Unbelievably bad experience with a Haibike SDURO Trekking S RX

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
The title of this thread should be "Unbelievably bad experience with a bike shop" This is not your typical Haibike dealership or any good ebike shop's behaviour. All makes and models of bikes have and will have their issues. How those issues are dealt with is the mark of the shop, not neccessarily the brand.
Agreed that the shop is less than helpful, but what if the shop says the manufacturer will not honor the warranty?
 

Wicky

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 12, 2014
2,823
4,011
Colchester, Essex
www.jhepburn.co.uk
"They did not ask for me to bring it in."

In your exhanges have you offered/shown willing to take it in for their inspection - and made that know also to the distributer/manufacturer?

Otherwise just pop up to the shop that sold it to you on a busy Saturday and make your case in person with the bike in front of other customers...
 

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
Wow, many of you certainly know how to make a newbie feel welcome...

An update: I received an email from the bike shop on October 26th saying they are working on it. That was 2 weeks ago and I've heard nothing heard since then.

In the meantime I contacted Magura via Facebook after filling in the contact form on their website garnered no response. I was promptly contacted, received an apology for the lack of response, and was asked to send the brake to them directly, which I have done.

However removing these brakes is not simple! The hydraulic line and the wiring go through the whole frame making it a very complex job. In the end I dismantled the brake lever itself and removed the switch from it since I couldn't tell if the wiring was connect to the electronics in the motor or not. (I did not want to disassemble the motor unit just to remove the brake...)
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,121
6,314
Last edited:

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
An update for those that care...

The bike shop told us that Haibike asked them for a certain number on a sticker so they know which brake it is. (What?) We couldn't find this sticker anywhere on the bike. They couldn't even tell us where to look! The serial number, registration stamp, etc, are all not good enough; they need this other number. Finally I had to take the protector plate off the motor, which was not easy, and hope it was under there. There was a sticker, but it had the different starting numbers than what they told me it would be...

This was in the beginning of December. We're all still waiting for a response from Haibike. Apparently they take their vacations very seriously and shut down for a month at Christmas time.

In the meantime, someone, either at the bike shop, or Haibike, left out a bolt under the back fender of my wife's bike. Either that or it was not tightened sufficiently, but in any case it is gone. (The bolt is invisible to the rider since it goes from inside the fender directly into the frame. I only discovered it was missing when her brake light stopped working and I took the wheel off to investigate.)

Apparently the fender shifted a little when she put groceries on the rack without her noticing. So then the tyre rubbed through the plastic tubes that protect the wiring to the brake light, and then through the wires themselves.

So no brake light at all now...

Apparently the bike shop ordered the parts in December when I informed them of this problem, but Haibike is closed until the middle of January...
 
Last edited:
  • Informative
Reactions: LeighPing

Wander

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2013
586
429
An update for those that care...

The bike shop told us that Haibike asked them for a certain number on a sticker so they know which brake it is. (What?) We couldn't find this sticker anywhere on the bike. They couldn't even tell us where to look! The serial number, registration stamp, etc, are all not good enough; they need this other number. Finally I had to take the protector plate off the motor, which was not easy, and hope it was under there. There was a sticker, but it had the different starting numbers than what they told me it would be...

This was in the beginning of December. We're all still waiting for a response from Haibike. Apparently they take their vacations very seriously and shut down for a month at Christmas time.

In the meantime, someone, either at the bike shop, or Haibike, left out a bolt under the back fender of my wife's bike. Either that or it was not tightened sufficiently, but in any case it is gone. (The bolt is invisible to the rider since it goes from inside the fender directly into the frame. I only discovered it was missing when her brake light stopped working and I took the wheel off to investigate.)

Apparently the fender shifted a little when she put groceries on the rack without her noticing. So then the tire rubbed through the plastic tubes that protect the wiring to the brake light, and then through the wires themselves.

So no brake light at all now...

Apparently the bike shop ordered the parts in December when I informed them of this problem, but Haibike is closed until the middle of January...
Your update doesn't expand / conclude on what you posted here:-
In the meantime I contacted Magura via Facebook after filling in the contact form on their website garnered no response. I was promptly contacted, received an apology for the lack of response, and was asked to send the brake to them directly, which I have done.
 

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
Your update doesn't expand / conclude on what you posted here:-
True, sorry about that. I can't figure out how to edit that post... Just before we were about to send the brake to Magura the bike shop said to send it to them and they would deal with it. I'm not sure why we trusted them but we did. So they have been dealing with Haibike/Magura for us since then. Wish we had just sent it to Magura at this point...
 
  • Informative
Reactions: LeighPing

Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,608
12,253
73
Ireland
An update for those that care...

The bike shop told us that Haibike asked them for a certain number on a sticker so they know which brake it is. (What?) We couldn't find this sticker anywhere on the bike. They couldn't even tell us where to look! The serial number, registration stamp, etc, are all not good enough; they need this other number. Finally I had to take the protector plate off the motor, which was not easy, and hope it was under there. There was a sticker, but it had the different starting numbers than what they told me it would be...

This was in the beginning of December. We're all still waiting for a response from Haibike. Apparently they take their vacations very seriously and shut down for a month at Christmas time.

In the meantime, someone, either at the bike shop, or Haibike, left out a bolt under the back fender of my wife's bike. Either that or it was not tightened sufficiently, but in any case it is gone. (The bolt is invisible to the rider since it goes from inside the fender directly into the frame. I only discovered it was missing when her brake light stopped working and I took the wheel off to investigate.)

Apparently the fender shifted a little when she put groceries on the rack without her noticing. So then the tire rubbed through the plastic tubes that protect the wiring to the brake light, and then through the wires themselves.

So no brake light at all now...

Apparently the bike shop ordered the parts in December when I informed them of this problem, but Haibike is closed until the middle of January...
Hi in respect of the problem with your wife's bike. It is normal practice to bring a bike back to the shop after about 6 weeks in order that this type of tweaking can be done. Bikes are subject to a fair amount of vibration and this is to be expected. After this tightening up there should be no further need in any event repairing two thin wires is not a big task. I would agree that there is very little clearance between the light cable and the tyre. I found it necessary to push them apart.

What is still not clear to me is whether you actually brought the defective bike ... (Yours ) back to the shop as advised in the very early posts. As advised then your contract is with the shop, the retail outlet , not the manufacturer of either the completed bike or any OEM subassembly. By engaging with them you have muddied the lines of communication. Haibike has a contract with the retailer , magura has a contract with haibike. Keep it simple...
 

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
Hi in respect of the problem with your wife's bike. It is normal practice to bring a bike back to the shop after about 6 weeks in order that this type of tweaking can be done. Bikes are subject to a fair amount of vibration and this is to be expected. After this tightening up there should be no further need in any event repairing two thin wires is not a big task. I would agree that there is very little clearance between the light cable and the tyre. I found it necessary to push them apart.

What is still not clear to me is whether you actually brought the defective bike ... (Yours ) back to the shop as advised in the very early posts. As advised then your contract is with the shop, the retail outlet , not the manufacturer of either the completed bike or any OEM subassembly. By engaging with them you have muddied the lines of communication. Haibike has a contract with the retailer , magura has a contract with haibike. Keep it simple...
I'm not sure what “normal practice” is. The bike shop did not mention this service, and I have not bought a bike at a shop in over 35 years, so I'm not sure how I should know this. I have bought new cars in the past, but I was never instructed to come back after 6 weeks so that every single screw and bolt on it could be checked (a process that would take days!) So logically, all the bolts should have been tight enough when the bike was assembled that they would not fall out after 6 weeks, no matter how much vibration there was.

It's not just two wires, its the tubes, it's the clips that hold the tubes, it's all the hassle.

No, I did not bring the bike to the shop. It's over an hour each way through Paris traffic. I sent photos. I finally sent the brake to them. I “engaged” with the manufacturer after I was told by the bike shop that Haibike would not cover the failure under warranty. Magura contacted me due to a negative review I left on their site. So they “muddied the lines of communication”, not me.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: LeighPing

Emo Rider

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 10, 2014
659
414
I'm not sure what “normal practice” is. The bike shop did not mention this service, and I have not bought a bike at a shop in over 35 years, so I'm not sure how I should know this. I have bought new cars in the past, but I was never instructed to come back after 6 weeks so that every single screw and bolt on it could be checked (a process that would take days!) So logically, all the bolts should have been tight enough when the bike was assembled that they would not fall out after 6 weeks, no matter how much vibration there was.

It's not just two wires, its the tubes, it's the clips that hold the tubes, it's all the hassle.

No, I did not bring the bike to the shop. It's over an hour each way through Paris traffic. I sent photos. I finally sent the brake to them. I “engaged” with the manufacturer after I was told by the bike shop that Haibike would not cover the failure under warranty. Magura contacted me due to a negative review I left on their site. So they “muddied the lines of communication”, not me.
With respect I would counter your point of a 6 week new bike service taking a long time to complete. A 6 week, all inclusive, complimentary service takes about 45 minutes to complete. It is during this check that many components on new bike need to be adjusted and checked as they settle in during the first 150 miles of riding. By your own words you say you know little of how things work. Your problems would have never gotten to this point if you had just taken the journey back to the shop instead of bemoaning Hiabike and the shop. Btw, how could you ride a bike long enough, with a mudguard loose and rubbing, before you heard something was amiss and investigated? Fasteners coming loose on a bicycle are a fact of life unfortunately.
 

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
With respect I would counter your point of a 6 week new bike service taking a long time to complete. A 6 week, all inclusive, complimentary service takes about 45 minutes to complete. It is during this check that many components on new bike need to be adjusted and checked as they settle in during the first 150 miles of riding. By your own words you say you know little of how things work. Your problems would have never gotten to this point if you had just taken the journey back to the shop instead of bemoaning Hiabike and the shop. Btw, how could you ride a bike long enough, with a mudguard loose and rubbing, before you heard something was amiss and investigated? Fasteners coming loose on a bicycle are a fact of life unfortunately.
With respect, my statement was that to check every screw and bolt on a CAR would take days. My point was that why should a new bicycle need this service when a new car does not? And again, this service was not offered to us by the bike shop, nor have I have heard about it before.

Plus I can see or feel any bolt or screw comping loose - IF I know it's there. This one is completely hidden. I would call that a design flaw - by Haibike.

I did not say I know little of how things work (where did you get that?) I have been riding mountain bikes since 1982. I just never buy them from a shop, preferring to buy them second hand or direct from a wholesaler.

And your conclusion is false. There is no reason to believe that the shop would have noticed the missing bolt either, unless they had taken off the rear wheel and looked very carefully specifically for it. The major damage happened after the 6 week period you quote so there would have been no evidence.

And if you read a bit more carefully you notice I wrote that the fender only shifted when the rack had a load on it. The rest of the time it sat where it was supposed to be and did not rub. And it's a cheap plastic tube inside the fender! We're supposed to hear that whilst wearing full face helmets going 25 to 28 mph in Paris traffic?

I have built up and rebuilt bikes many times in my life and I have never had a bolt fall out shortly afterward. So either it was never installed, or it was installed very badly. To blame the consumer for this problem is to me completely illogical.
 

Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,608
12,253
73
Ireland
With respect, my statement was that to check every screw and bolt on a CAR would take days. My point was that why should a new bicycle need this service when a new car does not? And again, this service was not offered to us by the bike shop, nor have I have heard about it before.

Plus I can see or feel any bolt or screw comping loose - IF I know it's there. This one is completely hidden. I would call that a design flaw - by Haibike.

I did not say I know little of how things work (where did you get that?) I have been riding mountain bikes since 1982. I just never buy them from a shop, preferring to buy them second hand or direct from a wholesaler.

And your conclusion is false. There is no reason to believe that the shop would have noticed the missing bolt either, unless they had taken off the rear wheel and looked very carefully specifically for it. The major damage happened after the 6 week period you quote so there would have been no evidence.

And if you read a bit more carefully you notice I wrote that the fender only shifted when the rack had a load on it. The rest of the time it sat where it was supposed to be and did not rub. And it's a cheap plastic tube inside the fender! We're supposed to hear that whilst wearing full face helmets going 25 to 28 mph in Paris traffic?

I have built up and rebuilt bikes many times in my life and I have never had a bolt fall out shortly afterward. So either it was never installed, or it was installed very badly. To blame the consumer for this problem is to me completely illogical.
I got the tyres replaced on my car recently, the tyre depo as is their custom, placed a flyer in my car advising me to return within a week to ensure that all the nuts are tightened to spec. That is normal practice. If you buy a new car you are advised that the first service is included particularly to pickup on any minor errors.
As I previously advised these retailers, and the French in particular, have very well established SAV processes, and they work and they are rigid. For reasons of your own you decided not to follow them and sought instead to impose your own. You were, in my opinion rightly agreived, that the bike you had spent a considerable sum on had a failure so early, but your subsequent responses are and continue to be counterproductive.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Emo Rider

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
Yes, they put a flyer in your car so you knew to come back. The bike shop did not do that. They said nothing.

I have purchased 6 new cars in my life and not once was the first service free, so I don't know where you get the idea that all this is “common knowledge,” because it's not. Nor do they check every bolt and screw, assuming, as I did, that the person that assembled the bike or car tightened all the bolts and screws to necessary degree.

Again, the reason I went around the bike shop was that they told me Haibike would not cover the damage under the warranty. So I reviewed the brakes on the Magura website and their rep contacted me. In the end we did go through the bike shop so I fail to see how I imposed my own processes.
 

Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,608
12,253
73
Ireland
Yes, they put a flyer in your car so you knew to come back. The bike shop did not do that. They said nothing.

I have purchased 6 new cars in my life and not once was the first service free, so I don't know where you get the idea that all this is “common knowledge,” because it's not. Nor do they check every bolt and screw, assuming, as I did, that the person that assembled the bike or car tightened all the bolts and screws to necessary degree.

Again, the reason I went around the bike shop was that they told me Haibike would not cover the damage under the warranty. So I reviewed the brakes on the Magura website and their rep contacted me. In the end we did go through the bike shop so I fail to see how I imposed my own processes.

You never showed them the damaged bike!
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Izzyekerslike

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
You never showed them the damaged bike!
They didn't ask to see it!!

They asked me to send photos!!

When they later asked for the broken brake (just the brake), I sent it to them, as they asked me to do. So I don't understand why I should have done anything differently.

The fact that it is now almost 3 months later and my brake has still not been repaired has to do with Haibike being a terrible company to deal with, even following all the rules and going through the bike shop.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Richard T. Jensen

Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,608
12,253
73
Ireland
They didn't ask to see it!!

They asked me to send photos!!

When they later asked for the broken brake (just the brake), I sent it to them, as they asked me to do. So I don't understand why I should have done anything differently.

The fact that it is now almost 3 months later and my brake has still not been repaired has to do with Haibike being a terrible company to deal with, even following all the rules and going through the bike shop.
I have taken the opportunity to look at this French retailers website ... You referred to it by name in your first post. They have a 30 day cooling off period for the purchasing of electrical bikes . Your initial failure occurred on day 21 They also refer to their SA V ( service apres vent) and repair strategy. Had you brought your bike in at the time, I am convinced that you would have achieved full satisfaction. You were legally entitled to return it for full price, so of course they would have fixed the problem. If you are working in Paris I expect that your command of French is at least as good as mine.
 

Scott Nelson

Pedelecer
Oct 25, 2016
44
33
Wookey Hole
I have taken the opportunity to look at this French retailers website ... You referred to it by name in your first post. They have a 30 day cooling off period for the purchasing of electrical bikes . Your initial failure occurred on day 21 They also refer to their SA V ( service apres vent) and repair strategy. Had you brought your bike in at the time, I am convinced that you would have achieved full satisfaction. You were legally entitled to return it for full price, so of course they would have fixed the problem. If you are working in Paris I expect that your command of French is at least as good as mine.
Sadly my French is almost non-existent. So there goes that line of attack...

But does it say what they will do if they believe the buyer is responsible for the damage? Because that's what the difficulty was about. So I'm not sure I could have returned it - broken -for a full refund. And as I need the bike for commuting, I would be stuck riding the bus until they decided to fix it, or return my money, or tell me they were not going to do anything. And then I could have wasted two more hours of my life going to to get it again and more time going through the legal system...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Richard T. Jensen

Izzyekerslike

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 3, 2015
455
415
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Sadly my French is almost non-existent. So there goes that line of attack...

But does it say what they will do if they believe the buyer is responsible for the damage? Because that's what the difficulty was about. So I'm not sure I could have returned it - broken -for a full refund. And as I need the bike for commuting, I would be stuck riding the bus until they decided to fix it, or return my money, or tell me they were not going to do anything. And then I could have wasted two more hours of my life going to to get it again and more time going through the legal system...
Did you never consider just buying a lever, instead of moaning and complaining for 3 months?