Hi. I’m new here.

[ACHiPo]

Just joined to learn more about my TQ eBike motor. Specifically why it makes ticking and occasionally grinding sounds even after a warranty replacement.

I live in the E. Bay, CA, USA.

 

[Zimmerframe]

There were some posts about that .. can't remember if they were in the Motor/TQ section or the Trek Fuel EXE thread - maybe both ...

 

[Paulquattro]

Welcome to the site

 

[Stihldog]

The TQ motor is generally almost silent. The ticking and grinding noise, coming from the motor, may be an indication that something may fail soon. Hopefully you’re still within warranty and your LBS is helpful. Good luck .

Comparing noise from 8 emtb motors

We’ve taken a closer look, or rather listen, at 8 of the motors we’ve ridden lately. This is a comparison of full power emtb motors, yet one of the contenders is the small and mild TQ HPR50 motor. This is the most silent motor we’ve ever ridden...

www.emtbforums.com

 

[Zimmerframe]

OK ... I searched :

TQ HPR50 Grinding Noise

OK, I''ve just now figured the factors that produce the grind sound, for me. Any time, and for me every time, the pedal rate and force i apply on the crank fall below what's needed to activate the motor, the grind sound occurs. For example this will occur while riding on a level surface in a...

www.emtbforums.com

Tq hpr50 clicking sound

I owe scott lumen 900, while i pedal alot with assistance turned off, i hear ticking noise from motor when right pedal is between 10 and 12 hour, i check all, change pedals, torque bolts, chainrings, cranks...all, i noticed when i turn on assistance even on most little possible setting ticking...

www.emtbforums.com

 

[ACHiPo]

The TQ motor is generally almost silent. The ticking and grinding noise, coming from the motor, may be an indication that something may fail soon. Hopefully you’re still within warranty and your LBS is helpful. Good luck .

Comparing noise from 8 emtb motors

We’ve taken a closer look, or rather listen, at 8 of the motors we’ve ridden lately. This is a comparison of full power emtb motors, yet one of the contenders is the small and mild TQ HPR50 motor. This is the most silent motor we’ve ever ridden...

www.emtbforums.com

Thanks for that link. I will check it out.

When I first got my BMC in May, 2023 it was dead quiet (and a blast!). After about 100 miles I started hearing a ticking noise occasionally corresponding to crank rotation. It did not seem to correlate to power on or power levels. I took the bike in for its 90 day tighten/tune check up, but the techs didn't find anything. Over the next hundred miles it got more consistent, and a grinding sound started--first periodically with crank rotation, then pretty much constant. The sound was fairly quiet and periodic at 200 miles when the bike/motor was "cold", but after an hour or so of riding it was constant and quite loud--loud enough that pedestrians and other bikers would turn and look. This was in October.

I took the bike back to the shop, and they replaced the motor. All was great for the first ~50 miles, but last week I started hearing the ticking sound again. At this point it's not even much of an annoyance, but I'm concerned that it is a prelude to another failure.

Thanks all for the welcome, and for the information.

 

[ACHiPo]

I should add that the ticking/grinding noise that I’ve experienced does not seem to correlate to how much power I exert as others have reported. The grinding did sound worse as I increased the power level.

Also I forgot to mention that the shop, after not finding the ticking source initially, did pull the motor to adjust the spacers as I was getting quite a bit of “flexing” of the chainwheel/crank when pedaling. Adjusting the spacers had no impact to the grinding noise and so I took the bike back for a third time which is when they replaced the motor.

 

[ACHiPo]

The TQ motor is generally almost silent. The ticking and grinding noise, coming from the motor, may be an indication that something may fail soon. Hopefully you’re still within warranty and your LBS is helpful. Good luck .

Comparing noise from 8 emtb motors

We’ve taken a closer look, or rather listen, at 8 of the motors we’ve ridden lately. This is a comparison of full power emtb motors, yet one of the contenders is the small and mild TQ HPR50 motor. This is the most silent motor we’ve ever ridden...

www.emtbforums.com

Yes, when the Bike was new (and after the motor was replaced) my BMC with the TQ motor was nearly silent. I loved it. After one failure and possibly a second looming, I’m not as enamored.

 

[ACHiPo]

Well...

I've clocked another ~400 miles on my second TQ motor (the first became unbearably noisy after ~400 miles) and the grinding is about as bad as the first motor. I suspect the issue is again with one of the clutches. To add insult to injury, my LBS no longer carries BMC (who was useless for the first failure anyway, so no great loss--they only warranty the frame, even though I bought a bike, not a frame!), and the service manager basically said, "you're screwed". And to think I was so excited to buy my first new bike ever because it had a warranty. Pffft.

I emailed TQ yesterday with no response yet.

As a reminder, my newly purchased biked was in the shop for about 3 months of its first year. It is just starting its second year. I'm determined to 1) get it fixed, and 2) not have it spend the summer in the shop.

When it gets fixed, I'm going to explore other ebike options. The Santa Cruz Skitch is one option the LBS suggested. Any experience with its Fazua Ride 60 motor reliability? The only things I've seen written about it is that the Fazua is a little noisier than the TQ, which certainly is not the case with my TQ. I test rode a Bosch-powered ebike before buying the BMC--I liked its feel, but I think it's quite a bit heavier than either the TQ or Fazua and I ride about 1/2 time without boost so would like to keep the total weight below 30 lbs if possible.

 

[ACHiPo]

Update: The shop retorqued the motor bolts and greatly reduced the noise. Hopefully that's all it was!