Electric Bikes - Catastrophic Hub Failure!

If I could briefly put on my cynic hat, I'd like to point out that your bike was incapacitated by a 50 cent fuse.I have a spare fuse taped to the fuse-holder?

Hi Brian - thanks for setting up the forum about power assist!

There is just such a lack of perspective (knowledge) out there.

One nice thing about the electrics is, they can get their power from anywhere - nuclear, coal, nat.gas, but also hydro, wind and solar... even gravity and inertia.

The meat engines on pedal bikes are pretty filthy really...

In 2004, National Geographic reported that it takes about three-quarters of a gallon of gasoline to produce a pound of steak, in other words there is a heavy hydrocarbons content in modern foods, so meat engines burn a lot of hydrocarbons...

And their exhaust is a stream of food packaging for recycling or to be dumped into a hole in the ground somewhere, and sewage that's flushed into our drinking water...

Sorry this is OT :)

tks

Lock
Alive, and Kickin', in the T-Dot
human-electric hybrid pedestrian

If I could briefly put on my cynic hat, I'd like to point out that your bike was incapacitated by a 50 cent fuse.

The controller was protected by a 50 cent fuse.

this is the one i like, but i haven't really done much research. it looks like a normal bike almost.

http://www.schwinnbike.com/images/catalog/r_17.35.AS7_CONTINENTAL_M.jpg

Between the driveshaft and front motor hub, probably a long way from being a normal bike.
The drive shaft is low maintenance but heavier and less efficient than chain drive systems.
There are conflicting opinions on reliability relative to chain, but I'm inclined to view it as the more reliable approach. The electric hub combined with driveshaft system might make this a fine commuter.

Or a good techno-geek toy.


Any idea whose front hub system this bike has?
Also, how expensive is this?
Which Nexus hub 3/4/7or 8 speed?

Matt,
Nothing but good things about the Nexus hubs. The Red Band line is the upper end, but I've heard about no failures with the non-red banded Nexus hubs. I've ridden both, and both preformed very similarly.

I'm one of a loyal following of internal hubs, and have them on all of my bikes ('cept my SS/FG). A search in the Commuting forum for internal hubs will bring up a huge list of threads discussing them.
My LBS complained about fragile gear changing mechanisms and poor supply of spares when I asked him about the NEXUS 7. He waved a fragile looking part at me, some sort of cable guide it looked like, and said it had arrived that morning after a six week wait. Have you any views on that? I wonder if he was just bull****ting me.

^^^^
I've not owned a Shimano internal hub yet, but I've not heard anything about them being fragile, just the opposite. One guy at the LBS is using the Shimano Redline (redband?) series on his downhill bike and has had no problems. I have put more than several miles on Shimano's internal hubs on friends bikes, and I like the feel of the shifter better than any other I've ridden except Rohloff.

I'm running Rohloffs on 2 of my bikes and I've had no problems whatsoever. No adjustments, never lost a chain, skipped a gear, nothing. They have been the best pieces of tech I've ever used on a bicycle. Silky smooth, and maintenance free.
I had a few SRAM hubs on my Giant Lite/Xtracycle, they did not hold up well (both would not stay in the top gears), I swapped to a Sturmey-Archer and it's held up fine.

Thanks for that AllenG. I had the feeling he wanted to sell me a Brompton which does not come with a Nexus hub.

Any idea why your fuse blew?

I've participated on several 75 mile loop rides with groups as large as 35 riders. The last one I went pitted me and my electrified lwb recumbent against about 20 very serious roadies on a 65 mile loop. To make a long story short, I was enjoying a beer back at the meeting place by myself for a full 15 minutes before the 1st racing roadie showed up. I only used 8Ah of power from my 48V pack on this ride too, so clearly I put a lot of my own effort into it.

What does this mean? This means that by adding a power-assist system, I augmented my performance level beyond that of the fastest guy there that day. It's a safe bet that I wouldn't have beat him without the electric advantage. What makes this a milestone moment is that I personally demonstrated that with the technology available right now, it's possible to add motor/controller/batteries and GREATLY augment one's own performance. I'll agree that using this new found power to beat a bunch of guys with no power assist is a bit fruitless. What I refuse to believe is that it doesn't have a legitimate place in a world with rising fuel costs and limited commuting options.

I find it hilarious (and pathetic) that the very first comment after the OPs attempt to find help to a technical problem is a moderator trying to pick a fight.

When did they start giving trolls moderator status?

Just why don't all you diehard "cyclists" redirect your anger towards single super fat people driving around in 5000-6000 pound SUVs and trucks instead of sensible people who choose a ebike over a car at times! I agree with some posters about the value of ebikes when its super hot (like Texas) or when you are not guite up to a full bike ride because of illness or injury! I own several regular bikes and a couple of ebikes, too and use them all year round and with a trailer I was able to get rid of my car. My Currie ebike has also blown a fuse inside the battery box and the company's website and owner manual both said there was a fuse in the controller box but never said anything about one in the battery pack! I have several spares with me now always...

a breaker type fuse is a good investment if your going to load up the bike. but im guesing with the weather out here this week, you may have some water in there somwhere:o

err....guys look at the date that this thread was started.

lol yes it is old. i never look at the date =/

Zeuser, I'm not buying your argument. I carry a spare tube, a few patches, and a multi-tool with a chain breaker. I've never had to walk my bike home.

I do not have an e-bike, I have never even rode one, but I have been an electro-mechanical technician most of my life. I got the impression the impression the OP "chose" not to ride the bike home. Not because it was impossible but because he had a load of groceries with maybe frozen stuff in it, and he had the option of using the subway. Also he may not be as savy about bicycle repair and maintenance as you are.

As I see it an e-bike only has 3 more things that can go wrong than a pure pedal bike does, motor, battery, or controller. That should not make for much greater unreliability and only if the bearings on a hub-motor go would it incapacitate the bike completely.

I would guess the OP's controller went south, Chinese made electronics are not the most reliable in the world. My fancy electronic controlled coffee maker died yesterday, maybe I should go back to a percolator and a wood fire?

^^^
Lazarus thread

You are right on the money, my controller went south but in fairness to the chinese it was my girlfriend watering the plant above my ebike that shorted the controller.

With the economy going the way it is, you might want to seriously consider going to wood stove and coffee percolator.

I usually carry a multi meter to help diagnose issues. Also a slow blow fuse at the correct amperage is a good thing to have more than one with you.

For me, the extra weight of the motor and the controller is lighter than the trailer that I used to haul my daughters around.

Having to ride without power is something that I consider easier than the trailer. I have had to ride up a massive hill with a dead battery before. It is no big deal. It just takes a little bit longer.

You've placed a lot of conditions on that one, but of course I would like to see them use an ebike. I just don't understand why any able-bodied person would want to add the extra weight, if they can ride a bike without all that. I'm also not impressed by some of the dangerous backyard engineering I've seen.

For what it's worth, I have 8 bicycles, a very economical car, and a motorcycle (with an engine larger than the one in my car) that's reasonably economical as well.

I have only 2 bicycles and a nice 550Vtwin motorcycle, and a vintage 67 mustang.
I am quite able bodied, and at nearly fifty years of age I can still run down the street and pull "round off-flip flop-back somersaults" on pavement, to impress my 6 year old grandson, who wants to be a gymnast, so I'll bet I'm more able bodied than you.
I ride my GT fixed gear conversion everyday to and from work (only 12 miles each way) but after trying to haul the better priced size of cat litter in a backpack up our puny freeway overpass, I found myself walking the thing, at about the halfway point,....quite discouraging, I have to say.

So I just built an electric grocery bike out of a typical 36V/ 600Wbrushed hub kit that a friend gave me (that I hadn't ever used) when I lost my drivers license, except I relaced the e-hub to a 32mm alex downhill rim, put a yellow stripe kickback hub on the other 32mm alex, with a pair of maxxis hookworms for stick.
I threw all this on an old steel huffy cruiser frame, with a tektro c324 cruiser front brake for safety reasons. I used the rear rack that came with the kit (steel=STRONG!) to hold the batteries, and used a wald front basket to hold my gettables.

after building it, I was HORRIFIED that it weighed nearly 75LBS!, but after riding it (at 30mph blasting past stopped traffic) I could care less how much it weighs.

now I'm using it for a short hauls only, my farthest grocery store is only 3.5mi away, so I just ride it like a motorcycle, I only peddle to get started.

I have to say I have never had THAT MUCH FUN going to and from the grocery store, especially coming back loaded down with cat litter, and a weeks worth of groceries as I just motored up the freeway overpass at 22mph. (I felt a little victorious, I have to say :D )

I agree that e-bikes have some serious drawbacks I.E. range, and weight, and I'll never stop riding my other bikes to and from work, but for my purposes it works SO well I wish wald made a GIANT-ER basket, so I could haul MORE stuff and I'll probably still use the e-grocery-hauler even after I get my drivers license back (only 45 more days!) it's just alot of fun (I find myself making excuses to go out and get stuff with that bike)

so if you wanted to know why an otherwise able bodied person would ride a 70lb bike that'll only go 15 miles before needing a 4 hour re-charge, I'd give the short answer:

because it's alot of fun!

yes thay are, i got rid of my bikes its kinda weird not geting the 70mph bug in the face, not that i miss it :)

The reason why I ride an electric bike and my experience: I commute 22-32 miles round trip, rain or shine, night or day. For some unknown reason, I always look forward with great anticipation for my commute. When I use to commute by car, I would always be in hurry and have just enough time to get to work all stressed out. When I was commuting with a regular road bike, I would get to work all drenched with sweat. I would normally have extra clothes in my locker so I can have dry clothes for the ride home. Luckily, the facility where I'm stationed has all the bike commuter would want; a fenced off gated, camera survailance, and coded bike area. A shower stalls and lockers.

But since I converted one of my mtn. bikes into an e-bike, I would get to work half the time with just as much fun riding my road bike. I would get to work with no sweat and a big smile on my face as I say,"man, that was fun!"

My job can get physically and mentally demanding (law enforcement) so going back home would be a challenge; with the constant grind of running after suspects, writing reports, and doing other communinity oriented services, my day had gotten me all exhausted. Having an electric bike has given the solution to staying green minded and help me ride on!

Please! I would *love* to ride my plain old bike (OK, as plain as a recumbent gets) back and forth to work. I have done so in two other stages of life. However, I'm not in good enough shape to get all the way to work and back in less than about 3 hours, and don't have that kind of time, and I'm having trouble finding the time to get into good enough shape to lessen the time needed.

Don't compare electric bikes to regular bikes. Compare them to scooters or cars. Enough silliness!

What a fascinating insight into the minds of the purists and the new breakaway sect of ebikers. This must be similar to the rifts between Catholics and Protestants, Sunni and Shia, Orthodox and Reform Jews, Mac and PC...
A guy blows a fuse and everyone pokes at the chicken entrails and comes up with a hidden meaning. Aha! you would have been able to pedal home if your regular bike had blown a fuse (or other such preposterous argument).
Puhlease. Let's not be threatened because a little electric motor trumps everything in the quest for speed. Let's be happy that a new breed of cyclist is about to add more pressure for cycle trails and pathways. More people will be visiting this forum as well as patronizing bike shops. It's all good.

As new member of this ebike sect, who do I pay for the "special literature" and secret handshake/handsignal?

There is no special literature, simply look for the e grin phenomenon.

OP here!
It's been a year since this post and I've learned a lot about ebikes. Including the fact that well made ones you can pedal without the hub power. It's just more difficult up hills and into gale force winds.

This is my first year of pedalling to work and back full time. 48 km's a day, 5 days a week.That's a 1000 km's a month, and I would not be able to do that without some 'help'.

I still ride my tour bike and tandem without any assist, so I don't believe I've gone soft. I pedal everywhere I go, after all this is motor-assist, not replacement. As a rule I'm really thrilled with being able to bike everywhere without using a car at all. I figure I'm saving at least $10,000 a year by that alone. Since I sold my car 17 years ago I've saved more than $150,000. I'm healther, a lot trimmer and a whole lot happier. If you include the health club membership I don't need, then I've saved even more.

I'm just building up a new bike right now using all the lessons I've learned in the past 2 years. I'll let you know how things are going once it is finished. In the meantime I carry an extra fuse.

Zeuser, I'm not buying your argument. I carry a spare tube, a few patches, and a multi-tool with a chain breaker. I've never had to walk my bike home.

Now I'm not an ebike fan either, but I have had to CARRY my regular bike home due to chain/derailleur failure. The derailleur broke off during a full power downshift, the chain broke and wrapped very, very tightly around the rear axle. I was un able to free it on the road. The rear wheel was completely locked up. I had tubes, a chain tool, tire tools, pump, and a short piece of chain for parts. I guess I was lucky it was an 18 pound regular bike and not a 30 pound e bike though.

^^^^^Of course over in the SSFG forum they'd say I shouldn't have a derailleur on my bike.

My first ebike was a WE kit and I had repeated problems with the controller burning out. Initially they were quite helpful, but after this happened more than once they were not. I think maybe they're not meant for hard daily use. This was a few years ago, so maybe they've solved that problem by now. But their unfriendly customer service at the time (they wouldn't respond to my calls or even pick up the phone) made me switch to a different kit. Much happier.

It's interesting how all the older threads were full of anti-ebike-opinions. Nowadays, not so much.

I'm not trying to start a flame war. I think some of you may recall that as the forum administrator, I was a bit reluctant to even create an Electric Bikes forum. But since it's here, I would like to enter into discussions with an open mind, yet be able to question the wisdom of electric bikes.

You might not be able to ride your bike tomorrow due to electrical issues? Don't you see the irony in that?

No different to the time my chain snapped. Any machine can let you down and most do. A puncture when you have no repair kit will stop you riding your bike.

On another matter, I find the title of the thread unhelpful and inaccurate. This is not a catastrophic failure. I thought his hub had exploded and was eager to find out why.

OP here!
It's been a year since this post and I've learned a lot about ebikes. Including the fact that well made ones you can pedal without the hub power. It's just more difficult up hills and into gale force winds.

This is my first year of pedalling to work and back full time. 48 km's a day, 5 days a week.That's a 1000 km's a month, and I would not be able to do that without some 'help'.

I still ride my tour bike and tandem without any assist, so I don't believe I've gone soft. I pedal everywhere I go, after all this is motor-assist, not replacement. As a rule I'm really thrilled with being able to bike everywhere without using a car at all. I figure I'm saving at least $10,000 a year by that alone. Since I sold my car 17 years ago I've saved more than $150,000. I'm healther, a lot trimmer and a whole lot happier. If you include the health club membership I don't need, then I've saved even more.

I'm just building up a new bike right now using all the lessons I've learned in the past 2 years. I'll let you know how things are going once it is finished. In the meantime I carry an extra fuse.

I truly believe that this is what this forum is for, not un founded criticisms, not sacastic smileys, not members who want to beat you with their own personal ideology.

Stockell originally posted this as a newcomer to this forum. I'm wondering how his new bike project is going? We may never know because he doesn't post on this forum any longer because of the bad behaviour of a couple of forum members.