Crazy Walmart mid drive deal $349

[gromike]

We had a festival in town this weekend, and guess who was the queen of the show?

 

[Johny Rocket]

Received the ebike this afternoon:
View attachment 198949
All there, and no damage:
View attachment 198950
Put it together while the battery charged:
View attachment 198951
Greased an adjusted front wheel bearings, will need to do the same to the back wheel. Both wheels need to be trued. Seat is truly painful, and would also benefit from a suspension seat post (all to be provided from my collection of bike parts).
The bike wasn't so cheap that it hurt me to look at, and it works much better than my TSDZ2b motor. No throttle, and I'm assuming the PAS is cadence until proven otherwise. (Just read the motor's mfg. info and they say it's integrated cadence and torque PAS.)
So, for $350 delivered, not including tax, this has got to be one of the best cheap mid-drives out there. Thanks, OP Johny Rocket, for the link. My bike shed now truly runneth over.

Torque sensor baby

 

[gromike]

The Hyper mid-drive is backdown to $349. Guess not many (like zero) sold for $1,398.

 

[speedub.nate]

I've been keeping an eye out for some good ebike deals for my folks, who have recently expressed some interest.

I envision a step-thru for my dad (he's in his 70s now, so, ya' know... I love my step-thru cruiser!) but an Electra for mom just because she's expressed some concerns about stability and being able to dab.

This bike looks possibly good for pops except that the quoted 20 mile range / 1 hr duration has me put off. It's pretty easy to blow through that.

I also can't find a weight on this bike, and that's a concern since they would be transporting often.

 

[gromike]

Weighs about 60 pounds.
Bike needs a good saddle (and a suspension seat post would be nice too). Brakes need improvement. Kind of skinny tires, which is not a popular thing nowadays.

 

[Rexlion]

A $350 ebike would turn into a $900 ebike by the time I finished accessorizing. Not as bad as a boat (a/k/a/ "hole in the water that you throw money into") though.

 

[gromike]

There might be an art in getting a cheap bike good enough at a low cost.
Getting this thing to ride well probably comes down to wheels and tires. I do think it would be easy enough to fit quality wider tires to the existing wheels, though then the installed fenders won't fit.
My next thing is brake improvements, and an inexpensive functional suspension seat post.

 

[gromike]

Just thought I'd celebrate the end of my Crazy Walmart Mid Drive Deal!
I bought three of them, and after replacing the seats and brake calipers they are a sweet ride.
About $440 in each bike, which includes bike, shipping, parts, and taxes. Labor, as always, is free.

One is now my around town bike, another a loaner/spare parts, the third is for a charity raffle. As these are UL 2849 certified I shouldn't have to worry about burning anyone's house down .

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Which reminds me of my times in the BassTalk forum in late 2000s where an American bassist showed a photo of ten US$150 Chinese basses, each in different colour, all placed on a sofa. He claimed the Chinese bass was better than a Fender Precision

 

[Gionnirocket]

Reminds me of the polish man who locked his keys in his car.
His family was trapped for three hours!

 

[Rexlion]

Reminds me of the guy who told one too many Polish jokes. They found him in a back alley, all black and blue.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Reminds me of the guy who told one too many Polish jokes. They found him in a back alley, all black and blue.

I can remember a meme of a recent era. A low life Polish immigrant in the UK is praised for being "confident". He immediately punches the other person in the face yelling "don't call me a confidante!" (He understood the word as the "police informer")

If @gromike were a bassist... (A random 2025, not the 2007 photo).

 

[Gionnirocket]

Well since the number of basses given in the description was ten... I'm not too worried about one too many.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Perhaps I can find a photo with ten SX "Essex" instruments on a sofa

 

[PedalUma]

China has 1/3rd of the world's manufacturing capacity. And do not have the domestic markets to support it.

 

[Catalyzt]

Which reminds me of my times in the BassTalk forum in late 2000s where an American bassist showed a photo of ten US$150 Chinese basses, each in different colour, all placed on a sofa. He claimed the Chinese bass was better than a Fender Precision

You never know, right? Before the tariffs, I bought a lot of Chinese wristwatches-- including some chronographs with ST19 mechanical movements. These are widely reviled among snobby horologists (I hang out with the 'affordables' crew!) and spoken of as 'disposable.' They cost between $150-$350, and some are water resistant to 100 meters.

In all my years of collecting, and buying maybe 15 Chinese watches, I've only had two problems: One gasket issue (water ingress, full refund under warranty) and, more interestingly, some kind of subtle balance-wheel issue on an ST19 chronograph. Rather than replace the entire movement, I sent it back to China, and they repaired it, again, under warranty, though I took a bath on the shipping. The watchmakers spoke almost no English, but what service! Carefully asked the symptoms of the problem, described the fix, returned the watch, and it runs now at about +2 SPD, within chronometer spec, better than my friends' Rolexes and Omegas. The fit and finish are not at Omega level, but the QC and attention to detail is better than Seiko.

I did not WANT, particularly, to buy products from China, and I generally don't if I can avoid it. (I'd rather buy US, or from a traditional US ally.) But the craftsmanship and service just won me over for watches; they just got rave reviews. I'm sure some will hold their value well, and others will tank-- you don't get into the hobby to make money, but it's nice not to loose too much!

With guitars, we have a really, really bizarre situation. My daily driver that I gig and travel with is Korean, designed by a guy in the South Bay who sources all the parts. The neck had some problems-- fret sprout-- but we fixed it, and conventional wisdom is that if it's good after the first five years or so, it will stay good thereafter, barring drops, full immersion in water, or other calamities. His tech-- a lunatic who lives out in the desert in a trailer-- did the work for me, and said, "Read the Gibson forums. You'll hear a lot of people complaining about fret sprout." And wow, he was right! I don't know how I'd feel about buying a big brand name guitar now. At least with my middle-class-boutique guitar, I know my guy in the South Bay will take care of me; it cost under $500, but I go down to the warehouse and hang out sometimes, and the guitar has held up really well.

But what's going on in the 'Fender and Gibson copy' market is astounding. You have a lot of knock-off brands from the '80s and '90s that are selling, heavily used, for more than real brand new Fenders or Gibsons! Some of these are Mexican, some are Japanese, a few Korean. When I bought my Hohner G3T headless guitar in 2004 or whatever, it was about $285-- I couldn't afford a Steinberger stick, which it was a copy of, they couldn't be had for less than $500, and usually more. Now, my G3T would sell for $900,and a new Steinberger is $350. Apparently, the QC on the Steinbergers has not been great, and word got around. HST, there are a few models of older Steinberger sticks that sell for well north of a grand on the used market.

Do prices reflect quality? I don't know.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Do prices reflect quality? I don't know.

What is funny for me here is buying several items of the same product only because it's cheap.

 

[gromike]

Back to the original topic about these under $300 mid drive bikes (I factored out the shipping cost.)
The frame appears OK, and the motor and battery work well. But everything else is super cheap.
So. it's a yes and a no as far as this ebike in concern to the question "Do prices reflect quality?"
Nonetheless, I would of thought Stefan would approve, as these ebikes have no throttle.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@gromike please don't get angry with me but isn't it the example of the American consumerism?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Which reminds me a wonderful anecdote from late 1970s. At that time, the mainframe computers were the thing, and Control Data Corporation (CDC) was one of the market leaders.

There was a CDC dealer in the U.S. One day, a man enters the office. The dealer asks the guest for the reason of interest in buying a computer. The man goes on: 'I represent a Farmers' Union. Heard these computers could be used for predicting the weather, so it would help us with the crops forecasts?' The dealer enthusiastically confirms the capability then shows the farmer the product catalogs. The farmer points at a computer in a picture, each worth, say, five million bucks and says: 'I want two of those'. The dealer cannot believe his luck but wants to know the reason.

One is now my around town bike, another a loaner/spare parts, the third is for a charity raffle.

'You see, we farmers always buy the things in twos. Two tractors for example. If one breaks then we cannibalize the other for spare parts'.