Cheap bikes?

Brewerpaul

Brewerpaul

Member
I know, I know, ya get what ya pays for but the senior on Social Security in me finds the really inexpensive bikes on Amazon, etc have an appeal. I'm very handy and have done a lot of repairs on conventional bikes. Any personal experience with Ancheer and the like? Other sub $1k bikes?
 
The Aventon Pace 350 at $999 is an outstanding value ebike. I currently ride its big brother Pace 500.
In my early search for a value ebike, I was enticed by the Ancheer. Lots of youtube videos about this ebike. But I decided on Rattan 26in 350W 7 Speed ebike from Amazon at $735. Much better ebike than Ancheer. More powerful battery and motor. I put 500 miles on the Rattan. My longest ride was 57mi with some battery left. Extra battery is under $170. And vendor has excellent customer service. This was a very decent ebike that I probably could have ridden for a good while. But I decided to try something with better components and better frame size fit for my short legs. So, two weeks ago I purchased the Pace 500 Sport in small frame size. Very nice ebike. After riding it another 500 miles, the extra $600 over Rattan is worth it, I feel. It isn't a perfect ebike. I have noticed two quirks: lowest pedal assist is about 12mph and kicks in with a jolt and no 0 throttle start (you must pedal 1 full revolution before throttle is activated). But the Pace 500 is a quality built ebike and I like it.
I would think these $3000-$10,000 ebikes that lots of forum riders have are nice. Much better than my inexpensive ebikes. But I found two ebikes that were good enough for me.
 
rcdanner said:
The Aventon Pace 350 at $999 is an outstanding value ebike. I currently ride its big brother Pace 500.
In my early search for a value ebike, I was enticed by the Ancheer. Lots of youtube videos about this ebike. But I decided on Rattan 26in 350W 7 Speed ebike from Amazon at $735. Much better ebike than Ancheer.
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The Rattan looks pretty good, but I might have to cover up the name. To me, rattan is a type of wicker-like furniture ;-)
 
Some of the bike sellers will have spare electronics, but I think that isn't common.

A typical 20A controller with LCD display is comfortably under $100, and you can find them on ebay, amazon, or aliexpress. Some of the amazon sellers even stock them in the US for quick shipment, as opposed to 3-5 weeks from China.

You generally have to buy the display/controller together as they don't mix, but brakes, throttles, and motor connections all tend to be the same, a;though connectors will differ.
 
rich c said:
Where do you get replacement electronic parts for those cheap bikes? Surely Amazon doesn’t sell replacement displays or controllers.
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If purchased at Walmart, you buy the very inexpensive extended warranty. If anything lets go on you for any reason, it's their problem!
 
I just don’t see the general consumer of entry level Ebikes being up to the task of verifying connectors, controller capacity, and display compatibility for ordering parts from scratch. Many I read about don’t even know what a multimeter is.
 
AHicks said:
If purchased at Walmart, you buy the very inexpensive extended warranty. If anything lets go on you for any reason, it's their problem!
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Who verifies it’s a warranty issue? You’ll get automatic replacement at the store for a blown fuse? You have a lot more confidence in store warranties than I do. My lifetime warranty on a $30 garden hose requires that I spend $12 to ship it to the supplier.
 
Good question. Guessing if that kind of thing (bike) interests you, reading the fine print may be a good plan!

Myself, I wouldn't trust one of their techs to assemble a regular bike....
 
rich c said:
I just don’t see the general consumer of entry level Ebikes being up to the task of verifying connectors, controller capacity, and display compatibility for ordering parts from scratch. Many I read about don’t even know what a multimeter is.
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Of course. It's beyond normal suburban comprehension
 
Genze sell their refurbished 1st gen ebikes for under a grand, a cheap way to get torque sensor pedal assist, a spare/replacement battery is $350, and it's assembled in Michigan with domestic shipping and customer service. The Aventon Pace 350 is a grand, has a larger battery, and cadence pedal assist, and is sold in some bike shops. Budget brands Ancheer, Nakto, and Hyper, are sold by Amazon or Walmart sellers and a cheap way to get a suspension fork and disk brakes, recently I saw someone riding the Swagtron EB5 which is $500, echoing the other commenters you might want to read up on other folks experience troubleshooting/repairs with those brands.
 
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The Rattan website says that their older model is sold out, and the Rattan Challenger Plus will be out soon, but at $999.99 . It looks like it has,among other upgrades, some sort of regenerative charging system which is cool, but I'd rather not spend that much.
Amazon has a number of differently branded bikes that look identical to the original Rattan, back in the $700 range. One even has a picture of a bike with a Rattan label! Think they're actually all the same? The specs are.
r
 
Timpo said:
They don't need to know that (although it's helpful) the vast majority of people who purchase ebikes (or even cars or motorcycles?) buy their products to use them, not to be a mechanic.

Multimeter??? I won't be surprised if ordinary bicycle riders don't know how to replace a crank (don't know what a crank puller is) or replace a cassette or freewheel.. Or adjust spokes, install a fork, etc.
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But those folks can easily find a shop to work on traditional bikes, motorcycles and cars. We aren’t talking the same issues here. Aren’t we talking about EBikes? Not cars for sure! When you roll a cheap Amazon or eBay bike into a traditional bike shop, how many do you think can troubleshoot a controller or motor. If they can, not many want to work on an EBike not purchased there. That discussion has been hashed over many times here. So it’s up to the owner, or they have a dust collector. Sure, go ahead and throw it away and buy more junk.
 
Timpo said:
Some shops like Luna Cycle
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Jeez, watch his videos and discover the fella is clueless... funny how a clown is suddenly an engineer.
Bike shops are still evolving. It’s going to be another decade before they catch up. In fairness it can take an hour or two of forum cruising to sort an issue. Often times an hour or more to simply sort the correct nomenclature to make and effective search. And then Chinglish...
 
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