JayVee
Well-Known Member
I thought I would open this thread to go through all the flaws people see with the Trekking models. There are a lot of different variants, but a lot of these bikes share common parts. Just state your model and what you think Haibike (or its suppliers) could have done better. The idea isn’t to bash the bikes but to give a list of longterm ownership problems (and any workarounds), and maybe a couple of positives too.
I have the Trekking Sduro S 6.0 2017 which is the Yamaha 45km/h version available in the EU only. All in all it’s not a bad bike, but if Haibike had chosen slightly higher quality parts for certain key accessories, they could have built a better bike while maintaining roughly the same price. Yamaha and Magura should have paid a lot more attention to details.
Full specs are here:
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
A short list of issues:
The unscrutables:
I have the Trekking Sduro S 6.0 2017 which is the Yamaha 45km/h version available in the EU only. All in all it’s not a bad bike, but if Haibike had chosen slightly higher quality parts for certain key accessories, they could have built a better bike while maintaining roughly the same price. Yamaha and Magura should have paid a lot more attention to details.
Full specs are here:
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
A short list of issues:
- The bike comes with flimsy SKS chromoplastics fenders. The rear fender works as advertised, but the front one wobbles and makes an absolutely horrible noise.
- The Magura MT4 brakes progressively leak. A mechanic where I bought the bike said they’ve sold a lot of models with MT4 brakes and this is quite common. Each time you change the pads a little bit of liquid leaks out when you press apart the pistons. So you have to be ever so careful doing this.
- The Yamaha plastic remote is fixed onto the handlebars by two screws which bite into its casing. The remote constantly swivels out of place, which is very annoying. You cannot use WALK mode because of this. I've put a plastic band under the remote which only half solves the problem.
- The status button on the battery progressively regresses and becomes more and more difficult to use with time.
- The battery rattles, which can actually be eliminated by using a neoprene sleeve. For the summer you can use a cutout sleeve.
- The assist levels are not evenly spaced out on this bike. ECO+ gives a ridiculously low amount of assist, and then there’s normal ECO which is fine. But between ECO and Standard mode there is a huge gap. It’s really difficult to tour around in ECO mode on this bike because it takes a lot of strength. That impacts range a lot. I typically get 35-40 kilometers on a full charge (300 meter vertical delta, 95 kilo rider).
- The ride is bumpy. People have often placed the blame on the Suntour SR, which only has 63mm of travel. That’s true, but it’s only part of the problem. The narrow 700x38 tires are also part of the problem. And then there’s the frame. It’s so stiff that the rear bounces off each and every bump. The smaller the frame, the bumpier the ride… I have a 52 which is a size S. Guess that doesn’t help.
- The rack is often critiqued (Standwell Carrymore), but is actually one of the best parts of the bike according to me. It adapts to almost anything and is fairly sturdy.
- Brake lights are a nice addition. They're made by Busch & Müller (Toplight Line E Brake).
- Zero Cadence is really helpful in traffic.
- The bike climbs beautifully compared to some other 45km/h mid-drives. It’s not the fastest, but you can bet you’ll make it to the top of the hill each and every time. When things start to get tough, those 80Nm are there and you can feel them.
- Rims are top notch. These things stay true no matter what. (Rodi Black Rock Disc).
- Chain and drivetrain are built to last. Roughly 8000 kilometers and still good.
- Lights are always on, which annoyed me at first. But it’s a good safety feature.
- Mirror is tucked under the handlebars. Good job here too.
- The kickstand auto-retracts when sold, but if you remove a spring it behaves like a normal kickstand. Good job by the supplier on helping the user to get around the silly regulations here. It's a Pletscher Comp ARA.
The unscrutables:
- The Yamaha PW drive is amongst the things that are almost impossible to describe as good or bad. It’s just ‘different’. The drive likes torque input from the rider. That means not spinning too fast and putting a fair amount of pressure on the pedals. So you will often need to be in quite a high gear to get the best out of it. I would qualify the drive as being deceptively powerful. If you’re in those higher gears, and put in the effort, you can get a fair amount of power from this drive. If you want to go fast but don’t have strong knees and thighs, and want to spin instead of mash, this definitely isn’t the drive for you. People have said that the assist being limited to lower cadences (under 90-92) is a ‘bad thing’, but you quickly get accustomed to it.
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