9 week old fathom e+2 with creaking frame/motor.

[Doug e+]

Bike In today for first service and I asked the technician to check out the creaking noise from frame/ motor.
My fathom e+2 is only 9 weeks old used mostly on the road and a few trails but not on mountain terrain.
Technician greased motor mount bolts tightened and still reported the creaking noise still there.
So the outcome is dealer to contact Giant on Monday for a warranty claim for a new motor.
I am not happy that as the bike is only 9 weeks old and I need to wait on warranty claim being authorised then having to be without a bike until part is ordered, delivered and fitted.
I have told the dealer that I’m not pleased that a new bike has to be repaired and asked for a replacement new bike. Dealer said they will raise this with Giant on Monday.
Has anyone had this fault or any other fault on a new bike and asked for a new replacement bike or is it normal practice to wait on bike being repaired?

cheers
Dougie

 

[DrStupid]

Creaking already?

i have about 500 miles on my Trance E+ and am getting a bunch of creaks when riding, already cleared one up by cleaning and regreasing the headset but I think the major one is coming from the rear suspension linkage. Is this normal for this low of hours? Seems a little early to me but conditions...

www.emtbforums.com

Not sure about replacement based on creaking, but this thread covers some odds an ends, and also links to another where a common creak is explained.

 

[Noxiller]

I am pretty sure that a new motor will not fix the problem. Only if the creaking bushing/bolt will be greased coincedentally during installation.
Creaking is more or less caused by dry friction and is nothing more than the oscillating noise of the material.

Both our giants trance e came with no grease at any bushing or bolt at all which I discovered after the first ride and *suprise* creaking noise
After greasing them everything was fine. But it has to be done quite regular.
So maybe you technician forgot some joints? Sometimes even a creaking headset can feel and sound like a creaking rear.

 

[Doug e+]

Creaking already?

i have about 500 miles on my Trance E+ and am getting a bunch of creaks when riding, already cleared one up by cleaning and regreasing the headset but I think the major one is coming from the rear suspension linkage. Is this normal for this low of hours? Seems a little early to me but conditions...

www.emtbforums.com

Not sure about replacement based on creaking, but this thread covers some odds an ends, and also links to another where a common creak is explained.

Thanks for this link I have a read to see if it’s similar and how it was resolved.
cheers
Dougie

 

[Doug e+]

I am pretty sure that a new motor will not fix the problem. Only if the creaking bushing/bolt will be greased coincedentally during installation.
Creaking is more or less caused by dry friction and is nothing more than the oscillating noise of the material.

Both our giants trance e came with no grease at any bushing or bolt at all which I discovered after the first ride and *suprise* creaking noise
After greasing them everything was fine. But it has to be done quite regular.
So maybe you technician forgot some joints? Sometimes even a creaking headset can feel and sound like a creaking rear.

Hi thanks for taking the time to reply. I’m new to the electric bike so I am not up to speed yet on faults. The technician seemingly dropped the motor out and greased and tightened the after testing it was still creaking. He said something about it needs a new motor as the fixing points or frame was attached to the motor.
Im not sure how this works but fount it strange to be told it needs a new motor to stop the creaking noise.
Cheers
Dougie

 

[Pdoz]

Both our giants trance e came with no grease at any bushing or bolt at all which I discovered after the first ride and *suprise* creaking noise
After greasing them everything was fine. But it has to be done quite regular.
So maybe you technician forgot some joints? Sometimes even a creaking headset can feel and sound like a creaking rear.

Are you sure about greasing joints? I thought most suspension bushes were designed to run dry with just ptfe spray at reassembly ? Grease holds dirt which becomes grinding paste ?

 

[Noxiller]

Are you sure about greasing joints? I thought most suspension bushes were designed to run dry with just ptfe spray at reassembly ? Grease holds dirt which becomes grinding paste ?

Well I guess you´re not wrong. But I clean all the stuff quite regular (for me this is as relaxing as the riding itself ) and so far I didn´t discover any major deposits of dirt even after two days of riding a dusty bikepark.
And the bushings looked quite beaten after the first rides without grease.

So yes, I would agree with you in general, but for me it helped.


Sorry for the german one, it was the first I found which showed a lot of details.

 

[Crawford919]

On my 19 Trance e it has had a few noises all I was able to fix. First was the shock when it was new and Fox fixed it under warranty. Next the head set which I replaced with Cane Creek, see pictures. And also I had the motor creeks and greasing the mounts fixed that. You have to take the collars out of the motor and greese that point. Best way to do it is thread a 6mm x 1.0 bolt in the back side and tap it out instead of making a mess with pliers or a screw driver. If the tech is calling for a motor I suspect he may not be able to get the collars out or has made a mess of them. Also every now and then I have to grease the seat post as it will make noise when sitting and pedaling. As of now and after over a year of ownership it has been trouble free since the above issues were taken care of.

 

[Doug e+]

Thanks again guys this is ver y good info and learning a lot from the videos.
It is a possibility the tech has damaged something that he is going to speak to Giant regarding replacing the motor under warrant.
Ill update on Monday once the tech has spoken to Giant and got back to me. ?

 

[KuRi]

Can you please describe those creaking noises? Are they there all the time or just randomly appearing? I have some "click" noises sometimes and I wonder where they come from (I already inspected the usual places...). Thanks!

 

[Doug e+]

Hi KuRi, my bike started the creaking noise a couple of weeks ago then went away but returned again just before it was due in for it’s first service check. It seems to be when pedalling but it’s hard to say where it’s coming from. I just told the tech to check it out when it was in for a service. It’s definitely a creaking noise not a clicking noise.

 

[KuRi]

Can you feel it on your footpegs? Is it constant? Thanks!

 

[Doug e+]

Can you feel it on your footpegs? Is it constant? Thanks!

No I didn’t feel it on pegs jus an annoying creaking noise. As I was peddling I tried pushing and holding different parts of the bike and battery to see if it would stop but nothing stopped the creaking.

 

[Doug e+]

Wee update. Dealer still not had a reply from Giant. They have given me 2 options.
1. Collect bike use it and once giant authorise the new motor and the dealer receives it I take the bike back in for repair.
2. Full refund as they don’t have another e+2 fathom or have any idea when they will receive any.

Not sure what to do but started looking for a similar electric mountain bike. Any recommendations ?

 

[DaveMatthews]

Hmmm... tough one. I have a 2019 Fathom E+2 and have 2 years with zero issues and no creaking.
I can understand your pain.
Love mine and have faith in the model and brand, but maybe having the cash in hand would help you look at either another Giant model or something else entirely.
If they could guarantee a quick fix that would help me stick with it.
Best of luck mate.

 

[Doug e+]

Hmmm... tough one. I have a 2019 Fathom E+2 and have 2 years with zero issues and no creaking.
I can understand your pain.
Love mine and have faith in the model and brand, but maybe having the cash in hand would help you look at either another Giant model or something else entirely.
If they could guarantee a quick fix that would help me stick with it.
Best of luck mate.

Hi Dave, going into the dealers tomorrow to see how quick the bike could be fixed. I’ve owned the fathom for almost 9 weeks and love it. I’ve been looking on the web at others but at this time there’s not much stock local to me.
Ill see what they say tomorrow before I decide.
cheers
Dougie

 

[Steve38]

Creaking sounds travel through frames and what may sound like a creak due to issue A is often caused by issue B elsewhere

I know it may sound strange but experience tells me to always check the seat post first - it's simple and easy and if it isn't the issue well it's only taken 5 minutes of your time

A bit of Carbon Paste or similar has done the trick for me in the past

 

[Doug e+]

Hi all, visited my Giant dealer today to see what was happening with my warranty claim. Bike been in dealers for a week now and giant have still not authorised the repair. I had the option to wait for repair or a full refund then the dealer produced a Cube Reaction Hybrid pro 625 In exchange for the giant fathom e+2. I took it out for a test ride and absolutely loved the ride.
So end result I’m now home with a brand new Cube Reaction Pro 625 ??.
Thanks to all that replied to my post.

 

[KuRi]

I love that bike, it was my second option after the fathom e+2 pro, so congratulations. I also hope that Giant ends up refunding the money to the LBS and taking a look at that bike, so they improve the manufacturing process in the future.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Good on the LBS!