Loud noises emitted from NeoBike when Free-wheeling

Evening folks

Read some other posts suggesting a subtle sound, however mine is far from subtle. Infact it sounds fairly fatal when its doing it.

Following occured 90mins into a 180min 115W Zone 1 ride, so not exactly full on. The final video is from the end after 180min.

Noise occurs whenever pedalling stops & the unit free wheels. If I dont use it for a day, the noise goes away but eventually comes back (Overheating?)

Bike is 4 month old, newer version with 3 holed cranks.

Note the less serious clicking noise on the upstrokes aswell

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15vV6lxlY9Of-de97vHJsxi5CRfqw2kWZ/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15t84XIwuk5EIRDvlvcHYCDSnrJaywiDi/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15rOvWJUOdml6pEYsYT4nU7y-wvbqZWVF/view?usp=sharing

You can see my feet bouncing when its trying to power forward & by the change in noise level, how loud this actually is. It makes my old Tacx Vortex & Roadie sound like a whisper.

Any thoughts on what this could be?, ive sent the same videos back to the retailer for a remedy.

Cheers guys

  • Hey,

    My brand new Neo Bike is doing this, only had it about 2 weeks. I found it I backpedal it goes away, but not really ideal for such an expensive bike.

    Did you get anything back from the retailer?

    Cheers

  • Hi

    After sending the videos to Garmin, they wanted to exchange the whole unit for a replacement. Only took 4 days to collect mine and get a replacement (refurb) here.

    The refurb sounds completely different to the one I had, even when the issue wasn't there.

    If you've only had it 2 weeks and your in the UK you can refuse a replacement/repair from the retailer and go straight to refund or a new one.

  • Hey, thanks for getting back so quick.

    That's awesome you managed to get yours sorted out so quick, and I hope they paid for the collection.

    Thanks for the info, I'll contact the retailer first then and see what they say. I've never had to send something so big / heavy back to Wiggle before.

    Cheers

  • Hi, no problem.

    Ours was from Sigma, however I claimed under the manufacturer warranty rather than the Consumer Rights Act which would apply to Sigma, Wiggle etc.

    They paid for the next day collection & shipping of the item, however I did opt to pay £2.40 for a collection rather than a UPS drop off point (considering the weight etc). I could probably ask Sigma to refund me that, but for the sake of £2.40 I cant be bothered.

    Wiggle are pretty good from my experience and being only two weeks old (so within the 30 day period) you can refuse a repair/replacement & request a full refund or a new item to be sent.

    For the sending back (if exchanging), we had to strip it down to just the frame so I kept seat, seat post, handle bars, screen, pedals, legs, adjust handles etc. The pedal arms went back though. The replacement model came with a seat post which was a nice surprise, so I have two seat posts now lol

    I was initially wary of it being a refurb as it may have done alot more miles than my 4 month old one had done, but I am assuming this one will have had more scrutiny than a typical new one so fingers crossed its a better example, even if slightly more used than what I sent back. 

  • Hey,

    Thank you so much for all that, you've given me some really useful info.

    I'm not really sure what to do regarding a refund or exchange. I guess I'm just in the disappointed phase, as I've only just got it all set up so it feels good to use... If I went with a refund, I've no idea what I would replace it with though.

    Would you say it's still worth the money after going through the same problem? Have you had any more problems with yours?

    I guess I'm more wary of getting a replacement and running into the same problem. Ugh not sure what to do.

    Anyway, thanks again for all your help. Wiggle aren't going to get back to me until Tuesday, so will see what they say and go from there I guess.

    Have a good weekend!

  • I got the unit for £1850 after a bit of discount from Sigma back in April and despite the issues, yes I would say its an excellent piece of kit aslong as it survives for another few years now without issue. I went from a 3 year old gen 1 Neo which had zero issues so expect similar despite Garmins take over.

    Refund though did cross my mind as I could have argued the toss, however like you say, its a question of what you replace it with. Wattbike Atoms are the same price ish but have a list of bad points (Although I do think it looks better). Wahoo KickR Bike is obviously a very good piece of kit given Wahoos typical quality elsewhere but the price is significantly higher than the NeoBike and in my case, would have been an extra £1000 which was just madness when the NeoBike on paper offers virtually identical performance.

    I will say though, the touch buttons on the NeoBike shifters are pants & for me, who rides on Zwift with 0% trainer difficulty (aka Automatic Gearing so I dont need to shift) almost impossible to find when I do need to shift for sprints. Everything else though is great.

  • That sounds like you got a great deal on your bike! Starting to think I should have shopped around more.

    Yeah I almost bought an Atom, but the geek in me wanted the road-feel stuff that the Tacx would do. I did check out the Wahoo bike as well, but like you said, the price is insane.

    I'll probably end up getting an exchange, I just really hope the replacement doesn't have the same problem, but there's no way of finding out until I've got it set up.

    My other idea was to ditch the whole static bike idea and go for a trainer & cheapish road bike with the intention of never taking it outside, but I've no idea what to go for if I went this route.

    BTW totally agree about the shifters on the Neo bike, they only seem useable if I've got my hands in one spot, and even then, they're so close together I sometimes end up shifting the wrong way which totally throws me off.

  • Oh God mine has just today started doing this. It's my second unit after the first one clunked under power.

    Sounds just like your first video.

    Was yours a motor or belt failure do you know? Pretty sute my first was a belt. I dread the boxing up, waiting etc. I'll probably accumulate another seatpost, saddle and accessories but I just want a working trainer FFS!