Spoked again

 

Apologies I have not contributing to this thread for a while. After considerable rear wheel spoke problems during the second half of last year I was fed up enough with Urban Mover to try and get my money back. At that point we struck a deal of a new bike with a Li-Ion battery to replace the one with problems - which was hence deemed to be a rogue bike - for a small additional sum. As I basically liked the bike but not the problems I decided to give this a go. For around 6 months I then had trouble free cycling!

 

You can guess what happened then. I had a puncture in the back wheel (itself unlucky as these are supposed to be quite puncture resistant tyes - but I guess nothing is perfect) and then when I went to fix the tyre...yes...back spoke gone. As I did not want to get into another period of get it fixed/it breaks again/get it fixed/it breaks again/etc as for the last bike I have not had it fixed yet but am (eventually after two weeks of threatening behaviour, which is not normally in my nature) in communication with Urban Mover again. They have agreed to pay to have the problem fixed but still deny anyone else has the problem or that there is a design fault. The former is patently not true as witnessed by this forum. The latter I still believe to be true.

 

As everyone says Keith is a nice guy, but that is no excuse for not facing up to problems. Interestingly I have now been told that I should have the bike serviced every 6 months if I am using the bike 5 days a week. This is of course a sick joke as the bike it never on the road for more that about 4 months before a spoke goes and the back wheel has to be rebuilt.

 

Also I assume this is a in reality a mileage recommendation which for me is around 500 miles. To me this seems very low and I was assuming around every 1000 miles. Can anyone advise? In any event the manual and documentation does not make any stipulation or guidelines for servicing in its maintenance section. In fact the only place it is mentioned is in the exceptions part of the guarantee where it says you are not covered if the bike has not been regularly serviced at an UM approved place. To then be told retrospectively that I am delinquent because I have not followed the servicing condition of which I was not aware has yet again got my back up. Interestingly the communications from UM suggests that at the servicing it important that the state of the spokes are checked. While is understand this would be normal at a service it may explain why the short period between services is suggested/mandated.

 

So with no other option I am just about to let UM fix this bike again. Whether I decide to cut my losses, sell it for what I can get for it and buy another bike remains to be seen; at the moment it is very tempting.

So with no other option I am just about to let UM fix this bike again. Whether I decide to cut my losses, sell it for what I can get for it and buy another bike remains to be seen; at the moment it is very tempting.

You're not on your own and this happens to many different ebikes, difference is in how the dealer/manufacturer deals with it. There's a lot of science in spokes and less can be more, especially when an ebike is like having two people pedalling and can need a better quality wheel.

If you want a professional solution then I'd recommend SJS but be prepared to pay for it.

With several forum members having bad customer service problems with UM- me included- and fortunately , my experiences were with not getting the bike in the first place, I would suggest Flecc's recommendation of getting this done at a good local bike shop.It may cost between £10 to £15 , but at least you will have the bike back within a couple of days.

Thanks for the quick reply, flecc, unfortunately I have to use my brakes a lot (I probably spend more on brake blocks than electricty for charging the battery!) because of all the hills, the roads here are atrocious (I purposely have my tyres a little soft so I don't feel every pebble/canyon and I do my best to avoid all the ruts & stones), and I need to use my panniers to transport stuff. I'll just have to take things extra-easy until I can get it fixed.

 

I'll enquire at my local bike place if they can fix the wheel but I'm not really looking forward to approaching them because of the general feeling that those kinds of places have about electric bikes (*insert imagery of bike mechanics holding up spanners welded in the shapes of crosses*), couldn't even get a full-suspension mountain bike from them a couple of years ago as they only ever stock hardtails.

 

I would suggest Flecc's recommendation of getting this done at a good local bike shop.It may cost between £10 to £15 , but at least you will have the bike back within a couple of days.

 

Yes I agree and in fact UM are paying for the spokes to be fixed by a Bristol based cycle shop. I don't know which one yet, but previously it was Webb's at Warmley who seemed to know what they are doing well enough.

 

The main frustration with this business is of course not the cost but the time off the road each time it happens together with the inconvenience and hassle of being left miles from anywhere. In this respect I was intrigued by Flecc's earlier advice that you could proceed with a broken spoke if carefull? I have been told by UM that I should not continue riding at all if a spoke breaks as it will distort the wheel and they will then have nothing to do with getting it fixed (ie. it is treated as misuse).

 

Hence when a spoke goes during a journey I have been getting someone to pick me up, getting a bus and picking up later or walking dependent on circumstances. Am I being too cautious or should I heed UM's advice?

A reasonably well built wheel will usually be ok with careful use after a spoke has broken, and of course on many occasions riders don't even discover a spoke is broken until long after the event. I've ridden bikes for several days with a broken spoke until I've laid my hands on one to fit. A poorly set up wheel suffering a broken spoke can result in a localised rim offset and rubbing on a brake pad, but you'll know if that's case since the effect will be obvious. Even then I've temporarily slackened a couple of opposite side spokes a half turn or so to carry for a while.

 

Re: suitable dealers Haku. A simple solution is to go to your local Powabyke agent as they are well used to working on motorised wheels and won't normally make life difficult. Here's the page in which you can locate your nearest one, some are also approved service centres:

 

Powabyke service

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Re: UM44 rear spokes - yes mine periodically break. Please is there any one who can supply 2.5mm spokes that I can replace without having to deflate the tyre (presently can't as puncture proof intertubes have bunged up valve). These are 220mm (threaded end to inside knee).