Trance E Freehub issues

friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
So i have an issue with my freehub on the Trance E. looks like i maybe in for a wait for warranty repair from giant NZ. I was just speaking on the phone with their service rep, he was very helpful and informative regarding the issue. At the moment he is waiting on a response from Giant Australia who are still on holiday (7th) regarding a previous freehub failure that was sent back to Taiwan for investigation to the cause of the failure. he mentioned that in NZ there have only been 2 failures so far (mine, and the guy on youtube). This is not a winge or an attack on Giant, because so far it has been a very positive experience dealing with them. But from talking with others on this site there appears to an issue with other bikes out there. Who else as experienced freehub failures with the e trance 2019, and if so what has been your experiences with the fixes?
 
RobNevyn

RobNevyn

E*POWAH Master
Patreon
Nov 19, 2018
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Central Coast NSW Australia
Youtube link . He starts talking about the issues at the 2 minute mark. I noticed one of the comments also mentioned this issue on a 2018 Trance and on his demo 2019 ride while waiting for his new SX.

Thankfully I have not had this issue yet but I have only done around 100km's, so I will be keeping an eye on this post to see how it pans out.
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
I had done about 200 km before my failure. check for any unusual sounds coming from the freehub, i thought it was the rear mech making the sound, but it was the freehub starting to fail
 

M

Mat_Ron

Member
Sep 29, 2018
78
52
Jacksonville, Fl
My E+ 2 has made knocking noises from the very first ride. I found out the derailer clutch was not engaged and once I engaged it the noise seemed to mostly go away but I am still hearing popping/knocking noise on every ride. It is mostly when I apply a fair amount of torque to pedals, especially after stopping pedaling and then restarting. I wasn't sure what the noise was but now I am almost certain it is the freehub. I will be taking bike to LBS. Here is link to my video of the noise.
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
Mat_Ron said:
My E+ 2 has made knocking noises from the very first ride. I found out the derailer clutch was not engaged and once I engaged it the noise seemed to mostly go away but I am still hearing popping/knocking noise on every ride. It is mostly when I apply a fair amount of torque to pedals, especially after stopping pedaling and then restarting. I wasn't sure what the noise was but now I am almost certain it is the freehub. I will be taking bike to LBS. Here is link to my video of the noise.
Click to expand...
Is the sound more noticeable when you are climbing in the lower gears? the big cog on the back.
I think that they can't deal with the extra torque of the motor and low gear. getting it checked out by the LBS would be a good idea, just for peace of mind. Who knows may save you a long walk back to the carpark. If you a mechanically minded, you can pull the free hub of yourself to have a look, plenty of youtube vids out there, that show you how. I do like that blue of your model. They dont sell that version here in NZ
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
poppy said:
Hopefully this works, if it does, i apologise if the vids are crap, just taken whilst out riding with the phone.


Click to expand...
your busted hubs sound nice and smooth in the vids Poppy, you must have sheared the pawls off completely. Mine sounded like stones in a tumble dryer when i spun the pedals, think there was half a pawl hanging on for dear life. Did your LBS send the wheels back to giant for service/investigation or just repair the hubs themselfs?
 
A

Alcove

Member
Jan 3, 2019
57
63
Canada
1st post and about 3 weeks/200km on my SX 1 Pro. Probably about 75km ago started getting the clunk now and then regardless if torquing or motor on/off. Once I did get a rotation or two without pawl engagement but it did re-engage which was probably about 50kms ago.

Pulled the wheel off last night and noticed the lock nuts weren't snug so snugged them up. I'm doubtful that would fix the engagement issue but haven't heard the clunk in my parking lot test. Weather is way too crappy to actually test it out and forecast doesn't look any better for next bit.

I have been riding in some pretty muddy conditions lately so next step will probably be to pop off the freehub to see if anything made it in.

Out of curiosity what makes these hubs "e-bike optimized"? If these hubs really are no good then will look to rebuild the wheel with an upgraded hub... Unless there really is something limiting or proprietary for that to happen?
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
Alcove said:
1st post and about 3 weeks/200km on my SX 1 Pro. Probably about 75km ago started getting the clunk now and then regardless if torquing or motor on/off. Once I did get a rotation or two without pawl engagement but it did re-engage which was probably about 50kms ago.

Pulled the wheel off last night and noticed the lock nuts weren't snug so snugged them up. I'm doubtful that would fix the engagement issue but haven't heard the clunk in my parking lot test. Weather is way too crappy to actually test it out and forecast doesn't look any better for next bit.

I have been riding in some pretty muddy conditions lately so next step will probably be to pop off the freehub to see if anything made it in.

Out of curiosity what makes these hubs "e-bike optimized"? If these hubs really are no good then will look to rebuild the wheel with an upgraded hub... Unless there really is something limiting or proprietary for that to happen?
Click to expand...

From my conversation with the NZ giant service rep yesterday, they are the same wheels across all models, and there is nothing that is different with these hubs verses hubs on other giant branded wheels. At the moment i am not aware of anybody doing an emtb specific hub, at least i couldnt find any.

i have been riding in a mixture of wet and dry conditions, some rides very muddy. But not sure that this would be the issue, as a couple of the failure were in QLD, and its very rarely muddy there.

Mine appears that i have rounded off the pawls, and like you i felt something wasnt right, and had a couple of slips before she let go completely. So when they finally fix the freehub, i am going put pressure on giant to completely replace the hub to an aftermarket or a guarantee of lifetime replacement for the freehub body.

Anyway hopefully have the bike back early next week. Really am missing the riding
 
A

Alcove

Member
Jan 3, 2019
57
63
Canada
That's what I'm thinking but on the Giant site it's marketed as "Giant eTracker Boost, Sealed cartridge bearing, 6-bolt, [F] 110x15 [R] 148x12mm Thru-axle, e-bike optimized". Just makes me wonder what is optimized... I think it's obvious the pawls aren't ?

Hopefully you're out riding soon enough!
 

friartuckshop

friartuckshop

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Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
poppy

poppy

Active member
Jun 26, 2018
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247
Gold Coast Queensland
friartuckshop said:
your busted hubs sound nice and smooth in the vids Poppy, you must have sheared the pawls off completely. Mine sounded like stones in a tumble dryer when i spun the pedals, think there was half a pawl hanging on for dear life. Did your LBS send the wheels back to giant for service/investigation or just repair the hubs themselfs?
Click to expand...

My 1st one sounded exactly like that. Was not anything left inside that was any good. The second one broke a Pawl then spun the body inside hub. It was quite because it was jammed and spinning the body inside the hub. When it happened i thought it was wheel spin going up and over tree roots.

Shop has both wheels at the moment. They gave me another wheel off a new demo. Neither hub is repairable. Shop owner has been in contact with Giant about the 1st one, the second happened about 2 weeks ago and he has sent them emails so will have more info after Monday 7th i guess.
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
i think this a growing problem for Giant AU/NZ, by the sounds of it they have spec'd different hubs to other parts of the world. so maybe its just specific to our region.
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

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Jan 2, 2019
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Auckland New Zealand

M

Mat_Ron

Member
Sep 29, 2018
78
52
Jacksonville, Fl
friartuckshop said:
Is the sound more noticeable when you are climbing in the lower gears? the big cog on the back.
I think that they can't deal with the extra torque of the motor and low gear. getting it checked out by the LBS would be a good idea, just for peace of mind. Who knows may save you a long walk back to the carpark. If you a mechanically minded, you can pull the free hub of yourself to have a look, plenty of youtube vids out there, that show you how. I do like that blue of your model. They dont sell that version here in NZ
Click to expand...
Yes, it does seem to occur more in the lower gears. I think i will pull off the hub and have a look.
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
Wes said:
After waiting for so long for my SX & for it last less then 200km.Major failure to free hub and damage to drive ring in the hub.
Click to expand...
Yeah I know that feeling all to well wez.i think giant au\nz have a bigger issue with the spec of the rear wheels than they believe. take it back to the dealer and get them to pressure on giant for a hub upgrade.i am contacting giant NZ tomorrow to express my concerns again with the substandard spec of the rear hub. I don't think this issue will go away anytime soon for giant AU/NZ. Good luck wez and keep us updated on the bike
 
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MattyB

MattyB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 11, 2018
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It will be interesting to see if this issue is replicated in other parts of the world - I can’t imagine the free hubs going out on bikes to other countries are different. Time will tell, but it could be worse - Giant don’t have the smorgasbord of issues that the new Levo has... ;):ROFLMAO:
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
Yes i do hope that the only issue will be the freehubs. Giant have got an oppertunity to get this issue fixed, before it leads to disgruntled and dissafeccted customers. I was surprised to read about the issues with the new LEVO, seemed like it was such a dialed piece of equipment. lets hope the manufactures learn from these mistakes
 
friartuckshop

friartuckshop

Member
Jan 2, 2019
102
51
Auckland New Zealand
well had an update of sorts today from Giant NZ. Probably wont get the bike back till next week. They do admit there is an issue with the hubs, so are waiting on new parts to strengthen the hubs and pawls. they still aren't 100% sure on what the main cause is, but are still waiting to here back from the Taiwan. At this stage they dont have the parts current in stock in NZ, so thats why i will have to wait a bit. so no riding again this week, and the weather is perfect to be riding damn it
 

W

Wes

Member
Jan 7, 2019
19
15
Sydney
Yup had a phone call today will upgrad parts[not sure what]by early next week.
 
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