GREAT starter bike.

[Murray Huntaway]

I bought two of these last week for myself and my wife. Originally I went to Eriks with a wad of cash expecting to plonk down $4000 for a pair of e bikes. The service was appalling at the Woodbury MN location as the only person in the store was more interested in sorting his Merchandise than serving me. Disillusioned I took my business on-line and researched e bikes. After reviewing the cheapies on offer I decided that spending $1200 for 2 e-bikes seemed better than spending $4000. Besides I might not like e-biking.

Now the bike review....
Sure it's Chinese but it is really well built and solid. I heard the comments about where the heck do you take it if it breaks. The solution? WALMART sell the bike for $600 and in addition offer up to 4 years warranty on Parts, Labor AND Shipping. I usually avoid extended warranties like the plague but in this case it seemed a very good idea. I read the conditions and it's pretty straightforward. Any malfunction, electric or otherwise and Walmart will repair, refund or replace. A no brainer. Ideally I was after a crank driven e-bike but this hub drive is perfect for us. On the lowest of the 3 power settings it is plenty fast for me and I'm not sure if I will ever need the 3rd level setting. 21 Gears is a bit overkill and we usually cruise along on the smallest rear and largest front cog (excuse my technical knowledge.)

Value for money this bike is off the charts especially with the Walmart protection plan which I took for 3 years. One day I'm sure to upgrade but in the meantime I'm having the most fun I've had on a bike for decades. And I saved thousands of dollars which I might use to buy some Lycra LOL.

 

[Dallant]

Good luck. Keep us informed.

 

[Murray Huntaway]

yea, keep us updated.

I'd love to see more affordable ebikes on the market to get people into ebiking.

Six weeks in and we are absolutely smitten with these bikes. Getting cold now in Minnesota but still trying to get out daily until the snow and big freeze arrives. No issues with either bike but we did change the seats for comfort. Batteries still have power left at the end of every ride. Most I have managed to drain it is down to 2/5ths on medium speed. I'm getting tired before the battery. LOL

 

[rich c]

Six weeks in and we are absolutely smitten with these bikes. Getting cold now in Minnesota but still trying to get out daily until the snow and big freeze arrives. No issues with either bike but we did change the seats for comfort. Batteries still have power left at the end of every ride. Most I have managed to drain it is down to 2/5ths on medium speed. I'm getting tired before the battery. LOL

I'm curious how you'll get labor and parts for a Walmart eBike in 4 years. It's not that high school kid in the back who assembles all the kids bikes is it?

 

[EMGX]

FWIW another inexpensive option is to use a bike that you already have and install a Tongsheng tsdz2 mid drive motor (motor and peripherals including throttle, cut-out brake levers and an extra 34t flat chainring for $425). I recently bought one for my wife's bike and did a temporary install on an old unused Dahon Jack to test it out first. It is pretty amazing, very comparable to my Yamaha PW-SE assisted gravel bike, maybe even better. The torque sensing is smooth (in highest setting it is smoother than the Yamaha) and powerful. It is difficult for me to directly compare power of the Yamaha vs TS because my Yamaha has 700 x 32c high pressure, smooth tread street tires while the Dahon has 26 x 2.00 Schwalbe Big Apple tires. The yamaha powered gravel bike with 36v 11ah weighs 42# while the Dahon with motor and a higher capacity 36v 15ah battery weighs 45#. I rode it 24 miles yesterday, 7 without assist and 17miles with assist mostly in the two highest settings. I could cruise along at 20-22mph including gentle grades and it also did well on steep hills (I didn't install the throttle). Very quiet, I think quieter than the Yamaha, humming of the tires downed out motor noise. At the end of my ride it still showed a full 6 bars battery capacity. The battery I used is a cheap one from Amazon, cost just over $200 several months ago that I had for another project (I had tried a 36v 250w geared front hub motor on the same Dahon bike, it was a useless anchor on hills). The yamaha requires a proprietary battery that cost $1000 vs couple hundred for the battery I'm using on the TS.
Total cost <$650 including battery but not including the bike. Very easy to install, the biggest issue is that the TS has a wider chainline especially if you use a flat chainring other than their dished 42t chainring. So far I'm totally impressed and I think it will be perfect for my wife's use. I like my Yamaha assisted gravel bike but if I had known I would have just gone with installing a Tongsheng on a bike that I already have and like instead.

 

[Murray Huntaway]

I'm curious how you'll get labor and parts for a Walmart eBike in 4 years. It's not that high school kid in the back who assembles all the kids bikes is it?

If they can't fix it they replace it. WIN-WIN

 

[jangles]

I see they even have a fat bike now .