$2000 and You Wanna Buy An eBike?

Deleted Member 4210 said:
Motobecane and Bikes Direct ? Oh come on. That brand is no longer what it used to be, and bikes direct is hawking some pretty heavily hyped but quite marginal stuff when you dig into the details. I would not rule out fake labels or complete knock offs on even their shimano or rockshox components. The component price math just doesn't add up. shimano and sram both have seen huge increase in counterfeiting of their derailleurs and group sets and dealers have a really hard time discerning differences unless they get the OEM to look real closely when there is an issue. The past two years has Been really bad according to my rep from sram. Usually if the ebike price is too good to be true, you can count on it being chock full of knock off components. Sadly so, and again getting more pronounced with tariffs, more competition from more ebike (white label) brands, huge consumer (and very new to ebikes) demand, proliferation of site unseen on line buying by super naive consumers, and now more recently Covid driven shortages. And if dealers have a hard time discerning the fakes, you can bet no consumer will know, even more experienced bike buying ones. This is another reason I won't touch any brand I don't sell in terms of service. 3 years ago I got burned by a fake Sram derailleur that just would not index properly. ( X5's are known to be butter smooth and super durable). Got Sram involved and it was revealed to be a knock off. Wasted a lot of hours in that situation, and it was unfortunately on an ebike not bought at my shop nor a brand I carried. Never again. ( And I'd bet large sums of money, that the vast majority of the on line brands owners or staff that have come into existence in the past 5 to 7 years could not spot a knock off component at all, and given they order from 3rd party factories and get container loads of ebikes imported in, that go into their warehouses here in US, where boxes aren't ever opened, and they are going straight to consumers with zero inspection, it could easily go on for months or years without them even knowing, even if there are warranty claims as they just send out new parts which could also be knock offs since they don't see those, or do any inspection of defective parts usually letting consumers keep and toss them. They likely don't have the staff expertise, and they all run skeleton operations that are super lean so they don't have the time to even mess with any of this ).
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Mike, rather than making baseless claims, can you offer any better deals to help EBR members?
 
I think the Espin Reine meets your requirements. There is an ebr review of the bike. It is mid drive tourqe and cadence sensing, hydraulic brakes, suspension front fork, throttle etc. 14.25 ah battery, 9 speed.Tires 27.5 x 1.95. Comes with lights, rack. Name brand parts for 2K. 55 lbs. Weight, 17 inch frame Step thru.I do not know about availability. Last month some people on ebr forum got them quickly. You could e mail them espin at [email protected] usually reply within 24 hours or call them at 510-982-0850.
 
FlatSix911 said:
Mike, rather than making baseless claims, can you offer any better deals to help EBR members?
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The only purchase I've made on BD was over a decade ago but even then, it was a very good value. The frames they use are nothing special but the (genuine) components they put on them were definitely very good for the price. You'll have to put it together yourself a bit and do adjustments but they were still many steps above department store bike-shaped objects.
 
FlatSix911 said:
Mike, rather than making baseless claims, can you offer any better deals to help EBR members?
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Have you seen or ridden the motobecanes ? Not baseless at all. I noticed you keep popping up these random brands and websites, and it doesn’t appear you have any direct experience with any of them. I tested over 80 brands Before I ever founded my shop. And continue to do so. It’s not helping anyone to force fit unachievable specs into an arbitrarily chosen price point. Sheesh, these potshots you take are getting tiresome. Internet research and paper specs aren’t worth the digital ink they are printed in. Besides I gave a very helpful recommendation for a non mid drive brand that has torque sensing, most every spec you would want or need including the very nice Alivio derailleur which is rare on virtually any brand of E-Bike with a price point that close to $2k. 4 years of direct experience with the brand, and the brand has received 3 EBR awards for their various models. Show us something else comparable in a hub drive, let alone a mid drive. Surface 604.
 
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Since I started this thread I suppose I will chime in. I have not heard of Motobecanes, but no BS I would not buy an eBike from a company with a website like this, https://www.motobecane.com/, if this is, in fact, their current website.

Please advise.
 
Deleted Member 4210 said:
Have you seen or ridden the motobecanes ? Not baseless at all. I noticed you keep popping up these random brands and websites, and it doesn’t appear you have any direct experience with any of them. I tested over 80 brands Before I ever founded my shop. And continue to do so. It’s not helping anyone to force fit unachievable specs into an arbitrarily chosen price point. Sheesh, these potshots you take are getting tiresome. Internet research and paper specs aren’t worth the digital ink they are printed in. Besides I gave a very helpful recommendation for a non mid drive brand that has torque sensing, most every spec you would want or need including the very nice Alivio derailleur which is rare on virtually any brand of E-Bike with a price point that close to $2k. 4 years of direct experience with the brand, and the brand has received 3 EBR awards for their various models. Show us something else comparable in a hub drive, let alone a mid drive. Surface 604.
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Nonsense, I have purchased a number of bikes from BD over the years... if you have an ax to grind do it somewhere else.

Otherwise, try to be a productive contributing member of EBR and make some useful recommendations. ;)
 
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dparadise22 said:
Since I started this thread I suppose I will chime in. I have not heard of Motobecanes, but no BS I would not buy an eBike from a company with a website like this, https://www.motobecane.com/, if this is, in fact, their current website.

Please advise.
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The Motobecane name was acquired years ago by Bikes Direct, a consumer-direct seller. IMO, their website (see below) is antiquated but still works - they haven't improved it at all in the few years I've been visiting.

I bought an eMTB - their first ebike endeavor - for $3500 from them in 2017, and it was a great deal. A shop would have had to charge $5k+ for a comparable bike, and I knew what I was getting into as far as service support. All components were genuine and as specified, and the build and ride quality were excellent.

They now offer more than a dozen ebike models, the best of which are towards the bottom of the page linked below. Check Wikipedia for the full Motobecane history, it's been around a long time!

www.bikesdirect.com/products/ebikes-electric-bikes-at-near-wholesale.html
 
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There is nothing wrong with the more expensive Bikes Direct bikes. But their entry level bikes are pretty rubbish and are only worth the price paid; their "list price" stretches the truth beyond belief.
 
CodyDog, its a difficult choice. I actually just cancelled the Rize RX order a few hours ago and really want to order the Sondors Rockstar. Any thoughts or comments on Sondors bikes and customer service? Can you recommend a brand and model that LBS carries?

My big thing is the need for a throttle and bikes at LBS usually have low output motors, albeit high-quality and no throttles. As an example, a Trek does not have a throttle.

The Bosch CX motor is their top performance motor and I think the speed is restricted to 28mph and their is no throttle. Any thoughts or comments on that specific motor in relation to the Bafang Ultra Max?

here are my reasons:
1. I didn't like the EBR review saying that to use max throttle you need to be in PAS-5, which I, nor EBR, liked.
2. The motor sounded quite loud (I understand its 1500W but...)
3. The killer for me though was ultimately the poor welds in the frame. They look horrible and at $2600 that aesthetic issue would bug me everyday.

Any feedback is much appreciated!
 
dparadise22 said:
CodyDog, its a difficult choice. I actually just cancelled the Rize RX order a few hours ago and really want to order the Sondors Rockstar. Any thoughts or comments on Sondors bikes and customer service? Can you recommend a brand and model that LBS carries?

My big thing is the need for a throttle and bikes at LBS usually have low output motors, albeit high-quality and no throttles. As an example, a Trek does not have a throttle.

The Bosch CX motor is their top performance motor and I think the speed is restricted to 28mph and their is no throttle. Any thoughts or comments on that specific motor in relation to the Bafang Ultra Max?

here are my reasons:
1. I didn't like the EBR review saying that to use max throttle you need to be in PAS-5, which I, nor EBR, liked.
2. The motor sounded quite loud (I understand its 1500W but...)
3. The killer for me though was ultimately the poor welds in the frame. They look horrible and at $2600 that aesthetic issue would bug me everyday.

Any feedback is much appreciated!
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I was very close to pulling the trigger on a Rockstar a couple of months back. I'm kinda glad now I stayed on the sidelines. Seems like more of a pig in a poke type offering at this point. I think it will probably be ok, but I am going to see what the first batch reviews have to say. With that said, I did pony up for a Frey CC that will probably not show up until March. I too wanted a throttle and full suspension and the CC checked all of my boxes. You will notice on this board there are the guys and gals that like throttles and another contingent that considers them sacrilege! You get what you want and this board is an awesome spot to get your info...
 
Taylor57 said:
You will notice on this board there are the guys and gals that like throttles and another contingent that considers them sacrilege!
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If my bike had a throttle, I'm sure I would enjoy using it. But I don't "need" a throttle, and needing one eliminates a heck of a lot of very good bikes. If you gotta have one, that is fine by me. The only reason I "hate" throttles is when I see people using it as the primary means of motivation. That to me just goes against the spirit of cycling.
 
Nova Haibike said:
If my bike had a throttle, I'm sure I would enjoy using it. But I don't "need" a throttle, and needing one eliminates a heck of a lot of very good bikes. If you gotta have one, that is fine by me. The only reason I "hate" throttles is when I see people using it as the primary means of motivation. That to me just goes against the spirit of cycling.
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Fair enough. I like my throttle!
 
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