Oxygen Scross MTB ongoing review

[Andy Bluenoes]

Update.

I have taken a couple more links out of the chain.....and in the process made 1st gear unusable .... but a quick test ride, 9th gear is not jumping anymore.

Ive watched a load of videos on the subject, but still unsure what the root of the problem is. All i can say for sure is that by putting the chain on overly tight, it fixes it.

I need to get a new chain now anyway, as Im not happy running it like that. Probably will bite the bullet and buy a new cassette and hope it fixes it all.

 

[chris_n]

Correct chain length is normally described by both Shimano and Sram as being large front to large rear without going through the derailer plus two links. Check online for the manual for your rear derailer to verify.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Well, Ive put the old chain back on, and no surprise, no jumping at all in 9th gear....surely that suggests the cassettes need replacing in conjunction with the chain.

Going to hold off on it all now, and see how many more miles i can get from the current chain

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Almost at 2500 miles, pretty much all commuting.

Have to say, pretty much trouble free. I’ve not had to take the car instead of the bike due to bike problems,so all good.


Had my first puncture in nearly 5000 miles. The slime did its job though. A few revolutions of the wheel, and it had self sealed. Popped again a couple of times on the way home, but sealed each time. One more time, and I would have stopped and fixed it, but it held...and is still holding about 400 miles later....

Since I put the old chain back on as my previous post, and replaced the cable, the gears have been good...until now.

The chain is grinding in lower gears....sounds like it’s not sitting right on the rear cassette. It’s got worse over the last week or so, despite trying to re adjust the cable which has had no effect really.
Had a close look tonight....it looks to me like the derailleur is out of line with the chain. If you look down, the chain is definitely at an angle to the bottom wheel, and more so in the lower gears.

The hangar looks straight, so I guess the derailleur is buggered?
Contemplating replacing the cassette, chain and derailleur now as it is on highish mileage and should fix it....advice very welcome as always.

All in all, can’t recommend the oxygen enough.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Tugwell Gibson]

That's such good news mate. Because I've still done under 1000 and Ive had mine 10 months. So it's nice to see how well it's handling lots of use. And lovely for you to have a bit of reliability. Nice the slime worked. Early in the year when me and the lad started riding about wr both got punctures within a few weeks in all wheels. I slimed.them as I they happened all held and no.more punctures all year. Bit of a God send to a dad with no bike skills.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

That's such good news mate. Because I've still done under 1000 and Ive had mine 10 months. So it's nice to see how well it's handling lots of use. And lovely for you to have a bit of reliability. Nice the slime worked. Early in the year when me and the lad started riding about wr both got punctures within a few weeks in all wheels. I slimed.them as I they happened all held and no.more punctures all year. Bit of a God send to a dad with no bike skills.

Yes, it’s great heading out to work in the morning not worrying about what is going to break next!
It’s getting a fair bit of punishment at the moment due to the weather, but I’m sure it will hold out well.

I think I’ll have to try and find a local bike shop to look at the gears...I’m just getting confused trying to find the right parts to fit


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Warwick]

Before you replace anything, I assume you've checked all the fasteners to make sure they're tight and holding things square?

How often do you clean your chain? On a bike that's out in all weathers without a chainguard, all the crud that gets onto the chain mixes in with the oil and acts like fine grinding paste. I try to clean mine every week or so. Park Tools chain cleaner is the dog's. I've been through a few different ones and this one is superb.

If it comes to changing the drive train, a rear derailleur, chain & cassette come to about £60, plus fitting if you're not doing it yourself. Considering your mileage, that's not too bad. I'm considering doing that on my eMate to see me through the winter.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Before you replace anything, I assume you've checked all the fasteners to make sure they're tight and holding things square?

How often do you clean your chain? On a bike that's out in all weathers without a chainguard, all the crud that gets onto the chain mixes in with the oil and acts like fine grinding paste. I try to clean mine every week or so. Park Tools chain cleaner is the dog's. I've been through a few different ones and this one is superb.

If it comes to changing the drive train, a rear derailleur, chain & cassette come to about £60, plus fitting if you're not doing it yourself. Considering your mileage, that's not too bad. I'm considering doing that on my eMate to see me through the winter.

Yeah, I thought I had checked everuthing, but have an idea it might be something to do with the B screw adjustment....i started another thread about getting parts together and it came up there.

I have ordered the part now...cassette, derailleur, chain ...plus a chain whip and cassette lock ring tool...cost just under £90. I can send them back if I dont need them though, but will definitely keep the tools as they might come in handy for the future.

Chain gets cleaned with a mechanical chain cleaner thing weekly, although by the end of the week, everything is plastered in mud as one part of my route is pretty muddy right now.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

I’ve started stripping things off the bike, having had a look at the b screw adjustment...that looked fine to me.

I suspect the grinding noise is coming from the exit of the chain leaving the cassette...on close inspection, it has a slight jump when coming off.

All the bits are arriving tomorrow morning, so I’m just going to bite the bullet, put them all on and see the result. If everything is good after that, then to me it’s money well spent....a weeks petrol and parking...

Incidentally, now the derailleur is off...the jockey wheels are pretty loose on the cage, and there is a bit of vertical play between the cage and main body....don’t know if that’s normal,but I can at least compare with the new ones tomorrow


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Paid for Saturday morning delivery, needless to say they didn’t arrive until this afternoon!
Thankfully I was at home today....

Anyway, took me about an hour or so to replace the cassette, chain and derailleur, and put my ice spikes on for winter.

Was a fairly straightforward job...
Strangely, I didn’t need the lockring tool or chain whip....the old cassette came off by hand....

The new derailleur feels a lot tighter, and better quality than the old one.

Set the h and l screws, and checked the b screw. All gears change nicely now. Admittedly, this was only on the stand, but no horrible noises. Pouring down today, so the test will continue me tomorrow on the way to work...rain or shine.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[egroover]

" Strangely, I didn’t need the lockring tool or chain whip....the old cassette came off by hand.... "

That's a bit worrying, they are normally tight on, could that of contributed to the problem, a loose cassette ?

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

I did wonder, but have not replaced one before, so none the wiser.
Saying that, it’s not going to fall off as it’s all held in by the bike frame I guess.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If the retainer was loose, the cassette could move side to side during operation, which would throw out any adjustment. It depends how loose it was.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

All good this morning, really nice to ride...smooth gears again
Clunky spike tyres on now though for a few months!

 

[grahamx]

One pain is the throttle...I was expecting it to be in a box, but it is already fitted....a nice touch, but i feel its the wrong way round for me...its set to pull towards you to accelerate

Am interested to see how you mounted the throttle if you have any pics.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Am interested to see how you mounted the throttle if you have any pics.

I did turn it around, and it just about fit between the control buttons and gear levers.....will try remember to grab a pic in the morning

 

[grahamx]

I did turn it around, and it just about fit between the control buttons and gear levers.....will try remember to grab a pic in the morning

cheers fella

 

[Deleted member 4366]

On one that I fitted a throttle to, there wasn't enough room on the handlebars. IIRC, it was the S-cross MTB, which has the hydraulic brake protruding more than the S-Cross City. I had to cut about 10mm off the grip to make a bit more space for it. On other bikes (same model), there's plenty of room. I think it depends on how they bent the handlebars.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

On one that I fitted a throttle to, there wasn't enough room on the handlebars. IIRC, it was the S-cross MTB, which has the hydraulic brake protruding more than the S-Cross City. I had to cut about 10mm off the grip to make a bit more space for it. On other bikes (same model), there's plenty of room. I think it depends on how they bent the handlebars.

Not the greatest pics....I changed the standard grips after the throttle was turned round

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Just about to hit the 3000 mile mark since the end of June

All has been going well, but the strange electric problem keeps on popping up

Reported here:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/oxygen-s-cross-mtb-first-major-problem.29897/

Its workable at the moment, messing around with the battery and taking it on and off the bike seems to cure it, but I dont want it to become a problem that lets me down half way home one day.

I have spoken with ebikes direct sending them photos of the battery terminals as I cant narrow the problem down to anything else apart from a bad connection between the battery and bike.

Just waiting for details of the next step, which will mean the battery going back to Oxygen for repair, and a replacement terminal for the bike to be sent with the battery after repair. Supposedly easy to replace the part on the bike.

A bit of an inconvenience, hopefully it wont take too long to resolve, but still loving the bike