I have been most happy with the 2017 Stark City Bike, the initial offering from Stark, since 2017.
The basic bike costed $399, and with all the extras, except GPS, including a second batter, transport and import fees, it cost around 930 UK pounds, here in Germany.
It took me a week or so to get the dead battery sorted out with the loan of a recovery battery charger, but that battery has worked fine since and only cost me the return postage. A headset bearing was wrongly sized at the factory, and they sent me a new set, which I installed and got perfect steering.
I do believe their processes are much better nowadays.
Positive points:-
1) All parts are standard Chinese, so if anything goes wrong, easy to replace without any thought as to company politics like the mid motor comunity shafts its customers with. For example,one of the Bosch batteries costs as much as my bike does with two, and you have to pay for installation if the guarantee is up! The same for the Bosch motors, but anyway they are also out of your price range anyway!
2) strong construction, with an easy and rapid method to swap the battery, which also allos the bike tom be folded in hal if need be.
3) Spare keys for the bike and batteries supplied, as were spare keys for the heavy bike lock chain. Locks that I have been unable to pick, but like many, a disk cutter may be its downfall, which is why I use two, and a sensitive alarm, one that even strong gusts of wind set off occasionally in the back yard!
4) 26" Wheels, with medium fat tyres for both comfort and hard wearing.
5) Front and back suspension, to shield my old back from sudden, boneshaking roads. I myself will noot be happy on any wheel smaller than this.
6) Two huge panniers are in that price I quoted, as well as a middle bike stand, that holds the bike vertical and the rear motor free of the ground, even with full panniers.
7) Ibought a replacement rear light with a brake light, but have not got around to fitting it yeat, back problems this last 12 months...
8) 250 Watt motor, that manages to pull me up the steep inclines in our local mountains, which is MOST comforting.
9) I seem to manage about 50-60 Kilometers a charge on the larger battery, but its very variable, and I have not bothered to measure anything exactly.
10) The controller let in water on a very rainy day, and condensation made it difficult to see the display. So I took it apart, dried it out and carefully sealed all the joints that let in water. Easy to do and most effective. No problems since.
11) No "single point if failure" as all mid motor e-bikes have, that is, if the chain breaks, this bike (and my previous bike) will get you home on the battery, riding, rather than having to push!
It has not yet happened on my Stark, (still original chain), but mid motor bike chains must carry the FULL motor torque and the FULL Human torque, which they were never designed for, and wear rather fast and occasionally break! My first e-bike chain did break some 10 Kilometers from home, I rode on the battery all the way back, just as it started to rain!!
12) My main costs are are approximately yearly tyres and tubes and brake pads.
13)The original brake calipers had a plastic adjuster that UV licht destroyed in about a year on the front, (the rear one is shielded by the panniers), I replaced the unit with a full metal unit, repaired the original one to also be full metal, and changed them back, as I was mot happy with the performance of the original brakes. They stop me in emergencies almost to the limit of my holding on!!!
This is the bike I have, it is still being made and sold at the original price (don't forget transport and import duties on top!):-
Stark Drive produces the most affordable electric transportation solutions in the world, be it by ground or air. Easy to factory upgrade. Starting at an unbelievable $499. It’s cheap! No kidding mate!
starkdrive.bike
This is a video of the unboxing and building of the same model, except that I picked white paint:-
Stark appears to have got more expensive since 2017, so
Over here, sadly Stark Bikes are the subject of cricism from some bikers who have given out anything up to €5,000, for mainly mid motor bikes. They apparently are "racist" when it comes to owning a cheap Chinese bikes, but quieten down when told that the are also riding a Chinese bike! Funny really! They bought believing it was German production....
And some of the loudest ones were completely shut up and blown away when I said lets swap bikes for an hour or so........this has happened a few times only I might add.
After a short ride, they seem to suddenly realise that they may have made a poor choice with the price, and that the Stark accellerates better, especially when the battery is full, and this all helped to quietened down their negative comments.
But they were not happy campers....
Some mid motor owners I have met (all the e-bikes that I know personally bought Bosch, have already had replacement motors due to he way the big plastic gears, on early motors, apparently did not take kindly to heavy riders, going up mountains, with full power!
Whether this has been 100% fixed on the later versions, I have no idea, as I have no interest in finding out, but the single point of failure remains of course.
There was a HUGE HULLABALOO in the biking press here in Germany, some of which can still be found on the internet, even today, about the motor problems some years back, but which does seem to have quietened down.
I must add that I am an avid DDIYer, especially with bikes, even as a young lad, which of course keeps the costs down to a minimu. But if you are not, buy something from an LBS close to your home. Do not expect them to repaor a bike YOU imported!
regards
Andy
PS. I have just written this and I am happy that nothing major has been missed out (or minor either), as I have only been MOST impressed with my bike, even with the early teething problems, with my it. And 5 years on, I am sure that those problems are long gone.
regards
Andy
