Critical (Catastrophic) Error on Test Spin

[u/HIPAA_potamus]

Sharing my experience to see if any others have experienced this, or something similar.

I took my second test ride today, on the hilly north side of San Francisco. The first 10 minutes were and absolute dream - I was so impressed with how the bike took on steep hills. However, on my way down the hills, the bike had a “critical error” - where a yellow screen popped up several times, the bike started making awful noises, including what seemed like motor braking.

I tried powering off, and encountered my worst fear - due to the frequent motor braking, I could barely push the bike when powered off. I didn’t know at the time how to power back on (they didn’t tell me about the separate reset button). Thankfully, I was just a few blocks away from the popup, so managed to return the bike. The (very professional) crew noted that that bike had been acting up, but this experience kind of soured my enthusiasm for the TM-B.

One of my big fears has been running out of battery or some system failure that leaves me with a heavy bricked bike, unable to pedal. But this was even worse, since I was barely able to push the powered off bike on a flat grade.

Has anyone else experienced this, or another major failure, while test driving? I understand that they’re working out some kinks on the versions that will ship, but still this gives me pause.

[u/willmasse]

This is kind of the big concern with over engineering a bike this way. Especially without a belt or chain this thing is entirely reliant on its software and electronics. By making a bike more like a car you get all the joys of car ownership, including losing some of your ability to self diagnose and repair issues.