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Montague M-E1 Poorly Built?

Old 07-17-22, 06:49 PM
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BROOKLINEBIKER
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Montague M-E1 Poorly Built?

I went to my local bike shop and asked to take a Montague M-E1 out for a test ride. I was told they no longer carry them because there had been customer complaints and build problems. They mentioned headsets specfically.
Does anyone know anything about this? (I had been pretty excited about the concept.)
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Old 07-23-22, 09:33 AM
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They seem spec'ed out pretty nicely , but at $4K should not be giving a service issue
Serviceability could be a big deal on a small run exotic proprietary style
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Old 07-23-22, 01:52 PM
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Originally Posted by bikebikebike
They seem spec'ed out pretty nicely , but at $4K should not be giving a service issue
Serviceability could be a big deal on a small run exotic proprietary style
Thanks!
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Old 07-23-22, 02:38 PM
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Very surprising. Headsets, IMO, are one of the easiest to adjust, least stressed parts on a bike. I've still got the original in my 1985 Fuji, which has been "electrified" with a BBS02.
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Old 07-23-22, 09:29 PM
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Speaking of headsets. Blix is terrible. Literally they have an almost threaded style headset but it is threadless as far I know. We loosened bolts and tightened the adjustment and it is still rocking back and forth like a cradle.

That Montague looks like it could have headset issues. Never really been a fan of their stuff but that bike looked semi-promising at least it had decent entry level parts and a known quantity motor from Shimano but folding stuff can be tough because you want to make it small but you can't just copy Tern directly.
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Old 07-24-22, 09:48 PM
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Originally Posted by veganbikes
Speaking of headsets. Blix is terrible. Literally they have an almost threaded style headset but it is threadless as far I know. We loosened bolts and tightened the adjustment and it is still rocking back and forth like a cradle.

That Montague looks like it could have headset issues. Never really been a fan of their stuff but that bike looked semi-promising at least it had decent entry level parts and a known quantity motor from Shimano but folding stuff can be tough because you want to make it small but you can't just copy Tern directly.
Can you explain why the design looks poor to you? What are you seeing specifically?
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Old 07-29-22, 08:30 PM
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Originally Posted by BROOKLINEBIKER
Can you explain why the design looks poor to you? What are you seeing specifically?
That weird stem thing looks like it doesn't have much adjustment. Maybe their is a top cap and maybe a way to adjust preload and maybe even a way to adjust the stem but I can't see anything from the pictures that indicates that and it certainly looks like non-standard parts.
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Old 07-29-22, 09:06 PM
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Originally Posted by veganbikes
That weird stem thing looks like it doesn't have much adjustment. Maybe their is a top cap and maybe a way to adjust preload and maybe even a way to adjust the stem but I can't see anything from the pictures that indicates that and it certainly looks like non-standard parts.
So you're concerned the headset offers only a limited range of adjustment or is nonadjustable?
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Old 07-29-22, 09:14 PM
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Originally Posted by BROOKLINEBIKER
So you're concerned the headset offers only a limited range of adjustment or is nonadjustable?
Something that is not adjustable is not good or if like the BLIX is not safely adjustable and not well thought out yes I would be very concerned. I like standard parts generally and I know to a point folding bikes don't use totally standard parts but usually they at least they are adjustable like a normal stem.
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