Ebco ebikes.

[Michael Love]

Their website is down;
"Internal Server Error"
I phoned them last week and told someone, who checked, was surprised.
Their website is still down, and thewaybackmachine seems to have last cached back in June.
The guy I talked to said they were not in liquidation, but now I am not so sure.
Should I have bought that EBCO MH-5 from Halfords?

 

[RichB]

I bought the MH-05 from Halfords, rode it once and then took it back!

What do you think of it?

 

[vfr400]

Their website is down;
"Internal Server Error"
I phoned them last week and told someone, who checked, was surprised.
Their website is still down, and thewaybackmachine seems to have last cached back in June.
The guy I talked to said they were not in liquidation, but now I am not so sure.
Should I have bought that EBCO MH-5 from Halfords?

They were at the Cycle show. They wouldn't have spent all that money if they were in financial trouble.

 

[Michael Love]

I bought the MH-05 from Halfords, rode it once and then took it back!

What do you think of it?

I have ordered it, buying it next Monday.
It got good reviews even tho it has a cadence mid drive rather than torque.
Please reply, asap, why did you take it back?
It's a lot of money for a dud and I don't think they will let me ride it for the 48hr test cos I am in Northern Ireland.

 

[Wander]

You have to look behind what you may initially find.
E B C Limited (which looks like it was the trading company) put into creditors voluntary liquidation on 01/08/2019 with a deficit of £321k.
EBCO Limited acquired the trade & assets of E B C Limited for £395k.
Same directors, same shareholders.

 

[RichB]

I have ordered it, buying it next Monday.
It got good reviews even tho it has a cadence mid drive rather than torque.
Please reply, asap, why did you take it back?
It's a lot of money for a dud and I don't think they will let me ride it for the 48hr test cos I am in Northern Ireland.

Have you had an ebike before? I’ve had a few and found it disappointing.
Could have been a dud but the 2 main things for me were the harsh cut off over 15.5mph making it almost impossible to pedal above that speed and the apparent poor battery life (although it’s difficult to assess battery as it has a weird coloured led to show battery level). If you search for Ebco on here my ‘review’ is towards the end of that thread.
Having said that the original OP had the hybrid version and they seemed happy with theirs (they share the same motor).
I bought it as I thought a mid drive for that price was too good to pass up but I found it very agricultural compared to the Bosch mid drive.

This was the thread

 

[Michael Love]

Thank you for the quick reply.
I read the post and now more confused than ever.

 

[cyclebuddy]

I read the post and now more confused than ever.

Michael

Go read the Ebco MH-05 reviews on Halfords:

"Exceeded expectations So happy with my choice, this bike really delivers..."

"Using bike for commuting. 100% better than previous e bike. Could not believe the difference, feels safe to ride . Motor and brakes work extremely well. Can’t fault it."

"...this bike does everything it says on the tin well worth the money"

 

[RichB]

Halfords have a pretty good returns policy, as long as it isn't trashed. Try it out, if you don't like it, return it?

 

[cyclebuddy]

I was searching for a cheap GPS for my own Ebco USR-55, and came across what seems to me to be a pretty fair review for the Ebco MH-5:

Ebco MH-5 Electric Mountain Bike Review | eBike Choices

If you're after a cheap mid-drive electric mountain bike, the Ebco MH-5 is currently one of the best available for the money. Read my review for more info...

ebikechoices.com

 

[vfr400]

I was searching for a cheap GPS for my own Ebco USR-55, and came across what seems to me to be a pretty fair review for the Ebco MH-5:

Ebco MH-5 Electric Mountain Bike Review | eBike Choices

If you're after a cheap mid-drive electric mountain bike, the Ebco MH-5 is currently one of the best available for the money. Read my review for more info...

ebikechoices.com

Typical trade magazine review, which is basically a copy of a press release from the supplier. Where's the bit about actually riding the bike?

Tried and tested TransX motor? Where? By whom? For how long? I've never seen that motor in any other bike!

 

[cyclebuddy]

Typical trade magazine review, which is basically a copy of a press release from the supplier.

His review may be (he has omitted to mention the Power Trim feature, which is IMO one of the best features of this bikes motor), but IMHO it's a pretty fair assessment all the same; he does claim to know a couple of owners. And, it seems to me, Ebco only ever had ONE stock image of most of their ebikes which only show a side-view of a pre-production model. He's pretty spot on with his detail considering those images show some different components - Even Halfords specs aren't totally right! So you might be right... or not.

Tried and tested TransX motor? Where? By whom? For how long? I've never seen that motor in any other bike!

The M16 motor they've been making since 2014. If nobody ever used them, they wouldn't currently be investing in and moving that production for its new replacement M17 motor from China into a brand new factory in Taiwan would they (to avoid anti-dumping duty)?

New TranzX M17 Mid-Motor To Be Made in Taiwan

CHANG HUA, Taiwan - TranzX is changing its production locations as a result of the e-bike anti-dumping duties that came into force at the beginning of this year. It is not switching its entire production from Dongguan and Shenzhen in China to Taiwan. But the company's newest TranzX drive system...

www.bike-eu.com

I know your knowledge extends to the far corners of the ebike universe vfr400, but just 'cos you've never seen one doesn't mean it hasn't been used extensively (predominantly in European brands it seems). Check out EBR's iZip ebike reviews using the M16 motors in America. Raleigh used it in their 2017/18 Strada TS as one easily cited UK example. There are 33 "reference" ebike makers who, TranzX claim, use their ebike systems: EDIT: The list of ebike manufacturers is near the top under the maps showing their service centres:

TranzX-inspring your ride

www.tranzx.com

Who knows. Who cares? All I know is it's a cookin' brilliant ebike for the money. Shame most of you cynics missed out on the road-version!

 

[vfr400]

The M16 motor they've been making since 2014. If nobody ever used them, they wouldn't currently be investing in and moving that production for its new replacement M17 motor from China into a brand new factory in Taiwan would they (to avoid anti-dumping duty)?

I know your knowledge extends to the far corners of the ebike universe vfr400, but just 'cos you've never seen one doesn't mean it hasn't been used extensively (predominantly in European brands it seems). Check out EBR's iZip ebike reviews using the M16 motors in America. Raleigh used it in their 2017/18 Strada TS as one easily cited UK example. There are 33 "reference" ebike makers who, TranzX claim, use their ebike systems: EDIT: The list of ebike manufacturers is near the top under the maps showing their service centres:

TranzX-inspring your ride

www.tranzx.com

Who knows. Who cares? All I know is it's a cookin' brilliant ebike for the money. Shame most of you cynics missed out on the road-version!

Call me a cynic if you want, but here's how I see that motor. TransX developed it at great expense. They sold it to a few of their friendly customers. It wasn't very popular, so they had to discount the bikes that had it to get rid of them. They replace it with the M17 motor quite quickly, which is better, but probably still won't be popular.

I go back to my first post about that bike. For what it is, it represents good value, but if anything goes wrong with it in the future, which will happen sooner or later, no local bike shop will touch it, and the chance of Halfords getting you any spare parts won't be very high, as they can't even get spare parts for their own brand bikes. You'll end up with a nice trellis for your clematis or hydrangeas.

 

[cyclebuddy]

Call me a cynic if you want, but here's how I see that motor. TransX developed it at great expense. They sold it to a few of their friendly customers. It wasn't very popular, so they had to discount the bikes that had it to get rid of them.

You may be right. But we're both guessing. These ebikes were discounted for reasons we've discussed in other posts ad-nauseum... Ebco have reportedly employed a new Saracen designer, and are selling off their entire range of older models with a view to introducing a complete new range for 2020 (some of which you yourself have documented here on the forum).

Many current range standard Ebco models (eg: this MH-5 MTB, the USR-55 hybrid, UCR-30, UCL-70, M35, M45 etc etc) have already been cleared through Halfords, but Rutland had the higher spec Bosch motor Ebco MH-7 EMTB reduced from £2200 to £1600, and CR had the £2900 Bosch motor Ebco MH-9 EMTB. Are you suggesting that the Bosch motor "wasn't very popular" either which is why these are also being sold off cheaply and the new 2020 higher-end Ebco ebikes (Ebco have stated) will use the Shimano crank-drive exclusively in preference to Bosch?

They replace it with the M17 motor quite quickly, which is better, but probably still won't be popular.

Replace it "quite quickly"? It's been in production since 2014! That's 5+ years, which suggests it's remained competitive and sufficiently popular to keep making for longer than ANY motor Bosch have ever produced!

...but if anything goes wrong with it in the future, which will happen sooner or later, no local bike shop will touch it, and the chance of Halfords getting you any spare parts won't be very high, as they can't even get spare parts for their own brand bikes.

Well, now you are talking out a hole in your backside (I liked that phrase when you used it in another post!). My local Ebco ebike dealer seemed game enough, although he only stocks and sells Ebco's Dutch style ebikes for the retirement market. He has the diagnostics, says (thinks) Ebco hold TranzX spares in their UK warehouse (quite what they hold isn't clear though), and says he's had no problems ordering other TranzX parts, delivered within 48 hours directly from TranzX Service Centre in Germany.

So I'm quietly confident, but you never really know for sure until something goes wrong. But it can't be worse than my Mercedes. German brand, German prices, crap build. A new catalytic convertor required (ouch). That'll probably cost me more than this sodding ebike did!

 

[RobF]

An Ebco rep told my local bike shop they are dropping the TransX motor due to reliability problems.

The bike shop has sold a handful and had a couple of problems that have been fixed.

That was while TransX was still on new Ebco bikes.

Spares for TransX, at least from Ebco, are likely to become harder to get now they are no longer using the motor in new bikes.

 

[RichB]

I was searching for a cheap GPS for my own Ebco USR-55, and came across what seems to me to be a pretty fair review for the Ebco MH-5:

Ebco MH-5 Electric Mountain Bike Review | eBike Choices

If you're after a cheap mid-drive electric mountain bike, the Ebco MH-5 is currently one of the best available for the money. Read my review for more info...

ebikechoices.com

I read that review before I bought the bike but with hindsight, as VFR says, it now reads more like a spec sheet rather than a 'proper' review.
In fact I struggled to find any reviews on it hence why I posted my opinion. In my opinion (and I know it's not yours Cyclebuddy) they are being sold off cheap as they are not very good.

 

[cyclebuddy]

An Ebco rep told my local bike shop they are dropping the TransX motor due to reliability problems.

The bike shop has sold a handful and had a couple of problems that have been fixed.

That was while TransX was still on new Ebco bikes.

Spares for TransX, at least from Ebco, are likely to become harder to get now they are no longer using the motor in new bikes.

From what I've read, the early M16 motors had overheating issues, caused by riders expecting too much. I believe TranzX now use heat sensors to help prevent that (EBR site).

The MH-5 MTB is, as Ebco state in their own ebike manual, not a true MTB but a leisure/commuting/touring/light-trail bike: Its for that very reason I bought the road-going version instead. IMHO, it would be naive to believe this lower-cost M16 motor is in the same league or as rugged as a Bosch Performance motor, so hauling excess weight up the side of a mountain is likely a stupid thing to try... although it seems some idiots have.

Yes, I guess Ebco will reduce stock of TranzX parts as these models exceed their warranty, but getting spare motors/parts direct from TranzX's German Service Centre will be no different an issue to those already faced by Bosch system owners.

I get that others have different opinions/experiences, and that's absolutely fine. My own thoughts are this:

If I get 3 years out of this £1000 Ebco ebike and it fails catastrophically, I don't care too much. As the Kalkhoff ebike motor manufacturer spokesman recently stated "Ebike technology is still at the kindergarden stage": The technology (power, weight, range) will have advanced by leaps and bounds, and I'll buy something current and new. On the other hand, if I had a £3000 ebike with a Bosch/Yamaha/Shimano/Brose motor, the inclination would likely be to repair it, however obsolete that technology will by then be. It's simply a choice thing not to spend mega-bucks just yet, and these Ebco ebikes - within their limits - are a great-value interim choice for those they suit.

PS: My personal back-up plan for TranzX spares is that my Brother lives in Frankfurt, just 30 minutes from that TranzX depot. He regularly shuttles Classic MG car parts across the channel for the German MG Owners Clubs there.

 

[Woosh]

As the Kalkhoff ebike motor manufacturer spokesman recently stated "Ebike technology is still at the kindergarden stage": The technology (power, weight, range) will have advanced by leaps and bounds, and I'll buy something current and new.

agreed.
£1000 bikes: 3+ year retention, £330 or less a year
£2000 bikes: 5+ year retention, £400 or less a year
£3000 bikes: 7+ year retention, £400 or less a year

Not a huge difference in terms of comfort and performance versus cost but a £1000 bike is less likely to be nicked.
The new generation of bikes use lighter motors and batteries. My 16Kg Faro replaces my 19kg Karoo, introduced 4 years ago. The reduction is weight is chiefly done with advance in motor: the aikema 85SX weighs 2kg against 3.4kg Bafang SWXH in the Karoo and deliver the same performance. The battery on the Faro weighs just 1.2kg. The price remains the same, £899.

 

[RobF]

I tried an Ebco hub motor bike at my local bike shop.

I thought it was decent for the money, and if that was my budget I would certainly consider it.

Slightly more worrying is the Ebco website is still down.

It was down before the OP posted, so that will be at least a week now, if not two.

My local bike shop has the impression there are not many staff at Ebco towers.

It may be they haven't got around to fixing the site, but in today's market being offline even for a few hours sends out all the wrong signals.

 

[cyclebuddy]

I would agree RobF, but then it was very dated in design, hadn't been updated in a long time, and every Ebco model featured on there that I remember has probably now been sold bar the handful left in Halfords and IBS's. Perhaps it's being rebuilt from scratch (it certainly needed it) with the new models for 2020? I don't know. But you'd think at least a holding page considering they also distribute for German brand Corratec (Ebco are still listed on Corratec's website as the UK distributor/service agent).

Corratec Home | Corratec

corratec Bikes - Premium Bikes for every situation. Passion of Cycling: driven by passion, inspired by innovation and team spirit, enchanted by the freedom of cycling. We love bikes. We build the best bikes for you. Bikes for every rider, every gender, every age and all interests: City bikes...

www.corratec.com

Then again, Greenway Cycles who sold half-a-dozen or so of us forum members those excellent £1000 Bafang Maxdrive hybrid bikes in early 2017 have had their site "undergoing maintenance" for at least 3 months. They even had new electric bikes in recently, together with their extensive range of standard fare/ordinary/kiddies ones... all of which are still selling through ebay. And no website.

https://www.greenwaycycles.co.uk/

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