My Bafang Ultra Mountain Bike! Frey AM1000

[leedavis]

The AM1000 I received in April now has 700 miles. It's been 100% reliable and a lot of fun. Here I am on the trail yesterday... (if it plays at low res change it with the "settings")

[youtube]NSs39O8_r-o[/youtube]

 

[Hardcore]

The AM1000 I received in April now has 700 miles. It's been 100% reliable and a lot of fun. Here I am on the trail yesterday... (if it plays at low res change it with the "settings")

It almost looks like you should be riding in the opposite direction, not afraid of someone coming your way?

 

[efMX Trials Electric Freeride]

that's the best part about ebikes imo, riding UP the downhill sections at similar speeds as down them..

 

[leedavis]

The AM1000 I received in April now has 700 miles. It's been 100% reliable and a lot of fun. Here I am on the trail yesterday... (if it plays at low res change it with the "settings")

It almost looks like you should be riding in the opposite direction, not afraid of someone coming your way?

It's a two directional trail and I'm riding in the preferred direction to put the least stress on the surface when it's been raining, which we've had a lot of in the southeast. With that said I've had to hit the binders and make way for somebody coming in the opposite direction more than once. It goes with the territory. eMTB doesn't have a great reputation with many MTB riders so I always yield.

 

[jeron]

The pre and after sales support has been excellent, i ordered a full bike and a lot of European business's are MUCH worse in after sales. Frey is really responsive and i would not hesitate to buy again.

 

[Hardcore]

I figured, I've had the same experience here but also sometimes when I was the other one coming down while ebikers are going up.
Going up hill is definitely another experience but going up at 20 while another is going down at 30 makes an impact pretty devastating and with all the trees. I just ordered knee pads, full face helmet and other protective gear as I've had too many near misses that I think I'm going to go faster than my guardian angel can follow.

WIth regards to the frame ordering, I have a frame sitting in the box here on which I'll do the same measurements to check but yeah after-sales service for fully build bikes has been nothing but excellent from Frey. Buying frames from China is always an iffy situation, I've seen atleast two other posts on this forum about the things that go wrong from other vendors.

 

[jeron]

I’ve been playing with the gearing a little bit and increased the size of the chainring (from 40T, to 42T and now 46T) - for me this now puts it in my sweet spot as 60% of the time I am in the middle cog on the rear cassette (optimal chainline) but have the flexibility of the higher and lower ranges if I’m going fast on-road or making steep ascents off-road. It also means the running gear should last me longer. I’ve done 300miles of varied riding on mine without any problems. With that revised gearing it now does 40mph on the flat!

Can you provide a link to the 46T chainring you bought?

 

[Stanleybb50]

Funny that I'm likely gonna be on the lookout for a smaller chainring when mine arrives.

*Which looks like Monday now... :|

 

[Sinbord1981]

:thumb:

 

[Sinbord1981]

:thumb:

 

[TomAl]

Does anyone have experience on this fatbike?
I like the frame and would like to order if they upgrade some components.

http://leiliebike.com/content/?209.html

 

[Hardcore]

On the topic of hitting local trails:
[youtube]cUMg7pVgE9E[/youtube]

 

[cscscs]

About you mentioned adapter(To be honest,I even don't know what it is, it seems there is no this parts name in motor set)

[/quote]

I've given up trying to negotiate an equitable solution, and Frey will not respond to my inquiries on Alibaba messaging (which I find highly unprofessional), so it's pointless to perpetuate the banter, except I can't ignore the blatant lies in their replies, the above statement being one example. Frey says the "don't even know what {the adapter I mentioned) is. Well here is a snapshot of the lengthy discussion I had with Frey about said adapter....you be the judge:

 

[cscscs]

Also finding something suspicious about the Rockshox Monarch rear shock supplied by Frey - when I entered the serial number into Rockshox's online tuning app, it returned the message that the "serial number entered not found. This could be caused by an inaccurate entry or the number corresponds to a replacement part" I also had a LBS try and they got the same result and could not explain why - they said I should bring it in so they could inspect it to see if it is genuine. Anyone else see this with their Frey-supplied shocks? It may just be that since my order was "special" that they sourced the frame and shock from their bin of seconds?

 

[cscscs]

Me out on my Frey AM1000 tonight, hitting some local trails in the UK.

This bike is amazing!

[youtube]MMi327VA3ac[/youtube]

Nice! For those who have never ridden an ebike - especially a torque sensing one - it's hard to explain how enjoyable it is.
Your motor is unusually loud - an indication of lack of grease - there are some posts about how Bafang ships with too little grease. I don't know if this affects wear although it will likely need to be serviced sooner. Looks like there is still room on your bars for more stuff - maybe a cup holder or a flagpole

 

[FREYebikes]

Hi,

About how to check the shock number, we will check with SRAM on Monday. today Saturday is not available.

Regards,
Ivy

Also finding something suspicious about the Rockshox Monarch rear shock supplied by Frey - when I entered the serial number into Rockshox's online tuning app, it returned the message that the "serial number entered not found. This could be caused by an inaccurate entry or the number corresponds to a replacement part" I also had a LBS try and they got the same result and could not explain why - they said I should bring it in so they could inspect it to see if it is genuine. Anyone else see this with their Frey-supplied shocks? It may just be that since my order was "special" that they sourced the frame and shock from their bin of seconds?

 

[Hardcore]

Also finding something suspicious about the Rockshox Monarch rear shock supplied by Frey - when I entered the serial number into Rockshox's online tuning app, it returned the message that the "serial number entered not found. This could be caused by an inaccurate entry or the number corresponds to a replacement part" I also had a LBS try and they got the same result and could not explain why - they said I should bring it in so they could inspect it to see if it is genuine. Anyone else see this with their Frey-supplied shocks? It may just be that since my order was "special" that they sourced the frame and shock from their bin of seconds?

Same problem here for the rockshox deluxe rl on a full bike bought directly from frey, https://trailhead.rockshox.com/en/specs/08T80856394

while the Lyrik fork had no problem being found.

 

[barbarossa]

Also finding something suspicious about the Rockshox Monarch rear shock supplied by Frey - when I entered the serial number into Rockshox's online tuning app, it returned the message that the "serial number entered not found. This could be caused by an inaccurate entry or the number corresponds to a replacement part" I also had a LBS try and they got the same result and could not explain why - they said I should bring it in so they could inspect it to see if it is genuine. Anyone else see this with their Frey-supplied shocks? It may just be that since my order was "special" that they sourced the frame and shock from their bin of seconds?

Same problem here for the rockshox deluxe rl on a full bike bought directly from frey, https://trailhead.rockshox.com/en/specs/08T80856394

while the Lyrik fork had no problem being found.

it seems to be for forks only - not for rear shocks. clicking on the ‚i‘ serial number fork location is shown...

 

[Hardcore]

thanks for clearing that up

 

[cscscs]

ditto - thanks for clarifying - I see now on SRAM's website it says the app is only for 2018+ forks - I owe Frey an apology for that one...I guess my "shopping experience" has made me paranoid

 

[Sinbord1981]

:thumb:

 

[barbarossa]

Regards the lack of grease, maybe I will crack the motor open soon. This is the second gen GS510 though, so at least it'll have the all steel gears. Have you opened yours and repacked with grease? I have watched the videos and it seems a fair amount of work, possibly needing to drop the motor out the frame to work it on a bench. I've got the crank arm puller but will need to sort out a removal tool for the spider retaining collar. Any recommendation for the spec of grease and did you also replace the gaskets on reassembly? I do plan to crack the motor open myself in a few months to check on wear so will probably wait until then to do it. Do you have a video of yours so I can judge how noisy mine is in comparison? Cheers buddy. It's a shame then not a grease nipple on the block so you can do it without needing to open it all up but I guess it will need a good clean out and degrease before re-packing anyhow.

hi, i have seen you have the 52V battery. motor has higher rpm and is a little louder with fully charged battery instead of using a 48V battery. my setup is a little different:48V battery with 45A current (shunt mod) - but i think my motor is even with the resulting 2000w a little quieter. But hard to say based on just a video.
yes, you have to drop the motor out of the frame to grease it. i would not say regrease because there is not much grease inside .

motor disassembly from frame:
1) remove your ISIS cranks.
2) using a chain wipe and a bottom bracket tool (i recommend buying a nut,Hollowtec II 1/2“) you can open your spider nut. clock wise (!)
3) remove the 3 nuts of your 3 screws holding the motor. dont forget the 3 washers.
4) put something under your motor to hold it when screws are loose.
4) now one of the more difficult tasks: knock out the 3 screws evenly. i always use a ratchet extension and a hammer.
5) disconnect cables
6) to put it together again you have to reconnect your cables. Check all functions, use your throttle, motor should turn very,very slow - thats normal without speed sensor . attention: dont squeeze your cables. your motor screws should go through easily (the first 2 cm). take an allen key nut to knock in the 3 screws evenly with a hammer.

motor disassembly: just unscrew the 5 or 6 screws holding the 2 motor parts (motor- and controller-side) together. carefully separate the 2 parts - attention: the 2 parts are still connected by controller cables - just for greasing you dont have to separate the cables. take care of the gasket while separating. you can clean the gasket with alcohol and reuse it. take out the 2 small gears, holding both gears at the same time and lift them gently - it is easier to grease then. clean all sealing surfaces with alcohol.
grease it like hell (!). then put it all together again - there are 2 dowel pins so you cant do it wrong. i used 5nm torque for the motor screws.

I use liqui moly LM47 ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/293068815879 ). so far it is not loud and i have no problems. i used around 2x tubes of liqui moly - putting grease in all holes. maybe too much but it works...and i dont know the reason for having air around the gears...
but perhaps there are some other experiences...that would be interesting…

 

[cscscs]

Good writeup on the disassembly. I've had mine apart a half dozen times or more. When it was new it was a bit louder than I had expected and I read about the grease issue so cracked it open to have a look and it was definitely lacking grease. I got some Mobilgrease 28 which is supposed to cling to the gears better. Since then I have had two freewheels disintegrate (broken teeth); I now pedal with greater care to try to avoid this as it appears to be a weak point (a requirement for my next emtb will be it must have a sprag type freewheel - I know bosch and brose employ this mechanism). I also noticed that the outer bearings - especially on the drive side - have no seals - only a shield - so not very well protected from the elements and the outer bearing on the first primary gear that I replaced (with the freewheel) was developing a fair amount of corrosion. I'm convinced washing the bike with water generally does more harm than good and try to just dry brush and wipe down when possible. Regarding removal of the drive-side lock ring, a trick I came up with is to remove the motor and then reattach the chainring guard to the spider without the chainring and clamp the guard in my bench vice (with tape to avoid marring) and then I can use my torque wrench to loosen the lockring - same for reassembly. Reassembly can be a challenge - probably positioning the bike upside down would help but I have not found a way to clamp my bike in the work stand upside down so what I do instead is position the motor so that I can insert a small-diameter dowel or rod (I use my long T-handle 2.5 mm allen key) through the frame and motor in place of the front-most mounting bolt; this holds the motor in place with enough play so you can route and connect the wiring. Then you can push the motor into place and install the rear bolt, then the middle, then the front. A little fresh grease on the mounting bolts will help avoid creaking.

 

[Stanleybb50]

First - if Grace reads this, I will mark received tomorrow after I assemble. I just picked it up at FedEx today and quickly pulled it all out of the box when I got home with my kids, and my first impression is.....

So worth it! So absolutely flipping worth it. I'm very impressed to be honest with you. I know it was NOT a small amount of money spent, but I have absolutely no regrets from the spend as it all appears from unboxing!

I'll try to update and also try to get an image hosted going and post some pics, but I'm very impressed! I feel like a kid looking at it.

 

[Marmalade]

I also noticed that the outer bearings - especially on the drive side - have no seals - only a shield - so not very well protected from the elements and the outer bearing on the first primary gear that I replaced (with the freewheel) was developing a fair amount of corrosion. I'm convinced washing the bike with water generally does more harm than good and try to just dry brush and wipe down when possible.

Agree. However the dust covers can easily be removed with a thin knife blade to do a periodic bearing clean and regrease without removing the motor.. It's pretty amazing how much muck gets in those and the suspension pivot bearings.

Also the large dia bearing on the motors clutch gear seems to be pressed in too tightly... my previous motor had the inner race spinning on the torque sensor retainer housing. A bit of blue loctite stopped it.

And the 3 pawl clutch/freehubs....you should have seen the state of the ones that were/replaced, def not made to cope with 1kw. Weakest parts of the whole bike imo and prone to eventual failure if used carelessly above eco3.

Having said that it's a great bike. I've seen just as many mechanical woes with brand name e-mtbs.