Heckler 9 Battery Recall Announced May 1, 2025

bmxmarty

bmxmarty

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Got an email about a Darfon battery recall on the Heckler 9 today. You can check if yours is affected here.

Mine is part of the recall. Fingers crossed there isn't a huge amount of downtime before new batteries are available.

Let's track how longs it's taking folks to get replacements. Will likely change as supply runs out, gets restocked, and repeats - but I'm curious.

Screenshot 2025-05-01 at 9.00.25 AM.png
 
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Just called SC to check on an estimated ETA for batteries. I spoke to a super cool customer service rep. He said SC doesn't have an exact timeline, but said it could be around 4 months. They were very apologetic about it, and said they're hoping for sooner. I'm very much hoping that too!
 
bmxmarty said:
Just called SC to check on an estimated ETA for batteries. I spoke to a super cool customer service rep. He said SC doesn't have an exact timeline, but said it could be around 4 months. They were very apologetic about it, and said they're hoping for sooner. I'm very much hoping that too!
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4 months?
jaw-drop.gif
 
Canyon issued a stop ride notice in November24, because of batteries issues on the Spectral ON CF range, it's now May25 and I'm still waiting for a new battery! Which was apparently going to be shipped in March 🤬🤬🤬
 
Does this mean there are potentially batteries available to buy that are OK? If so I'd be buying one of those ASAP before they all sell out.
 
G-Sport said:
Does this mean there are potentially batteries available to buy that are OK? If so I'd be buying one of those ASAP before they all sell out.
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Those batteries seem to be very elusive. I haven't found anyplace where you can buy a new one. Even SC has not offered them for sale to my knowledge.
 
Dcl74 said:
Canyon issued a stop ride notice in November24, because of batteries issues on the Spectral ON CF range, it's now May25 and I'm still waiting for a new battery! Which was apparently going to be shipped in March 🤬🤬🤬
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I'm also waiting for my Canyon replacement battery. I assume you meant April 25 above, but even so! 6 months and counting with the last communication from Canyon saying expect an update in JUNE!!

From canyon: "Your earliest possible delivery is currently scheduled for June".
 
yoterryh said:
I'm also waiting for my Canyon replacement battery. I assume you meant April 25 above, but even so! 6 months and counting with the last communication from Canyon saying expect an update in JUNE!!

From canyon: "Your earliest possible delivery is currently scheduled for June".
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I think he meant 24= 2024, and 25 = 2025, but could have been written clearer.
 
irie said:
If I was faced with 4 months (or more!) without my bike I'd sell it for whatever I could get, take the loss, and buy something else. Seriously, I would.
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I hear ya, but taking a bath on this bike is definitely not in the budget. A brand new top spec YT Decoy is way cheaper than my Heckler was 3 years ago with a mediocre build kit. So unless SC offers me some kind of "crash replacement" option for a different bike, I'm stuck waiting. But yes, if I had the dough, I'd just buy another bike.
 
Anyone else's batteries affected? Wondering what folks are hearing (if anything) from SC about timing of a new battery. It's only been a week, and every day I'm a little more bummed that it might be Fall or Winter before the Heckler is operational again.

I fully recognize that it's such a First World problem to complain about my high-end electric mountain bike being out of commission, preventing me from taking it out and having fun in the dirt. But I also recognize that this bike has enabled me to get out and ride 5x as much as in years past, and I'm not stoked to be forced into taking a quarter-to-half year break from that through no fault of my own (other than purchase decision). Can I ride my analog bike? Absolutely. But I've had a grouchy low back for over 20 years, and an ebike offers just enough assistance on low or medium power modes to generally allow me to ride, and not be in pain for the rest of the week. Alright, end of rant for now.
 
G-Sport said:
Does this mean there are potentially batteries available to buy that are OK? If so I'd be buying one of those ASAP before they all sell out.
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I stand corrected, you're absolutely right! Spoke to SC, and they said that batteries are available to purchase, but they can't send them out to replace recalled batteries. Affected batteries need to wait for the arrival of the dedicated recall replacements.

This time around they said mid July for replacements. But considering that SC can't decide if it's 2 months or 4 months, I'm not holding my breath.

Getting back to @G-Sport comment, I checked with my local SC dealer, and they actually had a new battery in stock that's not affected by the recall. MSRP is $970. There is apparently some potential compatibility issues between newer and older batteries, revolving around the EP-800 vs EP-801 motors. Battery looks and fits the same, but there's some software difference, or something like that. The shop had to call SC and Shimano to determine if it would work, and even after that wasn't entirely convinced, because neither company seems to have a solid grasp on it.

While I haven't gone for a ride yet, the bike switches on and seems to work fine, so I'm stoked. Yes, I see the irony in giving more money to the company that's responsible for my not being able to ride their bike because they're keeping the in-stock batteries to generate profit instead of helping their customers. But I don't want to be off the bike for months, so here I am. Hopefully I can sell the replacement battery when it eventually arrives to offset the expense.
 
The problem is that both the original battery and its replacement were/are not certified. I would bet that SC is not shipping batteries until they get properly evaluated and certified by third party agencies, UL, SGS and/or others.
 
Falko144 said:
The problem is that both the original battery and its replacement were/are not certified. I would bet that SC is not shipping batteries until they get properly evaluated and certified by third party agencies, UL, SGS and/or others.
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I didn't know that they weren't certified - just kind of assumed that all reputable brands did certification on their ebike batteries. Out of curiosity, how do you know they aren't certified? And is that common among bigger brands, or is SC an outlier? Appreciate the insight!
 
bmxmarty said:
Anyone else's batteries affected? Wondering what folks are hearing (if anything) from SC about timing of a new battery. It's only been a week, and every day I'm a little more bummed that it might be Fall or Winter before the Heckler is operational again.

I fully recognize that it's such a First World problem to complain about my high-end electric mountain bike being out of commission, preventing me from taking it out and having fun in the dirt. But I also recognize that this bike has enabled me to get out and ride 5x as much as in years past, and I'm not stoked to be forced into taking a quarter-to-half year break from that through no fault of my own (other than purchase decision). Can I ride my analog bike? Absolutely. But I've had a grouchy low back for over 20 years, and an ebike offers just enough assistance on low or medium power modes to generally allow me to ride, and not be in pain for the rest of the week. Alright, end of rant for now.
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I don’t believe it’s a first world problem at all. A user pays very good money for a supposed high end bike, and that high end bike ends up sitting idle and can’t be used due to component failure. Premium price for a less than premium product in my opinion.
 
DoesntHeckle said:
I don’t believe it’s a first world problem at all. A user pays very good money for a supposed high end bike, and that high end bike ends up sitting idle and can’t be used due to component failure. Premium price for a less than premium product in my opinion.
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Oh I totally agree, I just mean in the grand scheme of the worlds problems, moaning about the battery recall on my high-end mountain bike seems petty. But yes, I am definitely bummed that I paid a lot of money for a bike that had electrical problems from day one (glitching out and shutting off, then not restarting until plugged into the charger), and now has a battery recall for setting someone's house on fire. Not stoked, that's for sure.
 
irie said:
If I was faced with 4 months (or more!) without my bike I'd sell it for whatever I could get, take the loss, and buy something else. Seriously, I would.
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If I was told I couldn’t use a new, supposed high end bike for 4 months due to manufacturing failure, I’d be seeking a refund.
 
bmxmarty said:
Got an email about a Darfon battery recall on the Heckler 9 today. You can check if yours is affected here.

Mine is part of the recall. Fingers crossed there isn't a huge amount of downtime before new batteries are available.

Let's track how longs it's taking folks to get replacements. Will likely change as supply runs out, gets restocked, and repeats - but I'm curious.

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I’ve just checked mine and been told to take battery to local dealer to dispose of it ! And told batteries won’t be available to July ! So got an expensive paper weight on my hands ! I’ve consulted trading standards and they say I should return the bike for a refund !
 
Are some of you really not riding your bike?

There were only 3 batteries that had the issue. I have 2 batteries, both recalled. I’m continuing to ride/charge regularly. I did pick up a battery bag to charge in just to be safe.
 
Got an email last week that replacement batteries are arriving at SC this week, and will be shipping ASAP.
 
New battery arrived today. Just shy of 12 weeks since they told me to stop riding the bike. No "Sorry our battery recall meant you couldn't ride all summer" note. No Santa Cruz t-shirt, nothing. Never once got an update from SC, and if I hadn't reached out to them to ask how long it would be, I'd never have heard from them until the battery shipped. That's a weak ass way to handle a recall, Santa Cruz.
 
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