Rail (750Wh) Rail 9.8XT first ride review

[JP-NZ]

Nice JP! I used 64% battery for 35kms, 1100m elevation and a mix of Turbo, EMTB and Tour (92kg geared up). I think elevation plays a large part in the drain rate.

Overall I'm really happy with my rail. Geo is perfect for my height, battery has been sorted with the pad and slightly bowed alignment plate and my ears have tuned out the bosch rattle almost entirely. Just really enjoying riding it!

I agree, I find on sealed roads there is no point for me using tour+ when I can easily hit the limiter in Eco. Once you point it uphill though Tour+ (or higher) is a must.

Just over 500km on mine now and I have developed a creak in the drive side crank area, sometimes its bad then it disappears. I'll be dropping it back to my dealer to have a look at, possibly the lock ring I hear not torqued correctly.

Apart from that, now Ive got my new SQ Labs saddle on, the bike is a joy to ride. Glad yours is going well too

 

[KeLe177]

After another long ride yesterday, am still not convinced the battery movement has been cured.

so, I had a closer look today.
Whatever movement is happening has to be longitudinal. You can clearly see from the imprint on the foam that the battery is squeezed into the frame, so I can’t believe any side to side movement is happening.

View attachment 96472

so I looked more closely at the top battery mount and the frame gaps between the battery coverplate and the frame.

there is a significant gap here

View attachment 96473

from what I can tell, the only part of the battery that is in contact with the top battery mount is the folding handle. For my bike, I think this gap is not entirely closed when the battery is fitted.

to test, I stuck some rubber p strip to the handle to see if the battery would still fit. It does, indicating there is still a gap that needs filling.

After several trials, I ended up sticking some p strip onto the top mount.

trial test
View attachment 96474
End result
View attachment 96475
The battery does go in, but with a bit more resistance and when removed, the p strip is squashed so a good sign of a tighter fitment.

for good measure I also added a strip under the battery handle.

View attachment 96477

I also then looked at the foam pad from Bosch. It actually fits inside the trim on the lower part of the battery, so you are not really getting padding from the full depth of foam.

so to add more padding/anti rattle, I’ve added some more P strip to the lower battery plate each side of the Bosch pad. (Forgot to take a pic)

I’ve also used p strip to fill the lower gap.

View attachment 96476

I’m reasonably confident that I have filled all areas where there could be noisy plastic to plastic rattling. I will find out on my next ride.

Really liked you Post and also had some issues with dirt an rattle, so I joined your club. Now the bike seems to be silent as f*ck