A Tale of Two Bikes
Part 1. The Watt Wagons Superbike
January 2020.
I was walking home from the Metro, when I saw my 2016 Subaru Forrester sitting in the same spot as it had been. The car was filthy and hadn’t been driven for nearly two weeks. I was still making car payments and insurance premiums. I made the decision to sell the car and convert to an e-bike since driving a small, manual shift SUV in the city is silly.
February – March 2020
Sold the Subaru via Carvana (highly recommend) and started the research process into finding the right e-bike for me. I live in Washington DC, so have some hills to tackle, but I really wanted something in which to tool around town, meet my wife or friends out, or run errands. EBR was super helpful, and I was quickly steered to Watt Wagons (WW).
After reading almost all the threads on the EBR site about WW, I decided to reach out to Pushkar. I received an almost instantaneous response and connected with him via phone the following day. Pushkar is knowledgeable, helpful, enthusiastic and infectious. I was quickly sold that this was the right bike manufacturer for me (sight unseen and having never ridden a Bafang mid-drive bike).
As an aside, I had visited my local e-bike shop, ElectriCity Bikes. They carry all the high-end bikes (R & M, Specialized, and Gazelle among others). I loved the ride of the Brose motor on the Specialized, and who doesn’t really love the quality of R & M, but at double the price of going direct with a small, custom shop, I chose the latter.
April 2020
As COVID lockdowns took place, Pushkar was firm in his commitment to build a bike that I (and many others) would love. He started to crowd source a new build dubbed the Superbike. There were threads upon threads asking for opinions and the masses were not shy. This bike had it all: a super powerful motor, dual batteries, a Rohloff hub, Gates belt, horns, bells, all top-of-the-line components. If you wanted it, Pushkar was willing to make it happen, and all for a nominal fee.
$5400. You could pay up front via wire transfer or place a deposit. Even with COVID, I felt secure enough in my job and had the Subaru cash, so I wired the money. The bike was expected within a few months. I’d be riding by autumn, which in DC is really quite lovely.
May 2020 – June 2022
Without going into all the gory details, the Superbike, now known as the Helios, never materialized. The Founders (those of us who helped “develop” the bike) as we were known, were a mostly patient bunch. We were patient through COVID. We were patient through a global supply chain crisis. We were patient as another manufacturer bought WW’s frames out from underneath Pushkar. We were patient as WW stopped communicating due to legal action for the aforementioned infringement. We were patient when Pushkar finally called us to tell us what was going on and what he was doing to fix the situation. We were patient as WW’s switched from aluminum frames to start exploring carbon fiber frames.
Somewhere along the line, we stopped being patient. I can’t remember what straw it was that broke this camel’s back. It might have been seeing other Founders growing frustration. It might have been my wife and daughter laughing at my expense about how I got taken for $5400. It could have been employees of mine asking when I was getting my bike. But ultimately, I think it was that I simply lost faith that the Helios would materialize anytime soon, if ever. I asked for a refund.
My $5400 wire transfer deposit was sent within a few days of receiving an invoice. My refund was not so swift. Some Founders threatened legal action, some decided to roll their funds into a different WW bike, some decided to wait for the Helios 2.0 (the Superbike/Helios 1.0 was dead). I chose to text Pushkar periodically believing him to be an honorable man and just caught in a doom spiral of COVID, supply chain, and bad luck. He always responded to me. He took my calls. He was beaten down, but not defeated. He was true to his word, and my refund arrived in three or four separate installments and by June 2022 I was made whole and in the clear.
I wouldn’t wish this particular experience on anyone, but I think all of the Founders were made whole in the end. Those who stuck it out are getting, have gotten or are waiting on their WW bike. Many of the issues we faced could have been rectified with simple communication. Most of us weren’t upset about the news we received; we were upset that we had to pull teeth to get the updates. In the end, Pushkar was a victim of his own making: he was so communicative in the beginning and just stopped when the news was too difficult to deliver. But he did make me/us whole and that speaks to his honorability.
Part 2 can be read here: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/a-tale-of-two-bikes-part-2.51195/
Part 1. The Watt Wagons Superbike
January 2020.
I was walking home from the Metro, when I saw my 2016 Subaru Forrester sitting in the same spot as it had been. The car was filthy and hadn’t been driven for nearly two weeks. I was still making car payments and insurance premiums. I made the decision to sell the car and convert to an e-bike since driving a small, manual shift SUV in the city is silly.
February – March 2020
Sold the Subaru via Carvana (highly recommend) and started the research process into finding the right e-bike for me. I live in Washington DC, so have some hills to tackle, but I really wanted something in which to tool around town, meet my wife or friends out, or run errands. EBR was super helpful, and I was quickly steered to Watt Wagons (WW).
After reading almost all the threads on the EBR site about WW, I decided to reach out to Pushkar. I received an almost instantaneous response and connected with him via phone the following day. Pushkar is knowledgeable, helpful, enthusiastic and infectious. I was quickly sold that this was the right bike manufacturer for me (sight unseen and having never ridden a Bafang mid-drive bike).
As an aside, I had visited my local e-bike shop, ElectriCity Bikes. They carry all the high-end bikes (R & M, Specialized, and Gazelle among others). I loved the ride of the Brose motor on the Specialized, and who doesn’t really love the quality of R & M, but at double the price of going direct with a small, custom shop, I chose the latter.
April 2020
As COVID lockdowns took place, Pushkar was firm in his commitment to build a bike that I (and many others) would love. He started to crowd source a new build dubbed the Superbike. There were threads upon threads asking for opinions and the masses were not shy. This bike had it all: a super powerful motor, dual batteries, a Rohloff hub, Gates belt, horns, bells, all top-of-the-line components. If you wanted it, Pushkar was willing to make it happen, and all for a nominal fee.
$5400. You could pay up front via wire transfer or place a deposit. Even with COVID, I felt secure enough in my job and had the Subaru cash, so I wired the money. The bike was expected within a few months. I’d be riding by autumn, which in DC is really quite lovely.
May 2020 – June 2022
Without going into all the gory details, the Superbike, now known as the Helios, never materialized. The Founders (those of us who helped “develop” the bike) as we were known, were a mostly patient bunch. We were patient through COVID. We were patient through a global supply chain crisis. We were patient as another manufacturer bought WW’s frames out from underneath Pushkar. We were patient as WW stopped communicating due to legal action for the aforementioned infringement. We were patient when Pushkar finally called us to tell us what was going on and what he was doing to fix the situation. We were patient as WW’s switched from aluminum frames to start exploring carbon fiber frames.
Somewhere along the line, we stopped being patient. I can’t remember what straw it was that broke this camel’s back. It might have been seeing other Founders growing frustration. It might have been my wife and daughter laughing at my expense about how I got taken for $5400. It could have been employees of mine asking when I was getting my bike. But ultimately, I think it was that I simply lost faith that the Helios would materialize anytime soon, if ever. I asked for a refund.
My $5400 wire transfer deposit was sent within a few days of receiving an invoice. My refund was not so swift. Some Founders threatened legal action, some decided to roll their funds into a different WW bike, some decided to wait for the Helios 2.0 (the Superbike/Helios 1.0 was dead). I chose to text Pushkar periodically believing him to be an honorable man and just caught in a doom spiral of COVID, supply chain, and bad luck. He always responded to me. He took my calls. He was beaten down, but not defeated. He was true to his word, and my refund arrived in three or four separate installments and by June 2022 I was made whole and in the clear.
I wouldn’t wish this particular experience on anyone, but I think all of the Founders were made whole in the end. Those who stuck it out are getting, have gotten or are waiting on their WW bike. Many of the issues we faced could have been rectified with simple communication. Most of us weren’t upset about the news we received; we were upset that we had to pull teeth to get the updates. In the end, Pushkar was a victim of his own making: he was so communicative in the beginning and just stopped when the news was too difficult to deliver. But he did make me/us whole and that speaks to his honorability.
Part 2 can be read here: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/a-tale-of-two-bikes-part-2.51195/
Last edited:
