stmalk

Hello,


I own a Blix Vika+ folding ebike for around 2 months now and at this point a major issue occured with it and I'm lost to be frank.

When I pedal or just cruise without pedaling, rear wheel makes annoying clicking noise, almost at every spin. I attach a video, and since then this issue only intensified, now it's basically every spin. When I spin the wheel without load though, there is no noise at all. It is for sure not related to pedals or drivetrain as it happens when I just sit on a bike and roll, not even touching pedals.


Here is the funny part - I contacted Blix and they directed me to their local dealer. After holding a bike there for 2 weeks, a dealer stated they were unable to recreate the issue and a bike is perfectly normal. Even though they saw a video I sent them. I'm not even sure what to do at this point. I have a feeling the issue is either a loose spoke (which I couldn't locate) or something broke inside the engine, maybe bearing inside the wheel itself? Nothing looks lose or wobbly much when I inspected it, so again, I'm pretty lost at this point and don't even know if it's safe to ride.


Anyway, maybe you could hint what is wrong with the bike?


Noises start at 0:52 on this video:



And here is a video where I check the wheel, spin it without load and inspect all parts around it:




Thank you in advance.

FLEX6700

I bought two Vika+ bikes a few months ago. One of my two Vika+'s began making a click-click-click noise around the rear tire, on the first ride. (Tires were inflated to 5psi under their max rating.) Two miles into the first ride the rear tire exploded (sounded like a shot gun). Since our family was planning on leaving for a vacation in a couple days I needed to get the bike fixed fast so I took it to a local bike shop. Upon inspection I learned one of the beads inside the tire (metal bands) had broken and punctured the Intertube and which caused the blow out. The damage was obvious once the tube and tube were removed. Of course both rear tire and tube were toast. Cost to repair, parts and labor came to approximately $100. I contacted Blix about my tire failure and sent photos of the damaged tire. The Blix representative as very apologetic and sent me a $100 Gift certificate toward Blix accessories. (Thank you!)

It's possible this same scenario might be happening to your Vika+. I suggest carefully inspecting between your rim and tire (wear safety goggles when your face is close to the tire), and look for any bulges or uneven anomalies that may be causing your clicking noise. If you see any bugling or a wire bead sticking out the tire. Get the tire replaced immediately.

By the way, upon unpacking my Vika+ bikes I found several pieces of loose hardware, in fact, one bolt that attaches the battery mount to the frame had come completely loose in shipment and had lodged in the battery mount electrical contact pins. Luckily I noticed this before trying to insert the battery! This loose hex bolt prompted me to work from one end of the bike to the other (on each of our two bikes), taking each bolt loose, applying blue Loctite, and reinserting and securely tightening the hardware. This included fender hardware, lights, rear rack bolts, battery mounting assembly, etc. During this process I found several other bolts that were loose and fenders that needed to be centered on the tires. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking against Blix or their products. They're great! But do I highly suggest anyone buying any bike, especially bought through the mail, to go through this process.

Hope this helps!

kwalt88

Did you ever figure this out? I feel like mine is making the same noise...

FLEX6700

Yes, The noise I experience ended up being a broken metal bead inside the edge of the rear tire (the bead is a metal wire). After only my first few miles this broken bead ended up puncturing the inner tube resulting in a loud BANG as the rear tire blew out. The bad news was, I ended up having to walk my bike home, and had a local bike shop install a new tire and tube. The good news is, seeing as my Vika+ was nearly brand new, the Blix company reimbursed me for the cost of the repair. Great folks. After the tire and tube were replaced the clicking noise was gone.

If your bike has this same issue its pretty easy to find. Just spin the tire and look carefully around both sides of the rim where the tire and rim meet. If you see an area where the tire doesn't look to be seated properly and/or is bulging out in an area around the rim, you probably have broken tire bead, and odds are you can expect your tire to blow out eventually.

GL

P.S. By the way, the sound I was hearing before my rear tire blow out was exactly like Stamlk's video above. I suspect the clicking noise is the the broken metal tire bead, scraping against the tire rim.

creativepart

I had a Vika + and it didn't make this sound... by my DIY rear hub drive Specialized Crosstrail did and it turned out to be some loose spokes.

It doesn't make the noise when you walk with the bike, but when you sit on it your weight makes the loose spokes creak and click.

You can get a spoke tool and tighten them yourself, but be careful you don't get your wheel out of true. Any bike shop can handle this for you.

The torque of the rear hub drive motor puts a lot of stress on the spokes.

stmalk

Yes, these were lose spokes. Weirdly that store couldn't figure that out or they just didn't bother to even check.
And they kept reporting back to Blix that everything is A-OK.
I went to another store and they immediately found what the issue was. Tightened those up and it was gone.

FLEX6700

I didn't have loose spokes on either one of my two Vika+ bikes, but it doesn't surprise me to hear this. When I pulled my bikes out of their boxes I found a lot of loose hardware, in fact some of the hardware that holds the battery connection unit to the frame had completely fallen out during shipment and these screws had wedged themselves into the electrical connections. Luckily I saw the loose hardware before I attempted to insert a battery. When I found the loose battery hardware I decided to go completely through both my bikes, front to back, and used Loctite on all the hardware, even the small hardware that holds the fenders on (which I found to be loose too). I highly recommend taking the time to use Loctite on ALL the hardware.

On the the plus side, after getting my tire issue repaired and using Loctite on all the hardware, I haven't had any other problems with either of my Vika+'s in over a year of use.

Chuckles1

I think I have the same issue on my Bafang rear hub drive. At first I thought it was the chain, but then noticed it happens when using throttle and not peddling. Can't reproduce the noise by lifting bike and spinning wheel. Will check for loose spokes and broken bead. Thanks for posting this thread. I was thinking a nylon gear had broken a tooth that was rattling inside motor/ hub.

Chuckles1

Thanks again to the OP for the thread, and to Creativepart for providing the solution. As I mentioned, my Bafang rear hub drive (kit conversion) was doing this. Yesterday, after dousing spoke threads and base of spoke where it protrudes through rim with WD-40, I went over the spokes and snugged all the loose ones. Took it out for a 45 mile ride yesterday, and it was blissfully quiet. With disc brakes, Im not concerned if it's a bit out of true; I didn't notice any issue, and will dismount tire and true it in a few weeks once it's too cold to ride any more.

I'd have figured it out at some point, but you saved me who knows how much time and worry. Cheers!

2old

In order to avoid removing the wheel and tire (never fun IMO), I've clamped, taped, whatever a "feeler gauge" to the rear stay(s) and trued using it. In the old days with linear brakes, I just used the brakes for this purpose.