replace.

It depends upon your valuation system. There are many prices of cars and homes. A Mercedes Benz is not a Honda Civic, nor is a Ferrari. Is Ferrari a waste a money? Only to those who can't afford to drive it. This is not the case to those who can!

Parts for a Ferrari or a Porsche is not cheap either! Do you know how much does a bumper on a Ferrari cost? So please don't lecture us or myself on the value of low-end systems better than higher end systems. If you can't afford it, so be it. You made it look to me like you're desperate for attention.

DE.

 

[DahonElectric]

I agree. I went through some WE brushed motors that were crappy but the brushless one is very good. WE did, at least in the past, ship a lot of untested stuff. Chargers especially would go poof. Mabye there is a bad run of throttles out there now, just like the bad run of chargers that hit WE two years ago. A good supplier will test every component before sending it out. Can't trust the factory to do it.

But really, some kind of hoodoo is on you to have that much problem with throttles. Or, a jerk supplier may be sending you his leftover junk to replace your throttle. Try a better supplier for your next throttle, such as Ebikes-ca , Ebike kit, or High Tech Bikes if you need the 4 pin throttle.

I couldn't resist rubbing your fur backwards after that title. I'm just joking about the tires. I feel for your run of bad luck, I've been having one for a few years now. Several years ago something really bad happend every year in May. This year, on June 1, I was like hot damn I made it! But it was only put off till August when my beloved subaru caught on fire! Poof goes 2 grand. Three years now straight, something comes up every year to spend all my money on. Give to me break!

I had BIG PROBLEMS with ebikes.ca 9C system, especially the wheel and the charger.

1, First they gave me the wrong charger (24V as opposed to 36V) -- what happened if they gave me a 48V?!?
(I take it this is simply human mistake). But is this not an acceptable mistake to me.. Nope, they should do better!

2, The wheel of the 9C was completely and poorly built, out of true, have separated seams and was confirmed here by a master wheel builder to be of very very poor quality. He was shocked that this wheel was even allowed to be sold! Phone ebike and the lady basically said that I'm on my own. Tried truing it and fixing the singing spokes. Finally, I had to pay the master wheel builder to rebuild the whole wheel at my expense as ebike.ca was not willing to accommodate me. That's fine as I expect the quality of the 9C wheel to be much much lower than my Bionx wheel. Incidentally, JVBIKE has no problem fixing my Bionx system (wheel and battery) at no charge under warranty. Why not ebikes.ca as they said the wheel was not under their own warranty? Then who is it? Other than that, however, I'm impressed with Justin's knowledge of ebikes in general.

Granted I didn't pay more than $1000 for the 9C, much much less for the power I'm getting. But when comparing apples and apples, let's make sure it's apples and apples not apples and oranges.

DE.