Stromer ST3

[Mark Robbins]

I just purchased a new Stromer ST3 from REI. I love how the bike rides, but am having support issues. REI cannot figure out how to register the bike with Stromer to get the OMNI going. Also, the battery will not eject when you hit the eject screen and button. Stromer does not return calls from customers and REI tells me they only have two individuals in the US responding to REI's inquiries. While I love the bike, I am growing very concerned about ongoing support and potential problems. Any thoughts or experience?

 

[Ebiker01]

Sell it.

 

[dfgarci17]

lol..

I had my ST2S replaced with a brand new ST3 on 6/2 because of warranty issues. Had the ST3 for all of 1.5 hours before I experienced an error (210005), but the bike worked fine. The next day, the bike shut down 1 mile into a 1.5 mile ride to the gym, and wouldn't turn back on unless plugged in but wouldn't take a charge, and shut back down immediately when unplugged. Fantastic ride prior to that, but now I have two bricked Stromers sitting in my garage, and pulling teeth to find some sort of resolution. Probably coincidental, but the battery also wouldn't eject while working.

With that being said, there should be a Stromer portal someone at REI has access to where they will register the serial number. I believe only the dealer can perform the registration.

Good luck getting timely support. There are literally only two people who work at Stromer USA. My honest opinion, the bike itself is fantastic when working and a true game changer, but I'm over the constant headaches and general anxiety of whether or not my bike is going to quit on me. Others on this forum may disagree, but I would return to REI before it's too late and look at other options. Stromer isn't in a position to service these bikes directly, nor are they in a position to offer their dealers quality support. While most ebikes are in the same position, they also don't cost $8k.

 

[Alanzo]

Really a shame with the lack of dealer support. I had considered a Stromer from Kozy's website as the videos I viewed of the bike looked excellent. Really great looking bike with nice features and performance. Hope you get your warranty issue sorted out as the bike is an expensive purchase. Stuff like this should not happen. Same thing can happen on my end as there are no R&M dealers anywhere near Chicago. I have the impression its much easier to service a traditional bike than an e-bike as its more complex with motors and electronics.

Hope you get back on the road or trail soon with your Stromer.

 

[blakjac]

I would return it to REI and let them deal with it.

 

[Afanifitafa]

I and my partner each have Stromer ST2s. I bought mine slightly used off eBay over a year ago & my partner got his from Crazy Eddy Lenny a few weeks ago. Anyhow, I needed to have the Shimano gear shifter replaced and took my Stromer into REI as REI had a special on tune-ups during Earth Day weekend.

While there I learned that no one in the REI bike dept. had attended any Stromer training, although they had a couple of other Stromers waiting to be fixed or tuned. That gave me pause, but I left my bike anyway, and when I picked it up several days later, the shifter was working, but noisily. I now plan to take my bike for future adjustments to another Stromer dealer in my area (Santa Barbara, CA). My partner will do the same.

It should be REI’s responsibility to register your bike. Surely another REI store somewhere in the country has had experience with registering Stromers and can educate your local REI on the procedure.

I should mention that while setting up my partner’s bike—with a torque wrench—I inadvertently broke the seat post clamp. I ordered a couple of replacements from the local ebike shop, and they arrived 6 days later. I’ve been really happy with my Stromer and know that there may be less familiarity among ebike repair shops with their repairs. My approach is to encourage them and help them succeed. The bike shops will prosper, and my Stromer will keep working!

 

[Mark Robbins]

Thank you for the quick response. REI has a one year return policy on bikes. That was in part why I bought it. I was between the Trek Cross Rip, Super Commuter 8 and the Specialized Vado 5. Nothing rode like the Stromer. However, the Stromer is outrageously priced for the poor customer service. REI had a special double dividend back on the bike so that was equivalent to a 20% discount. Both Trek and Specialized have great bike shops to service but they don't ride like the Stromer. Any other thoughts>

 

[Mark Robbins]

I and my partner each have Stromer ST2s. I bought mine slightly used off eBay over a year ago & my partner got his from Crazy Eddy a few weeks ago. Anyhow, I needed to have the Shimano gear shifter replaced and took my Stromer into REI as REI had a special on tune-ups during Earth Day weekend.

While there I learned that no one in the REI bike dept. had attended any Stromer training, although they had a couple of other Stromers waiting to be fixed or tuned. That gave me pause, but I left my bike anyway, and when I picked it up several days later, the shifter was working, but noisily. I now plan to take my bike for future adjustments to another Stromer dealer in my area (Santa Barbara, CA). My partner will do the same.

It should be REI’s responsibility to register your bike. Surely another REI store somewhere in the country has had experience with registering Stromers and can educate your local REI on the procedure.

I should mention that while setting up my partner’s bike—with a torque wrench—I inadvertently broke the seat post clamp. I ordered a couple of replacements from the local ebike shop, and they arrived 6 days later. I’ve been really happy with my Stromer and know that there may be less familiarity among ebike repair shops with their repairs. My approach is to encourage them and help them succeed. The bike shops will prosper, and my Stromer will keep working!

There is one small local bike shop that services Stromers in MN but I am hesitant to contact them regarding a new bike. The only MN based REI shop that deals with Stromers is the one I bought mine through. The service people have no familiarity with them. With the battery that won't eject, I was instructed it was a key issue until I pointed out the ST3 doesn't have a key. Hopefully in the next couple of days they will figure out how to register the bike and fix the battery eject issue.

 

[Afanifitafa]

There is one small local bike shop that services Stromers in MN but I am hesitant to contact them regarding a new bike. The only MN based REI shop that deals with Stromers is the one I bought mine through. The service people have no familiarity with them. With the battery that won't eject, I was instructed it was a key issue until I pointed out the ST3 doesn't have a key. Hopefully in the next couple of days they will figure out how to register the bike and fix the battery eject issue.

Oops, I mis-wrote: our 2nd Stromer was purchased from Crazy Lenny (not Eddy)!

By the way, at first I felt a bit embarrassed to contact the local ebike shop where I had not bought my Stromer. To rectify that I have bought two Body Floats from them and asked for their business cards so that I can give them out to people who ask. So far so good, and they will have our business when our Stromers need repairs or tune-ups.

 

[Afanifitafa]

One other thought: call an REI store that is more likely to sell a lot of Stromers. NYC? San Francisco? Really, your REI store should be doing the legwork here. Registering isn’t hard. They need your name, email, possibly your phone # and will email you your registration info. which includes the PIN to unlock your bike. I suspect your REI store has a Stromer email or phone # that affords them quick access when it’s needed, as when they register a new bike with its new owner. Crazy Lenny’s will know....

 

[joathenine]

Go to Stromer's web site and see if there's an affiliated dealer near you. They should have a bike mechanic on staff that is trained to work on Stromers. I looked at REI too but their mechanics don't know a thing about Stromers and I thought it was super weird that they'd sell the bikes but not service them.

If you don't have any dealers near you, maybe you'll want to consider another brand. For me the battery can't be beat on this bike. The Specialized Turbo Vado is pretty nice, my wife just got one and it's pretty sweet.

 

[Mark Robbins]

Go to Stromer's web site and see if there's an affiliated dealer near you. They should have a bike mechanic on staff that is trained to work on Stromers. I looked at REI too but their mechanics don't know a thing about Stromers and I thought it was super weird that they'd sell the bikes but not service them.

If you don't have any dealers near you, maybe you'll want to consider another brand. For me the battery can't be beat on this bike. The Specialized Turbo Vado is pretty nice, my wife just got one and it's pretty sweet.

Thank you for the response. I don’t know if I’m more frustrated with Stromer or REI. There is one local shop that sells and services Stromer but I’m hesitant to call with a new bike REI can’t even figure out how to register. I’m considering the Vado 5.0 hoping Specialized has fixed the service issues.

 

[Mark Robbins]

One other thought: call an REI store that is more likely to sell a lot of Stromers. NYC? San Francisco? Really, your REI store should be doing the legwork here. Registering isn’t hard. They need your name, email, possibly your phone # and will email you your registration info. which includes the PIN to unlock your bike. I suspect your REI store has a Stromer email or phone # that affords them quick access when it’s needed, as when they register a new bike with its new owner. Crazy Lenny’s will know....

Apparently they don’t know how to do it. The sales manager promised me she would try to figure it out tomorrow after I let her know they are required to register the bike,and the purchaser can’t do it. She told me it takes typically several days to hear back from Stromer since only two people are in customer support there.

 

[joathenine]

Thank you for the response. I don’t know if I’m more frustrated with Stromer or REI. There is one local shop that sells and services Stromer but I’m hesitant to call with a new bike REI can’t even figure out how to register. I’m considering the Vado 5.0 hoping Specialized has fixed the service issues.

Hey no problem. You had your reasons for getting this bike. I think that if you can live without such a kick ass battery then the Specialized is great. Just make sure you can get service for that bike too. In my experience, REI doesn't know what they're doing with electric bikes.

If I were you, I'd head down to that local shop and talk to them about servicing your bike. You could even return the bike to REI and maybe get a better deal from the local shop. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to sell you a bike and then you can get service from a shop that knows you. Good luck, Mark. Let us know what happens.

 

[Mark Robbins]

Hey no problem. You had your reasons for getting this bike. I think that if you can live without such a kick ass battery then the Specialized is great. Just make sure you can get service for that bike too. In my experience, REI doesn't know what they're doing with electric bikes.

If I were you, I'd head down to that local shop and talk to them about servicing your bike. You could even return the bike to REI and maybe get a better deal from the local shop. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to sell you a bike and then you can get service from a shop that knows you. Good luck, Mark. Let us know what happens.

Will do. The Trek and Specialized shops here are great and very responsive

 

[Mark Robbins]

Finally got in touch with Stromer customer service directly. They got the bike registered and the battery door to open up. Hopefully happy riding from here! Thank you everyone for your input.

 

[bluecat]

REI cannot figure out how to register the bike with Stromer to get the OMNI going. Also, the battery will not eject when you hit the eject screen and button.

Every Stromer can be used without OMNI. But it's new to me, the soft button for the battery door is locked without registration.

Did you "mail order" or have you been personally in the store?

Did the Bluetooth pairing work?

 

[Mark Robbins]

I bought via REI mail order. Michael at Stromer got back to me. The bike is registered. It has to be registered in order to connect Bluetooth. Connecting the Bluetooth requires a PIN. He also worked through ejecting the battery. Just needed to lean the bike, push harder on the side ejector and a little light oIl. All great now!

 

[smitty]

Good work Mark! Michael is simply great on the stuff you were concerned with and he is virtually a lone guy in Stromer, but he still pitches in when he can and has always been great for me. I have purchased my ST-2 in 2016 and have not had a problem yet that he could not solve for me, should I have needed.