Other Specialized Creo crank play

[FireWithin]

Hi All,

I got a Creo (350 km old, so like new) and realized the crank, when pulled as shown on the picture attached (green arrow, torsion), has a very slight play to it, and there's no felt play in the direction of the (blue arrow, lateral, no leverage). I want to get some feedback before going to see an official specialized distributor because you never know who's going to answer you. I was verbally describing this to a mechanic and he was starting to tell me to have it check rapidly because he said the Creo carbon version is a very fragile bike at the motor/crank vs carbon which didn't inspired me confidence in either him or the 11000$ product ?? Also, went to a local shop where they had a Creo (aluminum version) and it has the same exact play that I have which tells me some pre-assemble bike might just comes as is and might be part of some bearing tolerance?

Now, I have no idea what is the normal tolerance or even how the bottom bracket assembly work on these? Maybe there's some adjustment I can do just like a normal crank/bottom bracket?? Any feedback on this would be really appreciated.

Edit: Also see 2nd picture this was an answer given (on this same forum another discussion from 2019) to someone having also a slight play BUT it's not clear if they are talking about the bleu arrow direction? precision would be nice.

Regards

 

[brizi2003]

Hi @FireWithin, I have an alloy Creo which recently had a new motor fitted. The original motor had quite a large movement same as you described. Also when pedalling out of the seat there was a light knock every revolution. The replacement motor shows no such movement. However, whilst rocking the crank arms make sure you apply some rotational tension effectively tightening the drive chain (say with the tyre on the floor to resist rotation) otherwise you might just feel the clutch bearing movement within the motor. Also it's worth checking that the crank arms are tight on the axle and its not them that are moving. There is nothing to adjust as far as I know. My dealer checked my original motor in seconds and said it could be replaced under warranty - so its worth taking to a dealer if you're concerned. Good luck Brian

 

[FireWithin]

Hi @FireWithin, I have an alloy Creo which recently had a new motor fitted. The original motor had quite a large movement same as you described. Also when pedalling out of the seat there was a light knock every revolution. The replacement motor shows no such movement. However, whilst rocking the crank arms make sure you apply some rotational tension effectively tightening the drive chain (say with the tyre on the floor to resist rotation) otherwise you might just feel the clutch bearing movement within the motor. Also it's worth checking that the crank arms are tight on the axle and its not them that are moving. There is nothing to adjust as far as I know. My dealer checked my original motor in seconds and said it could be replaced under warranty - so its worth taking to a dealer if you're concerned. Good luck Brian

Well, thank you ! BUT I did not describe a large movement hehe.
Do you have a video of your old motor showing the movement?
Thanks

 

[brizi2003]

Well, thank you ! BUT I did not describe a large movement hehe.
Do you have a video of your old motor showing the movement?
Thanks

Haha. Sorry no.

 

[Rickster]

If you have the same pedals on post a pic of the outboard ends and a pic of your crank ends where the pedals mount. A quick visit to your lbs checking on a new bike will quickly show you how much play you should have… none usually in the direction you showed in your pic. Sounds like your bearings maybe on the way out.

 

[FireWithin]

If you have the same pedals on post a pic of the outboard ends and a pic of your crank ends where the pedals mount. A quick visit to your lbs checking on a new bike will quickly show you how much play you should have… none usually in the direction you showed in your pic. Sounds like your bearings maybe on the way out.

I did not understand your first sentence. Regarding the bearing on the way out, the bike is bran new 300km.

 

[Rickster]

I did not understand your first sentence. Regarding the bearing on the way out, the bike is bran new 300km.

My crank bearings went out at 200kms. Distance doesn’t necessarily mean a lot. It all depends on what has happened while riding. On any km motor if you have bashed the cranks or have pedal strikes even one really bad one it can potentially take out brand new crank bearings. Sounds like your heading towards a new motor. The reason I wanted to see a picture of your pedals and cranks was to look at how beat up they are or if a bad hit is evident on the cranks or pedals. When my bearings went out the first time I had a very bad landing and I heard the solid bang of tge crank hitting solid rock. That’s all it took, a few weeks later I started to have crank play and ended up splitting the motor case and replaced the bearings. The drive side seems to go first.

 

[FireWithin]

My crank bearings went out at 200kms. Distance doesn’t necessarily mean a lot. It all depends on what has happened while riding. On any km motor if you have bashed the cranks or have pedal strikes even one really bad one it can potentially take out brand new crank bearings. Sounds like your heading towards a new motor. The reason I wanted to see a picture of your pedals and cranks was to look at how beat up they are or if a bad hit is evident on the cranks or pedals. When my bearings went out the first time I had a very bad landing and I heard the solid bang of tge crank hitting solid rock. That’s all it took, a few weeks later I started to have crank play and ended up splitting the motor case and replaced the bearings. The drive side seems to go first.

Oh ok, no no hit, these pedal where from my MTB. Still I cant believe a hit will do that.. very strange.

You're saying a new motor for only bearing? What do you mean by splitting the motor case and replace.. you did the job yourself?

Thanks

 

[Rickster]

Oh ok, no no hit, these pedal where from my MTB. Still I cant believe a hit will do that.. very strange.

You're saying a new motor for only bearing? What do you mean by splitting the motor case and replace.. you did the job yourself?

Thanks

In my case the first set of crank bearings was due to a really bad crank strike. Bearings can also go because of seal failure due to water ingress, washing the muddy bike or creek crossings, and riding in muddy conditions can cause issues. As far as repairs go I did do it myself, I split or opened the motor cases and replaced the bearings. This of course voided my warranty but I didn’t want to wait for 6 months for a new motor. Take your bike in and see what they tell you.

 

[FireWithin]

In my case the first set of crank bearings was due to a really bad crank strike. Bearings can also go because of seal failure due to water ingress, washing the muddy bike or creek crossings, and riding in muddy conditions can cause issues. As far as repairs go I did do it myself, I split or opened the motor cases and replaced the bearings. This of course voided my warranty but I didn’t want to wait for 6 months for a new motor. Take your bike in and see what they tell you.

Ok thank you for the feedback, would be helpful if you have the bearing part list and maybe couple of snap shot of what you did.
Thanks

 

[Rickster]

Ok thank you for the feedback, would be helpful if you have the bearing part list and maybe couple of snap shot of what you did.
Thanks

May I suggest that you contact bearingman on this forum, he’s the guy with parts, service and a ton of information, exactly what your looking for. Here is their web site as well. Homepage - eBike Motor Centre (Performance Line Bearings)

 

[FireWithin]

May I suggest that you contact bearingman on this forum, he’s the guy with parts, service and a ton of information, exactly what your looking for. Here is their web site as well. Homepage - eBike Motor Centre (Performance Line Bearings)

Awesome !

 

[Pdoz]

For what it's worth, the wait in Auatralia to get this fixed under warranty is 2 weeks - assuming my new motor arrives tomorrow as promised. .

I'm just scraping in within the 2 year warranty so it's nice to know repair is possible

 

[FireWithin]

For what it's worth, the wait in Auatralia to get this fixed under warranty is 2 weeks - assuming my new motor arrives tomorrow as promised. .

I'm just scraping in within the 2 year warranty so it's nice to know repair is possible

Wait what? changing the motor for some bad bearings?? That sounds nuts!! What is going on? you gotta describe your problem a bit more in details, would you?

Thanks

 

[Pdoz]

Wait what? changing the motor for some bad bearings?? That sounds nuts!! What is going on? you gotta describe your problem a bit more in details, would you?

Thanks

It started as subtle torsional play as you describe, initially improved by tightening up the crank bolts but came back within 2/3 rides and then started to feel like the crank side pedal was dead ( creak / click as pressure applied / released) . Annoying but not life threatening.

Most likely the drive side bearing is about to die , but opening the motor to replace that bearing whilst it's under warranty isn't wise. Apparently the sl motor is the only ip whatever certified water sealed ebike motor - so if YOU split the motor and then later there is an electrical issue from water - good luck.

If my motor was out of warranty I'd have no issue fixing it, but specialized warranty is what we pay for when forking out silly $ for these things

 

[FireWithin]

It started as subtle torsional play as you describe, initially improved by tightening up the crank bolts but came back within 2/3 rides and then started to feel like the crank side pedal was dead ( creak / click as pressure applied / released) . Annoying but not life threatening.

Most likely the drive side bearing is about to die , but opening the motor to replace that bearing whilst it's under warranty isn't wise. Apparently the sl motor is the only ip whatever certified water sealed ebike motor - so if YOU split the motor and then later there is an electrical issue from water - good luck.

If my motor was out of warranty I'd have no issue fixing it, but specialized warranty is what we pay for when forking out silly $ for these things

Wow its still nuts but 100% understand your point of view, thank you for sharing !

 

[Pdoz]

Wow its still nuts but 100% understand your point of view, thank you for sharing !

It's an environmental nightmare, but these little black boxes are easier for the manufacturers to replace than repair.

My 2018 giant ( yamaha pwx2) got a new motor just before running out if warranty - there was a subtle torque sensor issue, and I expect if it had been out of warranty I'd be pulling it apart to let the local it guys fix it - but giant just replaced the whole thing.

I'd like to think the manufacturers take these " dead " motors and investigate what went wrong / sort out the future designs. Delusional?