Online companies vs the Established bike manufacturers

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Stefan Mikes said:
No, just prove how far you have ridden e-bikes so far.
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I don’t drive. I’ve been riding since 2014. Why ever would anyone need to prove anything to a putz. I love your politics but despise your s*it attitude towards anyone that sees through your bullshit.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
No. I said you should get yourself a quality manufactured e-bike. Who's "everyone"?

An anecdote:
In early August 2019, e-bikes were a mystery to me. I was considering conversion of my traditional hybrid bike. I had a talk with my manager at work and he said: "Stefan, you should get yourself an e-bike that was designed and made e-bike in the first place. I know you can afford it: anyway, I am the person who pays your salary" :)

I have owned as many as 4 manufactured e-bikes since. I had no issues with any, and if any of them required some attention, any of them was armed with a solid warranty, and an LBS willing to fix it.

You said "everyone". No. People who give you the advice to convert a bike are DIYers. I'd like anyone of them compare their Strava to my Strava. Because they sit in their shops but I do ride.

View attachment 120452
I made a Strava account to record my progress on e-bikes. Since the end of August 2019.
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You truly are a self absorbed dinkleberry
And please realize that not many care what you "said"... and you are a much smaller part of "everyone" then you think.
Your boss told you to buy an ebike because he obviously knows your skill set. And from what I've seen here it's not much more than stroking yourself with the Strava app.
I've riden more than half your total in under two years and I can assure you that I have a lot more going on in my life then riding and then running home to post here all day long.
 
tomjasz said:
So you advice to everybody to become their own bike mechanic and electronic.

No only those riders with more skill than you. I’ve not done more than an hour of maintenance on my 2014 mid drive builds since 2014. FFS Stefan, you’re clueless. I sold hundreds of Bafang mid drives. Anyone with half a brain can do the maintenance.
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well if you have only done a hour of maintenance you must not ride much. 10 minutes or so a week lubing the chain and lubing other parts of me. then pad changes and chain changes and cleaning and brake bleeding as needed and tire changes as needed adjusting and finding sure add up for me. hours and hours on my two bikes in just a few years.
 
fooferdoggie said:
well if you have only done a hour of maintenance you must not ride much. 10 minutes or so a week lubing the chain and lubing other parts of me. then pad changes and chain changes and cleaning and brake bleeding as needed and tire changes as needed adjusting and finding sure add up for me. hours and hours on my two bikes in just a few years.
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So which is it. You like to ride it without working on it, or you are spending "hours and hours on it in just a few years"?

Because of the incidental problems people write about, you are ASSuming folks other than you are having a lot of trouble with their e-bikes. That coudn't possibly be further from the truth. Personally I spend more time charging (at about 30 miles) and cleaning than doing anything else.
 
AHicks said:
So which is it. You like to ride it without working on it, or you are spending "hours and hours on it in just a few years"?

Because of the incidental problems people write about, you are ASSuming folks other than you are having a lot of trouble with their e-bikes. That coudn't possibly be further from the truth. Personally I spend more time charging (at about 30 miles) and cleaning than doing anything else.
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I do regular maintenance that comes from riding 200+ miles a week. tandem and regular bike chains both need lubed and wiped off once a week. more often with rain riding lubing other parts every couple of weeks. 2000 to 2500 miles all new chains. every 2000 miles new pads on the tandem. 4000 on my commuter, 4000 miles new tire on the tandem and ore on my commuter. then screwing around with setup and accessories can take time. lubing bearings not too often. but all that time adds up pretty fast. a few minutes a week just airing up tires. I maintain my bike so it is reliable and always available. thats how I got 12,000 miles out of my drive train going through 9 chains I think. sometimes bleeding brake lines and other stuff. if I don't do maintenance then I am going to spend more time replacing parts.
not sure where your coming up with troubles though. the worst trouble I had with my main bike was the mount getting loose. and if I had known replace the seals on the bottom brackets. I had one rim crack and a crank arm crack after 8000 miles. other then that thats about it. the tandem it needed work because we had a couple of crashes. but other then that both bikes have been pretty much problem free. so ya it takes time to maintain bikes if your not doing that your replacing parts more often.
 
ebikerr said:
I have been looking at e-bikes in the 3000-4000 range.
Requirements are mid drive, torque sensor, front suspension and atleast a 500W motor with 20+ mile range on full assist. Throttle nice to have but not a bust.

While looking at the reviews on EBR, I see that ebikes fall into 2 categories as far as manufacturers are concerned.
Online or new companies like Biktrix, Dost, Prodigy etc.,
Established bike manufactures like Canondale, Specialized, Trek, Giant, Gazelle etc.,

The bike which costs 3000-3500$ from the online folks, a similar bike (but with slightly better specs) costs 4000-4500$ or even 5000$ from the established bike companies.

So I am wondering what are the pros and cons for going with the new kids on the block (most of which are in Canada) vs somebody who has a local presence via dealers and support network

Some of the pros-cons I could think of are

Established companies
  • Dealer network to test drive and actually see and feel the stuff
  • Warranty support - how do you even get warranty on a faulty motor from the online chaps. Ship the motor to canada? Try DIY repairs based on their instructions
  • Bosch/Brose more common
  • Easier to get commuter spec (vs Fat tire spec)
  • Lighter bikes
New kids
  • Lower price
  • More powerful motors and bigger batteries too
  • New technology at lower price point eg CVT
  • Passionate bike builders - its not a big corp starting to build bikes but passionate individuals in a startup

So just wondering which way to go. I feel a good compromise would be to go with a california manufacturer like Gazelle so you get kind of best of both worlds. But stuff biktrix and prodigy put out at the price points is so damn nice. Very confused.

What did you choose? And Why? Looking to hear some thoughts from the community as well the hosts!
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Aren't you glad you asked 🙃
 
Stefan Mikes said:
While you were sitting home with your Bafang stuff...
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Yes,

I only ride 100-150 miles a week (160-240km for anyone wanting to compare pricks). Many days a BBS01(A) build date mid-2014. Around 8,000 miles on it(12874.75km). Greased and cleaned every winter, and some years a new set of bearing and other years gears. I paid $400 for a new kit and certainly no more than $200 for preventive maintenance Easy stuff for anyone even Andy Spandy riders. Sadly I'm likely going to have to retire it in favor of another motor. Unfortunately, you're too stubborn to be pleasant about builders, or just another mean-spirited "I hate".

BTW About half the mileage was by the throttle. You know why I'm building a custom tricycle. But I guess I'm just as guilty of cheap shots.
 
Oh boy this thread is going off into all sorts of tangents.

To summarize here is what I can do

1. Build my own - I won't do that
2. Buy from a brick and mortar brand with local dealers - Safest option, I will spend 500-1500$ more depending on what I get
3. Buy from a reputed online shop USA based like Sondors? - Middle option. Still relatively safe and some cost cutting. Can get brose/Bosch motors. I am not to sold on the ultra powerful torque sensing 1000-1500W Bafang setups. It will definitely put more stress on drivetrain.
 
Well, plan to keep it for a few years. Looking at some nice ones like Priority current which are premium but at a budget price
Taking the slight risk option now!
 
ebikerr said:
Oh boy this thread is going off into all sorts of tangents.

To summarize here is what I can do

1. Build my own - I won't do that
2. Buy from a brick and mortar brand with local dealers - Safest option, I will spend 500-1500$ more depending on what I get
3. Buy from a reputed online shop USA based like Sondors? - Middle option. Still relatively safe and some cost cutting. Can get brose/Bosch motors. I am not to sold on the ultra powerful torque sensing 1000-1500W Bafang setups. It will definitely put more stress on drivetrain.
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The power is available. Nobody will force you to use it. It is only stressing the drive train when you tell it to. Because it's ABLE to supply big power does NOT mean it's going to wear out the drive train quickly.

If you are like a lot of us who have been seriously bitten by the e-bike disease, there will be a short term love affair with the new bike, but then, your mind will start playing the "what if?" game, and you'll be starting to make mental notes regarding what the next bike might look like. Bonus is, you WILL be a MUCH more educated buyer for the second bike, and you'll be in no/less hurry because you already have one you can use while shopping for #2. Then, there's the 3rd bike, and it may not stop there....

For example, here's a bike I'm trying not to look at. On the expensive side maybe (for me), but it has "reasonable" power (plenty enough to get the job done generally), with a belt driven CVT rear hub. If/when I spring for it, it will be my #5.

https://evelo.com/products/atlas/

Point being, @Rome's point is a good one. May not make sense at this point, but there's a very good chance it will make sense soon..... -Al
 
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There's been a lot of self-righteous posting in this thread, and I think some of the debate borders on silly. There's no one solution for everyone.
It reminds me of desktop computers. I've been building my own for many years, because (1) I have the knowledge and skill and (2) because I can pick the best components that work for me. But there's always the unexpected (like in my most recent build, not reading the MB manual very carefully to learn that the two pcie x-16 slots were not the same...), and it's not a quick job. Others will order online from established manufacturers like Dell. Others want a complete system that involves little tinkering, just plug it in and go. They'll go to the Apple store. Sound familiar?
I could carry the analogy further but I think you get the idea.
 
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Stefan Mikes said:
Now I know Gionni you prefer to sit and drink your Sambuca but I think the OP prefers riding :) How many miles ridden by you in 2022, eh?
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Honesty I don't know how many miles I've riden in 2022 cause it serves me no purpose to document it. But I know for sure the times I couldn't ride had to do with my life's responsibilities and nothing to do with my Throttle equipped, 750w Bafang BBSO2B as it's been working perfectly since I installed it May of 2020 and I've lost no time humping it to an lbs for anything at all.
 
retiredNH said:
There's been a lot of self-righteous posting in this thread, and I think some of the debate borders on silly. There's no one solution for everyone.
It reminds me of desktop computers. I've been building my own for many years, because (1) I have the knowledge and skill and (2) because I can pick the best components that work for me. But there's always the unexpected (like in my most recent build, not reading the MB manual very carefully to learn that the two pcie x-16 slots were not the same...), and it's not a quick job. Others will order online from established manufacturers like Dell. Others want a complete system that involves little tinkering, just plug it in and go. They'll go to the Apple store. Sound familiar?
I could carry the analogy further but I think you get the idea.
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It would be very hard for you to build a super lightweight thin laptop yourself nowadays. The times have changed.
 
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