Out of warranty shimano repairs

[Chester]

As a shimano e8000 owner thats awaiting a warranty repair/replacement drive unit i am starting to think about whats going to come of these motors after they come out of warranty and fail. There does not seem to be any repair service or spare motor parts availability. Does shimano expect us to shell out £900 every 2 years for new motors or are they going to start a repair/exchange service or at least supply the parts and equipement for 3rd party repairers.

From what I read on this forum shimano just replaces the motors when they go wrong with the E010 error or bearing failure. But so far all the motors have been in warranty, come next year thousands of us will have expired our 2 year warranty and these motors are going to need fixing in numbers so whats the plan?

These ebikes are bike ticket items and people surely will not buy shimano again if they cant be repaired.

 

[Doomanic]

Bosch offer a rolling 2 year warranty, it's possible that Shimano are doing the same.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Bosch offer a rolling 2 year warranty, it's possible that Shimano are doing the same.

If it still rolls, its in warranty .. if it doesn't, it's not ...

 

[jpaulo.emtb]

Yep, I have the same feeling about shimano motors. No one knows anything about after warranty service. I already talked about this with my LBS, its important that mechanics has formation about simple motor services tasks, has cleaning, bearing replacement or some parts replacement. It's ok for us, while the motor is in the warranty, because Shimano replace the motor. But after warranty the users definitely will not want to pay for a new motor because some internal bearing failure.

 

[StuE]

I don't think Shimano have designed the motor with servicing/replacing parts as something a shop will be able to do, I think that at the moment it's been viewed as a disposable part which to my mind is madness, hopefully there will be enough people with motors that need repairing/servicing that someone other than Shimano will be able to make some money from doing it. I would have thought that the best thing that Shimano could do is offer an off the shelf exchange for out of warranty faulty motors at a discount

 

[steve_sordy]

............... I would have thought that the best thing that Shimano could do is offer an off the shelf exchange for out of warranty faulty motors at a discount

This would give Shimano valuable data on what are the modes of failure for their motors. This is what Rockshox did with their Reverbs. Early on, any problem was swapped out with little hassle. From what I have seen reported on here, it is also what Bosch were doing with their motors.
If Shimano are not careful, they might end up losing market share to Bosch!

 

[Zimmerframe]

This would give Shimano valuable data on what are the modes of failure for their motors. This is what Rockshox did with their Reverbs. Early on, any problem was swapped out with little hassle. From what I have seen reported on here, it is also what Bosch were doing with their motors.
If Shimano are not careful, they might end up losing market share to Bosch!

You're not wrong .. if you looked at the decoy detour thread for 2019 bikes, they were nearly all shimano motored .. you look at the new 2020 bikes and a huge chunk were/are bosch motored .. but then you don't know what goes on behind the scenes with regards pricing, and bosch obviously promised everyone 625w , Shimano should/could at least offer the external battery at an upgraded 625, but I guess the e-bike market moves quickly so I think we'll be left with only third party companies offering upgraded capacity's of existing formats.

 

[Gary]

Bosch offer a rolling 2 year warranty, it's possible that Shimano are doing the same.

Shimano's isn't a rolling warranty. it's 2 years from original purchase

[EDIT] Sorry. Should have said Vitus/CRC/Wiggle rather than Shimano

 

[Doomanic]

That's crap.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Probably normal really .. You don't normally get rolling warranties on things ..

 

[MassDeduction]

Warranty is a guaranteed minimum. Companies can and do sometimes exceed minimums, especially when there's a fair bit of pressure to do so from customers. Look at Microsoft and the Xbox 360 warranty debacle, which inspired them to extend the warranty from 1 year to 3 years. That decision cost Microsoft a billion dollars, but it was the right decision for both the customers and for the company's reputation. Here's hoping that if Shimano is receiving more dead motors than they projected that they're similarly flexible. If they're not then, yes, that would be a huge disappointment.

The Wh thing is interesting to me. You have Bosch going to 625 Wh, but Giant/Yamaha going to 375 Wh. Ultimately I'm less interested in the Wh, but more the range at a given speed/torque. Many Shimano bikes get more range out of 418 Wh battery than the competition often gets out of a 500 Wh, and that's especially true when comparing Bosch Active Line vs. Shimano's entry-level models.

I don't desire batteries getting constantly bigger/heavier/more expensive, I want motors to keep getting more efficient (as we saw with the transition from STePS 6000 to 6100 where the torque went up 20% but the range also went up 25%, on the exact same battery).

 

[Gary]

Look at Microsoft and the Xbox 360 warranty debacle

Let's not.

Shimano have no reason to extend their warranty or alter their terms of warranty.
Their cycle product range is almost entirely comprised of wear products with a finite working life.
Shimano clearly don't give two fucks about durability/longevity of wear parts otherwise we'd never have been given the gift of HTII external BB cups.

 

[R120]

When my motor was recently replaced I was told the new motor had a 2 year warranty from date of install

 

[Peaky Rider]

When my motor was recently replaced I was told the new motor had a 2 year warranty from date of install

Me too, just don't want all that hassle again in twelve months time.

 

[Gary]

When my motor was recently replaced I was told the new motor had a 2 year warranty from date of install

Me too, just don't want all that hassle again in twelve months time.

Did both of you have them replaced by LBS?

That'd make more sense.

 

[R120]

Yes, but LBS confirmed that this was what Madison told them

 

[Gary]

Yeah. That makes more sense.
Madison ask for parts to be reurned.
then
if faulty.
Replace with new. So you would have a full new warranty through your lbs. (another good reason to bypass CRC/Wiggle)

Edited my earlier post. (not sure what other brands policy is on motor warranty)

Individual Shimano parts warranty (even with CRC/Wiggle) will if replaced for new have a new 2yr warranty too.

 

[Rusty]

If Shimano are not careful, they might end up losing market share to Bosch!

They already are. Scott has gone to Bosch for 2020 models and I am advised several others will for 2021. Shimano has to up their game quite a bit from my perspective. Saying that, they have been awesome to deal with when I was unhappy with my mileage (or at least they were very helpful to my LBS and provided a motor and battery to swap in/out to see if that helped things. Also offered a different model motor if I wanted to try, only having to pay freight & installation costs.

However, all motor manufacturers need to step up their game. Notwithstanding some poor designs they really need to look at bearing loads and waterproofing.

 

[robert]

I don't think Shimano have designed the motor with servicing/replacing parts as something a shop will be able to do, I think that at the moment it's been viewed as a disposable part which to my mind is madness, hopefully there will be enough people with motors that need repairing/servicing that someone other than Shimano will be able to make some money from doing it. I would have thought that the best thing that Shimano could do is offer an off the shelf exchange for out of warranty faulty motors at a discount

 

[robert]

As a shimano e8000 owner thats awaiting a warranty repair/replacement drive unit i am starting to think about whats going to come of these motors after they come out of warranty and fail. There does not seem to be any repair service or spare motor parts availability. Does shimano expect us to shell out £900 every 2 years for new motors or are they going to start a repair/exchange service or at least supply the parts and equipement for 3rd party repairers.

From what I read on this forum shimano just replaces the motors when they go wrong with the E010 error or bearing failure. But so far all the motors have been in warranty, come next year thousands of us will have expired our 2 year warranty and these motors are going to need fixing in numbers so whats the plan?

These ebikes are bike ticket items and people surely will not buy shimano again if they cant be repaired.

 

[robert]

Maybe performance line bearings will come up with a solution.

 

[Loamranger]

I’m a new customer of Performance Line Bearings, Peter knows his stuff and can service most motors. Bosch motors are the easiest for him to work on, he has plenty of spares and can fit extra seals on the drive side called Mudstop. I took my complete bike to him and he changed out the bearings etc. in 2.5 hours. He warranties his work for 12 months but says if you are careful not to vigorously jet wash around the motor area it should be good for 30k miles approx.

 

[MassDeduction]

They already are. Scott has gone to Bosch for 2020 models and I am advised several others will for 2021. Shimano has to up their game quite a bit from my perspective. Saying that, they have been awesome to deal with when I was unhappy with my mileage (or at least they were very helpful to my LBS and provided a motor and battery to swap in/out to see if that helped things. Also offered a different model motor if I wanted to try, only having to pay freight & installation costs.

However, all motor manufacturers need to step up their game. Notwithstanding some poor designs they really need to look at bearing loads and waterproofing.

There's some give and take there. Felt has switched entirely over from Bosch to Shimano, Kona is in the process of switching over entirely from Bosch to Shimano, and Norco has switched mostly from Bosch to Shimano (despite owning LTP, which is the Canadian parts and service centre for Bosch). Even Trek uses some STePS now.

But it makes sense that there's been some shifting around since Shimano's newer motors have been on the entry level side of the equation (E5000 on the low-end, E6100 as a mid-range refresh, and E7000 as a value off-road option). It'll be interesting to see what the rumoured DU-E9000 brings to the table on the high-end.

 

[LawmanMtb]

All good info fellas, i had my motor replaces over a year ago now, and the bike is just out of warranty but the second motor (warranty replacement) is only 14 months,m you you guys recon the second motor (fitted by Madison) has another 2yr warranty? even though the bikes warranty is just finished

 

[davosaurusrex]

That's what I was told when mine was done last summer. I asked the shop to get it in writing from Madison but no joy, I don't know how hard they tried though. Might email Madison and ask, it really should be made clear to everyone where they stand

 

[jimbob]

I did ask my bike shop the same, and they said it was a rolling 2yr warranty. But the only way to know for sure is test it.

Either way, I'm hoping the motor fails just before the end of the warranty so I get a fresh motor.

 

[ggrin]

My Shimano E8000 is 10 months out of warranty, and is now giving E010 errors intermittently but with increasing frequency. Asked my LBS if Madison would give a discount on a replacement motor. Madison told him they would inspect the motor if returned to them and may offer a discount but wouldn't say how much. All LBS work is chargeable now so it will probably cost at least £100 remove & refit a motor.
Does anyone have any idea if the discount is likely to be worth it?
I have recently used Stunlocker to help try & clear the error msgs but I have never up rated it in any way.

 

[Gary]

worth it?

Depends what you mean by "worth it?"
Best case scenario Madison decide to replace your motor FOC and all you'll end up paying for is labour to your LBS for removal/fitting. Worst case you'll be looking at paying full RRP for a new motor plus the labour charge for removal, fitting and shipping your broken out of warranty motor back. You're not really being hard done by even if the outcome were to be the latter.

Your only real alternative is to have it sent back to the LBS (at your cost) and repaired by a third party

 

[robert]

Maybe performance line bearings will come up with a solution.

Peter collards not supported by Shimano.

 

[robert]

As a shimano e8000 owner thats awaiting a warranty repair/replacement drive unit i am starting to think about whats going to come of these motors after they come out of warranty and fail. There does not seem to be any repair service or spare motor parts availability. Does shimano expect us to shell out £900 every 2 years for new motors or are they going to start a repair/exchange service or at least supply the parts and equipement for 3rd party repairers.

From what I read on this forum shimano just replaces the motors when they go wrong with the E010 error or bearing failure. But so far all the motors have been in warranty, come next year thousands of us will have expired our 2 year warranty and these motors are going to need fixing in numbers so whats the plan?

These ebikes are bike ticket items and people surely will not buy shimano again if they cant be repaired.

Maybe we should all start a petition.