...that is to say if you need to buy an e-bike quickly, you'll do it at some non-zero ignorance premium. With Court's latest video talking about price and the flurry of comments that followed, I thought I'd add my recent purchasing experience.
Thanks to Court's videos, which I've watched regularly for a few years now, I was close to purchasing an electric short bakfiets for family cycling purposes. The main parts are all from China. Having some literacy, I went and found the Alibaba pages of the factories where these bikes basically all come from. Their designs seem to be widely rebranded, under Cangoo/Popal, Virtue, and some others. (I also found lots of Juiced ODK ripoffs, wonder what happened there). The motors are generally Bafangs, either generic or rebranded. I was very close to buying a Virtue Gondoliere, and even test rode one, but I eventually went with a BOS Electric Assist Cargo Bike. From the research I was able to do thanks to Court's exhaustive videos, and a little legwork on my own, I determined that this had pretty much the same bones, but with some more things included, like a rain cover and integrated lock. On the first full day of owning it, we did 12 miles of around town cycling with the kids, and it performed very well. The shop that helped assemble it has given me advice on what components to upgrade and welds to watch.
So this post is my way of saying, "Thanks, Court!" for helping inform me over the years, a vote for the view that pricing should become more elastic as the US market develops, and finally, a suggestion to do a review of this company's bike. If you're back in Colroado, feel free to try mine, or if in Salt Lake City, they are based there.
I might some day go for a land yacht like an Urban Arrow, but it's important in a maturing market to have an entry point like this for new consumers.
Their site: http://www.boscargobikes.com/shop/electric-assist-cargo-bike
And for others who are weighing options, China-made should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. I read plenty of warnings, and maybe diatribes, though still informative, at these sites:
http://cargocycling.org/2010/10/the-big-china-rip-off.html
http://thehaguehousewife.blogspot.com/2011/05/choosing-bakfiets-box-bike.html
http://blog.joe-bike.com/bikes/carrier-pigeon/
I went with this frame anyway, because it meets our specific needs at this time. If I was parking it outside that might change the calculus, for instance.
Thanks to Court's videos, which I've watched regularly for a few years now, I was close to purchasing an electric short bakfiets for family cycling purposes. The main parts are all from China. Having some literacy, I went and found the Alibaba pages of the factories where these bikes basically all come from. Their designs seem to be widely rebranded, under Cangoo/Popal, Virtue, and some others. (I also found lots of Juiced ODK ripoffs, wonder what happened there). The motors are generally Bafangs, either generic or rebranded. I was very close to buying a Virtue Gondoliere, and even test rode one, but I eventually went with a BOS Electric Assist Cargo Bike. From the research I was able to do thanks to Court's exhaustive videos, and a little legwork on my own, I determined that this had pretty much the same bones, but with some more things included, like a rain cover and integrated lock. On the first full day of owning it, we did 12 miles of around town cycling with the kids, and it performed very well. The shop that helped assemble it has given me advice on what components to upgrade and welds to watch.
So this post is my way of saying, "Thanks, Court!" for helping inform me over the years, a vote for the view that pricing should become more elastic as the US market develops, and finally, a suggestion to do a review of this company's bike. If you're back in Colroado, feel free to try mine, or if in Salt Lake City, they are based there.
I might some day go for a land yacht like an Urban Arrow, but it's important in a maturing market to have an entry point like this for new consumers.
Their site: http://www.boscargobikes.com/shop/electric-assist-cargo-bike
And for others who are weighing options, China-made should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. I read plenty of warnings, and maybe diatribes, though still informative, at these sites:
http://cargocycling.org/2010/10/the-big-china-rip-off.html
http://thehaguehousewife.blogspot.com/2011/05/choosing-bakfiets-box-bike.html
http://blog.joe-bike.com/bikes/carrier-pigeon/
I went with this frame anyway, because it meets our specific needs at this time. If I was parking it outside that might change the calculus, for instance.
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