Are Cheap Chinese Ebikes really that bad

[jedd]

Hi
I've got a relatively cheap Chinese Ebike and so far I've been very impressed with it.
Before my Ebike came into my life I was using a top spec road bike with decent frame and components and because it was expensive to me, it got lavished with attention to keeping it in perfect condition.
The Ebike was kindly gifted to me and it is a cheap Chinese one to be fair ,but I've always tried and treated everything I own with respect and I'm looking after this bike as I would compared to my other bikes.
You see and read of these so called cheap and inferior bikes literally falling to pieces after a few good miles but I think if looked after correctly they can be just as good as the more expensive offerings out there.
I think in some people's eyes a cheap Ebike is not worth spending any money on ,or not to bother servicing it or even bother cleaning it.Its something that's used and abused and run into the ground just because it was cheap.
And when it does eventually fail through neglect the bike often gets bad press and negative comments about it.
I've done 1500 miles on mine so far in the last month and a half and it's been absolutely perfect.Ive done a few simple maintenance things like keeping the brakes adjusted, nipping the head set up ect but apart from that there's been no unpleasant surprises.
I personally think if you treat even a cheap Ebike with mechanical sympathy it can last a very long time.
If you treat it like a cheap disposable item it will last no longer than an expensive bike if treated the same.

 

[saneagle]

Hi
I've got a relatively cheap Chinese Ebike and so far I've been very impressed with it.
Before my Ebike came into my life I was using a top spec road bike with decent frame and components and because it was expensive to me, it got lavished with attention to keeping it in perfect condition.
The Ebike was kindly gifted to me and it is a cheap Chinese one to be fair ,but I've always tried and treated everything I own with respect and I'm looking after this bike as I would compared to my other bikes.
You see and read of these so called cheap and inferior bikes literally falling to pieces after a few good miles but I think if looked after correctly they can be just as good as the more expensive offerings out there.
I think in some people's eyes a cheap Ebike is not worth spending any money on ,or not to bother servicing it or even bother cleaning it.Its something that's used and abused and run into the ground just because it was cheap.
And when it does eventually fail through neglect the bike often gets bad press and negative comments about it.
I've done 1500 miles on mine so far in the last month and a half and it's been absolutely perfect.Ive done a few simple maintenance things like keeping the brakes adjusted, nipping the head set up ect but apart from that there's been no unpleasant surprises.
I personally think if you treat even a cheap Ebike with mechanical sympathy it can last a very long time.
If you treat it like a cheap disposable item it will last no longer than an expensive bike if treated the same.

I've never head of one falling apart. If you can do bike maintenance, they last for years. Batteries don't last as long as more expensive bikes because they're generally smaller and get a hard time, but they only cost about 1/3 as much, so they're still cheaper overall. The best thing is that all parts are cheap, easy to obtain and can be mixed and matched, so it's easy to improve the bike if there's anything you're not happy about.

I rescued an old unmaintained and worn out one from a skip, converted it and improved some parts for a total of about £500. I then rode it for 1000 miles in a month through some of the worst winter weather we had in a long time, during which it got and needed zero maintenance, not even cleaned.

Are Cheap Bikes OK.

Here's something that might help you decide. Since I built this bike, it's done exactly 1000 hilly miles at an average speed of 13.5 mph with absolutely no maintenance. That means no cable adjustments, no chain lubrication, no other lubrication, no cleaning, no replacement parts - absolutely...

www.pedelecs.co.uk

 

[Az.]

Cheap bikes are usually bought by people who have no knowledge about maintenance. There is no surprise some bikes fall apart shortly after purchase as they are not checked properly after unboxing.

 

[Benjahmin]

The 'cheap' bikes, particularly hub drives, are put together with generic parts throughout. So, if part of the electric system fails, that too can be replaced or upgraded easily .
If your Bosch or Yamaha system fails you are locked in to a very expensive dealer only servicing routine and parts supply.
Similar for bikes with built in batteries. They look great but, when the battery dies of old age, will the specific replacement be available and at what cost?
The Carrera crossfire3 I converted cost me around £250 new back in 2014. With garden shed maintenance it's still going strong after around 14k miles.
I did have one thing fall off. The really cheap, and still going, saddle I bought from Lidl had a, nasty poor metal, bolt break, leaving me to get home standing up. Bolt replaced - still there.

 

[jedd]

Wow 14k miles, that's impressive.
Could I ask is it still on the original battery?

 

[Ray Winder]

I bought a carera crossfire ebike from halfords in 2017 which has had little use but is maintained and has never seen a wet road.
This year I am reviving my interest and in January jumped in and bought a haibike on a special offer. So far my experience is that the halfords bike handles more like a none ebike but the haibike feels a little bit strange, the haibike yamaha system seems to give much more pulling power and range but the crossfire can still manage nearly 40mls, and a new battery can be had for £200 - 250.
Gear change on the new bike seems much rougher than the hub drive even though I try to anticipate and change early to reduce stress.
The crossfire will actually go into my ford fiesta with seats down and bike front wheel removed which is useful. I recently took it to robin hoods bay and cycled up to Ravenscar then on towards Scarborough, going up the 3 mile slope was just like peddling on a flat road and very enjoyable.
All in all I think a well chosen and properly maintained low cost bike could provide a lot of pleasure, certainly there are poor quality chinese imports but I've been watching and it seems to be that prices coming down and spec going up, a bit of a old saying but horses for courses

 

[Cisco-man]

The Chinese can (and often do) make the finest products of superb quality. We pay with petty money and get the quality we pay for.

 

[Nealh]

Cheap China EAPC's will do the job they are built for which is to get people around, they are functional . The best and first upgrade any one can do is simply replace the no name crappy speed control controller and display with a KT upgrade for about £80, the next best upgrade is to replace brakes with hydraulic if it has disc brake fittings. If not a new front fork will sort out the front end .

£100 - £200 spent on such a bike will make it better ride and improve braking.

Earlier this year I tinkered with a neighbours cheap China step thru bike, the changes I made to the control system were night and day compared to the crappy Brainwave being used. Sadly the braking was still quite poor though improved after I adjusted the brakes however the owner wasn't willing to spend the suggested 20 - 40 quid for a upgrade to hydraulic brakes .

 

[jedd]

I totally agree my brakes are not the best.There mechanical disc brakes and there ok/adequate if kept regularly adjusted to an inch of there life and I ride the bike sensibly.If I tackle some extreme down hill sections the brakes feel like there on the ragged edge of there usefulness.
I've been told by friend that there are some hydraulic caliper conversions on the market that can be swapped over whilst still keeping the original cable levers.Apparrently the cable just simply pulls a hydraulic caliper (hard to explain)
It sounds an interesting option and no doubt you more informed and knowledgeable people would know more about them than me .

 

[Benjahmin]

Wow 14k miles, that's impressive.
Could I ask is it still on the original battery?

Sadly no. I live in a really hilly area so they get hammered.

 

[Ghost1951]

The Chinese can (and often do) make the finest products of superb quality. We pay with petty money and get the quality we pay for.

YES! This is the issue. It is tempting to buy REALLY cheap and think you got a bargain.

Around 1975, I bought a UK made electric drill. It cost £40 then. In modern value taking account of inflation that drill cost me £309 (courtesy Bank of England inflation calculator.

You can go into any hardware store and buy a drill now for £40 still, but it may not be made with the same quality control as the one which would have cost £309 that was made in the UK way back.

The Chinese are capable of making and landing space ships on the moon. So are the Indians.

We can't and never could do that. They can make you crap or they can make you very good indeed. It just depends what you want to pay for.

 

[esuark]

The Chinese can (and often do) make the finest products of superb quality. We pay with petty money and get the quality we pay for.

I worked in engineering all my life and in the last few years where I worked we had a lot of stuff made by five axis milling machines in China if we could not cope here in the UK. It was easy to send the data over the internet and receive the bits via cargo flights days later. All good quality stuff made at a moments notice. Though what amused us some times was that there would be duplicate bits, these it would turn out to be the "cock ups" probably sent to get rid of them out of sight so someone in China didn't have to admit to making them!

 

[saneagle]

I bought a carera crossfire ebike from halfords in 2017 which has had little use but is maintained and has never seen a wet road.
This year I am reviving my interest and in January jumped in and bought a haibike on a special offer. So far my experience is that the halfords bike handles more like a none ebike but the haibike feels a little bit strange, the haibike yamaha system seems to give much more pulling power and range but the crossfire can still manage nearly 40mls, and a new battery can be had for £200 - 250.
Gear change on the new bike seems much rougher than the hub drive even though I try to anticipate and change early to reduce stress.
The crossfire will actually go into my ford fiesta with seats down and bike front wheel removed which is useful. I recently took it to robin hoods bay and cycled up to Ravenscar then on towards Scarborough, going up the 3 mile slope was just like peddling on a flat road and very enjoyable.
All in all I think a well chosen and properly maintained low cost bike could provide a lot of pleasure, certainly there are poor quality chinese imports but I've been watching and it seems to be that prices coming down and spec going up, a bit of a old saying but horses for courses

I

I totally agree my brakes are not the best.There mechanical disc brakes and there ok/adequate if kept regularly adjusted to an inch of there life and I ride the bike sensibly.If I tackle some extreme down hill sections the brakes feel like there on the ragged edge of there usefulness.
I've been told by friend that there are some hydraulic caliper conversions on the market that can be swapped over whilst still keeping the original cable levers.Apparrently the cable just simply pulls a hydraulic caliper (hard to explain)
It sounds an interesting option and no doubt you more informed and knowledgeable people would know more about them than me .

If you have cable disc brakes, swapping over to hydraulics is very straightforward. If you're lucky, it's three screws to remove the old one and three screws to assemble the new one.

The only complication is the type of mount and adaptor. There's post mount and side mount. If you get the same type, it'll be plug and play. For the other type, you have to buy an adapter for about £10, and it's a bit weird to get ones that fitcorrectly.

 

[Az.]

Just to be clear - cheap bikes are what they are. Cheap and low quality.

I don't see why person who is passionate about cycling would buy a cheap bike. The trick is to buy an expensive bike cheap.

BTW... what is a cheap bike? £100? £500? £1000?

 

[saneagle]

Just to be clear - cheap bikes are what they are. Cheap and low quality.

I don't see why person who is passionate about cycling would buy a cheap bike. The trick is to buy an expensive bike cheap.

BTW... what is a cheap bike? £100? £500? £1000?

Not low quality. You have quality when the object you are evaluating does what it's supposed to do for as long as you expect it to. When something doesn't last as long as you expect it to, you get the immediate recognition of bad quality, and likewise when its performance characteristics don't meet your expectations. Different people have different expectations, so quality is not absolute and cannot be quantified.

As an example, if you gave an £8000 roadbike to a housewife, who knows nothing about bikes, for her shopping, how would she evaluate it? Probably, easy to get out of the shed, but too uncomfortable to ride, useless for shopping and too awkward to use. Then after some time, too expensive to service, parts wear out too quickly and replacement parts are too expensive.

 

[Woosh]

Cheap Chinese bikes rust. Chain, pedals, seatpost, bolts and nuts, brakes cables and brakes. Also, most of us are overweight. We need some suspension and hydraulic brakes.