Experience with Alibaba or Re-Cycle?

[pataspen]

Hi all,

Total newbie here, looking to build my first DIY mid-drive ebike. After digging through a lot of info, I think I've decided that a Tongsheng mid-drive is the way to go, based on the fact that it has a torque sensor, as opposed to a cadence sensor. I live in the mountains and spend a lot of time out of the saddle, pedaling at relatively slow rpms. Thus, I prefer torque over cadence sensors

(That is probably a good question, am I correct in thinking the Tongsheng is a good choice, or should I look at a Bafang? Feel free to jump in with thoughts).

I have only found a few dealers that sell Tongsheng kits... Biktrix in Canada, Re-Cycle in Nashville and eBird on Alibaba. Biktrix seems to be the safest bet. They have good reviews and seems like they will back their products. Unfortunately, they are quite a bit more expensive than the other two. Re-Cycle seems like a great choice; they are lot cheaper and having a USA dealer might make warranty concerns easier. Alibaba is the cheapest, but I doubt I'd get any support if there are problems.

I don't have an unlimited budget for this project, so I'm trying to save where I can. I'd gladly pay Biktrix a little more, but Re-Cycle is about $400 less for motor and battery. I've tried to get in touch with Re-Cycle with some product questions, but have not heard a thing from them. Unfortunately, they haven't returned my email, nor answered the phone or returned messages.

Does anybody know if Re-Cycle is a reputable dealer? Or are they going to take my money and not send the kit?

How about Alibaba? Has anybody had any luck purchasing big items from them? Is there any sort of support from dealers on Alibaba?


Any other Tongsheng dealers you can recommend?

Thanks for any help you can provide,

Pat

 

[DaveMatthews]

I'm not familiar with them, but the lack of response speaks volumes to me.

 

[rich c]

Watch the shipping on Alibaba, it can be crazy high on some items.

 

[harryS]

The owner of recycles-ebike.com posts under the name" eyebyesickle" on endless-sphere.com forums. He's been seen in the super long thread on the TSDZ2 and also the custom firmware thread.

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=42883

His prices seem OK. A 48V TSDZ2 with VLC5 and throttle kit is $407.75 shipped to me in Illinois. I think he drop ships from China. SHouldn't take too long, unless tariffs have slowed things.

I bought the same for $355 shipped from PSWpower.com, is a Chinese vendor. Arrived 4 or 5 days after I ordered. I haven't opened the box yet. Maybe there's just a brick in there. I have bought other gear from them Not worried. Cannot say how tariffs will affect today's price. `

Don't have a donor bike handy to try the TSDZ2. WIll be a winter project.

 

[larry-new]

No.

 

[indianajo]

See this thread about buying batteries from *****. https://electricbikereview.com/foru...est-your-battery-befor-30-days-expires.25134/
So far both the batteries I've bought from there, from US warehouses, have been duds. No experience with this guy. Got a refund on one, the other got me 13 miles a couple of times before the 30 day warrenty expired.
The lunacycle battery costs twice as much, doesn't say on it where it is made. By law then, it has to be made in USA. Luna allegedly contains panasonic cells and says panasonic on the sticker. The two duds alleged they had samsung cells.