qtipextra

Hello. I have an eZip eco ride2 e-Bike that I have owned for a year and is my tinker project. I'm attempting to get it tuned up for riding this spring and have ran into a few problems I was hoping someone could provide assistance with.

First and most important to me, is the steering. I cannot get the stem bolt tight enough to eliminate this problem: The handlebars are able to move left and right without much pressure held at the wheel. It's not super loose, the handlebars won't move freely, but it doesn't take much torque with the wheel being braced to get the handlebars to turn out of alignment with the wheel. I would like to eliminate this by tightening to the point where I am not able to physically alter the alignment without loosening the stem bolt. As it currently stands, I have the stem bolt so tight that I'm worried any tighter will strip it out. Hence why I'm here

I have also been having a hard time getting the derailleur to work for proper indexing. It was OK until last year when I made adjustments to things that (at the time) I had no idea what they adjusted. That's why I'm trying to get everything back in order now and I can't seem to get it perfect. I've followed many guides on setting and adjusting, and no matter what I can't get it perfect. I had also previously adjusted the tension cable, and maybe that could be causing my indexing issues... I have no idea how to set initial derailleur cable tension. I'm still digging info up, but maybe someone can shed some light.

I rest the bike upside down so I can easily pedal it in place. I have adjusted the limiters to the perfect H and L stopping positions so the chain is physically not able to fall off either side but also shifts smoothly down or up accordingly. However, I cannot seem to get an exact position where all gears are hit perfectly each time. And what is really throwing me off is that I will set it while it's upside down. Then when I try it out riding, and its a tad off. I'm having lots of trouble with that. Does anyone have any pointers for perfect indexing?

Andrew R Stewart 

Photos of your fork/stem would help us help you. It's not like we have your bike's specs memorized and asking us to look them up isn't really considerate.

As to the indexed shifting and cable tension I'd make sure that the cable is freely moving along it's path. Cable friction can induce partial movement when shifting and added movement when not shifting.

Let the der move to it's default position (most have the high gear/small cog as this) with the cable not bolted down. Align the cable through the der cable stop/adjuster and anchor bolt properly (and running the cable on the wrong side of the anchor bolt will cause inconsistent indexing). Lightly tug on the cable (I like to use a pair of needle nose pliers), confirm that the shifter is also at the proper end of it's range by clicking up/down a couple of positions, the cable should freely move with each click, and then back to the default end of the range of the shifter. Now tighten the anchor bolt. The cable should have no dangling slack but also not be plucking tight. Now click the shifter one position and see what the der does. If it also shifts one cog cleanly then you're just about right. If it tries to climb to the next cog but not quite then the cable needs some tightening, not much as a little difference can make a big result of der movement. If the der moved farther then the adjacent cog 9and is trying to climb onto the second over cog) then the cable is too tight. If you set the cable adjuster most but not all the way in when initially clamping the anchor bolt you can both tighten or loosen the cable with only turning the adjuster barrel. Andy.

qtipextra

Hi Andy! Thanks for the reply! I was at work and didn't have pics, so now that I'm home, here they are

I'll be working on the der right now and see what I can come up with. Thanks for your assistance!

EDIT: Not sure what happened to that 2nd pic.

qtipextra

I got the derailleur darn near perfect while riding. It will shift smoothly from 1 through 7 perfectly. However, on the way back, getting into gear 5 requires a little pull past its click to catch. However once in 5, it shifts to 4 and all the way back to 1 smoothly. It's just that 5th gear coming from high gear that slips up a bit.

Andrew R Stewart 

And this is why there is a small over movement feature. Back in the day we taught riders to overshift the lever then trim it back, now this trim back is done by spring tension and the shifter stops at the correct position due to the ratchet. As chains, cables, teeth and der pulleys wear more and more of this over shift movement is likely to be needed.

As to your stem/wheel issue. The stem is a common quill type. This type has a bolt running through the vertical quill which threads into a wedge that when the bolt is tightened draws the wedge up and then jams within the fork's steering tube. The 6mm hex fitting at the top of the vertical quill is where the wrench is placed to tighten the draw bolt/wedge. Your stem also has an extension angle adjustment/hinge. Two points here. One is that the extension can be so vertically positioned that it partially covers the previously mentioned draw up bolt head. Second is that The hinge's pivot bolt and it's wedge bolt both often come loose over time. This is bad design as far as strength and stiffness goes and it needs periodic checking for slop. Andy.

qtipextra

Hey Andy thanks again! So I've got the wedge bolt tightened as much as I dare, and there is still movement (not loose but easier to move then I would like). What do I do?

Andrew R Stewart 

There's only so much that can be explained or deduced long distance. Often the lacking detail is quickly discovered by a trained wrench. If they don't see something obvious then the next step is to begin taking things apart and looking at the internal conditions of parts. Good luck. Andy.

CrippledKonaBoy

When you adjust that derailleur cable tension, give it just a TINY fraction extra tension towards the bigger cogs; for some reason, that seems to smooth things out a bit better when actually riding...on the bikes I build for my employer. My own dials right in (SRAM X.9 triggers).

Check two things: first, is the wedge bolt just barely fitting into the steerer? If so, make sure it's drawn up close to the bottom of the stem itself before inserting -- it may be twisting to the side, keeping you from getting the proper bite when you tighten it down. Seen it happen before, a few times.

dsbrantjr

As long as your stem is not moving while you are riding you should be OK. You exert very little force on the bars while you are riding. You actually do not want it immovable; if you have a crash it is better if it "gives" with impact, there is less chance of injury. Same with brake and shift controls mounted to the bars, leave them loose enough that they can move upon impact. I set up my quill stem and controls so that they can be moved with firm hand pressure, so-called "race tight"; "gorilla tight" is unnecessary and hazardous..

Also, very important, make certain that your stem is not all of the way at the bottom of your steerer; that portion is butted (tapered) and if you try to tighten the wedge there you risk it coming loose: Hands Up (Or Down)! Adjusting Handlebar Stem Height on Your Bicycle

le mans

is it the original stem? if it's a slightly smaller diameter size than it should be it might not grip properly

otherwise i'd check to see if the angle of the wedge is adjacent to the angle of the bottom of the stem, then try again



i have stem just like it on a cruiser bike...no probs..and i like the look of them

le mans

it does look too far in, could well be the prob

qtipextra

Hey guys thanks for all of the input!

I removed my wheels since I'll be putting on new tires in the next day or so. While I had the breaks disconnected, I was able to fully remove the stem from the tube. I inspected the tube - looks perfect. I inspected the stem itself, and it looks perfect, along with the wedge. Before reinserting the stem, I lubed the bolt threads and the wedge threads. Then when I inserted it back into the tube, I made sure the wedge was aligned correctly, and then I took careful consideration of its resting point. I secured it down about 1/2" higher than it was sitting when I took the picture. I think this combination helped a lot. I could tell when I was re-tightening the bolt that the connection felt better. Since I haven't put my wheels back on yet, I have not been able to test. It felt better though when I was tightening, so I think I will let it be where its at now. I've also read many other people say it shouldn't be "Hercules" tight, so I have taken that into consideration as well, and as long as it doesn't move while riding I'll consider it good to go. Thanks for everyone's help!

For the der, I will continue to "adjust on the fly" when I ride it (we still have snow on the ground, so test rides are limited atm) and try to dial it in perfectly.

qtipextra

Heck yeah! I like my cruiser style too! Doesn't bother me a bit. Some people it does, but not me!