I ordered a new viking e-go 24 which arrived on the saturday before christmas, I assembled/pdi'd it and put it in the shed since the weather has been so bad.

Yesterday, 28th It was dry so decided on a little ride to the post office in next village down.
Very shortly into the ride i noticed a judder when braking which on looking briefly I assumed it to be the rim joint which wasn't quit perfect and carried on.

Not much further it was binding without breaking, Having a good look and found this.



The rim has split and was getting worse so I let some of the air out and released the front brake cable and took it the mile home.

I've had a good look and there are no dents or anything to suggest it has been hit, dropped or otherwise damaged.

I've not taken the wheel out and tyre off as I thought i'd see what the distributor says first, I'm sure to get a 'customer damaged' response although we have no kerbs to bump into, no potholes and at nearly 42 i'm not into doing bike stunts any more.

I've done a search and found nothing on viking warranty, has anyone any previous on what to expect from them?

More pics below.

Another cheap China rim
What you have on this ebike is not in Alex, Mavic, DT Swiss /just example of normal quality rims/ brand category.
Does it say anything on this rim?
Your rim does not have eyelits for spokes like quality Western brands. Nipples look like NOT like stainless or brass to me - cheap, cheap.
Here is another example of crappy rim on crappy ebike
owner claimed it on road salt which is radiculous.

There is no branding on it.

Definitely something cheap, after selling/servicing literally hundreds of cycles in my time I've never seen a rim do this, not even one that's been heavily curbed.
I may well replace both rims with something basic like rigida rims and db spokes for a bit of piece of mind, could do without this sort of thing happening.

I had a Velocity rim split a few years ago - it was on the rear wheel of a recumbent, custom built 40 spoke rim with a Phil Wood hub. A defective part can slip through any QC process, anywhere in the world. In my case, the wheel builder took care of the problem on warranty but it was inconvenient as I was in the middle of a cross country trip. Ended up buying a cheap mountain bike wheel (about $60 as I recall) which lasted the rest of the trip and is still serviceable.

Had an email from avocet today. I would have thought a product that is often given as a gift would have had some support between christmas and new year but that's their choice.

They are sending me a new wheel, within 48hrs I should get it, bit of luck in the morning, if not then it'll likely be after the weekend.

I'm still tempted to buy some better rims for it.

It all depends what one need ebike for?
On one end you have occasional weekend warm weather rider who still use car very often.
On other end you have professional all weather to work commuter with hundreds miles every year and very min. use of car
or no car at all.

miro13car

Could you sell me some of whatever it is you've been taking?

I don't have any ebikes for sale.
However.
My first ebike cost me $3,500 in 2005 it was.
Second one after all those modifications is close to $4,000.
But there are in use 330 days in a year in very minimum including long, harsh Canadian winters day in day out.
I pay 6 dollars in fuel alone when I drive car to work.
Both ebikes paid for itself already.

Are you living in an alternative reality?

I dont know what is it
Are we not discussing ebikes here?

You are, on your own.

I've had a wheel arrive today.


But the rim is damaged.


It has several grazes and decent scratches and a dent. Photos below.

Am I being unreasonable?

It doesn't look to me like you are being unreasonable at all looking at the pictures, the wheel is damaged. Possibly it happened in shipping? If there are no signs of that with the box it came in they must have sent a bad wheel. Poor quality control. It seems like allot of that is going around these days, i have experienced the same with bike stuff and other things lately, absolutely pitiful .

The box has some minor damage but I don't see how the amount of damage on the rim happen while in it.

They are sending me another, hopefully this one will have some packaging put on it before going into a box and being sent with the cheapest carrier in the country for one of the locals to deliver to me in his passat sometime tomorrow.