Our new Wispers in Portugal - first impressions

k2397

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
5
3
Lagos, Portugal
Our new Wispers arrived in Portugal today. Mine is a Red Wayfarer H9 with crossbar, my wife's a Blue Wayfarer H7 step-through, both hub drive. We bought them from E-Bikes Direct in the UK as they had availability, and they were shipped out by Algarve Removals, who we use regularly.

The first thing i noticed was that the bikes did not arrive in Wisper packaging, but in boxes marked MTF Enterprises Ltd. Presumably E-Bikes Direct had removed the original packaging and re-packaged them after their PDI, or whatever they do.

First I unboxed the Blue step-through. Inside the box the bike was packaged in more cardboard and a fairly small amount of bubble wrap. The saddle was loose but apart from that the bike seems fine.

Next I unboxed my Red bike with crossbar. Inside the box this had been packaged with huge amounts of bubble wrap and loads of brown parcel tape. The bike also still had protective foam on many of the tubes held on by cable ties. It took quite a while to get the bike out of that lot.

Once out of the box I noticed that the two bikes had different handlebars. My wife's blue bike has fairly normal handlebars, swept back at the ends, and an adjustable stem. My red bike has very wide, almost straight handlebars and a non-adjustable stem. I have never had such wide handlebars before and I don't think I am going to like them. But I can live with them in the short term.

The next thing I noticed on my red bike was some damage to he paintwork at the join between the seat tube and the down tube, and a smaller scratch on one of the rear fork tubes. This is annoying. I hope that it will be possible to get some touch-up paint to fix it.

Finally, when pushing the bike forward I noticed that the rear tyre is rubbing slightly on the very back of the rear mudguard. This mudguard seems to be a substantial aluminium extrusion and does not appear bent, damaged or deformed in any way. It may be possible to adjust the position of the mudguard slightly but to do this I think one would have to remove the rear wheel. Unfortunately the bike is not really usable until this is corrected. I have registered the bikes with Wisper and will be contacting them, and E-Bikes Direct, to get these issues resolved. Life would have been easier if we had bought the bikes from a dealer here in Portugal - but unfortunately none of them had the bikes we wanted.

Apart from the above the bikes look very smart and appear to be well engineered.
 

Wisper Bikes

Trade Member
Apr 11, 2007
6,286
2,252
69
Sevenoaks Kent
Hi! Great news, thanks for investing in our bikes!

Your bikes are already well traveled, from Portugal to UK and then back to Portugal.


The first thing i noticed was that the bikes did not arrive in Wisper packaging, but in boxes marked MTF Enterprises Ltd. Presumably E-Bikes Direct had removed the original packaging and re-packaged them after their PDI, or whatever they do.

That's correct, we send the bikes out to dealers with the front wheel off, EBD will have built them and repackaged into larger cartons with the wheel on.

Once out of the box I noticed that the two bikes had different handlebars. My wife's blue bike has fairly normal handlebars, swept back at the ends, and an adjustable stem. My red bike has very wide, almost straight handlebars and a non-adjustable stem. I have never had such wide handlebars before and I don't think I am going to like them. But I can live with them in the short term.

That's also correct, the step through is more relaxed and has swept back handlebars, the crossbar has a more aggressive attitude with straight and wide handlebars.

The next thing I noticed on my red bike was some damage to the paintwork at the join between the seat tube and the down tube, and a smaller scratch on one of the rear fork tubes. This is annoying. I hope that it will be possible to get some touch-up paint to fix it.

Although I cannot be certain it was probably damaged during the long journey to and from Portugal, please send me your address and I will send some blue and red touch up paint with my compliments. david@wisperbikes.com

Finally, when pushing the bike forward I noticed that the rear tyre is rubbing slightly on the very back of the rear mudguard. This mudguard seems to be a substantial aluminium extrusion and does not appear bent, damaged or deformed in any way. It may be possible to adjust the position of the mudguard slightly but to do this I think one would have to remove the rear wheel. Unfortunately the bike is not really usable until this is corrected. I have registered the bikes with Wisper and will be contacting them, and E-Bikes Direct, to get these issues resolved. Life would have been easier if we had bought the bikes from a dealer here in Portugal - but unfortunately none of them had the bikes we wanted.

This will certainly have happened during transit at some point the bike has been laid on its side. You can take the wheel off but it's much easier to use a lever such as a large screwdriver between the tyre and mudguard stay and bend the stay back into place. It will take a couple of minutes. If you need help please call support. If you are anywhere near Agueda you could pop it into our warehouse and we will do it for you.

Apart from the above the bikes look very smart and appear to be well engineered.

Thanks, we are very proud of them and hope you enjoy, please let me know how you get on?

All the best, David
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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Tbh no bike sent in a box to the end user will be 100%, there will always be an issue or niggles to over come as damage or handling in transit can occur. Whether they (EBD) knew about to the paint damage is another thing, it's a shame one can't get hold of them in Portugal as that is where they are produced/built up.
 

Wisper Bikes

Trade Member
Apr 11, 2007
6,286
2,252
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Sevenoaks Kent
Tbh no bike sent in a box to the end user will be 100%, there will always be an issue or niggles to over come as damage or handling in transit can occur. Whether they knew and will admit to the paint damage is another thing, it's a shame one can't get hold of them in Portugal as that is where they are produced/built up.
Hi Neal, they are available in Portugal. They can be sent directly from Portugal to anywhere in Europe but we would deliver ourselves in Portugal or through our new dealer based in Coimbra.

All the best, David
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,979
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West Sx RH
Thought it a bit strange Op couldn't get hold of one in Portugal.
I wonder why then the Op didn't contact you first to try and arrange this then as it could have saved him a bit of grief. But guess availability and maybe some impatience may be at play ?
 

k2397

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
5
3
Lagos, Portugal
You're not wrong about the impatience, my wife in particular was very keen to get her bike ASAP! The bikes were showing as unavailable on the Wisper website, so when we found some available for immediate dispatch from EBD it seemed like a good idea at the time - particularly as we had a shipment of stuff coming out from the UK anyway. Hindsight is a great thing, and had I known you could ship the bikes within Portugal, I would of course have chosen that option.

Thanks for all the info and help, once we have used the bikes a bit more I will post some more comments.

And David, thanks, I will email you and would appreciate the touch-up paint.
 
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Wisper Bikes

Trade Member
Apr 11, 2007
6,286
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Sevenoaks Kent
No worries, we will look after you in Portugal as if you had bought the bike from us directly, so please don't fret.

We are actually in Anadia just outside Agueda.

All the best, David