FLX F5 Trail quality and support

[SQUIDwarrior]

I am very close to buying my first Ebike, and I'm looking at three bikes: Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0, Trek Allant+ 8S, and FLX F5 Trail. The first two are obviously sold in (many) LBSs, but as I am in Colorado getting support for the FLX is going to be harder. My budget is around $4k

So my first questions, which of these three bikes would people recommend? I am 6'3", about 230lbs and deeply unfit (which is why my wife and I are getting into Ebikes lol). I am going to be commuting to work (about 22 miles round trip), riding various bike trails around Denver, with some occasional very light trail riding. I know the Specialized and Trek aren't true mountain bikes, but they would be fine for the type of riding I am going to be doing. I am going to go do a test ride of both today, and I have heard how smooth quiet those bikes are (many reviews comment on this). I like that the Trek has the ability to add a range extender, and I have ridden Specialized bikes for many years and they have never let me down. I also really like the specs on the F5 Trail at the price (and that it has a throttle), and the fact that its a bit more of a MTB means it might get me to do some more trail riding. But it seems like the one frame size might be a bit small for me.

My second question, how good is FLX support and quality? I haven't seen much on this forum about it, but I noticed there is a lot of negative feedback here: https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/flx.bike and it makes me nervous that I am going to drop $4k on a bike that I haven't ridden and might not get much local support. I kinda feel like the price and specs are a little "too good to be true".

Thanks so much for any insight you can give me!

 

[SQUIDwarrior]

Rode the Trek and Specialized (Vado SL since the regular was in a box). Liked the Trek a lot more. So now it’s between the Trek and the FLX.

 

[PDieter]

I've owned 3 versions of the trail since the company launch in 2016, currently I ride the F5 converted to a commuter bike. I just got it in November and I have 3500 miles on it. I had the same budget as you and settled on the Trail. I really like the high torque motor (m600). It's a bit loud but that comes with the steel gear to survive the torque. It quiets a bit over time and I have a luna nylon replacement gear that I'll probably swap in when my warranty is out. Support has never been FLX's strong point but they also use readily available components and the motor and battery are pretty standard too. but I find the build quality quite competitive and the bike specs very much so.

there's also a FLX owners group on Facebook that can really help in the support department.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I'm a biased Giant rider. I have this Stance. It runs beautifully on the road and loves trails too.

Stance E+ 2 (2021) | bike | Giant Bicycles US

Designed with trail-friendly geometry, Stance E+ helps beginner or intermediate trail riders experience off-road E-bike riding at its best. Its lightweight, strong and stiff ALUXX SL aluminum frame with FlexPoint suspen...

www.giant-bicycles.com

 

[SQUIDwarrior]

I do like Giant as well. Hmm, well I can’t find the Stance anywhere locally (well no where close anyway) but they do have the Fastroad E+ EX Pro, so maybe I’ll try that and compare to the Trek.
But back to the FLX, I would love to hear about the quality and support experiences, even for their other bikes.

 

[SQUIDwarrior]

I've owned 3 versions of the trail since the company launch in 2016, currently I ride the F5 converted to a commuter bike. I just got it in November and I have 3500 miles on it. I had the same budget as you and settled on the Trail. I really like the high torque motor (m600). It's a bit loud but that comes with the steel gear to survive the torque. It quiets a bit over time and I have a luna nylon replacement gear that I'll probably swap in when my warranty is out. Support has never been FLX's strong point but they also use readily available components and the motor and battery are pretty standard too. but I find the build quality quite competitive and the bike specs very much so.

there's also a FLX owners group on Facebook that can really help in the support department.

Thanks for your insight! I did read your posts and watch your video about the FLX as a commuter bike. Very informative!

 

[Stu]

I'm kind of late here in the conversation. I have an trail F5 its a great bike after they made it right took a few trys and like some one said service not their strong point, in fact it sucks. But the bike rides great I am on my second motor. The first one had dead spots in it. I lose power and then it would kick back in. My wife's bike had the same problem. Back to service when they were putting it back together the tech put the crank arms on the wrong side, left arm right side right arm left side. The left arm has left threads. If they are backwards the arms will spin off after not to long. Mine did so I took it back, I live close to their shop. When I got there I notices the problem and said the cranks are on backwards and the tech accused me of taking off the arms and called me a liar. Needless to say I was pissed. They fixed the problems were not pleasant about doing it and said they didn't want to see me again. I wrote the owner, Rob, and left some bad reviews on Yelp, etc.
Next problem was my dashboard didn't work right I had a top speed of 202mph I am a little tech savvy so I checked everything and and couldn't find the fault. I called, they did answer the phone, came and picked up my bike and apologized for the bad behavior. The bike has ridden well since 3500m in about 3 yrs Now the battery doesn't charge all the time. Maybe its time for a new battery? My advice stay away from a FLX. Go with the more known brands.
I am looking for a new ride CL2 I need a throttle I live on a hill and would like full suspension.