Brand new Haibike, two broken chains in first 35 miles, and other problems, advice needed

2Lazy

Pedelecer
Jul 17, 2013
211
145
Milton Keynes
As far as changing multiple gears at once is concerned that is normal practice and should not cause any problems. If it was likely to cause a problem they wouldn't make shifters that would do it and we'd still all be riding around with Rapidfire shifters.
Perhaps I didn't explain the problem very well. It's not so much that the gears are double shifting (although I have had that issue as well) it's that certain gears aren't changing at all when I click the shifter or they're shifting of their own accord when I haven't kicked the shifter (phantom shifting).
 

2Lazy

Pedelecer
Jul 17, 2013
211
145
Milton Keynes
You are a better man than me gunga din, I would have shaken them warmly by the throat :mad: by now, obviously I would have been no further forward but I would have felt better
It's very frustrating, no doubt about it, but I've done my best not to lose my cool. For one thing the bike is still under warranty and while I will definitely be getting my servicing done elsewhere in future I may still need to take the bike back for warranty work so I think it best not to completely burn any bridges with the shop.
 
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chris_n

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 29, 2016
656
399
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Niedeau, Austria
Perhaps I didn't explain the problem very well. It's not so much that the gears are double shifting (although I have had that issue as well) it's that certain gears aren't changing at all when I click the shifter or they're shifting of their own accord when I haven't kicked the shifter (phantom shifting).
I wasn't thinking so much of you, just some of the replies in general. The issues you are talking about here are usually simple set up or maintenance issues, i.e. cables sticking or just in need other adjustment. If that is not the case then something has been damaged, bent mech or mech hanger for instance. This could of course have happened before you got the bike. I'm sure once your independent mechanic fits a correct size chain he will then either set it up properly or find something out of line.
 
This is now getting farcical. So the mobile bike mechanic has visited me and immediately spotted, just on a quick visual inspection, that the chain is too short. He shifted through all the gears and as he suspected when using the big cog at the front the two biggest cogs on the back are unreachable due to the chain being too short. The mobile mechanic didn't have a suitable chain with him so he's flipped it around but has recommended a second visit to fit a chain of the correct length. I am now waiting to hear what the bike shop have to say about this.
I am shocked.... I could say a lot more, but I don't think it needs saying.
 

2Lazy

Pedelecer
Jul 17, 2013
211
145
Milton Keynes
So the bike shop have agreed to send a replacement chain to the independent mechanic and have him revisit me to fit it.

They have said that a chain with the full 116 links was fitted but with no slip link and that this must be making the difference. But when the independent mechanic checked the chain he counted 114 links and said that it should be 116 and that's why it's too short and why some of the gears are unreachable.

The shop also advised me that I shouldn't be using extreme gears together in any case. Which as a cyclist who's been riding bikes with double and triple chain rings for many years I'm well aware of course. One might very rarely or never use extreme gears together but the idea that one would set up a bike in such a way that those gears are unreachable seems completely bizzaire to me. Why would you have a 20 speed bike but with only 18 that are usable!? Am I wrong?
 

Crockers

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 19, 2014
821
689
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So you live in Milton Keynes and the bike shop is circa 50 miles away. Do you realise that by not naming them you're casting doubts on the competence of bike shops that fall in that category.

Time for Sherlock Holmes to investigate.....
 

IR772

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2016
931
1,044
Leominster
So the bike shop have agreed to send a replacement chain to the independent mechanic and have him revisit me to fit it.

They have said that a chain with the full 116 links was fitted but with no slip link and that this must be making the difference. But when the independent mechanic checked the chain he counted 114 links and said that it should be 116 and that's why it's too short and why some of the gears are unreachable.

The shop also advised me that I shouldn't be using extreme gears together in any case. Which as a cyclist who's been riding bikes with double and triple chain rings for many years I'm well aware of course. One might very rarely or never use extreme gears together but the idea that one would set up a bike in such a way that those gears are unreachable seems completely bizzaire to me. Why would you have a 20 speed bike but with only 18 that are usable!? Am I wrong?
This is excellent advice, along with the start off with no assistance.

Some advice for the shop, perhaps ebikes are not for you, possibly bicycles altogether.
 
So the bike shop have agreed to send a replacement chain to the independent mechanic and have him revisit me to fit it.

They have said that a chain with the full 116 links was fitted but with no slip link and that this must be making the difference. But when the independent mechanic checked the chain he counted 114 links and said that it should be 116 and that's why it's too short and why some of the gears are unreachable.

The shop also advised me that I shouldn't be using extreme gears together in any case. Which as a cyclist who's been riding bikes with double and triple chain rings for many years I'm well aware of course. One might very rarely or never use extreme gears together but the idea that one would set up a bike in such a way that those gears are unreachable seems completely bizzaire to me. Why would you have a 20 speed bike but with only 18 that are usable!? Am I wrong?
OMG...

ok, a few points.

1) chains aren't all a standard length, you can buy shorter and longer ones and most bike shops will have a 50m reel of chain in the work shop for this reason.

2) you don't fit a chain and just hope it works, when you fit a chain you look at the length that is needed.

3) the chain on a full suspension bike often needs to be longer. Have a look at what happens when you compress the suspension, your chain stretches because the distance from the bb to the rear axle lengthens on pretty much all full suspension bikes. So if you can't get into 2 gears when stationary, when you're in the top one you can get into, it'll essentially lock out the suspension on your bike.

4) As you've said 20 speed bikes don't have 20 gears you should use, even if you can use them. But yes, no one should be setting up the bike so you can't use them, for a host of reasons, especially on a full suspension bike - see 3).

They are trying to wriggle out of what is SHOCKING incompetence, and have now resorted to a number of lies.
 

2Lazy

Pedelecer
Jul 17, 2013
211
145
Milton Keynes
So you live in Milton Keynes and the bike shop is circa 50 miles away. Do you realise that by not naming them you're casting doubts on the competence of bike shops that fall in that category.

Time for Sherlock Holmes to investigate.....
I didn't say I wasn't going to name them. Just not yet.
 

chris130256

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 4, 2016
298
492
68
herefordshire
This is unreal! I bought a new chain for my Haibike allmtn rc and it was 136 links. I felt it was a bit long so cut off 4 making it 132 long. Stick a 116 link chain on and you won't get the top 2 gears. Are these people for real? Give Adrenaline a call and see what size they recommend before the mechanic comes to fit the chain.
 
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2Lazy

Pedelecer
Jul 17, 2013
211
145
Milton Keynes
For anyone who's wondering where I bought the bike from it was the Electric Transport Shop (TETS) in Cambridge. I have considered very carefully whether or not I should mention where I purchased the bike and I don't think it's unreasonable. I often recommend shops and services where I've had a good experience - I've recommended Cyclezee many times on this forum for example - so I see no reason to withhold information when I've had an experience that isn't quite so good. In fact I even recommended TETS on this forum in a recent post but that was before I encountered the problems with the set up of the bike.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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West Sx RH
There incompetence has risen it's head on here before, someone got royal ripped off for a bike conversion. If I'm not wrong it cost over 1K and eventually the individual I think got his money back as they couldn't do what the op wanted and requested. Sure they said that said mechanic was no longer with them but sounds like he has returned or they employ any one who thinks they know what they are doing.

Maybe they should rename themselves as TITS.
 
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There incompetence has risen it's head on here before, someone got royal ripped off for a bike conversion. If I'm not wrong it cost over 1K and eventually the individual I think got his money back as they couldn't do what the op wanted and requested. Sure they said that said mechanic was no longer with them but sounds like he has returned or they employ any one who thinks they know what they are doing.

Maybe they should rename themselves as TITS.
That was Allen, when they converted his bike for £2000. They didn't even put a pedal sensor on it, so he asked them to add one, for which they charged him an additional £600 (£2600 total) for a sensor that I pay 75p for. The kit was basically one of those cheap direct frive ones that you get from Ebay, but with a worse controller. and a massive over-weight old tech LiFePO4 battery hanging off the back of the bike. After the conversion, the bike was completely unrideable (luckily). they couldn't make it rideable, so Allen got his money back. That was the London branch. when you look at what they did, you'll see that it was absolutely appalling, and showed no understanding of how to do a conversion.
 

RobF

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 22, 2012
4,732
2,311
My brother went to the Oxford shop at my suggestion and found them a dead loss in terms of lack of interest, although he did buy a Whyte/Steps bike elsewhere so was a genuine inquirer.
 

Electric Transport Shop

Official Trade Member
Aug 7, 2010
156
57
Hi 2lazy and everyone. I'm responding on behalf of the Cambridge Electric Bike Sales shop. Firstly to our customer 2Lazy I'm glad the chain breaking issue has been fixed and I'm sorry you had this repeat issue.
It's always frustrating when things go wrong and time and money have to be spent travelling to put them right.

The Yamaha system although exhilarating is particularly hard on bike transmissions and we do advise proper use of gears. If the chain contains any weaknesses the chain is more likely to break than on a standard MTB.

In the end we sent a mechanic to our customer to replace the 2nd chain.
With regards to the other issues we have issued advise regarding transporting the bike.

I'd like to say that although we mentioned the price of the replacement chain no payment was asked for any aftersales service or parts. This wasn't clear from the initial statement.

2lazy I appreciate your disappointment and would like to offer a store credit towards fuel costs. just get in touch.
 
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