Shocked...amazed... disillusioned

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,018
9,458
Lincolnshire, UK
@taxidriver50005 I really would not worry about the alleged unreliability of emtbs.

Many have said that nobody goes on the internet to say that they haven't had a problem (which is why I just did above!). so it is only full of horror stories. You can't even draw a conclusion by counting up and saying that all the Specialized Levos are crap because they fill with mud and their Brose motors keep failing, until you know how many there are as a proportion of all emtbs. They may be better than most, or worse; I sure don't know. What I can say is that I rarely see any posts from people complaining about Specialized's warranty program, but do see complaints about other makes. It's a tricky one; do you want a motor with zero complaints (from a maker with low sales) but crap warranty or a great warranty and lots of motor failure reports (from a maker that sells tens of thousands)?

Then there are the riding conditions. Will you be riding through rivers, deep mud and all through the winter? Thought not.

Then there is the maintenance and after care. Some people treat their bikes like absolute shit and they don't care because that is what the warranty program is for. They have a different set of values to others, but still complain when the bike goes wrong. Many others treat their bikes like the valuable plaything it is. They clean it properly after a mucky ride and lube and service it as required. Like me.

My final point is the rider. @Gary above is an ex DH racer, he is a lot younger than me and he gives his bikes a seriously hard time because as an expert rider he can do so. I am an old git with ambitions to be a better rider, but with a heightened sense of self preservation because I don't heal as quick as I used to. So, as he so artfully described, my miles are NOTHING like his. But my miles may be more like yours. I didn't even start riding an mtb (let alone an emtb) until I was already older than you are now. So don't worry, just buy the bike that appeals to you, have fun. :)

PS: I do not own a Specialized emtb or Speccy ordinary bike for that matter and never have.
 

taxidriver50005

Active member
Jun 17, 2020
211
137
Skelmersdale
Which doesn't help in the slightest
There are hardly any good Yamaha motor bikes compared to Brose
infact I can only think of ONE capable enduro Emtb that even uses the Yamaha
Brose is probably the most common motor on here.
and you also know absolutely nothing about the riders or how the bikes have been used/treated

Take Steve above as an example
his 1600 trouble free off road miles are NOTHING like mine.
No shimano motor has ever lasted me that many off road miles without the main bearings going

You're completely wasting your time trying to analyse this and making a huge drama out of it.
just buy the bikes you actually want
I was going to buy 2 Bosch engined bikes, like I said new to this and don't need a bike that I can only access 25% of its abilities bragging rights don't really concern me. I do want reliability, I'm always busy and when I'm not I do t want to be fixing a bike when I should be out riding
 

stiv674

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 4, 2019
777
600
Wiltshire
I'm sorry but I'm going to add to the reliability concerns... My 1350 mile Shimano E8000 has just started making the dreaded death rattle, well at least I think that's what it is...
 

Zimmerframe

MUPPET
Subscriber
Jun 12, 2019
14,028
20,818
Brittany, France
No.
The odds are. You DEFINITELY WILL. it's just a matter of when.
if you intend on keeping it and riding it for ever.

No current Ebike motor is truely reliable for agressive off road use long term.
But now you know this. Why worry?
Ah, but if he's not even going to use 25% of the bikes abilities, then he's 400% less likely to ever have a problem :)
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
@Gary did you put a video up on here somewhere regarding the shimano rattle?
This is my E7000 that shat it's pants at 700 (road) miles

Got rid of the entire bike, EHardtails are shit (too heavy to be fun like a normal hardtail and the E7000 IMO is just not up to the job I want done

This is my first E8000 with the bearings gone
I've actually lost count what motor replacement I'm at now
 

stiv674

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 4, 2019
777
600
Wiltshire
Hmm ? maybe that isn't what's wrong with mine as it doesn't do anything like that, it rattles really badly over rough ground, it did sound like it was coming from the motor though...

Normal pedalling is fine so not the bearings then I guess.

More investigation necessary...
 

taxidriver50005

Active member
Jun 17, 2020
211
137
Skelmersdale
So, based on the numbers I've given you and specialized recently confirming 5% failures for theirs, you have some reasonable numbers to work from.

Simply, the odds are, you won't have any problems.

You can't demand that bike companies put up their reliability information. A car company wouldn't. How many cars go back countless times when in warranty to have problems/sensors changed. Many !

It's all pretty new technology in the way it's applied. There's some interesting videos on the history and it's all incredibly new.
Your right car companies don't disclose this info BUT car magazines do..JD POWER ECT. WHICH CAR DOES AS do many other...its always best to make an informed decision .
Not every rider wants or needs the latest brightest bike that will improve your lap time by 20% over last year's bike, some of us mere mortals don't possess the skils required for a new bike every time the warranty is expiring and would like to keep hold of what we have
 

stiv674

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 4, 2019
777
600
Wiltshire
Just to update my initial motor issue, it seems it's not the motor at fault...

I don't think the free hub body is supposed to come away like this...
IMG_20200620_172840.jpg


IMG_20200620_172840.jpg
 
Last edited:

taxidriver50005

Active member
Jun 17, 2020
211
137
Skelmersdale
Sorry mate but what are you even talking about now?
You mentioned there are no capable Yamaha engined bikes.......im sure what there is out there will be able to do more than I can , I don't need a Levo stunt jumper to prove my balls are bigger than any one else. F### me this is like a Apple forum...my phone is better than yours or I have more money than you
 

Aitrui

Active member
Subscriber
May 16, 2020
61
185
Budapest
F### me this is like a Apple forum...my phone is better than yours or I have more money than you

What phone and how much money you have? :ROFLMAO: ... jk

Man, this is 2020, nearly every product what you buy nowadays are created to maximise profit for the company and share holders. The apparent quality of the products stay the same or increase from year to year, but the reality is, you get less reliability, or usable time without servicing each year. This is not an E-bike specific problem, but I think you already know that.

I know it's frustrating to see the world run like that, but you have to accept it, because you can't change things. Buy something you like, you will get warranty, and ride as much as you can in the nature,that will make you forget a bit how f***d up our world is.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
You mentioned there are no capable Yamaha engined bikes.......im sure what there is out there will be able to do more than I can , I don't need a Levo stunt jumper to prove my balls are bigger than any one else. F### me this is like a Apple forum...my phone is better than yours or I have more money than you
Seriously?

Make your mind up, are you really SHOCKED, AMAZED and DISILUSIONED?
or would you be perfectly happy with a sub £1000 hub motor ebike from Decathlon or Halfords for the next ten years or however long you expect a bike to last with lubing the chain being the only maintenance you're willing to do?

No one has even mentioned what bike or phone they have nevermind how much money they have.
 

Cabby.

Active member
Apr 17, 2020
174
131
Scotland
Well that's been an interesting read o_O

Seems me and the OP have a lot in common, I to am a taxi driver, I too had a scorpa sy250 and I too have alarm bells ringing with what on the face of things seems a lot of issues with these bikes.

On the otherhand, although not got one yet, I'm going n with my eyes wide open knowing that there may be/likely to be issues and that is why I shall be buying local.

To the OP, the fella Gary seems a bit of a know all cock sure of himself but probably does know his shit rather than knowing he's shit just possibly misunderstood in his manner of posting.


btw, I got shot of my scorpa and ended up with everything else after that, other than a monty, gave it up now though.
 

Shifty

E*POWAH Elite
Aug 29, 2019
249
444
Wiltshire
Well I'm new to these forums and embt in general,
I have been looking into getting 2 bikes for me and the wife nothink to serious me 54 wife 52 but wanted something that would allow in to learn and no be to restrictive in the future, I generally keep things a long time and try to buy something that will last.
I settled on a full suspension mid drive bike as the best option.
I am SHOCKED at how unreliable these seem to be judging by the forums on motors on here.
I'm AMAZED at how well you all seam to take it that buying a ebike that may break down the day you buy it is normal.
I'm DISILLUSIONED at the thought that this was going to be a good idea.
I can't believe that bearing failure is happening on nearly new motors due to water ingress,surly this is a simple engineering fix.
Battery failure simply shouldn't happen, my prius battery is warranted for 15 years unlimited mileage and if it were to fail costs a little more than the cost of a Bosch power tube.
I would love to see a pole on all the motors reliability, failures, expected mileage, what happens when these are out of warranty will they be worthless, at the moment there is a high demand and most people will not have looked into running costs for the future, once the word is out on these and warrenty has expired resale prices will tumble.
I can't believe the manufacturers can not make these reliable, we are all quick to slag off Chinese build quality but are bafang any worse than Bosch Shimano ECT. At least they are cheap to start off with...you could almost buy a complete bafang engined bike cheaper than a replacement battery for the big brands.
Mines been brilliant 2000 Kilometres lately.
(conformation bias - seeing lots of failures, due to people posting failures, not the 364 days of the year they didn’t fail ?
 

Frankieboy

Well-known member
Jan 14, 2019
293
225
Basingstoke
That's why I would love to see pole on reliability or unreliability on all motor types,these are expensive toys and plenty of people would like to know what there getting into before taking the plunge, another thing of a pole is it points out strengths and weaknesses in certain motors and manufacturers can take note they are falling behind and need improvement.
If you want a poll why don’t you create your own? You can do so in questions section. You can phrase the question exactly how you want it, so you will hopefully get the answer you looking for.
 

taxidriver50005

Active member
Jun 17, 2020
211
137
Skelmersdale
Well that's been an interesting read o_O

Seems me and the OP have a lot in common, I to am a taxi driver, I too had a scorpa sy250 and I too have alarm bells ringing with what on the face of things seems a lot of issues with these bikes.

On the otherhand, although not got one yet, I'm going n with my eyes wide open knowing that there may be/likely to be issues and that is why I shall be buying local.

To the OP, the fella Gary seems a bit of a know all cock sure of himself but probably does know his shit rather than knowing he's shit just possibly misunderstood in his manner of posting.


btw, I got shot of my scorpa and ended up with everything else after that, other than a monty, gave it up now though.
As a ambassador for the sport Gary does to this forum what Hitler did for the Nazi party.
 

taxidriver50005

Active member
Jun 17, 2020
211
137
Skelmersdale
Seriously?

Make your mind up, are you really SHOCKED, AMAZED and DISILUSIONED?
or would you be perfectly happy with a sub £1000 hub motor ebike from Decathlon or Halfords for the next ten years or however long you expect a bike to last with lubing the chain being the only maintenance you're willing to do?

No one has even mentioned what bike or phone they have nevermind how much money they have.
As you don't know me you have no idea of what maintenance I am capable of or willing to do, you also sound a little elitist when mentioning decathlon or halfords, for some this is a perfect fit for there requirements and not somethink to be ashamed of.
 

RodC

Member
May 28, 2020
160
92
Queretaro, Mexico
Already got a couple of normal bikes, also scorpa sy250 trials iron.... Throw that at rocks mud ect jet wash when done quick squirt of oil is all the maintenance it requires. I'm just trying to get a feel of how fragile Ebikes are, which brand motor stands out as a long term investment for reliability. Parts on the bike are interchangeable motors are not.

choose a brand that has a good reputable dealer Near you, trust their warranty and start enjoying.

you’re suffering before getting into it. Maybe you shouldstay away from ebikes.

Edit: and I mean this in a good sense, you are worried before owning one... what will happen when you own one? You’ll be thinking about tomorrow’s possible failures and how much $ you spent on the bike.
stay with traditional MTB and don’t add another bitterness into your life.
 
Last edited:

Frankieboy

Well-known member
Jan 14, 2019
293
225
Basingstoke
To be fair I wouldn't have a clue on how to do it and would leave that to the more technically minded than myself
Starting a poll doesn’t look too difficult, and, if you‘re not motivated to do it why should others do so on your behalf? The most important part will be in the phrasing of the question, so you get a balanced response. You could have a look at some of the existing polls to get an idea of how that might look.
 

MitchF

E*POWAH Elite
Jun 1, 2019
520
611
Mirokumk38
Wow, just logged on, is this debate still going ?
You could have bought one and put 50mls on it in the time it’s taken to read and write all this ??‍♂️

You can’t compare trials bikes that have been evolving for many, many decades with e-Bikes that have been evolving a decade, manufacturers are still learning.

your a trials rider so you’ll know that anything used off road needs good maintenance and care. Same with EMTB’s. You’ll also, I’ll assume, enjoy fettling your bike, same with EMTB.
For what it’s worth, I’ve had a Giant/Yam and now have a Cube/Bosch , no serious issues with either of them and both more capable than me. The only costs I’ve incurred are bits I’ve bent or broken on trees or falling off.

as for Gary, just block him then you didn’t have to listen. Big fish in a small pond syndrome.
 

Levo-Lon

Active member
Jan 21, 2020
177
202
Uk
Hmm ? maybe that isn't what's wrong with mine as it doesn't do anything like that, it rattles really badly over rough ground, it did sound like it was coming from the motor though...

Normal pedalling is fine so not the bearings then I guess.

More investigation necessary...

Chain slap ?
 

EMTB Forums

Since 2018

The World's largest electric mountain bike community.

556K
Messages
28,081
Members
Join Our Community

Latest articles


Top