General e bike maintenance

[markemark]

We have an ebike in our household. Are there any changes to general maintenance I would normally do, eg chain and cassette replacement?

 

[jowwy]

We have an ebike in our household. Are there any changes to general maintenance I would normally do, eg chain and cassette replacement?

nope thats all i do to my ebikes and then a service to the motor when the service light comes on, but i take it to the local ebike store for that job

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

If your ebike has a mid drive then there may be more wear and tear on the chain and gears
Basically there is just more power going through them so wear may increase

Hence they may need replacing more often

 

[CXRAndy]

Just keep the chain clean and well lubricated. Check for wear, with a chain guage or steel rule. Measure 6 to 8 inches rivett to rivett.

Check battery connections are clean and free from corrosion. Tiny amount of WD40 or GT85 to keep them nice and clean. Any unusual motor noises have investigated early

 

[markemark]

Thanks. Is the cassette and chain replacement the same process?

 

[mustang1]

nope thats all i do to my ebikes and then a service to the motor when the service light comes on, but i take it to the local ebike store for that job

Wait, what? That is news to me. What maintenance does the motor require and how frequently? Genuioasking as I may be in the market for an e-bike.

 

[CXRAndy]

Wait, what? That is news to me. What maintenance does the motor require and how frequently? Genuioasking as I may be in the market for an e-bike.

It all depends on how obsessive you're with crank based motors. Some brands are well greased and don't need any attention- until unusual noises occur.

My Bafang motor was actually getting quieter, but there were quite a number of comments about the lack of grease inside. I took my motor apart noticed that the grease had been applied in one major area but could do with reapplying on all teeth instead of expecting the motion of gears to redistribute the grease. I noticed also a small swarf deposit- I presume this is metal from the bedding in of gears. I spread the grease evenly on all gears, reassembled, and the motor is a bit quieter. Other than checking for water ingress and replacing faulty parts, it just checking there is a good spread of grease. Taking things apart also allows you to check and copper slip nuts and bolts to prevent corrosion.

 

[jowwy]

Wait, what? That is news to me. What maintenance does the motor require and how frequently? Genuioasking as I may be in the market for an e-bike.

i think its just a motor service, after a certain amount of miles or time...a service light comes on and with the bosch motor you need the software to reset it and only dealers have that software

 

[Pale Rider]

We have an ebike in our household.

What bike is it?

 

[markemark]

What bike is it?

An older version of this….

https://www.raleigh.co.uk/gb/en/mot...ar/low-step/?attrMarketingColor=Midnight Blue

 

[Pale Rider]

An older version of this….

https://www.raleigh.co.uk/gb/en/motus-grand-tour-derailleur-gear/low-step/?attrMarketingColor=Midnight Blue

It's an ordinary bike either side of the motor, so you apply ordinary bike care and maintenance to those bits.

There's no service indicator on Bosch bikes, unless it's a brand new feature which won't be on yours anyway.

An annual 'inspection service' would consist of a software update and a download of the various bits of information the bike stores.

As you probably know, the bike is not connected in any way, so there's no reason to think the existing software will stop working.

My main Bosch bike did acquire an intermittent power delivery fault after about three years which was cured by a software update..

The dealer gave what I regard as the sensible advice of getting the software updated 'every year or two'.

My other Bosch bike has not been updated since I bought it 10 years ago - it's still running as it should.

I suspect most owners never bother to update their bikes.

 

[markemark]

Thanks. So, normal cassette, normal chain, normal indexing?

 

[Pale Rider]

Thanks. So, normal cassette, normal chain, normal indexing?

Yes.

You can get chains marketed as for ebikes, but any decent branded chain will do.

Too much is made of the extra wear on crank bike drive trains.

Some people seem to think it's like running a bicycle chain on a Honda Fireblade.

I can climb on my ebike at about the same speed or less as a fit road cyclist.

Thus the wear on my chain is similar to the wear on the road cyclist's - well within the components' design parameters.

 

[jowwy]

It's an ordinary bike either side of the motor, so you apply ordinary bike care and maintenance to those bits.

There's no service indicator on Bosch bikes, unless it's a brand new feature which won't be on yours anyway.

An annual 'inspection service' would consist of a software update and a download of the various bits of information the bike stores.

As you probably know, the bike is not connected in any way, so there's no reason to think the existing software will stop working.

My main Bosch bike did acquire an intermittent power delivery fault after about three years which was cured by a software update..

The dealer gave what I regard as the sensible advice of getting the software updated 'every year or two'.

My other Bosch bike has not been updated since I bought it 10 years ago - it's still running as it should.

I suspect most owners never bother to update their bikes.

I thought a little spanner came up in the bottom corner when it was ready to be serviced???

 

[richtea]

If your ebike has a mid drive then there may be more wear and tear on the chain and gears
Basically there is just more power going through them so wear may increase

Hence they may need replacing more often

With the extra weight (and higher speeds), I'd also be inclined pay some a little more attention to brake wear then I might for a non-eBike.