My Bafang Ultra Mountain Bike! Frey AM1000

[18650]

Tonight I was pondering the frame on my M600 and it 'seemed' like there may be room for a... 29" rim

Does anybody know if the Frey EX will fit 29" wheels? And if so, with the standard 2,8" tires, or only with limited tire width?

 

[Durtdemon]

Tonight I was pondering the frame on my M600 and it 'seemed' like there may be room for a... 29" rim

Does anybody know if the Frey EX will fit 29" wheels? And if so, with the standard 2,8" tires, or only with limited tire width?

27.5 plus is about the same diameter as thinner 29". Might be able to fit, but I would say definitely limited on width.

 

[FlyingFinn]

Less than a year old bike:

Clutch broke. The old clutch pawls had completely destroyed the main gear teething. Had to buy a new clutch and main gear.

Now when re-assembled getting error 30. Doesn’t work at all even though all wires and main board were ok. Most likely another fried motherboard. Wonderful!

First time I’m really regretting my Bafang Ultra...

 

[barbarossa]

Less than a year old bike:

Clutch broke. The old clutch pawls had completely destroyed the main gear teething. Had to buy a new clutch and main gear.

Now when re-assembled getting error 30. Doesn’t work at all even though all wires and main board were ok. Most likely another fried motherboard. Wonderful!

First time I’m really regretting my Bafang Ultra...

that's a pity. how many km did your clutch ?

I saw this error before.
unfortunately during reassembling a friend of mine squeezed 3 of the white controller cables. not good. controller failure = 30. wires could be soldered again and failure was gone - everything ok.
that does not mean that you have squeezed cables during reassembling but I would highly recommend to examine each of the controller wires carefully - inside motor (and outside - but normally error 30 means inside motor). the most critical time of reassembly is to put the controller cover side back to the motor. I always take a strong flashlight during the last millimeters (when fitting sleeves match) and try to watch if I would squeeze some wire(s) or not.

hopefully problem are only squeezed wires...

 

[tsellers]

Hi, I had an earlier version without a heat sensor and burned a winding. I can tell you, you'll notice that it's burned. This was after heavy abuse of pushing up a friend on a 20% incline in mode 5 for 20 min. Yes, the smell is there, even after you store the bike in your garage and smell the next ...

Do you think that may have been the start of the problem, or did it come later?

 

[FlyingFinn]

Less than a year old bike:

Clutch broke. The old clutch pawls had completely destroyed the main gear teething. Had to buy a new clutch and main gear.

Now when re-assembled getting error 30. Doesn’t work at all even though all wires and main board were ok. Most likely another fried motherboard. Wonderful!

First time I’m really regretting my Bafang Ultra...

that's a pity. how many km did your clutch ?

I saw this error before.
unfortunately during reassembling a friend of mine squeezed 3 of the white controller cables. not good. controller failure = 30. wires could be soldered again and failure was gone - everything ok.
that does not mean that you have squeezed cables during reassembling but I would highly recommend to examine each of the controller wires carefully - inside motor (and outside - but normally error 30 means inside motor). the most critical time of reassembly is to put the controller cover side back to the motor. I always take a strong flashlight during the last millimeters (when fitting sleeves match) and try to watch if I would squeeze some wire(s) or not.

hopefully problem are only squeezed wires...

Thx for your view. Trying to resolve.

Bike had 3200 km’s when the clutch broke.

 

[barbarossa]

Less than a year old bike:

Clutch broke. The old clutch pawls had completely destroyed the main gear teething. Had to buy a new clutch and main gear.

Now when re-assembled getting error 30. Doesn’t work at all even though all wires and main board were ok. Most likely another fried motherboard. Wonderful!

First time I’m really regretting my Bafang Ultra...

that's a pity. how many km did your clutch ?

I saw this error before.
unfortunately during reassembling a friend of mine squeezed 3 of the white controller cables. not good. controller failure = 30. wires could be soldered again and failure was gone - everything ok.
that does not mean that you have squeezed cables during reassembling but I would highly recommend to examine each of the controller wires carefully - inside motor (and outside - but normally error 30 means inside motor). the most critical time of reassembly is to put the controller cover side back to the motor. I always take a strong flashlight during the last millimeters (when fitting sleeves match) and try to watch if I would squeeze some wire(s) or not.

hopefully problem are only squeezed wires...

Thx for your view. Trying to resolve.

Bike had 3200 km’s when the clutch broke.

I have a little more km but still working - of course with higher voltage and higher rpms to avoid clutch damage, the clutch can't melt like the nylon gear of BBSHD and might be the weakest part compared to the steel gears. You have a 48v battery and may I ask how many teeth your front chain ring has ? I guess 44t !?

another reason might also be the second critical time of assembly: putting the motor back in the frame. sometimes the battery wires or other wires may overlay the main harness cable (to display/throttle/brake switches -> big white plug). there is not much room between motor and frame so the wires are squeezed in that case. but i don't know exactly if this might also result in error 30 !? but it could be if just TX/RX signal is lost (TX or RX wire is damaged)...

cheers

 

[FlyingFinn]

Less than a year old bike:

Clutch broke. The old clutch pawls had completely destroyed the main gear teething. Had to buy a new clutch and main gear.

Now when re-assembled getting error 30. Doesn’t work at all even though all wires and main board were ok. Most likely another fried motherboard. Wonderful!

First time I’m really regretting my Bafang Ultra...

that's a pity. how many km did your clutch ?

I saw this error before.
unfortunately during reassembling a friend of mine squeezed 3 of the white controller cables. not good. controller failure = 30. wires could be soldered again and failure was gone - everything ok.
that does not mean that you have squeezed cables during reassembling but I would highly recommend to examine each of the controller wires carefully - inside motor (and outside - but normally error 30 means inside motor). the most critical time of reassembly is to put the controller cover side back to the motor. I always take a strong flashlight during the last millimeters (when fitting sleeves match) and try to watch if I would squeeze some wire(s) or not.

hopefully problem are only squeezed wires...

Thx for your view. Trying to resolve.

Bike had 3200 km’s when the clutch broke.

I have a little more km but still working - of course with higher voltage and higher rpms to avoid clutch damage, the clutch can't melt like the nylon gear of BBSHD and might be the weakest part compared to the steel gears. You have a 48v battery and may I ask how many teeth your front chain ring has ? I guess 44t !?

another reason might also be the second critical time of assembly: putting the motor back in the frame. sometimes the battery wires or other wires may overlay the main harness cable (to display/throttle/brake switches -> big white plug). there is not much room between motor and frame so the wires are squeezed in that case. but i don't know exactly if this might also result in error 30 !? but it could be if just TX/RX signal is lost (TX or RX wire is damaged)...

cheers

This is the end result. Main gear is busted. Clutch is busted. Less than a year old bike sits useless. Contacted Frey. Let’s see their response. Wonderful.

 

[jeffdkeyes]

Grey...love the grey. I ordered mine in May - figuring out what color my wife would want was harder than anticipated.

What "extras" are you going to order?

Jeff

Yeah I saw a photo of the grey somewhere, looked pretty nice!
So far nothing too extreme with the extras or upgrades.

XL frame, upgraded to 29" wheels w/ Maxxis tires
Sram EX1 Groupset - seems expensive but the extra strength would be nice.
Gear sensor/lights

I'm sure I'll be upgrading much more once I receive it.

HT 1000 is done. AM 1000 is in production still (given my numerous changes, I'm OK with that) - but i did get a pic of the frame. Freaking love the color.
All in all, my communication experience has been great - primarily use the alibaba app. Reading comments in this thread makes me a little worried - but i'd expect some level of problems with any bike.

 

[Ecyclist]

that's a pity. how many km did your clutch ?

I saw this error before.
unfortunately during reassembling a friend of mine squeezed 3 of the white controller cables. not good. controller failure = 30. wires could be soldered again and failure was gone - everything ok.
that does not mean that you have squeezed cables during reassembling but I would highly recommend to examine each of the controller wires carefully - inside motor (and outside - but normally error 30 means inside motor). the most critical time of reassembly is to put the controller cover side back to the motor. I always take a strong flashlight during the last millimeters (when fitting sleeves match) and try to watch if I would squeeze some wire(s) or not.

hopefully problem are only squeezed wires...

Thx for your view. Trying to resolve.

Bike had 3200 km’s when the clutch broke.

I have a little more km but still working - of course with higher voltage and higher rpms to avoid clutch damage, the clutch can't melt like the nylon gear of BBSHD and might be the weakest part compared to the steel gears. You have a 48v battery and may I ask how many teeth your front chain ring has ? I guess 44t !?

another reason might also be the second critical time of assembly: putting the motor back in the frame. sometimes the battery wires or other wires may overlay the main harness cable (to display/throttle/brake switches -> big white plug). there is not much room between motor and frame so the wires are squeezed in that case. but i don't know exactly if this might also result in error 30 !? but it could be if just TX/RX signal is lost (TX or RX wire is damaged)...

cheers

This is the end result. Main gear is busted. Clutch is busted. Less than a year old bike sits useless. Contacted Frey. Let’s see their response. Wonderful.

Did you ever look at Chines scooters? I'm talking about these 50cc that you can buy for about $1000. After about a year of use they are done, dead, kaput.

 

[Daxxie]

This is the end result. Main gear is busted. Clutch is busted. Less than a year old bike sits useless. Contacted Frey. Let’s see their response. Wonderful.

How did you do that?
Do you have superpowers?
I really abuse my Ultra bike (2500W) and my clutch is like new.
Maybe I don't pedal hard enough?

Maybe to much grease?

 

[FlyingFinn]

This is the end result. Main gear is busted. Clutch is busted. Less than a year old bike sits useless. Contacted Frey. Let’s see their response. Wonderful.

How did you do that?
Do you have superpowers?
I really abuse my Ultra bike (2500W) and my clutch is like new.
Maybe I don't pedal hard enough?

Maybe to much grease?

See how thin the pawl is at the middle. The damage to the gear teething has been caused by abrasion done by the broken loose pawl pieces.

I am 6 ft 7” and weigh 250 pounds. Superpowers? Not really.

 

[FlyingFinn]

Thx for your view. Trying to resolve.

Bike had 3200 km’s when the clutch broke.

I have a little more km but still working - of course with higher voltage and higher rpms to avoid clutch damage, the clutch can't melt like the nylon gear of BBSHD and might be the weakest part compared to the steel gears. You have a 48v battery and may I ask how many teeth your front chain ring has ? I guess 44t !?

another reason might also be the second critical time of assembly: putting the motor back in the frame. sometimes the battery wires or other wires may overlay the main harness cable (to display/throttle/brake switches -> big white plug). there is not much room between motor and frame so the wires are squeezed in that case. but i don't know exactly if this might also result in error 30 !? but it could be if just TX/RX signal is lost (TX or RX wire is damaged)...

cheers

This is the end result. Main gear is busted. Clutch is busted. Less than a year old bike sits useless. Contacted Frey. Let’s see their response. Wonderful.

Did you ever look at Chines scooters? I'm talking about these 50cc that you can buy for about $1000. After about a year of use they are done, dead, kaput.

FYI This bike cost three times as much and is less than a year old.

 

[lemonsqualsh]

Does anyone know if there is any other way of sourcing the additional batteries other than going to Frey?

 

[jeffdkeyes]

Does anyone know if there is any other way of sourcing the additional batteries other than going to Frey?

Out of curioisity - What is the motivation to NOT go to Frey?

 

[lemonsqualsh]

Purely the shipping cost $150. Seems excessive.

 

[tsellers]

Purely the shipping cost $150. Seems excessive.

$150.00 is the cost of shipping by air, and that is the norm. Batteries cannot be shipped via air from China via the same services you may be used to paying for when you purchase consumer items on Ali Express, etc. Even if you found a seller that can offer the same case that Frey uses, it is unlikely you'll be able to land the item at less cost, even if they are domestic.

The price Frey charges for batteries is reasonable. So much so that when you buy your Frey bike and have it shipped by sea, it is worth it to buy the battery with it, because they can ship the battery with the bike. If they ship your bike by air, the battery cannot ship with the bike, and must go in a separate shipment declared as dangerous goods.

If you go with the 2nd method and have your bike shipped by air, then you ask Frey to sell you empty battery packs, and build your own. The advantage to starting with empty battery cases is you can build multiple packs and use newer technology, such as bluetooth BMS and 21700 cells. You can also use an empty pack as a connector to enable the use of unlimited external battery packs that are independent of form factor constraints, and configured the way you want them.

I did a video showing the process of building one such pack here.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/c-x3YC2Fv2g?list=PLDXT34Ltvhm_luesbIC6dA4Xb05aIU72j[/youtube]

Here is an example of the external battery pack system that I use where an empty case is used as the interface between the external battery and the bike by soldering 10 AWG to the contact points in the empty case (there is no Canbus integrated into their battery packs):

 

[lemonsqualsh]

Thanks for the info

 

[lemonsqualsh]

Does anyone know make and model what case the internal battery for the ex is though?

 

[H-habilis]

Does anyone know if there is any other way of sourcing the additional batteries other than going to Frey?

My 2.5 year old 17.5 ah battery is hanging in there, but a couple of months back I priced out a replacement with the following company and it was 40% cheaper than going through FLX. Many ebikers on the FB group "Ride FLX" have had positive battery buying experiences using Susie Cen who is a sales rep for aijiu power, a large battery builder servicing specific Chinese frame designs (Frey, FLX, more). She recently posted a thank you and promo letter to the aforementioned FB group. I'll repost it here.

"Hey friends,
I'm Susie, it's been a very long time since last time I posted here, but many friends still found me for batteries, thank you so much for your trust! Just hope you all fine! Safe, healthy and happy!
If you need backup batteries for your bike, I'm always here^_^.
36V 17AH for G1, 36V 27.2AH/48V 20.4AH for G2 and 48V 13.6AH for G3 trail. You can check details with me to see which one is fit for your bike. Any batteries with REENTION case logo, we can provide you.
Dorado Max batteries are still very popular, we got an order from a US company for Magnum bike. 100pcs by Sanyo 35GA cells and 50pcs by Samsung 35E cells, for diferent customer needs. This battery (48V 20.4AH) can use max 30A BMS for 1000W motor.
Any of you interested can contact with me by message or email: susie@aijiupower.com
Thank you!
Susie"

 

[lemonsqualsh]

Thanks

 

[tsellers]

I have to import a lot of Li-Ion cells (not primarily for eBike use, which is just something I do recreationally). For example, our current order is for 1000 cells, which is more than your average consumer. The biggest challenges are getting cells that are not counterfeit, and ensuring the supplier follows proper procedure when shipping so that you as the consignee does not show up on a manifest and end up as complicent and criminally negligent if things go south:

It's always a good idea when dealing with a new supplier to exercise some due diligence and inquire as to what shipping protocols they use in spite of seeming glowing reviews from social media sites.

This Link from 2015 about this subject is still largely relevant, and very informative.

 

[Ecyclist]

I have a little more km but still working - of course with higher voltage and higher rpms to avoid clutch damage, the clutch can't melt like the nylon gear of BBSHD and might be the weakest part compared to the steel gears. You have a 48v battery and may I ask how many teeth your front chain ring has ? I guess 44t !?

another reason might also be the second critical time of assembly: putting the motor back in the frame. sometimes the battery wires or other wires may overlay the main harness cable (to display/throttle/brake switches -> big white plug). there is not much room between motor and frame so the wires are squeezed in that case. but i don't know exactly if this might also result in error 30 !? but it could be if just TX/RX signal is lost (TX or RX wire is damaged)...

cheers

This is the end result. Main gear is busted. Clutch is busted. Less than a year old bike sits useless. Contacted Frey. Let’s see their response. Wonderful.

Did you ever look at Chines scooters? I'm talking about these 50cc that you can buy for about $1000. After about a year of use they are done, dead, kaput.

FYI This bike cost three times as much and is less than a year old.

Yes, it is very expensive especially considering it is a Chinese junk. That was exactly my point.
You can buy like new Haibike for that money.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/d/diamond-bar-haibike-xduro-full-seven/7169167792.html
I just build my own e-bike.

 

[FlyingFinn]

Yes, it is very expensive especially considering it is a Chinese junk. That was exactly my point.
You can buy like new Haibike for that money.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/d/diamond-bar-haibike-xduro-full-seven/7169167792.html
I just build my own e-bike.

I get your point. If you don’t like to tinker get a HaiBike with warranty.

I like to tinker and mod. I like my bike to house a self repairable ecosystem. Then I like to go fast and have serious power reserves available if I happen to be ”on the mood”. It’s nice to overtake mopeds with an ebike. To see the teenagers faces to go from WTF?! to pure anger and dissatisfaction.

Frey will send me a new clutch and main gear under warranty. My only complaints go to Bafang. Why on earth you put motor grease on to freewheels!? The grease in freewheel must be like oil. Very thin. Otherwise the clutch will be destroyed by time...

Second thing I’m getting is the Exess motherboard. Going to get Shimano-like smoothness coupled with Bafang’s lovely torque and raw power. What more can you dream of?

In total I’ve spent now 5500€ to my Frey FAT. With that amount I could have bought a HaiBike FullFatSix off the shelf. Hell no! I ain’t regrettin anything! This is my rebellian way. Not many people can say that their bike goes 40 mph without pedaling and still looks a bike!

 

[Durtdemon]

This is the end result. Main gear is busted. Clutch is busted. Less than a year old bike sits useless. Contacted Frey. Let’s see their response. Wonderful.

Did you ever look at Chines scooters? I'm talking about these 50cc that you can buy for about $1000. After about a year of use they are done, dead, kaput.

FYI This bike cost three times as much and is less than a year old.

Yes, it is very expensive especially considering it is a Chinese junk. That was exactly my point.
You can buy like new Haibike for that money.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/d/diamond-bar-haibike-xduro-full-seven/7169167792.html
I just build my own e-bike.

Actually the list of problems with haibikes is very long. There will always be problems with some units of a product.
What you need to look at is if that is the norm with the product. If the product is consistently breaking down then yes, it is a problem. A bafang ultra falling apart like this is not something we see often, actually not even heard of before. Is the Bosch motor better than the bafang ultra? IDK but you can not compare them to eachother because they are two completely different platforms designed to do different things. Apples to oranges. If I wanted a 250 watt bike I would buy one. Then maybe I would look at a Bosch. I would also love to go over the sources of most of the parts on a haibike. Probably mostly Chinese anyway.