bike on ebay

[los monty]

This one sounds almost too good to be true at the price. Pity it's not a 250w.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-F1-48V-500W-Electric-Bike-with-48V-20Ah-Battery-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-/171214241362?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item27dd29fe52

 

[peerjay56]

This one sounds almost too good to be true at the price. Pity it's not a 250w.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-F1-48V-500W-Electric-Bike-with-48V-20Ah-Battery-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-/171214241362?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item27dd29fe52

Proportions seem wrong with 26" wheels. It would probably look better with 29ers. But it's heavy - 30kg! Even so, at that price?

 

[los monty]

Proportions seem wrong with 26" wheels. It would probably look better with 29ers. But it's heavy - 30kg! Even so, at that price?

Looks like battery weight is 9kg


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/48V-20Ah-Lithium-Rechargeable-E-Bike-Batteries-Rear-Rack-Electric-Bike-Battery-Li-ion-18650-13S10P/1266855234.html

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That's most likely the shipping weight with the charger. I've just weighed a block of 21 2000maH 18650s at 0.891 kg, so a 13S10P pack will weigh 5.5 kg. Add about 1kg for the case and BMS (very generous) brings it to 6.5kg.`

The motor will be heavy at say 7kg. Add another 1kg for the controller and other stuff means that the electric kit weighs 14.5kg, which leaves 15.5kg for a sturdy low-cost MTB, which is about right.

 

[Clockwise]

Has some of them awesome "chaoyang" tyres on too.

 

[Emo Rider]

Too bad it is illegal for road use. The motor is a dead give away. It seems way too inexpensive as well. A bike like this from a shop would probably be in the £2,500 range

 

[EddiePJ]

Certainly one of the most ugliest of bikes to date.

 

[El Champiero]

I can see all kinds of problems arising with this bike - breaking spokes, dodgy electrics etc etc. In short, I am quite sure it would be a nightmare to own.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I can see all kinds of problems arising with this bike - breaking spokes, dodgy electrics etc etc. In short, I am quite sure it would be a nightmare to own.

If you're seeing that. perhaps you need to borrow my glasses. The electrical stuff to me looks like all the standard tried and tested stuff that's been around for a long time. What makes you think that the electrics are dodgy?

The same with the spokes. As far as I can see, the one-cross pattern is suitable because the larger diameter motor puts a nice angle on the spokes. What makes you think that they might break.

 

[El Champiero]

I'm going on my own past experiences and from others. The spokes on many pre built factory e bike motor wheels arriving from the Far East are often made of a poor quality stainless steel resulting in them snapping.
Perhaps this one isn't and it is handbuilt - I don't think so though.

As to electrics, maybe I am jumping the gun but that throttle and the LCD display don't look like they could handle many heavy rain days.

The forks are also delightful Suntour ones.

Added to that if you click on the store front icon apparently the shop doesn't exist. Not exactly a vote of confidence for parting with £1000

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The greater proportion of us on this forum ride bikes with wheels built in China, but I'm not aware of many complaining about broken spokes any more than bikes built in Europe. Could you give some examples so that we know which ones to avoid.

If you're worried about water getting in the throttle, you can always take it off, and you still wouldn't be worse off than European bikes.

Is there a problem with some Suntour forks?

The guy's been trading on Ebay for 5 1/2 years, with a very good feedback rating. If you look at his feedback, the two recent bad ones, which knocked it down was because he wanted extra money for shipping batteries from China, when the shipping companies changed the rules. It wasn't his fault.

 

[El Champiero]

What I can say is that the spokes on my old e bike I got from Xipi were awful - routinely snapping, resulting in me having to say goodbye to a rim and then rebuild said wheel myself using Sapim spokes and then no more problems with snapping spokes. I think Xipi use Crystalyte copy motors - the one I had looked identical to the Crystalyte motors but had no brand marking on it. (It also had an unfortunate tendency to let in water like no tomorrow). The throttle was also very flimsy made by a company called Zannx. It was very similar to this one: http://www.zannx.com/products-show.asp?id=99. Not waterproof and very fragile too.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Did you talk to Frank (Xipi) about the spokes. He's normally good at sorting out problems because he supports this forum and is an active member.

I thought Frank said that he gets his wheels built locally. What makes you think that yours was built in China?

 

[El Champiero]

Hi d8veh,

When I had the problems with the spokes I did speak to Frank who said that they could do a rebuild for me at an additional cost. The spokes had Chinese characters stamped on them. To me it certainly looked like the wheel was pre built at a factory - maybe it wasn't but the quality of build in addition to the poor spokes, was well below par. (5 spokes came loose on the first ride which damaged the rim beyond repair). Added to that, I had a recurring problem with the battery mount plate - it kept cracking right at the points where it was bolted to the battery carrier rack. Xipi sent a new plate FOC - this soon cracked as well. In the end for the 3rd attempt, I bought a new plate myself and re-engineered the whole thing - no more cracking. I see now that they have moved the battery to the frame triangle - most likely due to issues like mine. When I had that particular problem with the battery I was advised that I could switch to the frame type battery at my cost. When the motor then died due to water ingress I gave up on the entire thing and resigned myself to getting rid of it. It annoyed me to some extent when I was asked if I go riding through rivers. (No - I just ride the bike often in all weathers) After I built a new wheel (Frank gave me a new motor FOC and I built the new wheel from scratch myself with Sapim spokes), I then put it on eBay and sold it for £800. I am sure it would be fine for someone who doesn't ride much and who avoids very wet days. I then got a Scott with the Bosch system and it's been great - in fact it's in another universe compared to my old e bike. Of course, there are good durable e bike kits and home built e bikes out there but I am totally unconvinced with the products from Xipi. Initially I liked the bike but when the problems soon began to appear I knew it had to go.

 

[El Champiero]

Re: Suntour forks - yes - there is a definite problem with lower end models which are below the Suntour Epicon model. Essentially, they are poorly made. The seals are very poor and the parts inside soon wear out. Even the Epicon which is a fairly reasonable fork retailing at about £170-200 has problems of spares availability also. Rockshox forks win hands down as they are much more durable in all their price ranges compared to Suntour and spares are readily available for Rockshox forks that retail at about £150

 

[SRS]

Hi d8veh,

When I had the problems with the spokes I did speak to Frank who said that they could do a rebuild for me at an additional cost. The spokes had Chinese characters stamped on them. To me it certainly looked like the wheel was pre built at a factory - maybe it wasn't but the quality of build in addition to the poor spokes, was well below par. (5 spokes came loose on the first ride which damaged the rim beyond repair). Added to that, I had a recurring problem with the battery mount plate - it kept cracking right at the points where it was bolted to the battery carrier rack. Xipi sent a new plate FOC - this soon cracked as well. In the end for the 3rd attempt, I bought a new plate myself and re-engineered the whole thing - no more cracking. I see now that they have moved the battery to the frame triangle - most likely due to issues like mine. When I had that particular problem with the battery I was advised that I could switch to the frame type battery at my cost. When the motor then died due to water ingress I gave up on the entire thing and resigned myself to getting rid of it. It annoyed me to some extent when I was asked if I go riding through rivers. (No - I just ride the bike often in all weathers) After I built a new wheel (Frank gave me a new motor FOC and I built the new wheel from scratch myself with Sapim spokes), I then put it on eBay and sold it for £800. I am sure it would be fine for someone who doesn't ride much and who avoids very wet days. I then got a Scott with the Bosch system and it's been great - in fact it's in another universe compared to my old e bike. Of course, there are good durable e bike kits and home built e bikes out there but I am totally unconvinced with the products from Xipi. Initially I liked the bike but when the problems soon began to appear I knew it had to go.

El Champiero

Your XIPI story could be mine.
Battery mount, spoke failures and ultimate water damage making the motor very noisy when powered.

The whole thing has been sat in my workshop for over a year. Frank did say he'd have the motor back and sort, never bothered.

I realised that, although powerful, the weight was more than I wished for and the system created a back heavy bike.

Currently running a KTM with Bosch, perfect balance of power and weight. The added bonus that it can be used in the rain.

Live and learn.

 

[El Champiero]

I honestly thought I was on to a good one with Xipi but it soon turned out to be a big disappointment.

The back end is much too heavy with the battery, controller and the motor. When you go over a bump in the road - even a small one - you certainly feel it. This must have aggravated the cracking on the battery mount plate.

The only reliable fix for the motor to be honest is a whole new motor built with 13G Sapim spokes, with spoke washers on a strong rim like a downhill mountain biking Mavic rim. You'd also need to re engineer the plate to stop it cracking. This is possible with a bit of drilling and create use of nuts and bolts.

Perhaps a new better sealed motor would work with the Xipi kit already on the bike. Maybe a Bafang motor or something would be suitable?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Rockshox forks win hands down as they are much more durable in all their price ranges compared to Suntour and spares are readily available for Rockshox forks that retail at about £150

I wish that were true for their rear suspension. My SID dual air unit is leaking air between the two chambers. I spent about 6 hours looking for a seal kit with no luck, so I decided to replacet just the O-ring that was leaking by getting a size-for-size replacement from an O-ring supplier. I was just cleaning the inside prior to reassembly, when I noticed that the hard anodising is worn through on the inside, which renders the thing totally scrap.

I can understand your disappointment with your Xipi bike, but that doesn't mean that that Ebay bike will have similar problems. For £1000, expectations shouldn't be too high. but you could pay nearly that just for the battery from a UK supplier, so it looks good value to me. The same guy is selling the Mosso, which seems to have been well thought out, so he seems to know what he's doing.

 

[Emo Rider]

Wow! All this negativity towards Suntour forks. Just think about how many bikes, electric and non electric, out there that use this brand of fork. If one were to take what I have read here I would have to assume that there are presently millions of bikes sitting around with unusable forks.

Over the years I have weighed between 14 stone 7 and 15 stone 5.I have put about 5,000 miles on a 26" hybrid, 1500 miles on a 29er, and most recently over a thousand on my ebike. Which is a BH btw. I have had no problems, period. I believe I owe that to keeping the fork tubes clean and lubricated, daily in need be. Also by useing the bike for the forks designed purpose. If a rider subjects a piece of kit to useage that exceeds the design then you are looking for problems that are not the forks fault. Riding conditions, speed, weight of rider and maintenance will all be a factor in the life of a fork regardless of what it is. Lastly, problems with the dealer is not the forks fault. If you have the bad fork replaced with the same and subject it the same conditions then be prepared for similar results. Go buy a better fork, one that is designed for extreme use, and regardless of how you use it, it will last longer. Be prepared to pay a premium price for it. You're not going to get one for the price of the standard equipment discussed here. Sorry for the rant as I kind of like my Suntours.

 

[El Champiero]

Rockshox did certainly have a problem a few years ago with their anodising wearing off the stanchions on their forks - this was mostly due to inferior seals being used. I also had this problem which meant a new CSU from Canada for about £120. For me it was most likely made worse due to not servicing the forks for over 12 months despite them being ridden in all weathers (this was on an off road MTB which got abused all the time) Rockshox then changed to better stanchion seals. Rockshox advise that their forks are serviced at least every 6 months.

As to Suntour, their forks are OK if you do light riding and are prepared to dismantle them more often than most other forks. Compared to Rockshox forks in a similar price range (e.g Epicon compared with the Rockshox XC series), Rockshox wins for durability, servicing and spares. It's unusual to hear that a SID seal kit was not readily available for a rear shock. As I do not own a bike with a rear shock I don't know much about spares for these things. If price were no problem I would always go for Fox forks. Until Suntour sort out the spares problem I wouldn't be putting them on my top choice list. That said, their Epicon fork seems like it could be a good bet if spares were readily available. If you look at the professional mountain bike teams hardly any of them use Suntour - it's either Fox or Rockshox. Ok, you might say this is due to sponsorship and other financial deals but you could also say its because they work consistently better than Suntour and are time tested.