I bought a Dillenger Hunter 1000w hub drive in May 2016. The idea was to get a bike that's fast, having tried others of 15mph maximum, and felt they're just too slow, being used to a racing bike. The other hope was that it could be a means of transport for my partner who doesn't drive.
The bike arrived v quickly, within 2 days, and looked great, more impressive than the website photos. It weighs a ton compared to what I'm used to, but probably not compared to other ebikes. Feels like an electric motorbike.
Testing, it goes 25mph with little pedal input, but tops out just after that, so the absolute maximum speed is maybe 27mph - on the flat. It will go 22mph up hills, that I'd normally go up at about maybe 8mph on the racer.
Its a big bike, too large for my partner, too large for me really a, 5 foot 10 / 176cm person. So I got thinking, hmm, maybe if I changed the forks, and lowered the handlebars it could fit her. This did work, using forks of 50mm travel instead of the 170mm ones supplied. Pedal strike could be a problem if you pushed it because the frame is lowered, I manged to get the pedals to strike, but had to try, and with normal use it's been ok. Turning the handlebars round works well to reduce the size. My 5 foot 6 partner was ok riding it like that, see picture below.
When the bike works, its a dream, fast, comfortable and with a silent motor. Range is fine for my use, I never went more than about 16 miles on one charge, so never ran it to flat battery, so can't say how far it would go.
There have been a number of problems however
In summary, Dillenger's advertised 'bulletproof' hub motor broke after about 200 miles of gentle use not offroad. Dillenger took 2 months to diagnose the problem, then offered to deliver after a further 2 months or deliver faster for 150gbp. The bike is under warranty only 3 months old. The marketing proudly pronounces this bike is based on their popular and proven tried and tested kit, using exactly the same motor. However Dillenger say they cannot send a motor from the UK (where I'm based) from one of their kits which are in stock. So overall 4 months to send another 'bulletproof' replacement motor or pay alot of money. Sent tens of emails to sort it out, and had to take the bike apart for their diagnosis, in total messing about probably over a week's work.
The battery undid itself at the beginning, and fell out once onto the floor, so I bought a ski clip - which solved that.
Having changed the tyres, to smooth ones for improved roll and range, I had a problem with the axle bolt of the hub. The way the torque arms are setup on the bike one doesn't lie flat against the frame on the derailleur side. So if you're not very careful screwing the bolt against them, you can cross thread it easily. Unfortunately I managed to do this. The replacement hub motor is hundreds of pounds. Upon considerable research of options, over a couple of weeks, the way to fix it was to buy a screw thread guage, and bolt thread cutter of exactly the right size, plus new nut. Running the bolt thread cutter over the thread, and using the new nut it does screw on securely. Dillenger support were no help with that problem. I've now changed the orientation of the torque arm so it does lie flat. Shame Dillenger don't it on that way at the start.
Trying to replace the forks was a battle, the forks don't have all the headset parts. Dillenger said they didn't know what the fork headset was that fit the frame. So I paid a bike shop £50 to replace the forks, but they didn't manage it properly, initially they were stiff, then had play in them. They used a headset they had from a drawer. So with further research of again some weeks I discovered the correct size. It's pretty standard, shame Dillenger didn't just say, which would have saved me money and alot of aggravation. For info you need: 1-1/8" ZS44/30. ZS44 is SHIS code, standard headset identification system.
After a week or so of the bike working properly, with new forks and smooth tyres, unfortunately the display began showing an error warning, and the throttle and pedal assist stopped working. This was back in mid August, were now just moving into October. Dillenger, after a long time, diagnosed that the controller had the fault and sent another from China. Unfortunately it was the wrong one for the bike, and didn't have the correct fittings to replace the old. I offered to cut one of the fitting wires and replace with the old one which Dillenger said was a good idea. Unfortunately, having done this the controller still doesn't work, the hub stops the wheel instead of powering it, like a brake. I await further progress.
7th October 2016 - second replacement controller received from Dillenger - thank you. Unfortunately it doesn't fix the problem, please see the below videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkGcWMhhakE - Ebike problems 1 - shows the motor stopping the back wheel abruptly when the pedal assist kicks in, but it also happens with the throttle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLvDp4dpSQE - Ebike problems 2 - shows the motor vibrating fairly violently when throttle is applied (not always)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s2yrMPeO8Q - Ebike problems 3 - shows the error message that shows using the throttle, and the flashing motor sign on the LCD
Some stats
14th May (purchase date) - 19th October - total emails sent to Dillenger to sort the bike out, over 50 (assume half an hour per email, that's 25 hours work)
10th Aug - reported the displayed fault shown on the LCD + bike suddenly without power. It's now 19th October, still awaiting the fix for this (bike out of action).
19th October - Dillenger offer to send the replacement motor which takes 6-8 weeks or they'll send faster for £150gbp. This will mean, it's taken since 10th Aug to determine the problem (2 months) and since the purchase date of May to Dec the bike will have been out of action 6 of the 7 months owned.
Overall
Be very careful changing any parts, the bike is made on a budget, and can catch out the unwary, even bike shops.
The reliability of the bike is poor, and parts and diagnosis from Dillenger are slow to arrive.
It's hard for Dillenger to diagnose problems as they're only on the phone and email, and based in Australia
Out of 5 months of owning the bike, it's worked for perhaps one month. I live in hope.
The bike arrived v quickly, within 2 days, and looked great, more impressive than the website photos. It weighs a ton compared to what I'm used to, but probably not compared to other ebikes. Feels like an electric motorbike.
Testing, it goes 25mph with little pedal input, but tops out just after that, so the absolute maximum speed is maybe 27mph - on the flat. It will go 22mph up hills, that I'd normally go up at about maybe 8mph on the racer.
Its a big bike, too large for my partner, too large for me really a, 5 foot 10 / 176cm person. So I got thinking, hmm, maybe if I changed the forks, and lowered the handlebars it could fit her. This did work, using forks of 50mm travel instead of the 170mm ones supplied. Pedal strike could be a problem if you pushed it because the frame is lowered, I manged to get the pedals to strike, but had to try, and with normal use it's been ok. Turning the handlebars round works well to reduce the size. My 5 foot 6 partner was ok riding it like that, see picture below.
When the bike works, its a dream, fast, comfortable and with a silent motor. Range is fine for my use, I never went more than about 16 miles on one charge, so never ran it to flat battery, so can't say how far it would go.
There have been a number of problems however
In summary, Dillenger's advertised 'bulletproof' hub motor broke after about 200 miles of gentle use not offroad. Dillenger took 2 months to diagnose the problem, then offered to deliver after a further 2 months or deliver faster for 150gbp. The bike is under warranty only 3 months old. The marketing proudly pronounces this bike is based on their popular and proven tried and tested kit, using exactly the same motor. However Dillenger say they cannot send a motor from the UK (where I'm based) from one of their kits which are in stock. So overall 4 months to send another 'bulletproof' replacement motor or pay alot of money. Sent tens of emails to sort it out, and had to take the bike apart for their diagnosis, in total messing about probably over a week's work.
The battery undid itself at the beginning, and fell out once onto the floor, so I bought a ski clip - which solved that.
Having changed the tyres, to smooth ones for improved roll and range, I had a problem with the axle bolt of the hub. The way the torque arms are setup on the bike one doesn't lie flat against the frame on the derailleur side. So if you're not very careful screwing the bolt against them, you can cross thread it easily. Unfortunately I managed to do this. The replacement hub motor is hundreds of pounds. Upon considerable research of options, over a couple of weeks, the way to fix it was to buy a screw thread guage, and bolt thread cutter of exactly the right size, plus new nut. Running the bolt thread cutter over the thread, and using the new nut it does screw on securely. Dillenger support were no help with that problem. I've now changed the orientation of the torque arm so it does lie flat. Shame Dillenger don't it on that way at the start.
Trying to replace the forks was a battle, the forks don't have all the headset parts. Dillenger said they didn't know what the fork headset was that fit the frame. So I paid a bike shop £50 to replace the forks, but they didn't manage it properly, initially they were stiff, then had play in them. They used a headset they had from a drawer. So with further research of again some weeks I discovered the correct size. It's pretty standard, shame Dillenger didn't just say, which would have saved me money and alot of aggravation. For info you need: 1-1/8" ZS44/30. ZS44 is SHIS code, standard headset identification system.
After a week or so of the bike working properly, with new forks and smooth tyres, unfortunately the display began showing an error warning, and the throttle and pedal assist stopped working. This was back in mid August, were now just moving into October. Dillenger, after a long time, diagnosed that the controller had the fault and sent another from China. Unfortunately it was the wrong one for the bike, and didn't have the correct fittings to replace the old. I offered to cut one of the fitting wires and replace with the old one which Dillenger said was a good idea. Unfortunately, having done this the controller still doesn't work, the hub stops the wheel instead of powering it, like a brake. I await further progress.
7th October 2016 - second replacement controller received from Dillenger - thank you. Unfortunately it doesn't fix the problem, please see the below videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkGcWMhhakE - Ebike problems 1 - shows the motor stopping the back wheel abruptly when the pedal assist kicks in, but it also happens with the throttle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLvDp4dpSQE - Ebike problems 2 - shows the motor vibrating fairly violently when throttle is applied (not always)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s2yrMPeO8Q - Ebike problems 3 - shows the error message that shows using the throttle, and the flashing motor sign on the LCD
Some stats
14th May (purchase date) - 19th October - total emails sent to Dillenger to sort the bike out, over 50 (assume half an hour per email, that's 25 hours work)
10th Aug - reported the displayed fault shown on the LCD + bike suddenly without power. It's now 19th October, still awaiting the fix for this (bike out of action).
19th October - Dillenger offer to send the replacement motor which takes 6-8 weeks or they'll send faster for £150gbp. This will mean, it's taken since 10th Aug to determine the problem (2 months) and since the purchase date of May to Dec the bike will have been out of action 6 of the 7 months owned.
Overall
Be very careful changing any parts, the bike is made on a budget, and can catch out the unwary, even bike shops.
The reliability of the bike is poor, and parts and diagnosis from Dillenger are slow to arrive.
It's hard for Dillenger to diagnose problems as they're only on the phone and email, and based in Australia
Out of 5 months of owning the bike, it's worked for perhaps one month. I live in hope.
