Help! Noisy Mxus 48v 500w on Mate Icon

[Bovinelufe]

Hello good people. First post. I have a new Mate Icon 500w. I road tested the X and it was great but too heavy to fold. I am partly disabled. I was delighted to have gotten one of the last Mate 500 City / Icon and it is the ideal weight and power for me. A 250w motor is not enough.

so far so good. I had an ebike shop here in Edinburgh check my build and gears. All good

except at low speeds my motor sounds like it groans / rattles. I thought it might be disc brakes but it freewheels ok!

this noise only occurs with motor on.

here is a recording https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/rUbkoQrv3uwRuPaP9

Is this just typical of this motor or is there a way to upgrade this narrow 20” wheel motor?

what else could it be

any advice appreciated- warrantee is good

 

[djneils98]

it is definitely not supposed to sound like that so I'd contact the vendor.
you can see/hear in this video that the motor isn't exactly quiet but does not make the noise yours does

I am interested in getting this model too but they've sold out in the places I want to buy one from for a while at least
apart from the noise what are your thoughts on the bike? good quality?
where did you get it from?
have you unlocked it? I have been told it can do over 40kmh unlocked and would like to verify this
many thanks if you can answer these questions and sorry you're having issues

 

[cyclebuddy]

it is definitely not supposed to sound like that so I'd contact the vendor.
you can see/hear in this video that the motor isn't exactly quiet but does not make the noise yours does

I am interested in getting this model too but they've sold out in the places I want to buy one from for a while at least
apart from the noise what are your thoughts on the bike? good quality?
where did you get it from?
have you unlocked it? I have been told it can do over 40kmh unlocked and would like to verify this
many thanks if you can answer these questions and sorry you're having issues

I love the way these people innocently (or stupidly) publish videos of themselves breaking the law... in this case, doing 32kph on public roads and cycleways with an illegal 500w e-bike - with the Mate Bike X, doing 47kph with a 750w one. Youtube video is all the evidence the Police need to prosecute - as they have with Ferrari drivers doing 180mph around the M25.

The frame is very nicely welded though.

 

[djneils98]

I love the way these people innocently (or stupidly) publish videos of themselves breaking the law... in this case, doing 32kph on public roads and cycleways with an illegal 500w e-bike - with the Mate Bike X, doing 47kph with a 750w one. Youtube video is all the evidence the Police need to prosecute - as they have with Ferrari drivers doing 180mph around the M25.

The frame is very nicely welded though.

do you have one? It does bother me that a bike of this price isn't using a Bafang motor for a start. Plus Mate don't have the best reputation for reliability.
The trouble is there's nothing like this out there (a 20 inch folder with narrow tyres that has a 500w motor and >40kmh top speed) so it is a compelling proposition for me.
The alternative for me is to get a decent non-electric folder like a Tern or a Dahon and use a BBS02 mid-drive kit on it

 

[cyclebuddy]

do you have one?

No. I looked at it though last year when I needed a short-distance foldable city bike. As I did Fiido D11 & D4 (250w), Himo Z20 (250w) and Samebike 20LVX (350w), which have all been in short supply. There's now the ADO A20 too (350w). I ended up buying a Fiido D11, because it had the best balance of factors that I needed (mostly light-ish-weight and legality, for riding through central London and chucking on trains).

IMHO, the MATE bikes have nicely made frames (it shows in the video above) - better than the others, but the rest of it didn't strike me as any better and notably heavier than the other similar Chinese e-bikes mentioned. It seemed over-priced for what it was (cheesy suspension and cable brakes), and you hear a lot about reliability issues. The Samebike at £700 vs. £1600 I thought offered better value for that style of bike - if legality isn't an issue for you. But it all depends on what you personally need and intend to use the bike for.

 

[djneils98]

No. I looked at it though last year when I needed a short-distance foldable city bike. As I did Fiido D11 & D4 (250w), Himo Z20 (250w) and Samebike 20LVX (350w), which have all been in short supply. There's now the ADO A20 too (350w). I ended up buying a Fiido D11, because it had the best balance of factors that I needed (mostly light-ish-weight and legality, for riding through central London and chucking on trains).

IMHO, the MATE bikes have nicely made frames (it shows in the video above) - better than the others, but the rest of it didn't strike me as any better and notably heavier than the other similar Chinese e-bikes mentioned. It seemed over-priced for what it was (cheesy suspension and cable brakes), and you hear a lot about reliability issues. The Samebike at £700 vs. £1600 I thought offered better value for that style of bike - if legality isn't an issue for you. But it all depends on what you personally need and intend to use the bike for.

yeah I have a D4s which is ok but I just feel myself craving a little more speed than the 31kmh it can achieve. The ADO looks interesting but I think it's going to be worth waiting for ADO to sort out some issues before trying one.

 

[vfr400]

Hello good people. First post. I have a new Mate Icon 500w. I road tested the X and it was great but too heavy to fold. I am partly disabled. I was delighted to have gotten one of the last Mate 500 City / Icon and it is the ideal weight and power for me. A 250w motor is not enough.

so far so good. I had an ebike shop here in Edinburgh check my build and gears. All good

except at low speeds my motor sounds like it groans / rattles. I thought it might be disc brakes but it freewheels ok!

this noise only occurs with motor on.

here is a recording https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/rUbkoQrv3uwRuPaP9

Is this just typical of this motor or is there a way to upgrade this narrow 20” wheel motor?

what else could it be

any advice appreciated- warrantee is good

Check the motor cable at both ends. First make sure that the connector near the motor is in all the way to the marked line, not just in tight, then see how it connects to the controller. If it has three bullet connectors make sure that they're fully in and tight. If loose, pull apart and crimp down a bit before re-inserting.

The sound I can hear is the disc ringing, so make sure it's screwed down tight and nothing is touching it.

 

[Bovinelufe]

Update, it was the brakes wearing in, and very *very* careful alignment of the pads. Seems it doesn't take much for the pads to drag... Thanks.