Cheap for a reason

[RobF]

Cheap ebikes - much like cheap anything - are cheap for a reason.

In only the last few hours on the boards we've had the folder with the battery connector which looks like it fell out of a cereal packet, but is less durable.

A Chinese ebike that might catch fire, but no one can be really sure because you can't even get the correct spec for the ruddy thing to assess if it will ignite or not.

Rubbish Kenda tyres on Woosh bikes that puncture regularly and wear quickly.

As I said, cheap for a reason.

I was going to mention the tyre on a Kudos mysteriously going down, but we all know that will be agents from the CIA and Israeli Mossad diverting attention from their plot to kill everyone on that Malaysian aeroplane.

 

[Clockwise]

Google "buy cheap buy twice" and the first result is a bike.

 

[Jimod]

If it's my Kudos you're talking about, I've solved that mystery. It was always going to be a puncture. It was just wishful thinking on my part that it wasn't punctured.

It's repaired now.

 

[Jimod]

Cheap isn't always bad. My brother bought a bike from halfords. It cost him £70. He used it in all weathers and every day at work. After a year it looked a shambles and was badly in need of some/lots of attention. So, he threw it away and bought another cheap one in their sale. £70 for a year's cycling is cheap and worth the money.

 

[trex]

and about my comment on the Mosso with BBS, it's only conjecture.
I thought the 12AH battery may not be good enough for a 25A controller because Samsung specify 2C.

 

[CorpusLuteum]

I completely agree with this post. I'm feeling really disheartened after the incident with the battery connector.

I've already started saving up for a Kalkhoff. I'm hoping to treat myself by the end of the year

http://www.50cycles.com/product/6145234450

 

[fishingpaul]

Cheap ebikes - much like cheap anything - are cheap for a reason.

In only the last few hours on the boards we've had the folder with the battery connector which looks like it fell out of a cereal packet, but is less durable.

A Chinese ebike that might catch fire, but no one can be really sure because you can't even get the correct spec for the ruddy thing to assess if it will ignite or not.

Rubbish Kenda tyres on Woosh bikes that puncture regularly and wear quickly.

As I said, cheap for a reason.

I was going to mention the tyre on a Kudos mysteriously going down, but we all know that will be agents from the CIA and Israeli Mossad diverting attention from their plot to kill everyone on that Malaysian aeroplane.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

.. and you'll note that the step-through won't cost a penny to repair because the parts are so cheap and plentiful, that people have them lying around to give away. We'll see how much you like expensive bikes when you find the cost of a replacement LCD when yours falls over and breaks.

 

[Clockwise]

Cheap isn't always bad. My brother bought a bike from halfords. It cost him £70. He used it in all weathers and every day at work. After a year it looked a shambles and was badly in need of some/lots of attention. So, he threw it away and bought another cheap one in their sale. £70 for a year's cycling is cheap and worth the money.

I know lots of people who have done that, one guy I remember talking too would ride a ton of miles on a similar £70-100 bike that came with a free service and some other junk, basically said he would ride 3 months then have it serviced and swap the brake pads, ride another 3 months then replace it as another service was £50 and with a couple of parts cost as much as another new bike. Seems extremely wasteful to me but it's part of how disposable everything is.

 

[Cabo]

Don't be disshearted. Had mine for 18 months and 1700 miles. Have gone from 19st. to 15st.
Cycled round Islay,Jura, Isle of Skye and Mull,Lewis & Harris.Up and down mountain tracks it never was designed.
Yes you will get some minor problems.
But am i a happy chappy or what.

 

[fishingpaul]

In the past we have had,batteries that fail to make 6 months,poorly made wheels with spokes breaking,wiring to lights breaking and failing,sellers refusing to repair bikes that were sold by themselves,and these were not cheap bikes.

 

[Croxden]

I have thought cheap, didn't go there and am proper chuffed with what I have. So far.

 

[RobF]

.. We'll see how much you like expensive bikes when you find the cost of a replacement LCD when yours falls over and breaks.

That comment is bordering on the vindictive and unpleasant.

I wish no one - or their bikes - any ill on here.

You might wish my Rose breaks down because I disagree with your blind faith in Chinese garbage, but experience - nothing else - suggests you may have a long wait.

Something will inevitably break or wear out on the Rose, but all the parts are easily available, as far as I know.

As regards the LCD, I think it's about £125.

Should your wish come true and it breaks, I won't be celebrating, but neither will I be losing sleep over the bill.

What about my Brompton Nano?

That's another £2K ebike which has been faultless and for which all parts are easily available.

Can you detect a common theme here?

 

[RobF]

I completely agree with this post. I'm feeling really disheartened after the incident with the battery connector.

I've already started saving up for a Kalkhoff. I'm hoping to treat myself by the end of the year

http://www.50cycles.com/product/6145234450

Or you could convert your Brompton for about £1,000:

http://www.nanoelectricbikes.co.uk/

The conversion is neat, but you would will still have the Brommie's harsh ride and twitchy steering.

I like my Brompton Nano, but am glad I don't have to rely on it as my only ebike.

On t'other hand again, with you light weight, a Brompton Nano would really fly - it would certainly feel a lot more powerful than your existing bike.

 

[Willber G]

The key issue is "fitness for purpose". I plan to ride maybe 20 miles per week on proper tarmac roads in clement conditions. To do this I have bought a Woosh Zephyr. I agree that this is a "cheap" bike but it is solid, light, loads into my boot, and has all the things I need/want (full suspension, disk brakes, gears, throttle, local-ish customer support). For people like me there seems to be little point in spending four times as much for very little gain - we aren't all hardcore city commuters or offroaders for whom the extra money is worth it. It's horses for courses.

 

[Geebee]

With cheaper bikes I can replace batteries with whatever I like, at very low cost, speed controllers If I want to experiment my last high tech one cost 16 pound delivered.

My Tonaro has a propietry crank drive but it is available at reasonable cost from many sources if needed, eveything else on the bike is available cheap as they are generic, when the battery finally dies it will get an upgrade to high C rated LiPo's for around ~80ish pounds.

My folder cost 220 pound only the frame isn't generic and a replacement battery will be roughly 35 pound.

I enjoy DIY on bikes and used to repair electronic equipment for a living so probably it is part of the reason for my outlook besides the fact I am a cheap git.

Oh and reliability on all of my bikes has been excellent, but I go over the entire bike and readjust everthing before it is ever ridden.

 

[trex]

...
Can you detect a common theme here?

Yes, I can.

so CL's battery connector broke accidentally.
All that proves is that the design wasn't foolproof.

If CL had bought her bike from a LBS or if she had bought it from one of the traders here, her problem would have been sorted quickly.
20ston last year broke the frame of his bike (which wasn't cheap), would you say the frame was garbage too?

 

[trex]

I completely agree with this post. I'm feeling really disheartened after the incident with the battery connector.

I've already started saving up for a Kalkhoff. I'm hoping to treat myself by the end of the year

http://www.50cycles.com/product/6145234450

Have you contacted the seller?

You have 15 days from the date of purchase to get a refund if they cannot help you solve the problem. Please don't ride until the broken connector is replaced.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Rob F,

Please don't tell me expensive bikes don't break.
Any bike can break regardless of cost or origin and with the greatest respect to CL, it is not always the fault of the bike.
I have owned expensive German bikes in the past which were less than perfect.

 

[RobF]

Of course expensive bikes can break - we've had a couple of horror stories.

But they break less often and I reckon they last longer.

A lot of the niggles are caused by cheap OEM equipment - Kenda tyres being a good example.

This thread is about the customer, not the retailer.

Retailers - of cheaper bikes - posting merely to say their bikes are great does not take the discussion forward.

Don't get me wrong, I value the contribution of retailers..

But, like children, they should have their place.