# Probably the kiss of death but....Carerra ebikes



## gbb (11 Jun 2021)

3300'ish miles on mine, still goes well apart from the occasional drive or battery cut outs so many people get...occasionally frequently.
I had a bad patch a few weeks ago, reset, cutout, reset, cutout...maybe 10 times in a row.

Put two strips of duct tape over the battery , top and bottom, just to secure it all confidently. No cutouts since. Could be co-incidence of course ? I have taped it before but with insulation tape, not as strong and secure as duct tape.
Here's hoping it continues....


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## ColinJ (11 Jun 2021)

Good luck!

I used to have a problem with my Garmin Etrex switching off on bumpy roads. The GPS has 2 NiMH AA batteries and I realised that they were bouncing about in the battery compartment, momentarily disconnecting from the battery contacts. The manufacturer could have eliminated the problem by including a small capacitor between the powerlines to hold the voltage up until contact had been remade, but they hadn't done that. I fixed the problem by putting a couple of small blobs of Blu Tack under the batteries to stop them moving.

PS Actually, I think I discovered later that there are extra spring contacts under the battery compartment and it may have been those that were losing contact, but the bouncing batteries definitely caused the problem. My fix reduced it from 2 or 3 times a ride to 2 or 3 times a decade!


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## Drago (11 Jun 2021)

Mine was just about to trip past 2000 miles in 9 months then i fell ill and haven't ridden. Touch wood, nae probs. The current model has a redesigned battery and mount system and seems pretty solid.


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## irw (11 Jun 2021)

If it's the battery contacts, then you could carefully try manipulating them such that they squeeze a bit harder. If you can post pics of both the battery, and the mating connector on the bike, I might be able to offer a bit more guidance?


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## gbb (29 Jul 2021)

Just as a follow up re the battery cut out problem that plagues many users....
I mentioned somewhere (and ive read as such in the myriad of claimed fixes people have tried, suggested etc) that i used a strip of heavy duty tape at the top and bottom of the battery to hold it secure in the carrier.
Not one problem since. I don't do that much mileage nowadays but even so...


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## ebikeerwidnes (29 Jul 2021)

I'm not really sure that buying a ready made ebike and then having to ride around with it held together with gaffa tape is really the look I am going for

If I want an ebike that looks like it has been made by Clarkson in a shed then I'll get something off ebay and nail a cheap imported conversion kit to it


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## Drago (29 Jul 2021)

The affected models have been out of production for a couple of years so there is little danger of you being able to buy one and have to ride it about wrapped in great swathes of tape.


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## bonzobanana (29 Jul 2021)

A huge number of ebikes out there are Carrera's as Halfords have such a huge slice of the market. There seems to be a quite a few problems reported with the Carrera Crosscity which has a conventional cadence sensor and the models that use the Suntour HESC system that uses a torque sensor which is just about all the other Carrera ebike models. I thought the common issue with the Suntour HESC was the torque sensor on the crankset? There are quite a few food couriers using the Carrera ebikes so some must be pretty good because those are racking up the miles. Halfords have 25% of the UK market by value and about 40% of the bike market by volume. They are such a huge player so its important to factor in that many 10s of thousands of Carrera ebikes are out there being used.


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## Drago (30 Jul 2021)

Unless you break it - which somehow people do manage - the torque sensor itself rarely causes issues. The current upgraded HESC+ system is generally very robust with few recurring problems. 

Theyre easy to identifty, as Carrera moved the controller from the battery carrier base to a small unit welded to the downtube fast forward of the bottom bracket. Thse current models thus equipped are a big step forward, but all people prattle on about when the Carrera name is mentioned is a fault on a model that hasn't been made for 2 years.

I would concur with needing to account for the volume they sell. During the lockdown Halfords recokoned they were at one point selling more Carrera ebikes in the UK than every other brand combined. Thats impressive. Yet visit the various specific ebike forums and the faults people report with their Carrera bikes are massively outnumbered by the less common brands. 

Even more interestingly, many of these other brands are viewed by consumers as purveyors of 'quality' products, which shows how consumer perception rarely corresponds with actual realitty.


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## ebikeerwidnes (30 Jul 2021)

Clearly if Halfords sell such a huge number of Carrera ebikes then there will also be a large number of problems with them compared with ebikes sold by other places

You can only compare these things if you have percentages


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## gbb (31 Jul 2021)

ebikeerwidnes said:


> I'm not really sure that buying a ready made ebike and then having to ride around with it held together with gaffa tape is really the look I am going for
> 
> If I want an ebike that looks like it has been made by Clarkson in a shed then I'll get something off ebay and nail a cheap imported conversion kit to it


Silver battery, two 2 inch strips of silver gaffer tape, youd hardly know it was there. But i know what you mean, its a shame (If indeed this is the fix) that Halfords apparently didnt have the wherewithal to find their customers a palatable fix. I still love the bike, its been very good in every way, just this niggle. Halfords havnt covered themselves in glory on this one, i fact came out woefully inedequate....but id probably still buy another.


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