Fazua motor cuts out

[McSkelley]

Hi, I have a Boardman e-bike with a Fazua Ride 50 Street system, all software and firmware up to date. I had test rides on several mid & rear hub motors but could not get one with the Boardman (from Halfords) - however I ordered the Boardman because of it’s weight and on-line reviews.

The Boardman does not give motor assistance like any e-bike I have tried and it generally seems ‘weak’. The main problem however is that the motor regularly & repetitively suddenly looses power, especially on hills. The assistance seems to oscillate up & down for no apparent reason (steady cadence and user power input).

I have taken the bike back to Halfords who state, that after running diagnostics, there are no faults. They eventually said that their readout shows that the motor regularly overheats and blamed the ‘hot’ weather (I stay in Scotland and avoid the hottest parts of the day) and that I must be going up extremely steep hills. I have gone up the same hills on other e-bikes with absolutely no problem. The Fazua is designed to cut out on overheating but Halfords seems to blame me for causing it to overheat.

The Boardman has just done about 75miles on 3 battery charges (25 miles per charge) with an average engine power of 90W.

Can anyone advice?

 

[ElHegpah]

You bought the smallest, weakest motor system available. No other ebike motor exists that is not at least twice as powerful. You ARE causing it to overheat by asking it to do what it was never designed for.

 

[McSkelley]

Hi,

Thanks for your input.

My wife's e-bike is a Carrera impel im-2. Please find the specifications below:

Fazua: 58Nm, maximum power -350w mechanical, 450w electrical, mid engine
Carrera: 45Nm, 250w rear-hub engine

All reviews of the Fazua motor I have read have been complementary.

Please explain your comments.

 

[Tomm Williams]

Whether the Fazua is the statistically weakest motor I’ll not even bother looking into. What I will tell you is that on my Pivot E Vault with the Ride 50 Street I can achieve a 40 mile ride with over 5300’ of climbing and still have one bar/light showing. I know this because I’ve done it……..
However I did have some initial issues that were eventually resolved by my dealer working with both Pivot and Fazua to get proper power profiling and updated downloads. I have settled on the Chilli Milli Road preset and then lowered the takeoff by a few percent. As long as I keep my cadence high ( I do anyway) and stay in the River/Green setting, I can take a considerable ride before losing power.
Now my wife has a Domane Plus that originally had the Evation system and she was lucky enough to find a prototype Ride 50 Trail directly from Fazua that they sold her at a very affordable price. She had a bit more of a break in period as the Trek used a different type of magnetic sensor than the simple spoke type used by Pivot and the new motor needed a profile and update profile fine tune etc…. But our LBS again came through and got everything working splendidly.
Now in regards to the Fazua system. Imo it is not designed in mind for someone who leans heavily on being powered. The beauty (and specifically why I bought one) is that it’s easy removable giving you a perfectly normal bike. The motor is best used to enable you to increase your ride time resulting in increased time without the motor or simply switching to a regular bike I suppose.
That said, what you are experiencing is NOT indicative of a properly operating Ride 50 whatsoever. I would be inclined to confirm your sensors are set up properly as that can cause significant issues.

 

[McSkelley]

Whether the Fazua is the statistically weakest motor I’ll not even bother looking into. What I will tell you is that on my Pivot E Vault with the Ride 50 Street I can achieve a 40 mile ride with over 5300’ of climbing and still have one bar/light showing. I know this because I’ve done it……..
However I did have some initial issues that were eventually resolved by my dealer working with both Pivot and Fazua to get proper power profiling and updated downloads. I have settled on the Chilli Milli Road preset and then lowered the takeoff by a few percent. As long as I keep my cadence high ( I do anyway) and stay in the River/Green setting, I can take a considerable ride before losing power.
Now my wife has a Domane Plus that originally had the Evation system and she was lucky enough to find a prototype Ride 50 Trail directly from Fazua that they sold her at a very affordable price. She had a bit more of a break in period as the Trek used a different type of magnetic sensor than the simple spoke type used by Pivot and the new motor needed a profile and update profile fine tune etc…. But our LBS again came through and got everything working splendidly.
Now in regards to the Fazua system. Imo it is not designed in mind for someone who leans heavily on being powered. The beauty (and specifically why I bought one) is that it’s easy removable giving you a perfectly normal bike. The motor is best used to enable you to increase your ride time resulting in increased time without the motor or simply switching to a regular bike I suppose.
That said, what you are experiencing is NOT indicative of a properly operating Ride 50 whatsoever. I would be inclined to confirm your sensors are set up properly as that can cause significant issues.

Hi, thanks for your input. I managed to start a conversation with Fazua who tried to explain how the customisation works - I was totally bamboozled. I eventually started the set up from scratch again using solely the questionnaire to do the work (choosing the unfit setting) and ….. it worked. I avoided altering any settings myself (as clearly I do not understand their basis) and have stuck to the River setting.
Problem appears solved and lesson learnt!

 

[superdooper]

You bought the smallest, weakest motor system available. No other ebike motor exists that is not at least twice as powerful. You ARE causing it to overheat by asking it to do what it was never designed for.

I have to politely disagree with this statement. I've happily ridden my Canyon with Fazua 50 for nearly two years, and have not met a hill I could not climb. Yes, it requires leg work, but to blame the cadence problem on the user is just not what's happening. I came upon this thread because after nearly 3000 kms, I'm beginning to have the same problem as OP.

 

[Tomm Williams]

I have to politely disagree with this statement. I've happily ridden my Canyon with Fazua 50 for nearly two years, and have not met a hill I could not climb. Yes, it requires leg work, but to blame the cadence problem on the user is just not what's happening. I came upon this thread because after nearly 3000 kms, I'm beginning to have the same problem as OP.

Have you installed updated software?

 

[superdooper]

Have you installed updated software?

I was going to connect it tonight to the Fazua toolbox. I had already reinstalled the firmware a month ago and reset everything to default settings, but still get flashing red LED before power cuts out.

 

[Tomm Williams]

My shop had to work a bit directly with a Fazua rep to get mine worked out but they were very helpful. It does indeed seem to be a finicky system that isn’t well explained but mine works fine ( once it was dialed in)

 

[superdooper]

My shop had to work a bit directly with a Fazua rep to get mine worked out but they were very helpful. It does indeed seem to be a finicky system that isn’t well explained but mine works fine ( once it was dialed in)

Lucky you! My Fazua system is attached to a Canyon bike, which only sells online, and let's just say their "after sales" service here in France is lacking in just about everything

 

[Tomm Williams]

Lucky you! My Fazua system is attached to a Canyon bike, which only sells online, and let's just say their "after sales" service here in France is lacking in just about everything

I have to admit I find that surprising….. I always thought Canyon was a top tier manufacturer with service to match. That’s disappointing to hear however I would think any other manufacturer who also uses Fazua might be able to help as their systems are all the same.
My wife rides a Trek Domane Plus with the Fazua but none of the Trek dealers in our area knew ANYTHING about setting it up and programming it . We took it to our Pivot dealer who had it running quickly. Specialized e bikes seem much easier to get set up, too bad Fazua is a bit more of a treasure hunt.

 

[superdooper]

I have to admit I find that surprising….. I always thought Canyon was a top tier manufacturer with service to match. That’s disappointing to hear however I would think any other manufacturer who also uses Fazua might be able to help as their systems are all the same.
My wife rides a Trek Domane Plus with the Fazua but none of the Trek dealers in our area knew ANYTHING about setting it up and programming it . We took it to our Pivot dealer who had it running quickly. Specialized e bikes seem much easier to get set up, too bad Fazua is a bit more of a treasure hunt.

Ahh! I had a previous problem with the FAZUA drivepack, contacted Canyon and they told me to contact FAZUA because canyon warranty only covers canyon parts. Fair enough. FAZUA took care of the drivepack problem. My canyon issues lie with them sending me a bike with missing parts, and they simply REFUSED to send those parts to me, in spite of me sending them screenshots from their website of their advertised bike with said parts on the bike. Perhaps they’re good in other countries, but certainly not in France.

 

[superdooper]

I was going to connect it tonight to the Fazua toolbox. I had already reinstalled the firmware a month ago and reset everything to default settings, but still get flashing red LED before power cuts out.

Just an update for my Canyon bike. I reset and reinstalled the firmware using the Fazua Toolbox app, then in the Toolbox I went to customizer, and changed the "ramp up" setting from "moderate" to "reactive." I also cleaned the magnetic sensor on the rear hub, it was really gunked up. Those actions definately made a difference, but the LED does still flash red; not nearly as much as before, but it still does.

 

[Pasley69]

I have a focus Paralane2 9.7. This was doing the same thing OP described. I envisaged all kinds of expensive (and hopefully warranty covered) repairs - took it to a TREK techo with a great reputation and who had worked on TREK bikes using the Fazua system. He dismantled the drive system, serviced it and found nothing wrong, so he cleaned all electrical connections and it now works like new. My take on this is that some of the connections around the bottom bracket area are exposed to water and grunge, but are hard to get to and even harder to clean thoroughly.

 

[Davidt]

Hi, I have a Boardman e-bike with a Fazua Ride 50 Street system, all software and firmware up to date. I had test rides on several mid & rear hub motors but could not get one with the Boardman (from Halfords) - however I ordered the Boardman because of it’s weight and on-line reviews.

The Boardman does not give motor assistance like any e-bike I have tried and it generally seems ‘weak’. The main problem however is that the motor regularly & repetitively suddenly looses power, especially on hills. The assistance seems to oscillate up & down for no apparent reason (steady cadence and user power input).

I have taken the bike back to Halfords who state, that after running diagnostics, there are no faults. They eventually said that their readout shows that the motor regularly overheats and blamed the ‘hot’ weather (I stay in Scotland and avoid the hottest parts of the day) and that I must be going up extremely steep hills. I have gone up the same hills on other e-bikes with absolutely no problem. The Fazua is designed to cut out on overheating but Halfords seems to blame me for causing it to overheat.

The Boardman has just done about 75miles on 3 battery charges (25 miles per charge) with an average engine power of 90W.

Can anyone advice?

Hi did you get this problem resolved,I'm having the same problem my boardman was working fine ,put it in for a health check at Halfords they said there was play bottom motor drive unit. They stripped it out and sent to Fazua in Germany this process took 8 weeks ,motor was put back in I've had nothing but trouble overheating cutting out even on flat roads. Another 2 weeks on they put a new motor in it was worse continual overheating,its now back at Halfords ,they are trying to say I'm not using the gears told I had no problems for 7 months until they started mucking about with it. Halfords phoned me they have detected a problem with the battery pack, going to try a new one this week to see if that resolves the problem . It's coming up on 3 months now at my wits end ......

 

[superdooper]

Hello all, I thought I would share what I hope are some solutions.
Luckily my Canyon bike with Fazua was still under warranty for most of the problems encountered. First, I got them to replace the drive pack. That's the motor part in the tube. The motor gears got scrunched, a video and pictures were all it took for them to have me send it back and got a replacement in a month or so.
Things were still wonky for a while after that, until I decided maybe it was the speed sensor.
So I cleaned the magnet and the sensor, and disconnected the three cables from the bottom bracket. The three cables are the speed sensor, the lights, and the computer thingy to change assisted power settings. While tinkering about on the bottom bracket, I decided to tighten the four screws that hold the female cable couplers to the bracket. Low and behold, the screws were VERY loose! After cleaning the cable plugs with contact spray and tightening those screws, the bike rode like butter! Really, it was like new for.... a few weeks.
Then one day biking back from work the battery just...died.
Nothing would revive it. I tried charging it, pushing all the buttons I could, nothing. I ran the diagnosis, and Fazua confirmed the battery was dead. They sent a new one, no questions asked. This was two weeks before the 2-year warranty expired.
So now with a new battery and drive pack, things were good for another couple months, until the the speed starting getting wonky again. I pulled the cable from the speed sensor but this time it wouldn't go back in. I had crushed two of the four contact pins for the speed sensor cable!! Taking apart the bottom bracket, I thought I could solder new pins from the back side, but no, they were deeply embedded in a plastic well thing. So I realized I would have to buy a new bottom bracket! Fazua asks 500 euros or thereabouts, but I found one on ebay for a couple hundred. Installed it a couple weeks ago and have ridden 60-70 km so far and it really feels like a new bike again.
TL;DR - check the speed sensor cables, clean the contacts, tighten screws.

 

[Davidt]

Hello all, I thought I would share what I hope are some solutions.
Luckily my Canyon bike with Fazua was still under warranty for most of the problems encountered. First, I got them to replace the drive pack. That's the motor part in the tube. The motor gears got scrunched, a video and pictures were all it took for them to have me send it back and got a replacement in a month or so.
Things were still wonky for a while after that, until I decided maybe it was the speed sensor.
So I cleaned the magnet and the sensor, and disconnected the three cables from the bottom bracket. The three cables are the speed sensor, the lights, and the computer thingy to change assisted power settings. While tinkering about on the bottom bracket, I decided to tighten the four screws that hold the female cable couplers to the bracket. Low and behold, the screws were VERY loose! After cleaning the cable plugs with contact spray and tightening those screws, the bike rode like butter! Really, it was like new for.... a few weeks.
Then one day biking back from work the battery just...died.
Nothing would revive it. I tried charging it, pushing all the buttons I could, nothing. I ran the diagnosis, and Fazua confirmed the battery was dead. They sent a new one, no questions asked. This was two weeks before the 2-year warranty expired.
So now with a new battery and drive pack, things were good for another couple months, until the the speed starting getting wonky again. I pulled the cable from the speed sensor but this time it wouldn't go back in. I had crushed two of the four contact pins for the speed sensor cable!! Taking apart the bottom bracket, I thought I could solder new pins from the back side, but no, they were deeply embedded in a plastic well thing. So I realized I would have to buy a new bottom bracket! Fazua asks 500 euros or thereabouts, but I found one on ebay for a couple hundred. Installed it a couple weeks ago and have ridden 60-70 km so far and it really feels like a new bike again.
TL;DR - check the speed sensor cables, clean the contacts, tighten screws.

Hi thanks for some feedback I noticed couple of months of having the bike the motor bracket screws would loosen had to keep an eye on them. I'm at the stage now going to give them one more try with the new battery pack ,then I'm going to going to ask for a refund and walk away from Fazua,I like the Boardman bike, but I paid £2100 for a product I ,haven't used for 3 months.

 

[superdooper]

Hi thanks for some feedback I noticed couple of months of having the bike the motor bracket screws would loosen had to keep an eye on them. I'm at the stage now going to give them one more try with the new battery pack ,then I'm going to going to ask for a refund and walk away from Fazua,I like the Boardman bike, but I paid £2100 for a product I ,haven't used for 3 months.

I hear you, this is definitely my last Fazua bike. My wife has had a Giant bike with Bosch motor for 5 years, and other than the usual wear and tear of tires and brakes, she's had zero problems with the electronics.

 

[McSkelley]

Hi did you get this problem resolved,I'm having the same problem my boardman was working fine ,put it in for a health check at Halfords they said there was play bottom motor drive unit. They stripped it out and sent to Fazua in Germany this process took 8 weeks ,motor was put back in I've had nothing but trouble overheating cutting out even on flat roads. Another 2 weeks on they put a new motor in it was worse continual overheating,its now back at Halfords ,they are trying to say I'm not using the gears told I had no problems for 7 months until they started mucking about with it. Halfords phoned me they have detected a problem with the battery pack, going to try a new one this week to see if that resolves the problem . It's coming up on 3 months now at my wits end ......

Hi, My Boardman is in Halfords at present with motor/battery problem - Halfords do not communicate well so no idea of progress.
However regarding my original problem of poor/intermittent engine support, it was helped by using the standard set up process but the problem persist. The bike has both torque and cadence sensors but I have doubts about the torque set up. If I am going up a steep hill in the easiest gear, my effort increases until I can manage no more and my cadence drops - as the cadence drops the motor cuts out (exactly when I need the most help). Not sure if this is due to the motor ‘overheating’ or low cadence. My friends have other makes of ebike which do not have this problem - I do not go out on hilly roads any more.

 

[Captain Slocum]

The same thing has been happening to my Boardman for months. If you look at how the contacts are designed, it is clearly a disaster waiting to happen. Cleaning the contacts sometimes makes it work for a few miles but then it drops out again. What you have is not a fault as such but the inevitable consequence of a poorly designed contact system. As someone with electrical engineering experience, I was amazed when I saw how the contact with the bottom bracket is made. I am throwing mine away as there seems no way to fix it, short of cutting out the flexible contacts at the bottom, and designing and soldering a new contact system. Shame, because I liked the bike. PS. I suspect people who are having success with a new bottom bracket is because the contacts that come with it are new.