Answered Kona Remote Ctrl: issues, straight out of the box :( help?

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

Hi all. I am mightily confused by the apparent build quality on my kona, and set up from the shop. Any help here would be much appreciated I want to get riding but also don't want to wreck the thing on its first outing! Unfortunately there were zero manuals supplied so its down to you guys and google to solve these...

1. The rubber cover over the charging port does not fit snugly and will not seal against any form of moisture- is this normal?
2. Fitting the battery- seems difficult and doesn't want to go in without forcing it- is there a technique?
3. Fitting the downtube battery cover- this doesn't appear to be held in place with anything- it has tabs which will grab the battery and a rubber part which says 'lock' however there is nothing for this to lock into. I see also that the tabs can be attached to screws fitted to grooves along the battery however none of these were spplied and in any case it looks like this would inhibit the fitting of the battery? Is friction alone sufficient to hold the cover onto the battery?
4. The downtube cover when held in place by hand has gaps at the top and the bottom, and the rubber 'lock' cover also does not close snugly, which will let lots of moisture in- is this normal? It's almost as though the cover is from a different bike...
5. The front brake is rubbing- it's clearly been knocked and scraped in transit as it is badly gouged and paint has worn off. I have pushed the pads back in as the pistons had come out due to the seperator falling out (I removed pads and pushed with the handle of a table knife) and re-centralised the caliper (loosened bolts, held brake on, tightened bolts) however it is still rubbing- is there a better technique for either of these?
6. The forks came with next to no air in them, I've pumped them up to 110 psi but they still appear to be sagging by about 5-10mm just sitting there- is this normal?
7. The motor makes a clunk when the bike is wheeled backwards- is that just slack in the motor being taken up?

Unfortunately the retailer (winstanleys bikes) has closed their phone lines and is being super slow in repying to emails, if at all- so I'm not counting on their help.

Cheers for reading and I hope you can help!

 

[deksawyer]

My only advice to you is, to get in touch with Winstanleys ASAP and have the bike returned for a refund, and buy something local if you can.

That looks like a whole catalogue of disasters, big & small.

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

yeah I've dropped them an email whih unfortunately is the best I can do as they have shut all their phone lines.

My mrs is visiting her sister on the weekend, who happens to live a half hour from the retailer. I may tag along with the bike and ask for a refund.

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

edit- I've found the screws for holding the batt cover onto the batt. They were taped between layers of insulation. Helpful...

I think the fit of the cover is just poor by design, if I hold onto the bike I reckon some silicone sealant around the edges will help keep the water out (will let it dry before fitting to the bike though!).

Still yet to fit the battery though. This is genuinely something I can't fathom- it just doesn't appear to have a means of locating onto the pins, allowing it to then sink low enough to engage into the top clip of the holder.

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

here is a video of the clunk. I think it is just slack being taken up out of the motor (cant embed, someone enlighten me?). It's not terrible and actually my buddy in scotland has a similar sound coming from his.

clunky clunk clunk

so this leaves the saggy forks- they appear to sag maybe 5mm when sitting stationary under its own weight. The total amount of exposed stantion is 145mm once under this sag. Seem about right? I'm thinking...maybe?

 

[deksawyer]

Clunk is not normal..... Is it the motor, or the derailleur? Does it do it with rear wheel off the ground and rotating the cranks backwards?

As you probably already know, sag is recommend to be 25 to 30 % of your suspension travel when you're sitting on the bike, in full riding wear. I've no idea what that is on your bike though.

And with regards to the battery, I can't imagine what's going on there... It shouldn't be rocket science so if it feels wrong with what you're doing to try and install it, it probably is.

It's a bosch power tube yes? Is it held in by a clip on the top of the battery and secured by a key on the outside? My Haibike is like that and it's tricky sometimes to remove the battery, but goes in very easily by inserting the bottom of the battery first and then pushing the top in to lock it.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

I'm fairly sure it's the motor, when the slack is taken up in the cranks before they engage in the drive of the motor. I will check again tonight to make sure it's not the derailleur though, or when the wheel is off the ground. My friend tested his and his mum's bosch bikes and they made the sound too so I'm stumped as to whether it is normal or not.

For sure, I think the sag is probably about right given the weight of the bike. The forks are at 5% sag when the bike is propped up against the wall. I'm tempted to say that the forks are fine.

I managed to get the battery in in the end, having the bike upside down makes it a lot easier to see what youre doing and align it properly. It is a generally tight fit though and nowhere near as easy as a lot of the instruction videos online. My friend up north has the same issue, I think it is just the design on some models? Youre right it is a power tube. I didn't know that the key had to be in the lock etc in order to install it as well as remove it.

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

You guys are going to enjoy this one...

E-mailed a specialiast, showed him the video, he said bike was fine. So I gave it a wee charge (half an hour- two bars) then popped to some local singletrack and trails. Firstly, wow- flew up the hills. I got to a big hill/small mountain near me and started riding up, and battery went flat. No biggy, it was hardly charged. Started cycling back home, had to push up one of the hills (on account of the flat batt) again no biggy. When I got back on to ride the bike... the SRAM shifter had seized. I am now stuck in 3rd gear (they werent indexing particularly well either I have to say- poor set up from the shop). So I had a spinny spinny ride home.

I'm not sure how to feel or what to do! Clearly it has the potential to be a great bike and I covered a heck of a lot of ground in less than an hour. However after the initial list of problems, and now this...the 'new bike day' feeling has been anticlimatic to say the least.

So...do I get it fixed locally, try to fix myself, has anyone got any ideas why it may have seized, etc? I'm going to be fighting a losing battle if I try to contact the retailer as they arent answering phone calls or emails at the moment. This, along with the poor packaging of the bike leading to the brake being damaged, is a bit of a pi$$ take and I will try for some financial recompense at some point but for now I just want to get riding!

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

did a 21 mile trail ride today. Shifter didnt miss a beat- I managed to fix it this morning.

It's a been a rough start, but I think I'm there now!

 

[Hyp4r]

did a 21 mile trail ride today. Shifter didnt miss a beat- I managed to fix it this morning.

It's a been a rough start, but I think I'm there now!

Stick with it - I have one and it’s a great bike!

 

[SupasafeElectroLumberjack]

Stick with it - I have one and it’s a great bike!

Thanks- i took it out for a quick 13 miler yesterday, once I adjusted the suspension it went into a whole new world of descending abilities. Still got to get used to how much effort it takes to get the front end up over obstacles but its nothing prohibitive.

I just got an email from bosch who saw my video, they think the sound isn't right and I should take it to a dealer to repalce under warranty. I'm so confused now!

 

[lightning]

Just a bit of advice, before the first use of an Ebike the battery should be fully charged. l know it's tempting to get out there but all Ebike battery manufacturers state that you must fully charge the battery before your first ride.