My local Amflow dealer said the “fix” was just switching to a heavier grease, how much of that grease you get depends on who’s assembling the motor. That’s why some rattle right off the bat and some will start to rattle after some miles.
Is the AMFLOW this rattley?
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My local Amflow dealer said the “fix” was just switching to a heavier grease, how much of that grease you get depends on who’s assembling the motor. That’s why some rattle right off the bat and some will start to rattle after some miles.
Thanks Rob, it perfectly adds up to my theory and makes sense as the small straight cut gear is directly connected to the planet carrier that then also moves the planets back and forth meshing the smaller metallic gears inside the ring gear.
One question as you have seen the internals, I would assume metal gearing parts on the planets and ring gear are also straight cut(not realy clear from pics and video) that would also suggest to increased possiblity of rattle.
Possible solutions:
1. Full polymer planet gears or a polymer ring gear, so the meshing would be polymer on metal, although it would most probably affect durability and longevity of the motor.
If you look at the pics of the Mahle M40 motor I posted in a previous post I mentioned that it's design seems similar to the Avinox also using a planetary reduction gearset although the difference being on the Mahle it seems like the whole planetary reduction gearset is polymer based that should drastically reduce rattling sounds.
2. Motor firmware that detects costing downhill and permanently engages the electric motor to create force on the internal gearing, probably to the expense of slightly increased consumption.
3. Decoupling the internal drivetrain from the external the way Bosch did it, I wonder what kind of mechanical part exactly they used for this, does it have a patent on it, maybe someone with extensive knowledge can elaborate furthermore.
4. Temporary solution until heat, rotation and gear meshing dissolves it is also thicker grease.
Yesterday I was looking at a long term test of an upgraded Amflow Pro(his personal bike...)
I think it shows pretty well that the Avinox motor is built to last, 3 months, 3000km+, 100k m vertical gain...Although in the video at 23m17s he clearly said that the motor had/has a rattling sound especially over roots and rocks.
I still believe there were no hardware related updates to the motor that had been done in fall last year, at least I haven't seen any Amflow or DJI official documents, statement claiming that or providing a changelog.
As said before, the rattle difference from motor to motor is related to factory gearing tolerances, the type of gears meshing, grease amount and type, type of bike suspension, terrain where it’s used and the sensitivity of the user himself.
What I take from my research is:
1. Avinox due to design inherently has a tendency to rattle sooner or later and more or less.
2. The way it's built, the gears experiencing most stress being metal and straight cut provide excellent durability. For example, gears in pure racing cars are straight cut for durability and strength.
3. The electrical hardware, the firmware running on it and the supporting software seems to be bulletproof.
Off course there will be some lemons, but overall time seems to show it's not just a powerful motor but also reliable in the long term, I guess a little rattle is a tradeoff for longevity in this case.
One question as you have seen the internals, I would assume metal gearing parts on the planets and ring gear are also straight cut(not realy clear from pics and video) that would also suggest to increased possiblity of rattle.
Possible solutions:
1. Full polymer planet gears or a polymer ring gear, so the meshing would be polymer on metal, although it would most probably affect durability and longevity of the motor.
If you look at the pics of the Mahle M40 motor I posted in a previous post I mentioned that it's design seems similar to the Avinox also using a planetary reduction gearset although the difference being on the Mahle it seems like the whole planetary reduction gearset is polymer based that should drastically reduce rattling sounds.
2. Motor firmware that detects costing downhill and permanently engages the electric motor to create force on the internal gearing, probably to the expense of slightly increased consumption.
3. Decoupling the internal drivetrain from the external the way Bosch did it, I wonder what kind of mechanical part exactly they used for this, does it have a patent on it, maybe someone with extensive knowledge can elaborate furthermore.
4. Temporary solution until heat, rotation and gear meshing dissolves it is also thicker grease.
Yesterday I was looking at a long term test of an upgraded Amflow Pro(his personal bike...)
I think it shows pretty well that the Avinox motor is built to last, 3 months, 3000km+, 100k m vertical gain...Although in the video at 23m17s he clearly said that the motor had/has a rattling sound especially over roots and rocks.
I still believe there were no hardware related updates to the motor that had been done in fall last year, at least I haven't seen any Amflow or DJI official documents, statement claiming that or providing a changelog.
As said before, the rattle difference from motor to motor is related to factory gearing tolerances, the type of gears meshing, grease amount and type, type of bike suspension, terrain where it’s used and the sensitivity of the user himself.
What I take from my research is:
1. Avinox due to design inherently has a tendency to rattle sooner or later and more or less.
2. The way it's built, the gears experiencing most stress being metal and straight cut provide excellent durability. For example, gears in pure racing cars are straight cut for durability and strength.
3. The electrical hardware, the firmware running on it and the supporting software seems to be bulletproof.
Off course there will be some lemons, but overall time seems to show it's not just a powerful motor but also reliable in the long term, I guess a little rattle is a tradeoff for longevity in this case.
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Except people here and Amflow support. You need to comprehend. I said they addressed the issue, I did not say it was fixed perfectly. Plenty of first gen motors sat on showroom floors, so it does not matter when something was purchased. Now in USA purchases from an authorized dealer should have the fix that addressed the issue. But the vast majority of people reporting rattles, do not say theirs was quiet and later developed a rattle.
Out local Shimano service center says he see's every brand of ebike motor, and they all average about 3000 miles. So not a hard hurdle to make it over. Hopefully its a 5000 + mile motor.
What do you call long term?
Nothing here supports your theory either, not quite sure what you are saying. It's not fixed if it's not permanent, you are then saying exactly what people here are saying. Any motor that does not rattle at first (like mine) will eventually rattle as it beds in or the grease thins. A temporary fix of thicker grease is not a permanent fix, just a delay on the inevitable.
To be clear, I still love my bike, the rattle doesn't bother me at all. But the motor will rattle, it's in the design. Not a problem, but a fact.
Asking about long term test?
Well for a reasonably good testing period to assess a durability of a new product on the market for me a long term test would be a season of riding, yes agreed 3000k is not a hard hurdle, but it's quite one in just a 3 month time window.
If you look at the whole review you might understand why I labeled it long term. The guy squeezed 3000km+ and 100000m altitude gain and descent in just 3 months, doing so destroyed two wheelsets, think 3 chains, don't know about cassettes at the moment...all in all a really tough test for the motor I would say.
Say if he took 2 days off during the weekend for rest that means he did a cca 50km 1600m ride every single work day.
If it held up to something like that it's got to be built strong.
You obviously have not even read through the pages here and viewed what was changed. It was not just the grease and more details are archived here in this Amflow section.
im close to those miles and elevation on my ep801, allthough i am trying not to put that many miles on the dJI, im saving it for PRs which still wont take me that long. My second EP801 made it 3800 miles and 500,000 feet of climbing. Rode very hard and 5 creek crossings a day during winter months 4 days a week min. I hope DJI will have replacement parts so we can aintain our motors
Where !?, point us to where the mechanical changes are detailed!!!. Clearly no one apart from you is privy to that info
Please show the details of the mechanical changes
Right ive been 5 days a week 25-30 miles and 4000' of climbing. for the 2025 year im 3,370 miles and 432,003' climbed
Dont whine because you have not done your homework. its here in the Amflow main thread and ask the amflow techs thread
Mate you're delusional, support would never admit theres a design issue with earlier motors in a thread !!, any and all mentions of rattles in the support thread result in amflow support asking people to email them with a video.
Good for you
I guess time is your friend, riding that much eats up and looot of free time, not all are lucky to get that much riding time...all the best with your rides 
Grease can definitely quiet down rattles.
Even the temps you ride in, very hot where I'm at, could be a factor in how long that grease stays in place.
Chrysaor
Active member
Thanks a lot that was very instructive!To anwser the second part of your question, you are probably good off with motors that have predominantly helical gears.
The new Bosch CX Gen5 is one of those with an additional solution of decoupling the external and internal systems on the crankshaft. Probably the most silent near fullpower motor out there.
View attachment 167793
The new Specialized 3.1 motor also uses helical gears, although it did have some slight gear backlash when I tried a cut open model at the Riva del Garda festival.
View attachment 167795
The case of your SL 1.2 motor is interesting, as it does have mostlt straight cut gears that isn't ideal for gear backlash, although the way they mesh is that there is always a metal gear meshing with a polymer gear, or a polymer on polymer, so even if there is gear backlash happening it does not produce the metal on metal sound. The use of polymer gears here is possible due to lower torque figures so less strain on gear teeth.
View attachment 167796
As the SL is made by Mahle I would place my bet on the new Mahle M40 motor also, looking at the first pics of the internals it looks as a Dji similar design although with helical gears and a more polymer gears than the Avinox.
View attachment 167799
View attachment 167800
Mines gotten very rattly coming from shimano though im used to it
mrtrinh
Active member
it reduces the rattle but does not get rid of it.
mrtrinh
Active member
I know of one person who got a warranty motor recently. Still rattles but not as bad. I tried to warranty and they pretty much shot me down saying its normal.
Hi, I just wanted to share my experience of motor rattle and a sort of fix on my Amflow PL Carbon.
I'm on a 2026 model with the Avinox branding on the motor so the latest version, I have free hub pre-engagement switched off in settings.
I've had it for a couple of months and ridden about 600km on it.
Mines rattled from day one, at first I put it down to cable rattle above the motor so I added foam sleeving to the brake and dropper hoses in that area. It didn't help much and in the end I narrowed it down to the motor.
I can quite easily re-create the sound by pushing down on the top of the chain while pressing down on the pedals.
Looking at the recent Pinkbike article about pedal kickback devices and seeing some users mention about these helping with motor noise on other brands I was intrigued but didn't want to spend hundreds on a new e13 sidekick wheel.
So I decided to give the STFU chain silencer a go at £30. And it's helped quite a lot.
The noise is still there but it's bearable now and and happens less often.
I think eventually I will look into getting an e13 sidekick hub and am waiting to see Rob's thoughts on that when he releases the Unno DJI video as I noticed he'd spec'd one on that build.
One thing to point out is that clearance on the STFU is tight and not strictly compatible with the Amflow going from the information on the STFU web site. I had to remove the factory chain stay protector to give enough clearance and added a bit of tape to protect the chain stay between the STFU units.
Anyway for a relatively cheap and easy fix it's worth a try and might just be enough for some people.
I'm on a 2026 model with the Avinox branding on the motor so the latest version, I have free hub pre-engagement switched off in settings.
I've had it for a couple of months and ridden about 600km on it.
Mines rattled from day one, at first I put it down to cable rattle above the motor so I added foam sleeving to the brake and dropper hoses in that area. It didn't help much and in the end I narrowed it down to the motor.
I can quite easily re-create the sound by pushing down on the top of the chain while pressing down on the pedals.
Looking at the recent Pinkbike article about pedal kickback devices and seeing some users mention about these helping with motor noise on other brands I was intrigued but didn't want to spend hundreds on a new e13 sidekick wheel.
So I decided to give the STFU chain silencer a go at £30. And it's helped quite a lot.
The noise is still there but it's bearable now and and happens less often.
I think eventually I will look into getting an e13 sidekick hub and am waiting to see Rob's thoughts on that when he releases the Unno DJI video as I noticed he'd spec'd one on that build.
One thing to point out is that clearance on the STFU is tight and not strictly compatible with the Amflow going from the information on the STFU web site. I had to remove the factory chain stay protector to give enough clearance and added a bit of tape to protect the chain stay between the STFU units.
Anyway for a relatively cheap and easy fix it's worth a try and might just be enough for some people.
mrtrinh
Active member
Unfortunately, the e13 sidekick hub doesn't really help either. I was anticipating the rattle was from the chain growth and got a sidekick rear hub for my crestline build.
That's good to know. I'm very happy with the bike overall and don't notice the motor noise now it's been tamed somewhat. It could be worth trying an STFU on your Crestline, for $30 there's no harm in trying really.
Then is not a Motor Noise Like Shimano Ep8 or Bosch gen 4?
It´s only chain hitting the chainstay? If I quit for a test the chain I Would go on silence on the rocky Trails? Thanks for share.
sethimus
😠 Donald Duck 😠
the rattle probably comes from the chain growth engaging the open free drive of the motor, as the stfu dampens the chain growth a bit, it's probably less but not gone
Thats funny, I did the exact same thing, but I just gave it a glance and it didnt look like the STFU would fit? Did you trim it lower then what your supposed to? In the highest gear my chain touches the chain stay protector.
Regarding #rattlegate, for me its not that bad at all, I dont even know if its a slight cable rattling or something else. Was just curious about the STFU.
mrtrinh
Active member
Yes some do. Youtuber nic adv did a review and you can clearly hear it.
That's a shame, thought the idler might reduce chain tug and rattle.
Exactly this, it just calms the chain down a bit and hence the rattle. It's still there though.
