Speed sensors, creaking crank bearings and DH race pit mechanics

RonBO

New Member
Sep 19, 2018
19
21
Israel
Hi

I'm trying to put together a list of things that can save the day when things go wrong on the trail, far away from base (and uphill ?)

One simple failure to expect, the magnet coming off the spokes in the rear wheel. ( on a Merida e160 800)

So where do I get a spare? Anyone know the shimano part number and a shop the sells them?

Anything else that you guys carry in your kit that is Shimano specific? Cables? Connectors? Tools ?

Thanks
Ron
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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that's seems hugely unlikely to happen TBH.
and even if it does the bike will still ride fine just without motor assistance
Some folk carry all sorts of spares they'll never use (probably because they read it somewhere).
Bikes and components are so much more reliable and better designed in the first place these days I find I rarely need to repair or adjust anything on the trail anymore.

maintain and bolt check your bike regularly, carry a multi tool which covers all your bolt/screw sizes and has a chain tool and have a sensible solution for dealing with punctures.

There are loads of spoke magnets on ebay
 

RonBO

New Member
Sep 19, 2018
19
21
Israel
that's seems hugely unlikely to happen TBH.
and even if it does the bike will still ride fine just without motor assistance
Some folk carry all sorts of spares they'll never use (probably because they read it somewhere).
Bikes and components are so much more reliable and better designed in the first place these days I find I rarely need to repair or adjust anything on the trail anymore.

maintain and bolt check your bike regularly, carry a multi tool which covers all your bolt/screw sizes and has a chain tool and have a sensible solution for dealing with punctures.

There are loads of spoke magnets on ebay
  1. Thanks for the reply :) . I did mention that I was talking only about specific things that go wrong with the E8000 motor. I know all the regular MTB stuff, and have a kit to handle everything you mentioned.
  2. When it comes to riding back to your car on a hot & humid day, uphill, after you've already exhausted yourself, A 22Kg MTB with 2.8 tires without a motor doesn't qualify as "will ride just fine" for me :)
  3. Spare parts are like an insurance policy... and as such are mostly never used. Still , I enjoy being able to Macgyver myself elegantly out of sticky situations. For me it's part of the fun. Seems reasonable to ask the masses what type of things have gone wrong for them.
  4. "Cool" people often take the piss out of riders that come prepared. They ride lightweight, they have the "no worries" attitude. I love them, they're carefree, fun loving people. That's why I don't mind it when later down the trail I end up giving them water, or a chain link, a pump, a patch kit .... even a magnet :)??
 

R120

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Apr 13, 2018
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Surrey
Have to say its not a bad idea to carry one, they can come loose. One of the things worth checking when you go ride
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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Mar 29, 2018
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  1. Thanks for the reply :) . I did mention that I was talking only about specific things that go wrong with the E8000 motor. I know all the regular MTB stuff, and have a kit to handle everything you mentioned.
  2. When it comes to riding back to your car on a hot & humid day, uphill, after you've already exhausted yourself, A 22Kg MTB with 2.8 tires without a motor doesn't qualify as "will ride just fine" for me :)
  3. Spare parts are like an insurance policy... and as such are mostly never used. Still , I enjoy being able to Macgyver myself elegantly out of sticky situations. For me it's part of the fun. Seems reasonable to ask the masses what type of things have gone wrong for them.
  4. "Cool" people often take the piss out of riders that come prepared. They ride lightweight, they have the "no worries" attitude. I love them, they're carefree, fun loving people. That's why I don't mind it when later down the trail I end up giving them water, or a chain link, a pump, a patch kit .... even a magnet :)??

I wasn't actually taking the piss mate. I do carry minimal spares/tools but carrying the ones I do I genuinely have no need to borrow anyone elses chain link, water, pump, patch kit or magnet.
I'll quite happily climb a few thousand feet with mine switched off. It's a good climber and even though it's 47lb it still has low enough gearing for any climb I'd do on my non-Ebikes even when switched off.

The Motor isn't user servicable. other than a philips screwdriver (which my multitool has) to open the cover and check/clean the connectors and a HTII preload tool (I changed mine to hex caps so I can use my multitool). There's nothing servicable/repairable on the trail. Opening the motor any further voids it's warranty. The lockring for the spider ever comes loose I can remove the DS crank and carefully tap it tight enough to get me home without the proper lockring tool. I'm not new at this.
 

Dax

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 25, 2018
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"Cool" people often take the piss out of riders that come prepared. They ride lightweight, they have the "no worries" attitude. I love them, they're carefree, fun loving people. That's why I don't mind it when later down the trail I end up giving them water, or a chain link, a pump, a patch kit .... even a magnet :)??

Those guys piss me off. Those guys are the reason I carry a pair of spare tubes, patches, pump, multitool, leatherman, food and a first aid kit, then end up fixing my mates bikes at the side of the trail.
 

RonBO

New Member
Sep 19, 2018
19
21
Israel
I wasn't actually taking the piss mate. I do carry minimal spares/tools but carrying the ones I do I genuinely have no need to borrow anyone elses chain link, water, pump, patch kit or magnet.
I'll quite happily climb a few thousand feet with mine switched off. It's a good climber and even though it's 47lb it still has low enough gearing for any climb I'd do on my non-Ebikes even when switched off.

The Motor isn't user servicable. other than a philips screwdriver (which my multitool has) to open the cover and check/clean the connectors and a HTII preload tool (I changed mine to hex caps so I can use my multitool). There's nothing servicable/repairable on the trail. Opening the motor any further voids it's warranty. The lockring for the spider ever comes loose I can remove the DS crank and carefully tap it tight enough to get me home without the proper lockring tool. I'm not new at this.
  1. Ok, understood Gary , I wasn't sure so thanks for clearing that up. I find it's sometime required to know each other's background in order to get the conversation to the right level, to avoid getting obvious advice on the one hand , but still get knowledge where it's required.
  2. So in my background , I enjoy DIY mechanics but most of my experience is from offroad motorcycles, so I can overhaul a motor, but lack some of the bike specific knowledge, which I can easily learn here.
  3. And I'm just getting back to MTB riding, after many years thanks to e-mtbs , so regretfully I'm in much worse shape than you. I'm actually surprised at how efficiently it pedals but still need a motor on long climbs
  4. So now to the useful info I can get here. You mentioned the HTII preload tool . Do we have an external bearing preload nut ? My crank started creaking...not that it's anything that needs fixing on the trail but it is really annoying.
  5. I know there's nothing serviceable inside the motor, especially on the trail and under warranty. But that will end soon. Have a look at the Bosch CX forum....they've taken the knowledge into their own hands ?... and share DIY videos , with full motor tear down. I would love to DIY my repairs after the warranty. But for the time being I was only referring to external parts
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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CBA bulletpointing to answer...

FWIW I have a couple of decades experience working as a shop mechanic and a few as a national/WC DH race pit mechanic to junior (U23) WC/Nat DH racers.
Believe me. I too wish we could service our motors without voiding the warranty. A month or more without your bike for the sake of one sealed bearing simply isn't an acceptible situation IMO.

Your creaking crank could be the crank to axle interface. it could be the pedal to crank interface, it could be the spider/chainring/lockring interfaces. It could be the main motor axle bearings.
It could be something nowhere near the crank. From experience, noobs rarely isolate the source of a creak before moaning about it. Now we have the internet this trait has only become worse.

What I'm referring to about my HTII Preload bolt is that I switched the crappy plastic ones for Alu hex versions for ease of adjustment/checking on the trail. Because my crank was not fitted correctly when assembled it ejected, stripping out the threads on that shitty plastic pre-load bolt. This means I have no need to carry a HTII pre-load tool, just the correct size hex bit.
I should have bolt checked the crank pinchbolts when I bolt checked the rest of the bike on recieving it... but... y'know...Ebike excitement and all that ;)
 

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