BiciMad
1 mW
Hi, i've learn the hard way, how bad idea is having a front suspension fork made of magnesium, and a 350w 36v front hub.
I bought my second hand e bike, with recipe and 1 yr warranty still available ( <---thx to God or whatever...). It's an Adriática Boxter GS21v. 28 Platinium H. 55, i think mine it's a resell from Ciclotek, you can see the bike on sale http://www.ciclotekstore.com/b2c/producto/0202023/1/adriatica-boxter-gs21v-28-platinium-h-55 ( spanish warning ).
Anyway, i was pretty glad with my 600€ bought, a 50% disccount for a fairly unused item with warranty, seemed ok. I actually ride very joyfully the first 200 kms, i had a few punctures, but nothing worrisome. It was not too powerfull ( 36v 250w nominal - 500w peak), and i'm 200 pounds, so i knew that i would have to pedal a lot, more in the hilly area i live, but that was the healthy part and i was ok with sweating a bit.
I tested the e-bike, on some mild off road tracks in my city, Madrid (Spain), and the response was awsome, big wheels actually gives you wings, more when you come from a 20 inch foldable
. I rode 4 days, with 0 incidents, i barely used the accelarator, but to push me on the traffic lights and uphills. But...the 5th day, i was starting my easy 35 kms ride, and when i confronted a fairly steep part of road, i used the manual accelerator, and my Suntour SF-NEX4610 failed on me big time, it broke on the fork end and i almost facepalmed, glady i was able to put my hands before my face, but because of the hill, i rolled back miserable, not big harm done but to my pride.
I thought i might be some faulty fork, and asked my bike's workshop to ask Suntour for a warranty replacement. They took pictures of the broken fork, asked for the recipe warranty, after a couple of days, the Suntour's guys in Spain, took the broken fork back and get me a new one, a newer version actually, so i was fairly happy. I rode again, like 200 kms for the same routes, but this time, with some fear in my heart, i rode slower and more gently. I rode for a few days more, and just when i was regaining my trust on the ebike, it broke again !!!!. Just getting out of my home, using very midly the accelerator, on flat ground, i lowered from the pavement into the road, like 16 cms, and it broken again, as soon as it touched the floor, on the front ends, the very same way the other broke.
Boy, this time i was mad, i kicked the shit out of the suspension and shouted some spanish very nasty words...but the kicking didn't help me much to get the fork out, also hurt my feet, and the some neighbours complained coze my profanities, so no bike, hurt even more than i was from previous fall, and bothering people, great move.
My bicycle mecanic, whom does not have much exp on ebike, told me that, he had seen some broken forks coming from ebikes, but 2 in a row, was pretty unique for him at least. Doing some research i found you guys, and the world of torq arms. I've learnt that suspension of alumium or magnesium on front ebike hubs, is dangerous and i have one torq arm coming from the same company that sells the ebike, Ciclotek ( http://www.ciclotekstore.com/b2c/producto/1701029/1/torque-arm-pequeno-motores-xf-unidad ).
I wonder after reading hours and hours on this very forum, why they sell the e-ebike, without torq arm and also, with no brakes cutt-off. I wrote the company, about this issue, and the answer was, that this kind of situation was not common, and they suggested me to buy the torq arm. Is it me, or this combination of weak suspension and no break levers, it's the perfect cocktail for a facepalm on the move?. This is one the their lower front hub motors, they've got up to 1000w i think, i they just suggest to install it, when it should be mandatory even with steel forks.
Sorry for the long post, it's been like 2 months with changes and surprises, and i think i've fallen in love with e-bikes, so it's very hard not be able to roll, i even bought a new 13ah battery to increase the range and addiction. Now, i'm having some issues finding a 700c ahead rigid steel forks, so my only option, to ride this weekend, it's to get the 3th replacement from Suntour ( they must be curious....), wait till the torq arm arrives and ride with eyebrow rised....
I hope my english didn't make you want to pull your eyes out, but i needed badly to talk to some e-rides, i gladly take advice and thx for the time
Update ( pics of the front end )
I bought my second hand e bike, with recipe and 1 yr warranty still available ( <---thx to God or whatever...). It's an Adriática Boxter GS21v. 28 Platinium H. 55, i think mine it's a resell from Ciclotek, you can see the bike on sale http://www.ciclotekstore.com/b2c/producto/0202023/1/adriatica-boxter-gs21v-28-platinium-h-55 ( spanish warning ).
Anyway, i was pretty glad with my 600€ bought, a 50% disccount for a fairly unused item with warranty, seemed ok. I actually ride very joyfully the first 200 kms, i had a few punctures, but nothing worrisome. It was not too powerfull ( 36v 250w nominal - 500w peak), and i'm 200 pounds, so i knew that i would have to pedal a lot, more in the hilly area i live, but that was the healthy part and i was ok with sweating a bit.
I tested the e-bike, on some mild off road tracks in my city, Madrid (Spain), and the response was awsome, big wheels actually gives you wings, more when you come from a 20 inch foldable
. I rode 4 days, with 0 incidents, i barely used the accelarator, but to push me on the traffic lights and uphills. But...the 5th day, i was starting my easy 35 kms ride, and when i confronted a fairly steep part of road, i used the manual accelerator, and my Suntour SF-NEX4610 failed on me big time, it broke on the fork end and i almost facepalmed, glady i was able to put my hands before my face, but because of the hill, i rolled back miserable, not big harm done but to my pride.I thought i might be some faulty fork, and asked my bike's workshop to ask Suntour for a warranty replacement. They took pictures of the broken fork, asked for the recipe warranty, after a couple of days, the Suntour's guys in Spain, took the broken fork back and get me a new one, a newer version actually, so i was fairly happy. I rode again, like 200 kms for the same routes, but this time, with some fear in my heart, i rode slower and more gently. I rode for a few days more, and just when i was regaining my trust on the ebike, it broke again !!!!. Just getting out of my home, using very midly the accelerator, on flat ground, i lowered from the pavement into the road, like 16 cms, and it broken again, as soon as it touched the floor, on the front ends, the very same way the other broke.
Boy, this time i was mad, i kicked the shit out of the suspension and shouted some spanish very nasty words...but the kicking didn't help me much to get the fork out, also hurt my feet, and the some neighbours complained coze my profanities, so no bike, hurt even more than i was from previous fall, and bothering people, great move.
My bicycle mecanic, whom does not have much exp on ebike, told me that, he had seen some broken forks coming from ebikes, but 2 in a row, was pretty unique for him at least. Doing some research i found you guys, and the world of torq arms. I've learnt that suspension of alumium or magnesium on front ebike hubs, is dangerous and i have one torq arm coming from the same company that sells the ebike, Ciclotek ( http://www.ciclotekstore.com/b2c/producto/1701029/1/torque-arm-pequeno-motores-xf-unidad ).
I wonder after reading hours and hours on this very forum, why they sell the e-ebike, without torq arm and also, with no brakes cutt-off. I wrote the company, about this issue, and the answer was, that this kind of situation was not common, and they suggested me to buy the torq arm. Is it me, or this combination of weak suspension and no break levers, it's the perfect cocktail for a facepalm on the move?. This is one the their lower front hub motors, they've got up to 1000w i think, i they just suggest to install it, when it should be mandatory even with steel forks.
Sorry for the long post, it's been like 2 months with changes and surprises, and i think i've fallen in love with e-bikes, so it's very hard not be able to roll, i even bought a new 13ah battery to increase the range and addiction. Now, i'm having some issues finding a 700c ahead rigid steel forks, so my only option, to ride this weekend, it's to get the 3th replacement from Suntour ( they must be curious....), wait till the torq arm arrives and ride with eyebrow rised....
I hope my english didn't make you want to pull your eyes out, but i needed badly to talk to some e-rides, i gladly take advice and thx for the time
Update ( pics of the front end )
