Trek FX-2 ebike - faulty after 8 months

[pclay]

I collected the bike, for the 2nd time, last week. The shop are saying that they doceonnected the battery and reconnected it. they then did a 'reset' on the charger, which seems to be 'plug it and unplug it again, several times'. The bike worked. What Jiy to feel that push form the motor once again.

I got the bike out for the first time today, ready to cycle donw to the train station. And guess what - It would nto switch on- again!

Im fed up now. An ebike that i haven't been able to use for nearly 3 months now.

Im going to have a tinker tonight, but i see a 3rd trip back to the bike shop coming on.

 

[pclay]

........And this morning the bike switched on! It worked whilst I rode to the station. I hope this isn't an intermittent problem.

 

[pclay]

I got the bike out this morning (Tue 1 Oct)........ Drum roll......... And it would not switch up on.

I'm fed d up if this now. An E-bike that can not be relied on to provide the 'E'.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Just take the bike back and say you want a refund? as its not fit for purpose. Then just get yourself a regular bike.

 

[Espresso vecchio]

6 weeks since the OP posted, and no news for over 2 weeks. The problem has existed for at least 3 months: in that time 'the dealer' kept it for a month and simply replaced the battery. The dealer also had no charger. The writing was already plainly on the wall in big bold letters. Then next visit they put a new battery on, rode it round the shop and said it was fine. If they suggested the OP's charger might be suspect, they should have tested it, and the OP should have insisted. Some dealer. It's still faulty.

It astonishes me that people spend a considerable amount on a decent product but can't see the wood for the trees when it develops a serious fault within the warranty period. As several people here have correctly said, early contact should have been made with Trek....but appears still not to have been made. Traders and manufacturers can't be blamed if they've not been told of a problem, and reputable ones are keen to put things right - that's what makes them reputable.

What more do people want?! Of course people aren't obliged to take advice, in this case from several who have given it, but it's crazy not to do so.

 

[bonzobanana]

I personally would never have bought such an ebike, I hate highly proprietary ebike solutions which often become uneconomic to repair and end up in a skip somewhere after only a few years. However if I was insane enough to buy such an ebike I would definitely have used a credit card and made use of the protection there if the dealer was rubbish.

 

[CaptainWheezy]

Not sure about the FX-2+, but I have a Trek Sport 4 Powerfly also with a Bosch system, and the controller that sits on the handlebars has a coin cell in it. The coin cell is used to power the controller long enough for it to send a message on the CAN bus to the battery / motor etc to turn on, after which point the handlebar controller receives power from the main battery. It would be worth checking if your bike has something similar, and if so, swap the coin cell. If its on its last legs, it might work at some temperatures and not others.

 

[bonzobanana]

Not sure about the FX-2+, but I have a Trek Sport 4 Powerfly also with a Bosch system, and the controller that sits on the handlebars has a coin cell in it. The coin cell is used to power the controller long enough for it to send a message on the CAN bus to the battery / motor etc to turn on, after which point the handlebar controller receives power from the main battery. It would be worth checking if your bike has something similar, and if so, swap the coin cell. If its on its last legs, it might work at some temperatures and not others.

Wow that sounds really weird, you've got a huge ebike battery with loads of capacity and you rely on a non-rechargeable coin cell to power up the system. I can't get my head around why you would ever need to do that. A small rechargeable cell or some rewritable memory storage surely is what most other ebikes use to hold existing settings. Other ebikes I guess just have a switch on the battery pack to isolate the battery pack from slow discharging while not being used if that is the reason.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Wow that sounds really weird, you've got a huge ebike battery with loads of capacity and you rely on a non-rechargeable coin cell to power up the system. I can't get my head around why you would ever need to do that. A small rechargeable cell or some rewritable memory storage surely is what most other ebikes use to hold existing settings. Other ebikes I guess just have a switch on the battery pack to isolate the battery pack from slow discharging while not being used if that is the reason.

Bosch do offer rechargeable controllers, mine is one, very useful for removing it to look at figures and reconfigure it when off the bike. It's an older unit though now, and sits centrally on the handlebar, the modern ones sit above either side of the grips.