Are spoke magnets a no no.

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chewyyid

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Hi, I think I have settled on a cube stereo tm 140 emtb to buy. Can anyone allay my fears about the spoke magnet issue with many bikes including this one? That spoke magnets are liable to falling off causing bike not work?? Any advice greatly appreciated.
 
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The spoke magnets can move from time to time, or be knocked, but they are not a reason to chose one bike over another - I have two bikes with spoke magnets and aside form checking the magnet is tight once in a while I have had no issues.
 
If you are really worried, buy a spare. I haven't ever lost a magnet myself, but like r120 said, they have moved from time to time. Just adjust and ride on. My current bike has a magnet mounted in the rear rotor, so it is a little more protected, but it hasn't moved once.
 
If it has the gen 4 bosch motor and is anything like my Whyte then the sensor will be very well secured on the brake disc, not the spokes.
 
I've used three eMTBs all equipped with spoke magnets. I still use and own two. Never had an issue with the magnets coming off or twisting. Never had to check or tighten them either.
 
I admit to thinking about the possibility to the point that I think "I should buy an extra to keep in my pack...someday." I've used them with computers a lot, as have others, and never lost one.
 
Okay thanks for your reassuring replies, spoke magnets just get criticism on ebike magazine reviews for being out of date and exposed to going missing when riding off road I guess.
 
maynard said:
They make it easy to de restrict the bike .
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I think you'll find bosch have introduced a protection against that, puts your motor in limp mode 3 times after derestricting before shutting off altogether! You'd then have to take bike back to dealer to reset.
 
I have the cube action team 160 for 2 years now and have never had an issue with it. In fact I’ve not had any issues with the bike......apart from falling off occasionally, just buy the bike in the knowledge your buying a well developed product with very reliable and good quality parts.......YOU WILL LOVE IT ?
 
chewyyid said:
Okay thanks for your reassuring replies, spoke magnets just get criticism on ebike magazine reviews for being out of date and exposed to going missing when riding off road I guess.
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There’s a lot of BS in bike articles. The derailleur has been around since the early 1900s. The roller chain and sprockets even older than that still. What, no out-of-date criticism on those?
 
Here’s a tip:
Next time your chain is off (for cleaning or wot not), spin your rear tyre gently and wait for it to stop. The heavy portion of the wheel (if there is one) will be at 6 o’clock - usually but not always, the tyre valve will end up at the bottom too. Attach the spoke magnet to the spoke that‘s nearest the 12 o’clock position. Viola! Possibly a better balanced rear wheel!
 
it's a non-issue but if you want to be worry free just buy a spare and keep it in your pack (and ensure the multi tool you keep with you has a philips head on it).
 
Mad Mark said:
I have the cube action team 160 for 2 years now and have never had an issue with it. In fact I’ve not had any issues with the bike......apart from falling off occasionally, just buy the bike in the knowledge your buying a well developed product with very reliable and good quality parts.......YOU WILL LOVE IT ?
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This is great to hear, I must say I love the colour scheme of the action team but happy to stick with tm model I think. Can't wait now, think I'll eventually get a spare spoke magnet.
 
GrandPaBrogan said:
There’s a lot of BS in bike articles. The derailleur has been around since the early 1900s. The roller chain and sprockets even older than that still. What, no out-of-date criticism on those?
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I think it is a fair criticism. Age of the technology is not so relevant, rather whether it has been superseded. Roller chain and sprockets have not been superseded whereas a magnet on a spoke has really been superseded as a solution by a magnet built into the rotor. Having said that, I've just ordered a bike with spoke magnet, so clearly not a deal-breaker for me!
 
WildGuy said:
I think it is a fair criticism. Age of the technology is not so relevant, rather whether it has been superseded. Roller chain and sprockets have not been superseded whereas a magnet on a spoke has really been superseded as a solution by a magnet built into the rotor. Having said that, I've just ordered a bike with spoke magnet, so clearly not a deal-breaker for me!
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Okay these are the comments I wanted to hear, that emtb riders are not put off spending a lot of money on a bike with spoke magnets! Thanks a lot.
 
Its just another thing to keep an eye on - I actually just remembered I bought a spare one soon after I got my bike, and keep it in my riding pack just in case.
 
WildGuy said:
I think it is a fair criticism. Age of the technology is not so relevant, rather whether it has been superseded. Roller chain and sprockets have not been superseded whereas a magnet on a spoke has really been superseded as a solution by a magnet built into the rotor. Having said that, I've just ordered a bike with spoke magnet, so clearly not a deal-breaker for me!
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Fair enough. Pardon my poor choice of expression... I'm not normally that aggressive when it comes to criticisms coming from editorials regarding bicycles.

I have to admit that my reaction has more to do with the pandemic at large, lockdown isolation, collapsing businesses, lost livelihoods, death tolls... it's overwhelming and eating me up underneath. In the midst of such a global catastrophe, a magazine article taking exception to a magnet spoke (I don't really mind where it's mounted) was just a bit much for me to handle. I realise I've taken it out of context and shouldn't have juxtaposed it in the prevailing madness and uncertainty of our times. My spurn crept up on me out of the blue. Appreciate that you called it... made me reflect and sort out an emotional reset. (y):coffee:
 
It is a better design to have it on the disc, no doubt, but such is progress.
 
Husky430 said:
Think your worried for no reason, not heard of this being a problem before and if you think about all the old bike computers, they all ran on a similar magnet with no dramas.
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Did you / do you really have a husky 430?
I wish I still had mine...
 
It's incredibly unlikely a spoke magnet will just fall off with some sort of warning. It needs to come loose first which will make a racket and will slide to the end of spoke where it won't get picked up by the sensor causing the bike to cut out.
 
thebarber said:
Did you / do you really have a husky 430?
I wish I still had mine...
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Yeah, bought it in the UK in 1995 for 350 pounds, rego'd and MOT'd with a slick on the back. Owner just used it on sunny Sundays to hang wheel stands with! He only wanted the 350 for 2 door skins for his TR8? Bought it back to Oz and then VMX'd for about 20 years and finally sold it to buy the Merida. Great swap, by the way, as I Eeeb far more now than I use my other dirt bike (300KTM). Happy Dayz all around.
 
Originally all EMTB's had spoke magnets, then over the last 18 months or so we have seen the various brands develop different options of mounting the sensor and magnet. The actual sensors and magnets are no different in cost from Shimano/Bosch etc. Where it is potentially cheaper is in the frame design, but I cant really see that. Of course the downside to the magnet on the rear disc is that it can limit your choice of disc depending on how the magnet is mounted, and as such I think some brands stick with the spoke magnet due to this. I would say its more a design choice than anything else.
 
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