Merida eOne-Sixty, wires in the headtube mangled

[steve_sordy]

Yesterday, the power suddenly cut off. I switched it back on and it went off again. Long story short, as long as I rode in a straight line, no problem. But as soon as the bars were moved, the display went dead and the motor cut out. I checked the connections to the display, but all good there. I suspected a damaged cable in the headtube. Today I checked and the control cable (single wire) was damaged with the wires exposed. The heavier duty cable to the headlight (I have never used it) was almost severed. See pic.

I was hoping that there would be sufficient loose cable about that I could repair them, but what you see has already been pulled out as far as it will come! This looks like an engine out job to me. Am I right?

 

[Mikerb]

Do you know what the rest of the wire routing is? I assume it goes into the downtube to the main battery plug.........which I assume is at the bottom of the battery compartment? If that is the case you should be able to run a new wire by pulling one through with ( the remains) of the broken wire.

 

[steve_sordy]

Do you know what the rest of the wire routing is? I assume it goes into the downtube to the main battery plug.........which I assume is at the bottom of the battery compartment? If that is the case you should be able to run a new wire by pulling one through with ( the remains) of the broken wire.

Good thought! Thank you very much.
I'll have a look tomorrow. The battery comes out easily, but I only remove it occasionally to check for muck (I never find anything but a small amount of dust). I normally charge through the connection port in front of the shock.

 

[steve_sordy]

PS: I suspect that the knockblok "thing" has done the damage. From time to time I have noticed that the knockblok was not central any more, in that the amount the bars would move to either side was uneven. Each time, I corrected this imbalance by moving the bars by force. I say "force", but it was so easy I question the effectiveness of the knockblok.

 

[D3xt3rMTB]

As you say, sounds like the knock block has been moving and where the cables come out the head tube it's been wearing the cables.

If you've a carbon frame, check the internals of the carbon in the head tube too. I had a frame replacement on my 8000 model as there were layers of carbon separating from the internal of the head tube which I suspect was due to the knock block moving. Only found it when I was having my forks serviced. When you sort the wires run them all out the side vents, it's really easy to route them that way, the head tube routing is such a crap idea. I just used a bit of sugrue to fill the hole in the headset the wires normally route through to keep dirt out of it.

EP8 wiring info here shows controller cable to the motor. I might be wrong on this as it's been ages since I did anything with my e160 but I've a vague recollection of there being a plug that joined the cable from the motor to the cable to the controller. Pretty sure I accidentally disconnected it when working on the bike once and it was located in the down tube.

 

[steve_sordy]

I had a word with Jack at Newark Cycles (really good!). He was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about it; he even had some cables in stock! The other end of the control cable does connect to the motor. He asked me if I could take the bike in asap. So I did!

Following the suggestion from @D3xt3rMTB I have just rang back to Newark Cycles to ask them to route the control cable through the side vents. We also agreed to remove the light and its cable as I have never used it and probably never would have done.

 

[Isaacgrx]

It was one of the first things I did when I picked my bike up, removed the light and routed the control cable through the vents. I then mixed up some epoxy and filled the hole in the headset cover.

 

[steve_sordy]

It was one of the first things I did when I picked my bike up, removed the light and routed the control cable through the vents. I then mixed up some epoxy and filled the hole in the headset cover.

That was far-sighted of you! Or was it your second eOne-Sixty?

 

[Isaacgrx]

That was far-sighted of you! Or was it your second eOne-Sixty?

My first one, but I hated the look of the headset cables from the beginning and the light was absolutely useless in comparison to some proper lights.

 

[irie]

Yesterday, the power suddenly cut off. I switched it back on and it went off again. Long story short, as long as I rode in a straight line, no problem. But as soon as the bars were moved, the display went dead and the motor cut out. I checked the connections to the display, but all good there. I suspected a damaged cable in the headtube. Today I checked and the control cable (single wire) was damaged with the wires exposed. The heavier duty cable to the headlight (I have never used it) was almost severed. See pic.

View attachment 124997

I was hoping that there would be sufficient loose cable about that I could repair them, but what you see has already been pulled out as far as it will come! This looks like an engine out job to me. Am I right?

That's horrible!

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

I suspected a damaged cable in the headtube.

Glad to hear you got the problem figured out!

It's beyond me why bike manufacturers started to pull wires and cables though the head tube and headset. So that our rugged and beatup eMTB look nice and tidy! Geez, just a bad design in my opinion!

 

[steve_sordy]

Jack of Newark Cycles completed the job late yesterday after waiting one day for delivery of the control wire. He thought he had the control wire in stock, but it was the wrong one. He couldn't get the light cable, which was just as well because I had decided not to refit the light as I had never once used it over two years. He did not have to remove or even loosen the motor, but he did need his cable routeing tools.

Despite the display being on the right, he decided to take the control wire out of the left vent and support it from the front brake cable. He believed that it was a more secure route, given that the wire is quite thin and fragile looking and may not survive first impact with shrubbery. I agreed! He told me that the light cable's two wires were soldered in to the motor panel instead of being plugged in as he would have assumed. I will repair the light cable and hand it and the light over to whoever buys the bike from me in the future. Overall, a nice neat job and super quick.

The control wire was item EW-SD300 and cost £30.99, although for reasons unknown to me Jack gave me £5.99 discount, hence £25. He charged £20 labour, coming to £45. Absolute Bargain!

 

[steve_sordy]

I have been out on the bike and all is perfectly well.
But I miss the headlight!
I never used it, nor was I ever likely to use it, but it somehow suited the bike.

 

[Zagora]

Steve, I've just seen this post, I'm shocked your bike came with the wires routed through the head tube, is that the norm?
I bought my E160 9000 (carbon frame)new in July 2020 and the wires were routed through the vents. Not had any issues with the wires, only the battery in the on/off button went flat when the bike wasn't used over winter.
I changed my stem and bars and routed the cable to the up/down control along the dropper post cable.
I'm glad you got it sorted.

 

[steve_sordy]

Thanks for the informative post @Zagora. Yep, the "wires through the headtube" was a 2021 "improvement"! I haven't found anyone that likes it. it didn't cause me any problems at all, until all of a sudden, it did.

 

[Zagora]

I can only think Merida routed the wires through the head tube to give the cockpit a cleaner look...not much of an improvement if it's causing issues! I wonder how it's routed on the newer '23 models.

 

[steve_sordy]

Still through the headtube!
At least as far as I can tell from a 2023 review video. It doesn't tend to rank very high versus other stuff.