e*thirteen recommends inspecting Shimano EP8 motor spindles to ensure no cracks are present before riding any EP8 equipped bike again and in doing so have provided a step by step process for doing this with images and instructions below. There is zero stickiness at the pedals that we could detect. No, but the best on the market IMO. Aim for a cadence between 70-90 RPM for maximum efficiency and response from the motor. And just read any car review of the blend between regenerative braking and hydraulic, then decide whether you want a computer deciding to regen as you roll off a drop regen braking is pretty much impossible on an ebike as it requires the use of a direct drive motor. Maximum power output sits at 500W, although the. Display integration is still the best on the market, even if it only shows five bars of battery level and could easily integrate some more user-friendly features. Put on i9 Hydra hubs, annoying motor rattle sounds disappears. When youre at those 30-40km/h descending speeds, EP8 doesnt punish you for stamping on the pedals to build some extra speed in the lead-up to a jump or dropoff. I read a similar story around christmas on an other forum. Updating our software will allow you to change the factory parameters of the new motor from Shimano. This, of course, is good news for Commencal customers with EP8 drive units and e*thirteen cranks, and were hopeful other brands will follow suit. Along with the new EP8 motor, Shimano has also released a larger 630Wh battery, which seems to be the most popular option at the moment youll find it inside both the Canyon Spectral:ON and Merida eOne-Sixty. Overall very pleased with the bike and the motor. If a dynamo can be worked into the wheel hubs, you may even get near perpetual charging while the system is in use. 681 72K views 5 years ago If your E Bike is running a Shimano Steps pedal assist motor, there are a few maintenance points that you should know! 20ft into my ride and the motor cut out. Anyone having problems with the charger? Quick everyone, it's another article about e-bikes grab the pitchforks! The thing is though, you do actually get used to that noise. Certainly of all the full-power motors weve tested, Shimano EP8 affords the most seamless feel as the power fades in and out around the assistance cutoff. Also a big improvement over the prior motor is that the EP8 freewheels easily, so on flats or downhill you can blast away without motor resistance. The reported cases of drive unit spindle breakages on our DU-EP800 drive units were combined with non-Shimano cranks. - Numerous battery options, both from Shimano & 3rd parties Alex then moved back to the UK and put his vast knowledge of mountain biking to good use by landing a job working for MBUK magazine as features editor. What would happen if a consumer noticed their axle was cracked in the way described on e*thirteens TSB? For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. As much as I want an emtb right now, I am waiting until the technology is perfected. Start with a full battery, select the Trail mode, and see how far you can go before you run out of juice. Chuckle. The existing Shimano E8000 motor is arguably the most popular motor in mountain e-bikes. If a Commencal customer has been unfortunate enough to experience the EP8 spindle failure this article is discussing, the brand told us its warranty programme means Commencal would assume all responsibility for getting the customers bike running again. Any rider who owns an ebike with an EP8 motor fitted with e*thirteen cranks currently has two options. The sound is the same, the motor works but you just hear it spinning. The brand told us it was aware of the spindle issue and has been in contact with both Shimano and e*thirteen about it. - Range estimation is not reliable. Just kidding! My first thoughts are that the disengagement part of the motor that allows it to pedal freely after 20 has already broken. How stuff like this gets through what I would like to think was extensive testing I will never know. I can only hear any motor rattling when I am doing really gnarly rocky downhill. Im the worlds biggest ebike fan & I quite agree. Save 30% + G-Form Pro X3 Knee Pads when you subscribe to MBUK magazine. Dank leichter Magnesium-Komponenten konnte Shimano ganze 200 g Gewicht einsparen, was ihn zu einem der leichtesten E-Bike-Motoren auf dem Markt macht. Save 30% + G-Form Pro X3 Knee Pads when you subscribe to MBUK magazine. They could have gone "yeah the rattling sucks but we hope you appreciate the motor nonetheless" but instead they composed this pure poetry. It's kinda frustrating. On top of that, Shimano also appears to be cool with brands building their bikes with non-Shimano batteries. By their own standards of non-assist components, this motor is not worthy of the shimano name. This adjustment has the biggest impact on the motors performance and your total range. Non-recommended 3rd party cranks can make a crack in the spindle because the difference in design from Shimanos crank causes increased stress around the spindle hole. There are a lot of factors that influence range including rider weight, tyre choice, trail conditions, and elevation. Can they make it swappable with a gear box? Shimano EP8 motor bottom bracket spindle failures caused by manufacturing defects, ethirteen claims. You've been subscribed to our newsletter. Don't take things too seriously just get out there and enjoy whatever you own and have FUN! At 52+ lbs, you're going to be using that motor every pedal stroke. You can improve efficiency by limiting the maximum torque, though it is still possible to get maximum power out of the motor by pedalling at a higher cadence, so you wont necessarily get more range by limiting torque. Overall the tuning adjustments are quite noticeable, though wed always recommend only adjusting one parameter at a time to isolate its effect on the trail. There is zero stickiness at the pedals that we could detect. Seeing if anyone else out there has had problems with their EP8. Don't all e-bikes feature walk assist? IMO Shimano bikes are good,but they are 2 steps down compared to Specialized and Bosch. Shimano said August was the best. is a broken record . On my older gen Bosch motor with a 500wh battery I can get about 30 miles out of a battery charge if I only turbo up the steepest climbs and do the other bits in low/mid power settings (and I'm about 100kg's / 16 stone which sucks battery). We haven't really got an opinion about durability. Sources at numerous ebike suppliers have told Cycle Volta this week that releases of new EP8-equipped electric mountain bikes are being held up, on Shimano's direction. For a lighter pedal feel than the E8000, the one-way bearing has reduced its rotational resistance, creating a free play. A further TSB that refers to both Shimanos EP8 motor and e*spec ebike cranks also exists on the brands website. Side-by-side, the EP8 motor is slimmer around the belly and so offers a skerrick more ground clearance. Subscribe to Cycling Plus from just 13.50 and get a Lezyne Pocket Drive Pump, worth 29! When the motor applies torque it pushes in one direction and closes the gap, when there is no torque the ring can rock a little. What makes me sad is seeing young people hop on the e bike train so that they can go on a longer ride or so that someone who is new to cycling can keep up with their friends who have been riding for years, all to perpetuate needless consumerism and a gross waste of resources. That Shimano response was pure gold. There are no reported cases of spindle breakage of DU-EP800 when assembled with Shimanos cranks. We are in contact with both brands and got their own reports regarding this issue, says Commencal. Shimano EP8 Motor Rattling Noise - The TRUTH Riding With Sebastian 447 subscribers Subscribe 20K views 1 year ago In this video I ride my Commencal Meta Power 2021 E-Bike and I tell you the truth. While there were limited options to tweak the levels of the old E8000 and E7000 motors, EP8 takes it to the next level, allowing riders to alter the motors torque, acceleration and general on-trail character, resulting in a more personalised experience for dialling your e-MTB in for your riding style and terrain. With the new EP8, Shimano managed to close the gap to its biggest competitors. By Ralf Hauser Take note of how much elevation you achieve during those rides (elevation is more important than distance when determining range), and keep that number in mind when youre planning future all-day epics. You can hear the motor spinning and attempting to assist, but no power is delivered. Do you think it could be only an issue with Carbon frames then? Over the past six months of riding, the Shimano EP8 motor has really impressed us with just how much punch it delivers from such a lightweight and compact package. There are 5 levels of adjustment from Mild to Quick, with the highest setting requiring only a small rotation with light pedal force to engage the motor. Make sense. VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. Hopefully this option will open up to non-Garmin users in the future. We suspect the amount of riding required to replicate this problem far exceeds the number of kilometres an average bike tester will do on any given model. oooof! The current spares situation is shocking, l've been waiting six weeks for a battery lock for my E8000 equipped Kona and have been told "June" is the earliest l can expect to see it. With 21% greater torque than E8000, the EP8 motor delivers substantially more punch on the trail, and it feels more usable too. I have the EP8 on a Commencal Meta Power. Didn't think I'd ever see that. I was sure it was a motor issue till I realized I needed to put the speed sensor on the new wheel. I have not heard of a recall, so I did some digging. This also allows brands to more neatly integrate the motor into their frame designs, Canyon having done a particularly swell job with the Spectral:ON. TSB 156 addresses a reported issue where the crank preload end cap can loosen and fall off, eventually causing the pedal cranks to become detached from the bottom-bracket spindle. Why so delicate, bro? - Strong but very well-tuned power delivery The Pivot Shuttle, for example, employs a huge 726Wh battery made by a third party company called Darfon. And we certainly wouldnt be upset if Shimano could quieten down the clacking noise. No mention on the worldwide recall of the motor due to issues? me-bikes: Ibis Exie, Ibis Ripley V4, Ibis Ripmo V2. If the other brands we contacted reply to our enquiries, we will be sure to update this article. The cause is due to the difference in design from Shimanos crank, which causes increased stress around the spindle hole.. The investigation has led e*thirteen to produce technical service bulletin 157 (TSB), published on its website on 14 October 2021. Great for climbing, on the descents the weight changes how I ride, not better or worse. As mentioned above, the Assistance Character bears the biggest influence on the motors on-trail feel, and dialling this down can make quite a big difference to the amount of range you can get from the battery. Now, would we like to see Shimano eliminate the noise altogether? The noise is easily demonstrated if you pick the back wheel up a few inches off the ground and let it come back down. Their new ride algorithms make the EP8 one of the most natural feeling motors out there, with plenty of power to propel the bike over obstacles, even if Bosch and Brose are still a bit punchier and deliver slightly more power. Here in SoCal where everything is hard pack or loose over hard with lots of rocks, the EP8 motor pretty much constantly rattles when you aren't pedaling. Shimano also claims this issue is entirely isolated to non-Shimano cranks, stating it is aware of 49 reported cases of spindle failure. Once paired, find the Customise menu and select Assist. this dude knows how to write a review, well done. That makes it tricky to work out how much assistance youll be finishing your ride with. The Levo SL? This means its impossible to tell whether you have 21% or 39% battery remaining. The touch points are all up to typical Shimano standards of quality, though we would like to see improvements to the functionality of the display unit, notably having battery life shown as a percentage. Going the right direction in weight reduction. Can someone make a bike with 50% - 100% assist? Couldn't agree more. Don't worry: "Every time you start your pitchfork, it resets into 'no stab' mode. @tomdesoals: Yeah, I get that now that bikes have become more silent anything new that makes noise can become annoying. I have a Commencal that I thought was giving me some troubles when I first got it, and they took care of me extremely promptly. We bought drive units and crank arms, we are replacing at our cost all damaged parts and are covering labor [and] shipping costs that might occur. Shimano Consolidates Entry- to Mid-Level Groupsets With New CUES Drivetrains, Video: Tom Pidcock Going Warp Speed on a Road Bike, Porsche Takes Complete Ownership of Greyp, First Look: Reeb's New Steel Enduro Racer is Partly 3D-Printed, www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/wanneroo/bicycle-parts-and-accessories/men-s-petrol-bike-mountain-bike-/1259285475, www.cyclevolta.com/story/ebike-components/hold-up-shimanos-new-emtb-motor, www.avdweb.nl/solar-bike/solarbike/maxun-solar-bike. "but since I have to hit the small button repeatedly when my battery charge becomes critical on some rides". Yes, we understand how and why spindle breakage may occur when some non-Shimano cranks are used with our DU-EP800 drive unit. Hey Ralf Hauser!! The compact size and a magnesium casing helped cut 300 grams. Perfect? 5Nm doesnt sound like much on paper, but on the trail the Levos 2.2 motor is noticeably musclier than Shimano EP8, particularly at the extreme ends of the cadence spectrum. In the lower settings, youll have to pedal really hard to get maximum support the motor. What this article says to me is that ebikes are no where never the level of refinement that I would require to give up a normal bike. Mine gets very hot. So why has no one made a motorized gearbox yet? As in, we totally forgot about it altogether. You still have the three basic assist modes: Eco, Trail and Boost. Oh man, so that must mean you know of rigs they've received that they've not done first rides and then field tests on. I tried to find out the cause of this. Its almost as if the battery drains faster in that final 20%. Mkay? Does Shimano know why the spindles are snapping? Overall it is a very refined system though. @tomdesoals: I don't quite get it though. As well as being smaller, lighter and more efficient, the new EP8 drive unit also packs more punch with up to 85Nm of torque, bringing it up to speed with the latest power plants from Bosch, Yamaha and Brose/Specialized. Yesterday I drove down south to explore some new trail in Utah. Once again still want to know; is the BB replaceable on these units yet, or are they still landfill waiting to happen? The Shimano EP8 RS of the Orbea Rise does not present physical differences concerning the EP8 that we can see mounted on other e-mtb's. Its dimensions and weight are the same. My brain constantly struggles with whether 2 bars remaining means I have 21% or 59%I would prefer a continuous power bar or percent. What's your experience on this? Sometimes that means a DIY fix and other times it can mean a recall, software update or part replacement by a dealer. 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