# OK - fed up with seldom used ebike



## ebikeerwidnes (6 Dec 2022)

So - we have 2 ebike - my main bike and my wife's folder that she never uses - Carrera CrossCity-e


I take it out for a ride when I remember but over the Autumn I kinda forgot

and now the cells - which are only a year old - are unbalanced and it will cost getting on for £100 to sort it out

so - I'm thinking I will just leave it as a normal bike - leave the battery out

But

I thinking - is it worth replacing the rear hub motor wheel with a normal one
or would I be better off just leaving it and putting up with the small amount of extra resistance and weight???


anyone tried it??


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## steveindenmark (7 Dec 2022)

Pay the £100 to fix it and sell it. Doing what you suggest will just leave you with a ruined, heavy e bike you still don't use


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## Dadam (7 Dec 2022)

Who is it that wants to charge £100? I'm assuming Halfords as it's a Carrera?
Why does it need balancing? Will it charge at all?

And if it does definitely need doing, why isn't this being done under warranty? I would submit that regardless what Halfords say, they should be doing it for free as under the Consumer Rights Act goods should last a reasonable length of time. which I would further submit should be way more than a year for an expensive device such as an ebike.


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## CXRAndy (7 Dec 2022)

Rebalance yourself or at least have a go. Charge 100% then discharge down to 20%. Do it several times 

If it doesn't work I be onto Halfords to sort under warranty. These batteries aren't cheap and do need a bit of care to get the longest life out of them.


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## Sharky (7 Dec 2022)

I googled this topic and confused myself. How do you know that the cells are unbalanced?


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## Ming the Merciless (7 Dec 2022)

Sharky said:


> I googled this topic and confused myself. How do you know that the cells are unbalanced?



I think the bike leans to the right


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## ebikeerwidnes (7 Dec 2022)

Maybe I was unclear
The bike is several years old - - well out of warranty.

Due the low level of usage the cells degraded last year as I got the battery recelled - at that point the bike was over 4 years old
Halfords are not involved. I am sure thye would sell me a new battery but when I tried online they were out of stock - and I tried several times over a few months - possibly as the motor system has changed since we bought it.

As a result I got a 3rd party to recell it - I have used them before when my old ebike's battery got so low on range that it was not useable - which took many years.
Anyway - the battery was fine for over a year after the recell - but at the end of the summer I forgot to do the use/recharge cycles that I normally try to fit in - partly due to illness.
When I remembered I took the bike out and it seemed fine and recharged
But next time I used it the charge was used up quite fast and then the charger refused to charge it - in detail the 'fully charged' light just stayed on green when it normally goes to red until charging is complete
For more details - it is a 36V battery and a meter says it is delivering 33.4V

I contacted the recelling company and they basically blame lack of use - hence the warranty was invalidated.
Again - Halfords are not involved

If anyone knows of a company - especially one in the North West - then I would be grateful


Thanks


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## CXRAndy (7 Dec 2022)

ebikeerwidnes said:


> Maybe I was unclear
> The bike is several years old - - well out of warranty.
> 
> Due the low level of usage the cells degraded last year as I got the battery recelled - at that point the bike was over 4 years old
> ...



That sounds like a cell has gone faulty and pulled down the voltage. Another repair


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## bonzobanana (11 Dec 2022)

ebikeerwidnes said:


> Maybe I was unclear
> The bike is several years old - - well out of warranty.
> 
> Due the low level of usage the cells degraded last year as I got the battery recelled - at that point the bike was over 4 years old
> ...



If the battery is reading 33.4V that is higher than the cut off so why not try discharging the battery a bit more and charging again, repeated charge cycles may revive the more dormant cells as the BMS has more chance to balance the cells. Charge in a fairly warm room and leave for a long time well beyond the normal charge times to give the BMS maximum time to balance the cells. Obviously only do this while you can monitor the battery charging and never over-night un-monitored for such a battery.


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## ebikeerwidnes (11 Dec 2022)

bonzobanana said:


> If the battery is reading 33.4V that is higher than the cut off so why not try discharging the battery a bit more and charging again, repeated charge cycles may revive the more dormant cells as the BMS has more chance to balance the cells. Charge in a fairly warm room and leave for a long time well beyond the normal charge times to give the BMS maximum time to balance the cells. Obviously only do this while you can monitor the battery charging and never over-night un-monitored for such a battery.



WIll give it a go 

thanks


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## Tenkaykev (14 Dec 2022)

Had an Email from Decathlon advertising a new Electric Cargo Bike. It’s longer at the back and has modular luggage/ child seat etc. 170kg carrying capacity excluding rider and bike weight. £3,500.


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## CXRAndy (14 Dec 2022)

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/electric-cargo-bike-rear-loading-longtail-r500/_/R-p-329177

Id modify that with custom made rear triangle battery pack, bumping up Whr to more like 2000Whr and upgrade hub/Swap for crank motor to have alot more torque 100nm.

Then it would be a beast for load carrying duties including hills

I wonder if the frame is available separately


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## bonzobanana (14 Dec 2022)

Tenkaykev said:


> Had an Email from Decathlon advertising a new Electric Cargo Bike. It’s longer at the back and has modular luggage/ child seat etc. 170kg carrying capacity excluding rider and bike weight. £3,500.



The 170kg does include the rider but not the bike weight. So if you are 120kg you have 50kg of cargo capacity. What's interesting (to me at least) is it has a direct drive hub motor with 58Nm torque. So the windings must be designed for low speed perhaps the 25km/h or less of EU legislation. You don't often see direct drive hub motors featured on pre-built ebikes at least over here. No mention that I can see if regen is included which can increase range and almost eliminate wear to brake pads. That would seem an obvious feature to include. It's good that Decathlon have moved away from unreliable proprietary solutions for this ebike instead going for an ultra reliable direct drive hub motor.


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## CXRAndy (14 Dec 2022)

bonzobanana said:


> The 170kg does include the rider but not the bike weight. So if you are 120kg you have 50kg of cargo capacity. What's interesting (to me at least) is it has a direct drive hub motor with 58Nm torque. So the windings must be designed for low speed perhaps the 25km/h or less of EU legislation. You don't often see direct drive hub motors featured on pre-built ebikes at least over here. No mention that I can see if regen is included which can increase range and almost eliminate wear to brake pads. That would seem an obvious feature to include. It's good that Decathlon have moved away from unreliable proprietary solutions for this ebike instead going for an ultra reliable direct drive hub motor.



According to review comments there is regen


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## Tenkaykev (14 Dec 2022)

bonzobanana said:


> The 170kg does include the rider but not the bike weight. So if you are 120kg you have 50kg of cargo capacity. What's interesting (to me at least) is it has a direct drive hub motor with 58Nm torque. So the windings must be designed for low speed perhaps the 25km/h or less of EU legislation. You don't often see direct drive hub motors featured on pre-built ebikes at least over here. No mention that I can see if regen is included which can increase range and almost eliminate wear to brake pads. That would seem an obvious feature to include. It's good that Decathlon have moved away from unreliable proprietary solutions for this ebike instead going for an ultra reliable direct drive hub motor.



Ah, yes. I went back and re read the blurb onsite.


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## gizmo1994 (18 Dec 2022)

Blimey! That Decathlon long tail retails at 2799€ here in France. That is about £1000 less than it sells for in the UK. We have been seriously toying with the idea of getting one. Especially as the government are currently funding up to 2000€ or 40% of the purchase price on cargo bikes.


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## Tenkaykev (18 Dec 2022)

gizmo1994 said:


> Blimey! That Decathlon long tail retails at 2799€ here in France. That is about £1000 less than it sells for in the UK. We have been seriously toying with the idea of getting one. Especially as the government are currently funding up to 2000€ or 40% of the purchase price on cargo bikes.



I thought it was definitely overpriced, perhaps so they can offer it at a “ sale “ price further down the road.


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## bonzobanana (22 Dec 2022)

gizmo1994 said:


> Blimey! That Decathlon long tail retails at 2799€ here in France. That is about £1000 less than it sells for in the UK. We have been seriously toying with the idea of getting one. Especially as the government are currently funding up to 2000€ or 40% of the purchase price on cargo bikes.



It doesn't make a lot of sense to buy an Asian product imported into France and then resold over to the UK. Much better to buy from a UK importer or from a Asian seller. The free trade agreement excludes imported products like this and you still have tariffs in play which now go to the UK exchequer rather than EU. So the value of Decathlon products has declined quite a lot. Probably worth a trip to France and buy one there and try to ride it back with a ferry crossing, perhaps grunge it up a bit unless that is not possible anymore for some reason.


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