Is the AMFLOW this rattley?

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Potential Amflow purchaser here. Over in the one of the other threads, this video was posted.


I can hear an ungodly amount of creaking/rattling on Steves bike - example from 25:50 but it's all through the video in the POV bits.

I'm just looking to find out how common this is. Can't discuss in the other thread as I just run into a wall of defensiveness. I'm keen on the bike and want to buy in a couple of weeks but this creaking/rattling I'm not OK with, I don't want a bike that does that. I've since found other POV vids that don't seem to have it. It sounds more like motor mount/dropper creak to me but some say it's the motor.

What are peoples experiences? Has anyone had something making noise like this from the motor that was fixed under warranty? Any thoughts as to what it is?
 
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volts said:
No creaks from mine, but some rattle. It has however helped to turn off hub preengagement setting.
I suspect the amount of acceptable rattle differs between riders. I absolutely hate any other sound than the tires.
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Some people do seem to be more sensitive to motor noises than others, none of my 4 different brands make any appreciable noise that annoyed me and the Amflow I test rode didn’t seem to make them either.

Either that, or my decade working with fast jets has made me deaf!

“What’s that? I’m an anchor?” 😂
 
Tooks said:
Some people do seem to be more sensitive to motor noises than others, none of my 4 different brands make any appreciable noise that annoyed me and the Amflow I test rode didn’t seem to make them either.

Either that, or my decade working with fast jets has made me deaf!

“What’s that? I’m an anchor?” 😂
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I don't care much about the motor noise of Avinox. It's there, but it isn't as annoying as the EP8 I once had. But rattling is something entirely different. It annoys the crap out of me.
 
I’ve ridden three different Amflows now and they all rattled. 2 were way worse than the old EP8 on my Yeti 160 and one sounded about the same. I sold the Yeti because I couldn’t deal with the rattle, I have misophonia and it annoyed me to the point of not even wanting the bike. I really want one of the other Avinox equipped bikes but it looks like it’s a crap shoot, you may get one that rattles or you may not.
 
Entonox said:
My motor rattles a lot - just as much as my EP8 and EP801, however others report no rattle.
I wish DJI/Avinox would provide some clarity as to why as there doesn't seem to be any logical explanation.
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I cant think of what they would say. Some kind of statement that they are aware of the rattle? It doesnt help much now, it would be a better tactic if they launched a v2 without the rattle.
 
Entonox said:
I'd just like to know the technical reason why some motors rattle and others don't.
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There is no rattle on mine or the two demo bikes I rode.

Does seem to be a bit of a lottery, did yours rattle from new or develop over time? Does it rattle only when cranks are not moving?
 
ZR1 said:
There is no rattle on mine or the two demo bikes I rode.

Does seem to be a bit of a lottery, did yours rattle from new or develop over time? Does it rattle only when cranks are not moving?
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Yeah from new, hasn't change. I've had it since the beginning of March.
Rattles when cranks not moving over rough terrain - no rattle when pedalling.
 
On paper the Avinox ticks all the boxes but the main reasons I went for the Bosch Gen 5 is the lack of rattles when going down. I personally hate if there is any kind of sound that something else outside of tyres hitting stuff. Rob, was one of the few that mentioned this, but now more and more reports coming in from other brands using the motor. Was is annoying as well is the inconsistency between motor which in theory are the same. For sure DJI noticed something and tried to fix it but they won't acknowledge it as people will start to bang their doors with warranty claims.
 
Look at Rob Rides latest video on the DJI Motor. His DJI Avinox motor in his new Crestline rattles horribly. I definitely will wait until they fix this before considering anything with an Avinox motor. I ride a Kenevo so not really seeing anything except the Crestline S180 to replace it with and those are mostly impossible to get.
 
No rattle at all on mine until it went in to my local bike shop for a new speed sensor under warranty at 8months/ 1000miles old. It came back sounding nearly as bad as my ep8 powered Orbea Rise.
I suspect it's cable rattle in the downtube above the motor but haven't been arsed to drop the motor to check yet.
 
Yup. I noticed the rattling and the sound of the motor on that video. I though the Avinox was meant to be rattle and noise free. But clearly not. I have a Bosch Gen 4 in my eMTB and it rattles like hell, I am surprised it runs but it does and well.
 
Like most bikes you have to do a bit of problem solving to eliminate all the rattling. Like removing the screen and putting some foam around the inner cables and I also cut and inserted a few Orings into the area around the motor side cover and a few cable ties on things that may move when hitting obstacles on the trails. All up it was 20 minutes of work but the bike is very quiet
 
losgatosgtr said:
Look at Rob Rides latest video on the DJI Motor. His DJI Avinox motor in his new Crestline rattles horribly. I definitely will wait until they fix this before considering anything with an Avinox motor. I ride a Kenevo so not really seeing anything except the Crestline S180 to replace it with and those are mostly impossible to get.
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I asked if Rob had talked to Avinox/DJI or Troydon on the thread got no reply: Crestline x DJI - RS 181 SPECTRE Edition

Troydon has been on the podcast multiple times and you'd think he'd know something about it, no doubt Avinox know something too. Seems weird to just ignore the issue.

From what I can gather, if the chain/chainring is really hard to pull backwards you've got a non-rattly motor, if it pulls back easily you've got a rattler on your hands. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll be performing this test before I put cash down on a bike. And yeah, I can see the bike shop employees now looking at me like I'm mad but I don't want a rattler!
 
enato said:
I asked if Rob had talked to Avinox/DJI or Troydon on the thread got no reply: Crestline x DJI - RS 181 SPECTRE Edition

Troydon has been on the podcast multiple times and you'd think he'd know something about it, no doubt Avinox know something too. Seems weird to just ignore the issue.

From what I can gather, if the chain/chainring is really hard to pull backwards you've got a non-rattly motor, if it pulls back easily you've got a rattler on your hands. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll be performing this test before I put cash down on a bike. And yeah, I can see the bike shop employees now looking at me like I'm mad but I don't want a rattler!
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This absolutely proves the point i was about to make, they will all rattle to some extent as miles are put onto the motor, we can assume the motor Rob had in that ex demo bike as been to moon at back.

The reference to the chain being hard to pull backwards just means the tolerances are super tight when the motor is brand new and not 'run in'. And any backlash/free play is prevented by internal friction. Mine started with zero rattle and now after miles on the clock has a slight rattle (and the chain is still hard to pull back).

100% they will all rattle at some point to some extent, for a motor to never rattle even after a load of miles likely means the tolerances are too tight and probably not the motor you want anyway. Based on the wide spread nature of the rattle, it's not a fault with the motors, rather part of the design. Maybe they will offer some fix, but i can't see what they could do apart from mechanical changes or replacement.

Avinox have not said or anyone confirmed (even to Rob) that a rattle is a sign of an issue - apart from the annoying noise obviously ! Whether you want a motor with super tight tolerances which takes much longer to loosen up is a swings and roundabouts debate. Certainly the rattle on Robs loan bike was bad, but that is likely the result of the frame design amplifying the noise and the life the motor has had.

I would love a 100% zero rattle but sadly i don't think that will be reality unless they change the internal design and start replacing motors.
 
Link said:
100% they will all rattle at some point to some extent, for a motor to never rattle even after a load of miles likely means the tolerances are too tight and probably not the motor you want anyway.
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It’s perfectly possible to build an e-bike motor that doesn’t rattle, they’re out there already on all sorts of bikes, and besides which you’ve got people on here saying their Avinox motors are quiet even after hundreds of miles.

I think manufacturers usually pass issues like this off as ‘manufacturing tolerances’ and as long as the motor is functioning correctly they’re probably right.

Not every rattle will be the motor, and for others perhaps it’s only evident on certain terrain, bikes with different suspension kinematics or riding.

There does seem to be variability at play with regard to whether you get a quiet or a noisy motor, perhaps there have already been changes to the hardware on newer motors, or maybe it’s just luck of the draw.
 
I agree it is possible to have a zero rattle motor, but the Amflow design is clearly not that. Some may rattle less as they are tight, others rattle a bit more.

Maybe they have improved this in an update, remains to be seen if they switch out ones with a rattle for newer ones, very much doubt it.
 
enato said:
From what I can gather, if the chain/chainring is really hard to pull backwards you've got a non-rattly motor, if it pulls back easily you've got a rattler on your hands. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll be performing this test before I put cash down on a bike. And yeah, I can see the bike shop employees now looking at me like I'm mad but I don't want a rattler!
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I saw that, in this short

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Tooks said:
Not every rattle will be the motor
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This is the most important point - I’d love to know how many supposed motor rattles are actually cables or something else loose rattling around inside the frame or elsewhere. I’m sure there are rattle-ey motors out there, but with all the different possible sources of a a rattle, you get lots of mixed information out there that may or may not be the motor at fault. (Not defending Avinox here, I’m not an owner, don’t hate me).
 
Zed said:
I saw that, in this short

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Click to expand...
This demonstrates exactly what I said about as the internal friction in the motor reduces. They will all loosen up, you can stop that.
 
Link said:
100% they will all rattle at some point to some extent, for a motor to never rattle even after a load of miles likely means the tolerances are too tight and probably not the motor you want anyway. Based on the wide spread nature of the rattle, it's not a fault with the motors, rather part of the design. Maybe they will offer some fix, but i can't see what they could do apart from mechanical changes or replacement.
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What I've been witnessing on POVs, and what people are describing, sounds WAYYY beyond "it's got some miles so isn't as tight".

Hey look, I've done big miles on rattly Bosch Gen 4s. I've put up with it. But it's just not what I want to spend my money on. Even if it does have a bit more power than the competition, it really matters little beyond novelty. I'm also probably different than most in that I don't want to have to blow money on a new bike every couple of years. For the kind of outlay that ebikes are IMO it should be good for much longer, and I'm not feeling that from the Amflow, albeit from a distance. Not just the motor.

Knowing my luck I would get one rattly as fuck, and it doesn't appear to be warranty-able, and then I'd be very not happy.
 
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Link said:
This demonstrates exactly what I said about as the internal friction in the motor reduces. They will all loosen up, you can stop that.
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Looks like a fuckin massive difference though. I've never seen anything like that with any other type of motor, I've had a few now.
 
I'm not saying anyone should be happy with it, but that they rattle as they loosen up. And likely Amflow won't say it's a fault. I would be happy if I got a new totally rattle free motor, but can't see it and mine is only minor
 
irie said:
Perhaps carbon fibre frames amplify motor/cable/bearing/etc. rattles more than alloy frames?
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I have thought this because I had a Gen 4 Alloy Orbea Wild that had a quiet rattle, and later a Gen 4 Carbon Rail that had a horribly loud rattle. Apparently though carbon is much better at muffling sound than alloy because it absorbs vibration, and we of course know this from how bikes ride, especially road bikes. I dunno. Maybe it's more likely about individual motors?
 
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