Shimano vs brose reliability

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Savan

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I have a levo to be delivered in March, plenty of time to over analyze. I’m concerned with the brose motor.

i can fix a lot of things but don’t want to be waiting on or tearing into ebike motors. I just want to ride. Am I just seeing more“brose failed” threads than any because I’m in the spesh forums?
 
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Ha! And I've got a bike ordered with a shimano motor & am worried about the inability to service the motor....
And I'm worried about the noise from my Bosch motor....
Will my battery be crap if I keep charging it after I ride...
The interwebs will do your head in but when I put on the headphones & ride it all melts away & I smile...
 
As above

There are always going to be "horror stories" with any motor, but what you don't hear are stories from people who (like me) have done thousands of miles on and off road on their ebike in all weathers, washed it many times with a hose, and the motor has been fine.
 
Hi, had a Levo since 2019 1,000 miles zero motor or battery issues. Well apart from when I left it lying in the sun and it overheated but colder down after around 15 mins riding with no battery, lesson learnt :)
 
Not if but when . The brose motor is a grenade . Only has no pin . Seriously though. I think alot of motors go bang due to rider error . Riding up hills in hard gears . Starting of in turbo on low gears .rest assured spesh warranty is very good . I'm second owner of my levo and my motor replacement was pain free . And pretty quick . And i was happy to pay 100 $ aus labour . Luckily I had been doing a fair bit if riding with motor of so wasn't to much of a shock riding home without motor. Although I didn't have to ride to far .
 
Congrats on your new bike @Savan :)

I got my gen 2 Levo in Dec 2019 and didn't know anything about the issues with the motors until I found this forum, at which point I got paranoid. I expected to motor to go at any point after reading the stories and Spesh extended the warranty on the motor.

After more than 2 years and 4400 miles, I have not had any problems with mine. Its easy to focus on the the number of posts on the forum, but bare in mind the numbers of Levos sold.

Just enjoy your bike, Spesh have a good reputation when things go wrong, You'll love the bike :)
 
High Rock Ruti

As the undisputed king of Brose failures (6 motors across three bikes since 2016) the motor is a POS. All of the failures happen exactly the same symptom, no assistance along with the motor free wheeling, the system is telling the motor to turn, but it's not driving the bike forward. I was convinced it was the drive belt failing until I wasn't. The Bearing Man re-conviced me it was the Sprague clutch loosing a pawl if memory serves (at 67 service can be sketchy) So the obvious question is why do I now own a $13,000 Levo Pro? There's two reasons. 1 It's one of the best riding bikes I've ever ridden and, 2 Specialized is a fantastic company, they stand behind their bikes 100% that includes the six motors and 2 full refunds, one after 27 months and one after the fourth motor failed. The new bike a 2022 is a year old in March, lost its first motor at 600 miles. I own 4 emtb's, if you're going to ride daily you have to have spares. If it sounds boastful I'm sorry, I have more money than years left to ride, if money is for anything; clearly it's bikes! I don't know what I'm doing that could kill motors, frankly I don't care, if Brose can't fix the problem they can give me new motors. The hardest problem is to overcome is getting upset about it.

The last opinion I'll share is that the 2020 Orbea wild fs team is my favorite bike, for the life of me, the only thing I can identify about why is the bike feels shorter than the levo and of course, the Bosch cx4 is the best motor made, I'm convinced that the torque ratings are BS, the Bosch is stronger especially at low cadences.

Warm Regards Ruti
 
My 2020 kenevo got nearly 2000km on it battery still 100% health motor still original and sweet always use gears as I would normal mtb although I do go light on pedals if changi uphill and use all modes maybe mines a gold star or I think I use it properly still got 2 yrs warranty on motor oh and I love love love it
 
Had previous Gen Levo and had many repeat issues with TC, battery and motor that I ended up selling. A couple riding buddies have had issues with their Levo's as well. Have read many people have experienced no issues at all. Not here to bash Spesh, just sharing my experiences.

Bought a YT Decoy Elite same time I purchased my Levo ~2 years ago and have absolutely zero issues with motor. Recently purchased a Yeti-160E with EP8 and have about 10 rides with 325 miles and no issues at all. Could be the luck of the draw!

Specialized dies have a great warranty policy though my bike spent considerable time in the shop. Fortunately had another emtb so I was able to ride.
 
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The voz said:
My 2020 kenevo got nearly 2000km on it battery still 100% health motor still original and sweet always use gears as I would normal mtb although I do go light on pedals if changi uphill and use all modes maybe mines a gold star or I think I use it properly still got 2 yrs warranty on motor oh and I love love love it
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My canyon spectral with shimano motor pooped itself good and proper after 1000 km was playing up from around 800
 
Kudos for Spesh warranty, it is great. I have two riding buddies with Levo's, one with second motor, the other with 4th motor. They do fail, Spesh replaces them under warranty and rather quickly.
 
High Rock Ruti said:
High Rock Ruti
, 2 Specialized is a fantastic company, they stand behind their bikes 100% that includes the six motors and 2 full refunds, one after 27 months and one after the fourth motor failed.
Warm Regards Ruti
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Now, without disrespect to you or other Spez riders, this is what I can't understand.
I'm pissed off with Trek just because of their stupid knockblock headset (which took me 5 minutes to rectify) yet guys will spend thousands of dollars with a company that repeatedly sells them bikes with major faults. We're not talking a loose pivot bolt during assembly we're talking engines blowing up by the ( I'm guessing) hundreds.

Is the brand loyalty that strong?

I find it interesting how many newbies I talk to that are getting their first emtb are buying Spez ones without any consideration for the hundreds of other brands that would be as good or maybe even better for their requirements simply because their friends have one that, although they have had to replace the engine, they still think they are best out there.

I have no brand loyalty to anyone but can only admire the level of forgiveness spez riders afford to their brand.
 
Doug Stampfer said:
Now, without disrespect to you or other Spez riders, this is what I can't understand.
I'm pissed off with Trek just because of their stupid knockblock headset (which took me 5 minutes to rectify) yet guys will spend thousands of dollars with a company that repeatedly sells them bikes with major faults. We're not talking a loose pivot bolt during assembly we're talking engines blowing up by the ( I'm guessing) hundreds.

Is the brand loyalty that strong?

I find it interesting how many newbies I talk to that are getting their first emtb are buying Spez ones without any consideration for the hundreds of other brands that would be as good or maybe even better for their requirements simply because their friends have one that, although they have had to replace the engine, they still think they are best out there.

I have no brand loyalty to anyone but can only admire the level of forgiveness spez riders afford to their brand.
[/QUteam's?

High Rock Ruti

Ride the Levo it's a fantastic bike, at least that's how I justify it.

Warm Regards Ruti
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These are machines and they do break. Some put these motors through absolute torture conditions. I've seen, read and heard horror stories in many forums. If you worry about this stuff you'll never enjoy the bike. They do require more than normal maintenance. That said, just ride it and enjoy it.
 
Just picked up my EP8 equipped Yeti and a guy I have known at the dealers for over 20 years and trust told me that the Shimano motors and batteries are the ones they have the least problems reported with. Had my Brose Gen 2 TL 2.5 years and zero issues with that.
 
Rich-EMTB-UK said:
Just picked up my EP8 equipped Yeti and a guy I have known at the dealers for over 20 years and trust told me that the Shimano motors and batteries are the ones they have the least problems reported with. Had my Brose Gen 2 TL 2.5 years and zero issues with that.
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What other brands-motors do they sell?
 
Rich-EMTB-UK said:
Just picked up my EP8 equipped Yeti and a guy I have known at the dealers for over 20 years and trust told me that the Shimano motors and batteries are the ones they have the least problems reported with. Had my Brose Gen 2 TL 2.5 years and zero issues with that.
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Any Shimano dealer would say the same 😂
 
Cb750stu said:
Any Shimano dealer would say the same 😂
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Well they also sell the other E-bike brands and have always been pretty open and honest when I have dealt with them for around 10 bikes over the last 20 years, no reason to lie as they will be picking up the warranty issues should it go wrong.
 
folmonty said:
These are machines and they do break. Some put these motors through absolute torture conditions. I've seen, read and heard horror stories in many forums. If you worry about this stuff you'll never enjoy the bike. They do require more than normal maintenance. That said, just ride it and enjoy it.
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Well said!
 
There's a lot about the '22 Levo that I really like, but I couldn't bring myself to paying THAT much money for something that I know 100% is going to break, because every single person I know who has one has had lots and lots of problems with them. Motors, batteries, TCUs, wiring etc.

That said, the support from Spesh is fantastic, but it needs to be because if it wasn't, nobody with any sense would buy their bikes.

The Shimano motors aren't rebuildable, but they're relatively cheap to buy. Personally I don't like the way the cranks are held on; pinch bolts on a splined shaft is just bad, and very un-Japanese. No wonder that they give trouble.

My current bike is a Giant. My next one definitely won't be because it's been a load of crap. The majority of trouble has been water ingress into pathetically poor wiring, but Giant's development of its own software and firmware for the Yamaha motor has also been a source of considerable pain.

My next bike will be Bosch powered. They aren't completely without problems but they seem to be the best of what is frankly a pretty bad lot.
 
cappuccino34 said:
The Shimano motors aren't rebuildable, but they're relatively cheap to buy. Personally I don't like the way the cranks are held on; pinch bolts on a splined shaft is just bad, and very un-Japanese. No wonder that they give trouble.
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The designer of the E8000 and the EP8 is... a certain Henry Bosch, a Dutchman,
who is the product development man at Shimano.
He works with another Dutchman, Bas van Dooren and with his Japanese colleagues.

From the Netherlands he is the pivot man between Europe and Japan since 16 years.
 
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I have one of each. A Turbo Levo with the Brose motor and an Orbea Rise with the Shimano. Since Specialized made changes to the Brose post 2019, all has been fine. I mean go look at any auto dealer's service department. There are new cars in there all the time for service issues. So failures are not unique to eMTBs. And Specialized extended the Brose motor warranty from 2 years to 4 years so I'm happy. I had no problems with the Turbo Creo motor at all after 2,000 miles.
 
cappuccino34 said:
The Shimano motors aren't rebuildable, but they're relatively cheap to buy. Personally I don't like the way the cranks are held on; pinch bolts on a splined shaft is just bad, and very un-Japanese. No wonder that they give trouble.

My current bike is a Giant. My next one definitely won't be because it's been a load of crap. The majority of trouble has been water ingress into pathetically poor wiring, but Giant's development of its own software and firmware for the Yamaha motor has also been a source of considerable pain.
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Just for the record: Shimano are repairable, we sell the bearings and parts for them. Also the Brose motors are up-gradable Brose Motor Upgrade Service - eBike Motor Centre (Performance Line Bearings) which takes away many of the issues that cause this motor to fail.
 
Had a Heckler with the E8000 for two years with no issues other than for awhile it would not start up but now it works fine. For the last summer been riding a Gen3 Turbo Levo Pro and zero issues with that bike. I have three friends who have Gen2 Turbo Levos and all have had some issues but they ride a lot more than me and ride in cold wet muddy conditions. One has his bike in the shop for at least three weeks now. I really love the Gen3 bikes though so will keep my fingers crossed.
 
cappuccino34 said:
I'm sure it was one of your YouTube videos where I got the information from that Shimano weren't rebuildable, maybe an old video, or my mistake?
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No, we stated that we do not rebuild E7000, 8000 motors due to the software issues and the E6000 was not re-buildable due to the plug orientation and the way the wiring was soldered to the board. However, we may have found a way round that issue now (not that we're repaoring them, we just never sleep)
 
I have a 2018 Merida e160 with the e8000 motor
While out on Saturday it started throwing up E010 & W013 error codes
I downloaded and installed the new software and after a quick test ride seemed to do the trick
I was Planning on going for a test ride a Hamsterly forest to put it through its paces this morning but was hit with another E010 error when I switched it on so I made a detour to my LBS instead
The LBS said both batteries are good at 90% health and he could see the error codes which seem intermittent now, after talking to Shimano they want him to send in the motor for inspection and even talked about possibly doing it under warranty even tho the bike is over 3 years old :)
 
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