low speed wobble in my IZIP Via Mezza Enlightened folding 20" wheel e bike

[bersh]

The wobble developed suddenly, but not related to going fast. The wobble is serious enough to make riding dangerous. The bike wobbles whether or not I am peddling.The bicycle store mechanic said he tightened everything, focusing on the front end, but failed to stop the wobble. I rotated the front wheel and found nothing wrong. I also called the Slime company to find out if their tire sealing product could be the cause, and their answer: no record of this ever happening. I do understand that perhaps the bearings in the steering headset could be the problem. Anyone out there have some additional thoughts on this? ?The bike has never been in an accident, but has fallen over a few times in its one and one half year history (I bought it new and paid extra for an extended service contract which will cover this problem, assuming they can figure it out, and that the source is not a damaged frame, since the distributor has no replacement parts). Also, does anyone out there know where I can buy another of this model in the US?

 

[mike killay]

Turn the bike upside down and rotate the back wheel with the pedals. See if anything is unbalanced there.
Put the bike upright, put the front brake on hard and push back and forward to see if the head bearings are loose.
Check the spokes are tight. Check the tyres are on properly, if they have recently been left to go flat, they may not be central on the rims.
With the front wheel off the ground, check that the steering is not binding.
You say that it is a folder. Thoroughly check that there is no play at all in the mechanism that locks it all together. Also, look for frame flexing at any possible cracks in it.
Can you tell us what wobbles?
For instance does the bike seem stable but just the handlebars go from side to side, or is there no wobble in the steering, just in the whole bike?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Wobbles can come from a number of sources. I guess that you eliminated the obvious - that a wheel might be buckled or a tyre on crooked. Assuming that, first check the tyre pressures. Pumping them up harder might help. Next, check the wheel alignment. Get a long straight edge that reaches from the back wheel to the front. Lay it on each side of the back wheel and check whether the front wheel is central when parallel. After that, it can be down to steering geometry (rake, caster and trail). If the bike ran into something and bent back the forks slightly, it can cause it to wobble. You'd need to compare measurements with a good bike (of the same model) to check that. Also check that the forks aren't knocked to the side by putting the bike upside down, lining up the wheels and then look from the front or back to see that bothe wheels are in line with each other (vertical).

 

[daniel.weck]

I bought one for my wife a while ago. Great, solid folding electrical bike (good brakes too):

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/5287-new-e-bike-my-stable-izip-via-mezza-enlightened.html

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/6484-our-hilly-e-holidays-e-brompton-izip-via-mezza-enlightened.html

She is not using it much though, so if you are really stuck and need / want to source an example in great condition (battery included) from the UK, I might consider parting with it. No promises, just a thought.

Cheers, Daniel

PS: mine has a slight wobble at the rear at the moment, but it is very clearly just a matter of truing the wheel. I hope you find the reason why yours behaves the way it does

 

[daniel.weck]

By the way, do you have the model with front suspension? (pictured below)

 

[bersh]

To all of my fellow ebikers, thanks so much for helping me with my wobble problem. Indeed, the most obvious explanation was a bent rear wheel, loose spokes and a bump in the tyre (in deference to my British fellow travelers-I did not spell it "tire"-so many things in my bonnet er brain...Happy New Year from my home in San Francisco