I just purchased a FLX step-through ebike. Biggest mistake ever. Usually, I thoroughly research big ticket purchases, but I was seduced by the bike’s looks and features and sale price. The Bafang mid drive motor is a noisy piece of junk! They are telling me I need to open up and grease the motor before I can ride it. Wrong!! Further, they will not fix it, exchange it, or refund my money. As I live over 2,500 miles from their business, I am effectively screwed with this defective piece of crap! My goal now is to try to inform others to beware of this company. There are much better bikes out there with companies who stand behind their bikes.
Hello from Indiana
- Thread starter Carol K
- Start date
Mtl_Biker
Active Member
Welcome to the forum, Carol.
Sounds like a really bad situation you're in. Is FLX the brand name of the bike? And it's only available 2,500 miles away from you?
It's often said on this forum that as important as the bike choice is, the choice of a good local dealer is equally important. Too late now, but I would certainly not buy a bike unless it could be sold and serviced locally. Having said that, I did make an exception on my e-bike. I did want to buy locally from a particularly good shop, but found that there was only ONE bike left in all of Canada of the model I wanted and in the size I needed. (It's a major international brand with dealers in cities and countries all over the world.) So I ordered it from clear across on the other side of Canada and had it shipped to me. But, I can have it serviced by the local dealer and he's been extremely supportive already.
Good luck with your situation... I hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction quickly.
Prior to ebikes, I always bought from local bike shops. As I can not afford the $5,000 and up price and limited selection they offer, I took a chance on FLX bikes in San Diego, California. My local bike shop will not do a motor overhaul on this bike, due to potential liability issues. I do not blame them. I am not a bike mechanic-I am a 65 year old female who made a very costly mistake.
Mtl_Biker
Active Member
So, what's really the problem with the bike? Noisy? Or something else? And was it the company FLX who told you to open the motor and grease it? Did they give any sort of how-to instructions? Bafang usually gets good reviews. There is a dedicated Bafang section in the brand specific section. You might try posting there to see what people suggest. I see there's also a dedicated FLX forum. Are you near a big city that might have a bike shop that might help you? Brand new bike? Your local shop thinks a motor "overhaul" is needed? Sounds pretty drastic and extreme, especially for a new bike.
I'm not a bike mechanic either, but I'm reasonably adept. And I'm older than you.
Yes, the motor is very noisy. I do not want to ride it for fear of damaging it further. Yes, FLX bikes told me to open up and grease the motor. They said it is easy, basic maintenance. They promised a video, but nothing has come. I have no tools or experience in that. I can fix a flat or do a minor gear or brake adjustment-those are “basic” maintenance items. I should not have to open up and fix a brand new bike motor with zero miles in it!! They could easily take back the bike, fix it, and use it for demo rides or re-sell it. It is just easier to screw me over. Also, it is two-three hours to a larger city where I might be able to find a shop willing to work on a “foreign” bike. I joined this forum to see what experiences and help others might suggest.So, what's really the problem with the bike? Noisy? Or something else? And was it the company FLX who told you to open the motor and grease it? Did they give any sort of how-to instructions? Bafang usually gets good reviews. There is a dedicated Bafang section in the brand specific section. You might try posting there to see what people suggest. I see there's also a dedicated FLX forum. Are you near a big city that might have a bike shop that might help you? Brand new bike? Your local shop thinks a motor "overhaul" is needed? Sounds pretty drastic and extreme, especially for a new bike.
I'm not a bike mechanic either, but I'm reasonably adept. And I'm older than you.
If you paid by credit card just document what has happened and do a charge back with the credit card company. You are the cc card company's customer, not the bike seller, so is you've kept documentation showing that the bike company is not honouring it's obligation they'll have no problem in reversing the charge.
Thank-you. That was my thought. I did not record my phone call to them, but I have email correspondence, videos of the noisy motor, etc.
Basically call your cc company and tell them your problem, that the bike is defective, you contacted the vendor and they refused to help. From that point on the burden will be on the vendor. The cc company doesn't care, they'll just charge the vendor back plus hit then with fees for the charge back. You may be surprised how reasonable sellers become when they no longer get to control the situation.
Pragmatic
Member
@Carol K sorry to hear of the apparently defective motor. We have two bikes with the 750 watt Bafang mid-motor and they ran great out of the box, and continue to run great. Bafang is a global volume leader in e-bike motors, they are not Bosch/Panasonic/other high end units, but are a very good value for the money.
Unfortunately you likely got a defective unit and FLX clearly should have "pre-flighted" the bike before shipping it to you. This is the drawback of not buying an e-Bike locally, however as you pointed out, value-priced e-bikes are not typically available locally.
I'd go the credit card charge back route as others have recommended, before any more time passes. If you get a replacement mid-motor bike from FLX, I'm sure like most current owners, you will be happy with the Bafang mid-motor unit. Wishing you the best!
Their latest response is that the motor is not “defective” it merely needs to be greased. My response is that should have been done BEFORE it was sent to me. At this point, I do not want this bike. Usually, when something has to be fixed when it is new, it usually doesn’t improve with use. They can easily accept a return, repair it in their shop, and use it for a demo bike, or re-sell it.
This bike should have been ready to go; I should not have to seek out and pay more more to make it operate properly. I am sending a certified letter tomorrow, asking one last time for an acceptable solution. Then, with full documentation, I will ask my credit card company to dispute/reverse the charge. So bummed! The bike is cool looking. I so wanted to get a good one.
South Bend.
Is opening up a Bafang motor, greasing it, and putting it all back together correctly something I could reasonably expect to do? Of course, they still have not sent me instructions on how to do this repair. I have really learned my lesson from this mess.
harryS
Well-Known Member
It looks like you bought a pretty nice bike, as far as features, but it shouldn't have a bum motor. If it wasn't greased at the factory (and how does that happen?) there are probably worse things waiting to happen inside it that a typical customer will not see when it is opened.
The proper response should be a replacement motor, installed at their expense at a nearby bike shop.
The proper response should be a replacement motor, installed at their expense at a nearby bike shop.
It appears to be a nice bike, but the motor is making loud grinding noises. I fear this will be a long, drawn out process while I have a useless ebike gathering dust in the garage.
Your question is very timely. After nearly a month of getting nowhere with FLX, I was relieved to see that the dispute I filed with my credit card company finally got their attention. All of a sudden, they realized they had none of my money and I still had the bike with the bad motor! Now things are happening. They sent a return label and FedEx picked up the bike on Monday. They are scheduled to receive the bike back tomorrow. They had threatened to charge unspecified restocking charges (for a defective product?) but as of now, I don’t know if that will happen. The whole situation is very sad. I really liked the bike-it was nice looking and reasonably well equipped. There are, however, a number of others out there that have similar and ongoing problems with them. Following the “Ride FLX” Facebook group was a real eye opener for me. At this point, I am glad to be rid of the bike.
Mtl_Biker
Active Member
Well, that sounds good, even though it's taken so long. But you didn't mention the knocking sound of something hitting the brake housing... did you ever figure that out? Is it only the motor that remained the problem?
What makes of e-bikes do your local dealers handle? I'd strongly suggest you buy something from a good local dealer who can ensure the bike is properly prepared and who can do routine maintenance for you. As you can surely agree now, that's worth some extra money just for the piece of mind it would bring.
Best of luck and please keep us informed.
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