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E-Bike Maintenance...

Old 07-01-22, 07:20 AM
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Moisture
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E-Bike Maintenance...

I have a Trek E bike with the Bosch mid motor system. Almost 2500km now.

So far all I've replaced mechanically was the rear cassette and chain.

The front brake pads are nearing replacement. I'll need to replace the rear tire pretty soon. Im also planning to replace the front chainring.

Bike sees a pretty hard riding schedule with grocery hauls, hills and lots of acceleration.

Motor performance seems to be pretty solid over this past year. I am noticing a small reduction in overall battery life. I keep the battery charged between 20-80% to minimize long term wear/drainage issues.
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Old 07-11-22, 10:06 AM
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Did the replace drivetrain components meet your expectations? I just bought a mid motor ebike. I ask because my online research has me believing that chains failures are higher. Having my ebike for only a week, I’m still getting acquainted with it. Also, you estimate about 20-30 battery recharging so far? Thank for sharing your metrics.
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Old 07-11-22, 10:15 AM
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thats pretty low wear. on a bosch system. on my commutes with and without groceries I would get 2000 to 2500 hundred miles on a chain using a dry lube I would lose 500 miles in the winter rains. but I also got 12,000 on the drive train before the chain ring started jamming. I think the cassette may have handled one more chain but I had all the parts so I changed everything out. You should not be seeing battery range loss. I would just let the battery fully charge unless your going weeks between rides. I have only seen a small loss on mine after 14,000 miles and expect a lot more miles on it.
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Old 07-11-22, 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by fooferdoggie
…I would get 2000 to 2500 hundred miles on a chain using a dry lube I would lose 500 miles in the winter rains. but I also got 12,000 on the drive train before the chain ring started jamming.
2000 hundred miles or 200,000 miles is impressive. Or do you mean 20-25 hundred miles. BTW, I think 2500km (1550 miles I believe) seem low too.
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Old 07-11-22, 01:34 PM
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Originally Posted by jlmonte
2000 hundred miles or 200,000 miles is impressive. Or do you mean 20-25 hundred miles. BTW, I think 2500km (1550 miles I believe) seem low too.
2000 thousand miles sorry. our bosch powered tandem we get around 2000 miles per chains too.
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Old 07-11-22, 02:09 PM
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Originally Posted by jlmonte
2000 hundred miles or 200,000 miles is impressive. Or do you mean 20-25 hundred miles. BTW, I think 2500km (1550 miles I believe) seem low too.
2000 thousand miles sorry. our bosch powered tandem we get around 2000 miles per chains too.
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Old 07-11-22, 02:48 PM
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Originally Posted by jlmonte
Did the replace drivetrain components meet your expectations? I just bought a mid motor ebike. I ask because my online research has me believing that chains failures are higher. Having my ebike for only a week, I’m still getting acquainted with it. Also, you estimate about 20-30 battery recharging so far? Thank for sharing your metrics.
So far I have decided to leave my front chainring stock. the change in gearing (from stock 11-36 to 12-36 worked really well in the relatively flat area I used to live in, but my bike would be better suited to the original 11-36 cassette the bike came with.)

My original chain was worn only about 0.6% percent before I replaced it at around 1700km. It could have done much more, (I still have it and will use it again one day), but I did not want to add any extra wear on my current cassette, which was replaced at around 1000KM.

I have charged the battery much more, than just 20-30 times,
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Old 07-12-22, 08:04 PM
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150mm Stem - Trek Verve +2

After about half a year of riding pretty regularly on the 110mm stem I got off eBay, i jumped on this 150mm Tioga stem pictured in the photo below. It feels much better now. The 5cm drop/rise in my swept back bars brought the grips either a bit too low, or too high up for long distance riding, so I chose something with a few degree rise.

Seems to feel really good as it is now, gives me the space to stretch out without the unnecessary handlebar drop from before. Once I feel it's time to change again, I figure the entire bike will need to be replaced.


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Old 07-13-22, 05:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Moisture
I have a Trek E bike with the Bosch mid motor system. Almost 2500km now.
So far all I've replaced mechanically was the rear cassette and chain.
You used up a cassette in 1553 miles? The only way to do that is by running a seriously worn chain. If you clean and lubricate your chain properly and measure chain wear as it is happening, replacing the chain as soon as it hits the first wear mark on the chain and well before you reach the second, your cassette should easily last for at least three changes of chains. This is a pretty big deal, when you consider how much cassettes for e-bikes cost. The Deore XT M8000 cassette on my e-bike is typically just over $100, while chains usually are about $40. I suggest you get yourself a good chain wear tool, like the Park CC3.2. It's around $12


Replace the chain when it reaches 0.5 (that is, when the 0.5 pin fits into the chain) and before it reaches 0.75 and you not only won't be replacing chains before it's necessary, you also will be able to reduce the number of cassettes you replace. Basically, this tool pays for itself the first time you use it.
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Old 07-13-22, 08:11 AM
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Originally Posted by palincss
You used up a cassette in 1553 miles? The only way to do that is by running a seriously worn chain. If you clean and lubricate your chain properly and measure chain wear as it is happening, replacing the chain as soon as it hits the first wear mark on the chain and well before you reach the second, your cassette should easily last for at least three changes of chains. This is a pretty big deal, when you consider how much cassettes for e-bikes cost. The Deore XT M8000 cassette on my e-bike is typically just over $100, while chains usually are about $40. I suggest you get yourself a good chain wear tool, like the Park CC3.2. It's around $12


Replace the chain when it reaches 0.5 (that is, when the 0.5 pin fits into the chain) and before it reaches 0.75 and you not only won't be replacing chains before it's necessary, you also will be able to reduce the number of cassettes you replace. Basically, this tool pays for itself the first time you use it.
Hey man, I believe I mentioned earlier that the original cassette was replaced to try a slightly different ratio spread. It was showing some signs of wear, but still had plenty of life left.

My chain checker tool only has a side for 0.75, and 1.0 . I replaced my first chain when it was almost able to slide into 0.75, but not quite unless I pushed harder onto the tool.

The pins on my current chain vary in wear rate from 0.15 up to 0.4 or 0.5 in some areas. The bike will shift pretty roughly under power when downshifting, which probably explains the uneven wear rate.

My new chain is otherwise well oiled and kept fairly clean. It hasn't really seen any rain since installing a few months ago. The mid drive system places a ton of extra stress onto the drivetrain, especially if you place the motor under higher load conditions or shift through the cassette frequently.

Assuming I replace the chain every 2000km, I would expect almost 7000km on my 1x chainring, and maybe about 5000km out of the cassette before the entire drivetrain would need to be refreshed. Considering the huge amount of stress the drivetrain is placed under, which is otherwise not specially designed for E-Bike motors, those figures minus the horrendous chain wear rate, seem pretty good.
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Old 07-13-22, 11:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Moisture
Hey man, I believe I mentioned earlier that the original cassette was replaced to try a slightly different ratio spread. It was showing some signs of wear, but still had plenty of life left.
No, I didn't see that. That, of course, makes a big difference.
Originally Posted by Moisture
My chain checker tool only has a side for 0.75, and 1.0 . I replaced my first chain when it was almost able to slide into 0.75, but not quite unless I pushed harder onto the tool.
They revised the figures downward for 10, 11 and 12 speed, I believe. It probably makes sense to upgrade to the new criteria even if you're running a 9 speed.

Originally Posted by Moisture
The pins on my current chain vary in wear rate from 0.15 up to 0.4 or 0.5 in some areas. The bike will shift pretty roughly under power when downshifting, which probably explains the uneven wear rate.

My new chain is otherwise well oiled and kept fairly clean. It hasn't really seen any rain since installing a few months ago. The mid drive system places a ton of extra stress onto the drivetrain, especially if you place the motor under higher load conditions or shift through the cassette frequently.

Assuming I replace the chain every 2000km, I would expect almost 7000km on my 1x chainring, and maybe about 5000km out of the cassette before the entire drivetrain would need to be refreshed. Considering the huge amount of stress the drivetrain is placed under, which is otherwise not specially designed for E-Bike motors, those figures minus the horrendous chain wear rate, seem pretty good.
I don't know about 1x, although since I now have a 1x e-bike myself I expect I'll be finding out -- but with double and triple cranks on unassisted bikes, 20,000 - 30,000 miles would not be unusual chainring life. Of course, e-bikes vary a lot, but with mine (1x11, Fazua Evation drive) I'm not really seeing huge amounts of stress on the drivetrain, and at 1500 miles my chain isn't showing any appreciable wear. But, time will tell.
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Old 07-13-22, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
The combo of e-bike, overweight, poor fitness and sloppy shifting will result in component wear that far exceeds that experienced by a normal cyclist on a pedal bike. I wouldn't worry about it, just lay in plenty of spares and replace stuff when needed.
sigh, does passively putting down others really help make you feel better, shelby?
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Old 07-13-22, 03:01 PM
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Well heck, I'll just delete the post if you don't appreciate the help. Carry on....
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