Fidlock motor issue/problems BEWARE

Rail5

Member
Dec 12, 2019
46
14
Yorkshire
Evening all I have taken my rail 5 to my local official trek retailer for a new bash
guard and service. Whilst it was there I received a call to discuss my fidlock bottle mount, the gentlemen told me to remove it as he had a bike in recently that caused the motor to have problems in a result of someone installing one. When I picked up my rail again today another mechanic in the workshop also mentioned the same scenario and told me to remove it as a matter of urgency! has anyone else heard similar or had any problems?
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
Did they not say why ?

Is the suggestion that the magnets affect sensors ? battery ? Or people are using too long a screw which is impacting the battery ?
 

Mteam

E*POWAH Elite
Aug 3, 2020
1,877
1,809
gone
The bosch motors are affected by magnetism, I put a magnetic spirit level next to the motor and it threw a 510 error, take the magnetic level away and the error goes away, it's instantly reproducible every time.i made a thread about it on here at the time. I presume one of the sensors uses magnetism to work.

However I have a fidlock bottle mount and that hasn't triggered any errors. It probably depends on how close the bottle mount is to the motor, so maybe some bike models are affected by the fidlock mount where as others are not
 
Last edited:

Rail5

Member
Dec 12, 2019
46
14
Yorkshire
He basically said it was affecting the motor due to some kind of magnetic interference. To be Fair I have had no issues what so ever but this is making me paranoid.
 

R120

Moderator
Subscriber
Apr 13, 2018
7,819
9,190
Surrey
I have run fidlocks on my EMTB's with no issues - might be something to do with how the wiring runs on the Trek, directly under the bottle mount IIRC
 

TR5_20

Active member
Nov 22, 2020
81
65
Scotland
I have run fidlocks on my EMTB's with no issues - might be something to do with how the wiring runs on the Trek, directly under the bottle mount IIRC
No, the wires run underneath the battery, so are well away from the bottle mount.
 

Nicho

Captain Caption
Subscriber
Jan 4, 2020
1,049
1,931
Furness, South Cumbria.
Fidlock works with no problems on a Giant Trance 2019. It's the first time I have heard anybody mention a fidlock causing a problem.
It would seem reasonable to keep your fidlock on the bike until you experience a problem with the motor, then take it off to see if the problem has gone away.
 

Hamina

E*POWAH Master
Mar 22, 2020
500
396
FIN
Open question to OP:
- What kind of problems the fiddlelock mount affected to motor?
- Where there any error codes? What error codes?
- Was there a proble with assistance? Was the assistance nonlogical or nonconsistent?
- What frame size in Rail 5?

The electromagnetic field from Fidlock can't be (I don't believe) so strong that it would affect on electric motor. On the XL frame there's 200mm distance between the bottle mount and motor. A neodym magnet with 120 kg holding force is totally powerless in that distance (doesn't though say that it couldn't theoretically have an affect)

The speedsensor is also far far away. Theoretically could be something to do with battery or it's control?

With this information that we have now sounds like either the LBS has a problem they can't solve or something else sketchy.
 

flash

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Nov 24, 2018
1,050
986
Wamberal, NSW Australia
Open question to OP:
- What kind of problems the fiddlelock mount affected to motor?
- Where there any error codes? What error codes?
- Was there a proble with assistance? Was the assistance nonlogical or nonconsistent?
- What frame size in Rail 5?

The electromagnetic field from Fidlock can't be (I don't believe) so strong that it would affect on electric motor. On the XL frame there's 200mm distance between the bottle mount and motor. A neodym magnet with 120 kg holding force is totally powerless in that distance (doesn't though say that it couldn't theoretically have an affect)

The speedsensor is also far far away. Theoretically could be something to do with battery or it's control?

With this information that we have now sounds like either the LBS has a problem they can't solve or something else sketchy.

My bike has Magpeds (200nM magnets) and a Fidlock mount....

Gordon
 

Bomble

Well-known member
Nov 11, 2018
661
386
Yorkshire
It was probably my bike they are talking about. It had a 510 error and instantly turned off when you switched it on.
I had the fidlock on for ages before the error so was not convinced it caused it. It was Bosch who suggested it, but they also suggested it could be due to the steel chainring even though all the treks come standard with them?
They ended up sticking a new motor in after about a month of messing about, but they never actually proved what caused the error.
When I was looking it up there were quite a few cases where people had 510 errors when they peddled past the same place and it threw up 510. I think Bosch also suggested in those cases it was a magnetic problem and also that something was possibly magnetising the chain ring.
I haven’t bothered putting the mount back on just in case though?
 

Hamina

E*POWAH Master
Mar 22, 2020
500
396
FIN
510 error code for Gen 4 is "Internal sensor error → Motor support off or delayed in the starting phase"
 

Rail5

Member
Dec 12, 2019
46
14
Yorkshire
It was probably my bike they are talking about. It had a 510 error and instantly turned off when you switched it on.
I had the fidlock on for ages before the error so was not convinced it caused it. It was Bosch who suggested it, but they also suggested it could be due to the steel chainring even though all the treks come standard with them?
They ended up sticking a new motor in after about a month of messing about, but they never actually proved what caused the error.
When I was looking it up there were quite a few cases where people had 510 errors when they peddled past the same place and it threw up 510. I think Bosch also suggested in those cases it was a magnetic problem and also that something was possibly magnetising the chain ring.
I haven’t bothered putting the mount back on just in case though?
Ahhh right think they said was a week or so ago... how do you find those guys and the service they provide. This is my second time there.....
 

Tooks

Well-known member
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2020
481
576
Lincs UK
Something doesn’t sound right, I’ve got Fidlock mounts on both my electric bikes and no issues.

As somebody else mentioned, they’re pretty weak magnets, so unless there’s some specific EMF weakness on the Rail, it sounds more like two and two being put together and coming up with five.
 

Lawzio

New Member
Mar 22, 2021
3
0
England
Just bought a Fidlock mount before my Trek Rail 9.8 arrives in a couple of weeks. As far as I can see as long as it does not invalidate the warranty then its not an issue.
 

deano2107

Member
Nov 23, 2021
16
13
Wendover
I have also recently had a 510 error come up on my Whyte E 150RS, I have had a fidlock fitted from new (it's about 12 months old) and no issues up until now. I took it to Bosch service and Bosch agreed to replace the motor under warranty within a day. So I'm happy so far with the Bosch service I've received.
 

SwampNut

Well-known member
Oct 26, 2022
298
353
Peoria, AZ USA
My primary riding buddy just got a new bike that has a Bosch CX and came with a Fidlock bottle holder stock. It also has the Fidlock-based Monkeylink lighting docks.
 

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