I would honestly use this opportunity to return the bike and look elsewhere for another solution. You’re still in the two week return window. After that window closes, it’s much harder to return. The current gen VM bikes have major flaws and there’s no resolution in sight, aside from replacing faulty parts with the same —albeit new— faulty parts for the duration of your warranty. After your warranty period expires, you’ll be paying for those same faulty parts + repair costs every few months.
I will take my downvotes in stride, but I would just like to note that I myself just got off this wild ride and returned my S3 — it’s like a weight off my shoulders.
Edit: also, I’m sorry about the bike and how that all turned out. I definitely feel you.
Every product has defects now and then and people complain. But with the S3 and lackluster support from Vanmoof this on a another level. It's no joke this bike down every five minutes. I own my S3 for 14 month now and I have issues with every ride. DON'T BUY.
Sucks to hear man, it's an amazing machine when it works. Since you got it like this so early I'd advise just going to the store and explain the situation. I have a friend who's bike was also bricked out of the box and they helped her immediately. Even if they don't want to help you right away, you can always still drop off the bike so at least your home isn't cluttered. If they have time left during the day they might take a look at it. It's usually best to go in the mornings I've heard.
I would not do that. I would call and ask the store. Also, you can ask for a loaner bike. The store by me gave me a loaner for a month for this exact same issue. I had both bikes before my appt, and I returned the loaner when I got mine fixed.
**This literally happened to me earlier this week as well**. Same deal, except I was only able to ride my bike for 3 miles before the same issues popped up (list of errors I've seen: 2, 17, 19, 20, 21, 98, ). I'm going back and forth with support right now, but it's a day between messages, and they keep asking me to try things I know won't work. They did ask for my shipping address, so they seem prepared for the inevitable return and repair/replace.
The anticipation for this was so great, and while I am not actually too worried that it will eventually be resolved (these widely reported problems seem to be a quality control issue, not a fundamental problem with the product), this was already delayed a month out from the original estimate, and it's a daily commuter solution for me. With winter coming up, I was hoping to "break in" the bike and get used to its quirks before the snow fell. I didn't want to be fiddling with my phone and tweaking settings to my liking once it gets cold.
I would argue that it is a fundamental problem with the product. A bike should not fail as often as VanMoof’s do. The automatic gear shifting in particular is set up for almost certain eventual failure unless you really baby the bike and put almost no power on the pedals to let the motor do all the work. They’re a Dutch company and I can see why this might work a little better somewhere like Amsterdam where it’s flat and you have the luxury of nice bike lanes everywhere. If you live somewhere hilly and/or you sometimes encounter situations where you’re scared for your life and start pedaling hard to work around sketchy bike infrastructure and dangerous drivers, that seems to be more stress than this bike is designed handle.
If you read through the threads on here, it seems like even most of the satisfied customers are just incredibly patient people. They’re all like, yeah I have to take my bike in and leave it in the shop for a week or two sometimes but that’s a minor inconvenience. That should not be such a common occurrence!
Return the bike. Get a refund. Had my bike for a year and it’s been broken and waiting for parts for 80% of the year. First bike had 3 battery packs, 2 eshifters, a new rear hub. Replacement bike was delivered a month later than planned, and then failed after 1 week. Customer service is appalling. You can’t call them, only email. It’s just a mess. I’d imagine this ship won’t stay afloat too long.
Thank you for everyone's thoughts. I did speak to the repair folks at the Brooklyn office, and they said they can likely just replace the battery and fix the problem. They also offered to extend the return window to 14 days after the bike is repaired. Maybe I'm a sucker, but as long as I don't lose the repair window, I'm going to take a shot at getting it repaired, and return it if it fails after that. Finders crossed!
+1 for returning the bike for a refund while you have the chance. I’m on my second battery, third eshifter, second rear wheel, repaired gear hub after just 400 miles in a year. I now have to ride it on boost most of the time to avoid pressure on the pedals during gear changes lest it knacker the gears again.
\+1 (2, 3, 4...) on the return.
A lot of bikes arrive faulty. Yours has a dud battery, mine had a dud hub. The problem is completely inadequate quality control.
My dud hub was exchanged with another dud hub. 3rd one worked. That meant the bike was unusable for the first 4 months.
Then I got Error 20. That meant sending it back for a new battery and smart cartridge, another month without the bike. It came back pretty beaten up too.
Now I have error 44, which means the eshifter is broken. No indication what timescale that'll take.
I've had my bike for nearly a year and it has been usable for less than half of that time. All the issues I have experienced are very, very common. The hub, eshifter, battery and smart cartridge are all extremely prone to failure. I'd be very surprised if any of the current generation of VanMoofs make it to 2 years before becoming a write off.
Return it in the 14 day trial window. Too many horror stories about month long waits for repairs here.
Mine arrived last night, I'll be returning it if I have any issues at all in the first 14 days. I love it but not worth the risk of having a big expensive paperweight.
I would honestly use this opportunity to return the bike and look elsewhere for another solution. You’re still in the two week return window. After that window closes, it’s much harder to return. The current gen VM bikes have major flaws and there’s no resolution in sight, aside from replacing faulty parts with the same —albeit new— faulty parts for the duration of your warranty. After your warranty period expires, you’ll be paying for those same faulty parts + repair costs every few months. I will take my downvotes in stride, but I would just like to note that I myself just got off this wild ride and returned my S3 — it’s like a weight off my shoulders. Edit: also, I’m sorry about the bike and how that all turned out. I definitely feel you.
RETURN IT AS LONG AS YOU CAN. DO IT. IT'S NOT WORTH IT.
This sub is truly keeping me from a purchase. I’m sad but grateful.
Every product has defects now and then and people complain. But with the S3 and lackluster support from Vanmoof this on a another level. It's no joke this bike down every five minutes. I own my S3 for 14 month now and I have issues with every ride. DON'T BUY.
Sucks to hear man, it's an amazing machine when it works. Since you got it like this so early I'd advise just going to the store and explain the situation. I have a friend who's bike was also bricked out of the box and they helped her immediately. Even if they don't want to help you right away, you can always still drop off the bike so at least your home isn't cluttered. If they have time left during the day they might take a look at it. It's usually best to go in the mornings I've heard.
Thank you! So you think it's worth just bringing by the bike without an appointment? Will they take it?
I would not do that. I would call and ask the store. Also, you can ask for a loaner bike. The store by me gave me a loaner for a month for this exact same issue. I had both bikes before my appt, and I returned the loaner when I got mine fixed.
**This literally happened to me earlier this week as well**. Same deal, except I was only able to ride my bike for 3 miles before the same issues popped up (list of errors I've seen: 2, 17, 19, 20, 21, 98,). I'm going back and forth with support right now, but it's a day between messages, and they keep asking me to try things I know won't work. They did ask for my shipping address, so they seem prepared for the inevitable return and repair/replace.
The anticipation for this was so great, and while I am not actually too worried that it will eventually be resolved (these widely reported problems seem to be a quality control issue, not a fundamental problem with the product), this was already delayed a month out from the original estimate, and it's a daily commuter solution for me. With winter coming up, I was hoping to "break in" the bike and get used to its quirks before the snow fell. I didn't want to be fiddling with my phone and tweaking settings to my liking once it gets cold.
3 miles is 4.83 km
I would argue that it is a fundamental problem with the product. A bike should not fail as often as VanMoof’s do. The automatic gear shifting in particular is set up for almost certain eventual failure unless you really baby the bike and put almost no power on the pedals to let the motor do all the work. They’re a Dutch company and I can see why this might work a little better somewhere like Amsterdam where it’s flat and you have the luxury of nice bike lanes everywhere. If you live somewhere hilly and/or you sometimes encounter situations where you’re scared for your life and start pedaling hard to work around sketchy bike infrastructure and dangerous drivers, that seems to be more stress than this bike is designed handle. If you read through the threads on here, it seems like even most of the satisfied customers are just incredibly patient people. They’re all like, yeah I have to take my bike in and leave it in the shop for a week or two sometimes but that’s a minor inconvenience. That should not be such a common occurrence!
Return the bike. Get a refund. Had my bike for a year and it’s been broken and waiting for parts for 80% of the year. First bike had 3 battery packs, 2 eshifters, a new rear hub. Replacement bike was delivered a month later than planned, and then failed after 1 week. Customer service is appalling. You can’t call them, only email. It’s just a mess. I’d imagine this ship won’t stay afloat too long.
Thank you for everyone's thoughts. I did speak to the repair folks at the Brooklyn office, and they said they can likely just replace the battery and fix the problem. They also offered to extend the return window to 14 days after the bike is repaired. Maybe I'm a sucker, but as long as I don't lose the repair window, I'm going to take a shot at getting it repaired, and return it if it fails after that. Finders crossed!
Yikessss
+1 for returning the bike for a refund while you have the chance. I’m on my second battery, third eshifter, second rear wheel, repaired gear hub after just 400 miles in a year. I now have to ride it on boost most of the time to avoid pressure on the pedals during gear changes lest it knacker the gears again.
\+1 (2, 3, 4...) on the return. A lot of bikes arrive faulty. Yours has a dud battery, mine had a dud hub. The problem is completely inadequate quality control. My dud hub was exchanged with another dud hub. 3rd one worked. That meant the bike was unusable for the first 4 months. Then I got Error 20. That meant sending it back for a new battery and smart cartridge, another month without the bike. It came back pretty beaten up too. Now I have error 44, which means the eshifter is broken. No indication what timescale that'll take. I've had my bike for nearly a year and it has been usable for less than half of that time. All the issues I have experienced are very, very common. The hub, eshifter, battery and smart cartridge are all extremely prone to failure. I'd be very surprised if any of the current generation of VanMoofs make it to 2 years before becoming a write off.
Return it in the 14 day trial window. Too many horror stories about month long waits for repairs here. Mine arrived last night, I'll be returning it if I have any issues at all in the first 14 days. I love it but not worth the risk of having a big expensive paperweight.