06/18/2024
Here are five steps to ensure your e-bike runs smoothly:
1. Regularly inflate your tires - Aim to inflate your tires at least every two weeks. Check the manual or the side wall of the tire for pressure levels. Low pressure can affect your range and may cause flats. A floor pump with a psi sensor can simplify this task.
2. Clean and lubricate the chain every 100 miles if you're riding in the city or after riding in heavy rain on dirty winter roads.
3. Maintain your battery health by only charging with the charger that came with your battery. Always charge the battery at room temperature and disconnect the battery and charger from the power supply after charging. Avoid regularly draining the battery to zero.
4. Check the rear wheel spoke tension if you have a rear hub drive. Rear hub motors can cause the spokes to loosen more quickly, especially with a heavier rider. Inspect them by squeezing every spoke pair until you've gone all the way around the wheel. Each spoke pair should feel roughly the same in terms of tension.
5. If your disc brakes are squeaking, remove the caliper and pads and spray them with a disc brake silencer like SwissStop. Or, check if they are misaligned. To realign them, loosen the caliper attachment bolts, pull the brake lever and hold down to tighten the brake, then tighten the bolts back up and release the brake.
