Dropped off our January 2022 Trek Rail 5's to have the motors serviced at eBike Motor Centre

[irie]

My Large has done over 3,000 miles and wife's Medium has done over 1,000 miles. Now out of warranty so time for some TLC from @Bearing Man

"Bosch Gen 4 Motor Upgrade" plus anything else they think should be replaced. Said they need not ask me if something should or should not be done, if they think it should then that will fine by me. If possible want a problem free year before taking the bikes to them again in 2025.

If they want to post any pics/info of what they are doing in this thread then fine by me.

 

[arTNC]

My Large has done over 3,000 miles and wife's Medium has done over 1,000 miles. Now out of warranty so time for some TLC from @Bearing Man

"Bosch Gen 4 Motor Upgrade" plus anything else they think should be replaced. Said they not ask me if something should or should not be done, if they think it should then that will fine by me. If possible want a problem free year before taking the bikes to them again in 2025.

If they want to post any pics/info of what they are doing in this thread then fine by me.

Man, that is such a great resource to have so close to you. No "brown nosing" here...I think that outfit knows their stuff when it comes to these ebike motors. Reading Bearing Man's responses to many of these posts is always informative, and you can tell they've done their homework.

 

[irie]

Picked up our bikes yesterday afternoon, thanks @Bearing Man ! Rode today and think my motor might be a little quieter but that could be my imagination.

Both motors had the Gen 4 upgrades done and Dylan showed me the parts of the motors that had been replaced.

Mrs irie's Medium Rail had done 1,212 miles but even though being cleaned carefully showed signs of water ingress.

My Large Rail had done 3,374 miles and showed clear signs of water damage, and I suspect that after another year of use would have become pretty ugly. Think I got lucky that my motor hadn't shat itself.

I consider the £328 per motor to be a pretty good investment given both motors are just over 2-1/2 years old and therefore out of warranty. The bikes will go back again in a years time for their annual TLC aka. preventative maintenance, thanks Ebike Motor Centre.

But most of my visit was taken up by Dylan satisfying my curiosity about the very large numbers of obviously dead motors on the shelves. There were many irreparable motors with less than 1,000 miles and some with as little as 350 miles! Just what are people doing to inflict such damage on their motors? (rhetorical question).

From looking at the design of these motors it is perfectly obvious that they are designed to be used in dry conditions, being used in wet conditions particularly in eMTBs will very likely result in significant water ingress and early failure.

From what I've read the Bosch SX motor is the same basic design as is also the new Bosch CX motor (Gen 5?), so both will have the same water penetration weaknesses.

Gonna stick with our non-Smart Gen 4 motors and 2022 alloy Rails.

Edit: would add that took two bikes to the motor centre so cost did include removing and reinstalling motors in bikes.

 

[irie]

20 months later: Got our bikes back today with the motors again duly serviced and overhauled. Surprised and very pleased with the quick turn round, many thanks @Bearing Man ! Cost was also very reasonable with a couple of knackered bearings in each motor and some updated seals - the previous overhaul in 2024 has obviously paid off by minimising wear since then. Motors are also quieter with the nice new bearings.