SOLVED - BBS02 with a busted crank! Need help!

[DavesNotHereMan]

A square taper axle has a threaded hole. I vote for bad heat treatment or flaw. Watch. some Forged in Fire episodes. LOTS of ways to produce a s*it hardened steel part, destined for failure.
Golden motor lists their kit at under $100. I'd have little faith in the quality based on pricepoint.

DId you use a torque wrench to install the axle bolts?

On second look the threaded hole just runs WAY deeper than it needs to. You know your stuff.

Yeah I used a torque wrench and 2 step tightening. Tightened by hand, rode a few hundred feet then torqued on. Learned that after I ruined the first set of cranks. These things are a lot lower quality than regular bikes, that's for sure. I ended up with treated steel unicycle cranks in the end. So much better.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

I've never seen a hollow axle. You may have over-torqued. Yes, the Bafang crank arms CAN suck. I learned years ago to check tightness as often as tire pressure. Every few days.

I realized it was a dumb question after the last post haha. I think those Bafang arms probably are fine for most people, but I've even ruined a pair that were installed properly. Snapped at the diamond corners. They're softer steel because they likely weren't expecting dumbasses like me to still do most of the pedaling lol. Switching to shorter 150mm cranks keeps me from applying too much torque and are closer to the original 152 that came with the bike. Now you've got me wondering if all those crank breakages weakened the spindle over time. Thanks for all your help @tomjasz I appreciate you taking the time to explain these things!

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

Actually they are low quality aluminum. You’re welcome.

That explains so, so much to me now lol. I'd never be strong enough to shear a regular bicycle crank. I felt like I was the Hulk hahaha.

 

[Timpo]

That's a different province, so I'm not sure how or if they're enforcing e-bike laws. I've done my research though and anything over 500W is 100% illegal country wide in Canada. Some provinces even ban throttles. I live in Saskatchewan and while they allow throttles, anything over 250W with a throttle is considered a 'Powercycle' (they made that term up, seriously ) and has to ride in the roadways with traffic. Anything 750W and up is considered a full motorcycle and needs insurance and plates but since there's no legislation for vehicles yet in that category they're essentially illegal. Biktrix is going to (very unintentionally, they're a great shop) ruin it for everyone here, they regularly sell BBSHDs to local customers who then ride them on sidewalks. With no speed limiters in place. (Also illegal here.) I've spoken to the bike patrol cops here and they've already seized many bikes that have been ridden illegally. In our last mayoral election one candidate's sole platform was banning e-bike use city wide and removing bike lanes. Just cause somebody will sell you a bike doesn't mean it's legal lol.

Are you sure about that?

Why you may be seeing more e-bikes cruising around Saskatoon

E-bikes are becoming more popular in Saskatoon thanks to Ben Quattrini and his team at The Boutique, but the increased demand is also raising questions about safety and the rules surrounding e-bike use.

saskatoon.ctvnews.ca

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

Absolutely positive. You can use whatever size motor you want on private property, which is the loophole bike stores here are using to sell the BBSHD, but there isn't a province in the country that allows them for street use at this time. I'm lucky in that I'm even allowed a throttle in Saskatchewan. Doesn't mean there aren't a ton of non complying bikes on the road but in Saskatchewan if you're riding one and end up in a collision of any kind you not only lose any insurance coverage you may have had but you also become liable for any resulting injuries and damages. Simply not worth it just to go a few clicks faster. Also everything here has to be speed limited to 32 km/h, country wide, so unless you plan on never pedaling a bigger motor would likely be wasted anyway. I can pedal faster than 32. The law as intended only allows bikes that assist a rider. Anything capable of being fully self powered is considered a motorcycle, even if it has pedals. I've spent a lot of the time on the phone with SGI to make sure I got my bike right as drivers here are recklessly aggressive toward cyclists. I talk to the police often.

I've seen those rentals around town. They're labeled as 500W and cut out at 32km so fully compliant. There has been talk at city council meetings though about revoking their license due to the behavior of riders (sidewalk riding, weaving in traffic) so having them around is going to make it HARDER to ever get bigger bikes approved here unless they start educating their clients. I'm involved in a cycling community that does much of the lobbying in Saskatoon and the sentiment here is very much against bicycles period, let alone E-bikes. We're regarded as a fringe of the fringe and a few miscreant riders are ruining it for everyone else imo. The laws will change but not if people are ignorant about it like it has been. I hear the term 'wild west' used by sales people. It's very much regulated here, no wild west at all.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

That's cool. But they could have responded to me at anytime to clarify that, it's a simple question lol. Instead they closed my ticket with no response, three times. That's just shitty customer service. Every other shop I've contacted has been more than happy to help, if they could have.

It obviously took CEB more time to look up this thread and contact you than it would have taken to answer my question directly. That's pretty ridiculous. Even moreso, my question about manufacturing in the US vs. elsewhere is legitimate. Talk to anyone into guitars or cars and ask them if they'd buy China over US quality... there's only one answer. CEB claims in the description the part is designed specifically for them, in the USA, so asking if that extends to the manufacturing, to me, is a natural question.

Either way, I'm choosing to buy from a dealer within Canada now. A Chinese part is a Chinese part, and even if it is crap I can replace it twice for the cost of a single axle from CEB. Customer service is everything and there are plenty of places that took time to assist me, even knowing they weren't getting a sale from it. I had the axle in my cart, ready to buy, and CEB chose to ignore me (and from the sounds of it complain about me to others). I simply don't support that kind of business.

Also, I'd have never mentioned any of this here but since it was brought up...

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

What does that prove? After I messaged them one dealer here got it back in stock and another two offered to order it in for me. All messaged me back to let me know.

CEB only responded to my initial inquiry, then blew me off. I'm not 'disparaging' them at all, they did that to themselves by creating drama and bringing this discussion to a public forum. I asked them a very fair question about where the part is manufactured. The other dealers were up front about it being from China. Why the hostility? It's not a great way to keep business lol.

And for the record, every dealer says that whatever they are selling is durable and comes with a warranty lol. CEB essentially told me nothing about the actual quality with that statement. I thought maybe, just maybe, it was a custom machined part made in the US based on their description of it being custom designed for them. I have many reasons to prefer a custom machined part made of US steel over a mass produced part made of Chinese steel. Their description put that idea in my head, I didn't come to the table demanding American or else lmao. Y'all are some tightly wound people.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

Here's proof.

'designed and developed by California Ebike'. Asking if it is also manufactured there is only reasonable.

And thank the stars you don't work customer service for anybody, you're a special kind of asshole. Thanks for your help.

 

[tomjasz]

PLONK
Another $3 commission down the tubes.