Going electric

[Ham]

Another prospective purchaser interested in this thread, Mrs Ham would like one. I suspect she may need a step through now, too, which seems to up the weight no inconsiderable amount. (Un?)Surprisingly, Spesh don't quote weight for theirs, but [urlhttps://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/product/25248/2022-turbo-como-3-0/]this step through[/url] appears to clock up about 29Kg. This at a credible 18Kg seems a bit better

If Mrs Ham is tall enough this is what I wanted. At 163cm I’m definitely a small, and those have been OOS all year.

At 163 you have a critical additional few cm, but it does look nice

in sneaky Trek style the quoted weights are without the battery, my XL standard with a 500Wh battery weighs 24kg. That doesn't seem excessive, a similar style non assisted bike is likely to be 18kg.

That explains the 18Kg ... I was suspicious! (it is still light)

thb,  I hadn't noticed the disappearance of weight in the specifications from almost all manufacturers,  being replaced by something like this from giant, if anything at all:

The most accurate way to determine any bike’s weight is to have your local dealer weigh it for you. Many brands strive to list the lowest possible weight, but in reality weight can vary based on size, finish, hardware and accessories. All our bikes are designed for best-in-class weight and ride quality.

[T42]

The eBrute badly needs a new headset bearing so yesterday I called an LBS.  As soon as they heard that I'd motorized the bike myself they refused to touch it - "if anything goes wrong we might be held liable". 

After some discussion they agreed to do the work, but only if I removed the motor & battery first.

I'm more than halfway tempted to buy the tools & do it myself, but it's something I've never done and I don't want to screw it up.

[quixoticgeek]

The eBrute badly needs a new headset bearing so yesterday I called an LBS.  As soon as they heard that I'd motorized the bike myself they refused to touch it - "if anything goes wrong we might be held liable". 

After some discussion they agreed to do the work, but only if I removed the motor & battery first.

I'm more than halfway tempted to buy the tools & do it myself, but it's something I've never done and I don't want to screw it up.

Wtf.

Buy the tools and do it yourself.

J

[Adam]

The eBrute badly needs a new headset bearing so yesterday I called an LBS.  As soon as they heard that I'd motorized the bike myself they refused to touch it - "if anything goes wrong we might be held liable". 

After some discussion they agreed to do the work, but only if I removed the motor & battery first.

I'm more than halfway tempted to buy the tools & do it myself, but it's something I've never done and I don't want to screw it up.

It's bizarre.  It's a trend that seems to have spread from the USA.  Over there, every bike shop refuses to touch anything modified as they're so scared of being sued.

I take the attitude that it's still a bike and by fixing it, I'm helping someone carry on cycling.  Which is the important thing.

[Sergeant Pluck]

The eBrute badly needs a new headset bearing so yesterday I called an LBS.  As soon as they heard that I'd motorized the bike myself they refused to touch it - "if anything goes wrong we might be held liable". 

After some discussion they agreed to do the work, but only if I removed the motor & battery first.

I'm more than halfway tempted to buy the tools & do it myself, but it's something I've never done and I don't want to screw it up.

Is it just a bearing rather than the whole headset? Then the only tools you need are those required to drop the fork out.

[T42]

I want to do the whole shebang.  It was replaced by a very offhand LBS ~18 months back.  Thereafter I didn't ride it for ~6 months, and when I did I noticed the classic "thunk" on braking.  I then found that it was impossible to tighten the stack adequately because the shower had junked the top cap I had installed in favour of the one that came with the new headset, and that didn't bear on the stem clamp but on the shim between it and the steerer - it's a 1" steerer and the stem is for 1.125".  I replaced the top cap with a larger one, but tightening the stack enough to suppress the clunk squeezed the bearing too much for it to turn smoothly.  I backed it off to the point where the clunk was minimal and lived with it.  Just now it's still OK on the road but it's developing click-stops now so I reckon it's time to do it.

I want an LBS to do it because they'd have it done in half an hour, whereas if I do it without any experience I might need a week.

[mzjo]

The eBrute badly needs a new headset bearing so yesterday I called an LBS.  As soon as they heard that I'd motorized the bike myself they refused to touch it - "if anything goes wrong we might be held liable". 

After some discussion they agreed to do the work, but only if I removed the motor & battery first.

I'm more than halfway tempted to buy the tools & do it myself, but it's something I've never done and I don't want to screw it up.

It's bizarre.  It's a trend that seems to have spread from the USA.  Over there, every bike shop refuses to touch anything modified as they're so scared of being sued.

I take the attitude that it's still a bike and by fixing it, I'm helping someone carry on cycling.  Which is the important thing.

This is a completely normal attitude in France where the law is very strict (if ever there is an accident or other incident) about who is permitted to work on a road vehicle professionally and their obligations to "results" (which means they can refuse to let a vehicle on the road if they are not convinced it is correct in every respect). Add to that that some (most?) shops might not want to touch electric bikes if they don't have some-one suitably qualified and any respectable shop will have serious doubts about a kit that they don't know to be "homologated" for that model of that bike. Ultimately it's all about the insurance!
France is just as bad as the US for road safety litigation, although only when there is no way of hiding the fact! Things may be changing but slowly. Worth remembering that the plethora of e-scoots, import chinese e-bikes etc are probably sold as toys, certainly not as road-legal transport!

[T42]

That being the case I'm surprised they'd want to touch anything on that bike even if I took the motor off, since most of it was put together by yrs trly over the previous 18 years.  There's certainly no way a 2001 frame could ever have been homologué for use with a motor. It'd make you spit.

[Cudzoziemiec]

@Steph, have you bought anything or made any pre-purchase type decisions? You know that TTIUWP of a high-voltage sparked-up Steph and steed.

[mzjo]

That being the case I'm surprised they'd want to touch anything on that bike even if I took the motor off, since most of it was put together by yrs trly over the previous 18 years.  There's certainly no way a 2001 frame could ever have been homologué for use with a motor. It'd make you spit.

It does seem to be e assistance related, perhaps because there is a fear that they might end up working on bikes that don't conform to the 250w limit or other bits of the relevant law. I do know that the LBS used by a lot of the club refused point blank to have anything to do with the Annad kits (that appear just like yours), either fitting them or doing maintenance afterwards because of "homologation" problems (in spite of Annad going through all the legal hoops; their kits are fitted to new Douze cargo bikes I believe). The LBS probably has around 60% of its sales from e-bikes! There aren't the same risks working on a bike that's been built up from parts if there's no motor - and it's easier to say to the client "that's dead, we'll have to change it!". But at the end of the day the big (non)motivator is probably professional insurance costs!
Incidentally Limoges is very heavily into VAE and other e-stuff. I've just returned from Oxford where the lack of VAE on the roads was quite surprising coming from this neck of the woods. (Bordeaux also has a lot of e-bikes, in spite of being at least as flat as Oxford. I think french utility bikers must be just keen on being motorised, even if they're not in a car!)

[T42]

I thought of having a word with the motor manufacturer (or at least the bunch who design the things and get them built in China) but I don't think they could say anything constructive.

Anyway, I've got an old wheel ready to mount and the workshop heater's on.  Should be over 5°C in half an hour.

WRT the law being strict, I don't think it's any worse here than anywhere else but there is a great tendency to bump liability up any chain of putative responsibility until it tops out.  Our club was originally the cycling section of a local sports association that comprised everything from zen breathing to synchronized flower arranging, with a football section that dwarfed the others by about 50:1.  The assoc. presidency was supposed to revolve from section to section every two years, but ~20 years ago when it should have come to us El Prez said stuff it, I'm not going to be held responsible if some little squit of a footballer takes a bottle to someone after getting illegally pissed after an away match, so we went independent.

[aidan.f]

We have booked a service for Lynn's ICE trike with e-assist (STEPS) second dealer I tried.  First response was 'as I cannot fit it onto my work stand I canna do anything' 
We were expecting to pay for firmware updates, thought they would require a dealer login - but we have just done these ourselves using the Shimano app.
We are not averse to supporting our LBS but wondering what we would be paying for ...
I expect we would have the firmware update confirmed, chain cleaned and lubricated, - Envolio gears (no service required) hub brakes (low maintenance) steering and other safety checks.. I do these regulary myself and confident that everything is in good order.
 

[Kim]

If paying for a service, I'd want them to do a proper job cleaning the schmoo out of the chain tubes (top tip: tampon on a brake cable) and checking the tracking, both of which are miserable time-consuming jobs that the average LBS, unused to recumbents, is likely to overlook.  Tadpole trikes also do a good line in untimely headset wear, so I'd also expect them to check for that.  Other than that, it's just the usual bicycle stuff.

The STEPS is pretty much a black box, isn't it?  Is there even anything to lubricate?

[Adam]

We have booked a service for Lynn's ICE trike with e-assist (STEPS) second dealer I tried.  First response was 'as I cannot fit it onto my work stand I canna do anything' 
We were expecting to pay for firmware updates, thought they would require a dealer login - but we have just done these ourselves using the Shimano app.

The Shimano e-tube app anyone can download does most of what the Professional version can do - that only adds some further Di2 customisation to let you tweak the gear layout more plus giving additional info on how the battery is.