well theres a few options. you could buy from a bike co. near your city/town, from amazon or off alibaba. if you buy direct from a chinese supplier off of alibaba you can save hundreds if you find out thru research the company that manufactures the e-bike you want to buy. its pretty simple takes a couple hours maybe in research but for the e-bike i bought priced at $1299 you can buy off of alibaba for 700 plus 150 shipping. you can save $400. enough to buy a real good battery that has Samsung cells inside. you see many of these e-bikes use a battery pack that is unidentifiable even after you remove the outside case. they have a covered pack that has blue packaging covering the internal cells that is totally separate from the case. why do they do this? because many if not most are using the cheapest cells that they can buy. some may even be recycled and they typically last one year. the warranty is only one year. if you had new Samsung cells in your battery you probably would get 3 years of use. definitely something to consider as the battery is really the only e-bike component that is expensive to purchase. the rest of the bike should be very reliable. if i was to buy again i would buy direct from a chinese supplier. i wouldnt be so concerned about their warranty for the above reasons.
where to buy your 1st e-bike
- Thread starter neilh
- Start date
the other option is to build your own e-bike. if you have a bike you want to convert to electric you can go with a bafang for mid drive motor placement or go with a front or rear hub drive. the battery is critical as this is the one e-bike component that will probably need to be replaced soon after the warranty runs out.(if you buy a new e-bike). typical waranty is one year. basically korean or japanese brands of lithium cells are much better than chinese brands. so try and stay away from chinese made batteries and always ask the supplier where the battery or cells are made BEFORE you buy! or rebuild your own out of warranty battery with new quality cells and a decent BMS. you need a spot welder that adds to the cost of building your own battery but at least you know whats inside is going to last much longer (like 3 years.) im just trying to help people like myself who are fed up with high prices and poor quality. seems like everyone is trying to get rich off of the shoulders of average people. do lots of research on e-bikes and then decide which way to go. well worth the time spent. another thing most people are not aware of is that almost all e-bikes and their components are made in china. not all but many. so called american brands like rad rover and others are made in china and have the american company name put on their bikes and maybe add a few different options.
I wonder how the service is if you had a problem.i bought a bike 3rd party from amazon .it came 1 motor,rear,pedal assist and gear selector were broke.Waited 19 days for the parts to come from china.the parts are 2 days away on amazon.sent wrong parts ,so I returned the bike and took 60 days to my refund and $376.02 shipping back.2 years ago bought a wtva from amazon and its been great except for noisy brakes.sell gave me the ID on amazon ,I bought and seller sent money to me
Smaug
Well-known member
I wouldn’t buy direct from a supplier again.
I bought a heybike from Amazon. They responded to my issues quickly, but didn’t really solve them.
Screeching brakes from Day 1. They told me how to adjust them; I did, didn’t fix it. Just junky components. I learned why Tektro brakes are highly regarded after that.
I bought a Lectric next; no problems. Than Aventon; also no problems. They were worth the extra, to me.
I bought a heybike from Amazon. They responded to my issues quickly, but didn’t really solve them.
Screeching brakes from Day 1. They told me how to adjust them; I did, didn’t fix it. Just junky components. I learned why Tektro brakes are highly regarded after that.
I bought a Lectric next; no problems. Than Aventon; also no problems. They were worth the extra, to me.
It is much like assembling the parts for your own white box computer. One saves a trivial amount of money but it is a good hobby for people with time to kill.
I prefer to support local businesses as much as possible and so I would buy what is sold by local bike shops or REI. REI has an excellent assortment of e-bikes and they use standard tire sizes and weigh less than most folding bikes from China. Pet peeve of mine is people who complain about lost jobs to China and then buy at places like Wal-Mart or Harbor Freight to save money.
I prefer to support local businesses as much as possible and so I would buy what is sold by local bike shops or REI. REI has an excellent assortment of e-bikes and they use standard tire sizes and weigh less than most folding bikes from China. Pet peeve of mine is people who complain about lost jobs to China and then buy at places like Wal-Mart or Harbor Freight to save money.
As an owner of 3 Ebikes purchased on line, I have a Converted BBSHD on a "MotoBecane Phantom Pro" 26, a Biktrix" Juggernaut and my favorite The "LUNA" X2. LUNA is in California, very honest and helpful. Any and ALL ebike purchases MUST be looked at and adjusted by a qualified bike mechanic prior to the first ride, they are Assembled before shipping but are far from a fine tuned machine that you are expecting. Taking the time to learn these procedures can be a time/money saver. And Youtube can be very specific when searching for repair information. As a retired electrician having first hand experiance with "Brushless motor controllers and related systems also reduces the frustrations of dealing with electrical issues not to mention "Sprag" type bearings internal to the motor drive. The number 1 rule is NEVER connect or disconnect any connections with the battery connected. Yup there are people out there that do it all the time, and have not had an issue, but sooner or later you will "F" up and there will be a small spark or puff of smoke and the display will stay "DARK". Then you want to know why it doesn't work.
JerryB
Well-known member
I bought my XP 2.0 from Lectric.....came fully assembled as advertised.....added air to tires.....went for ride. Had one minor problem with some wierd codes being displayed at times....called Lectric.....they sent me a video on how to make sure all wires on controller were secure......did that.....haven't had a problem since......I was impressed with their customer service.
We bought our first two bikes from Crazy Lenny 5-6 years ago (no idea if he's still active in the business) and had no problems. Loved his life story which included schlepping appliances/hosting late night horror movies and talked to him on the phone a few times; seemed to be a good guy.
Crazy Lenny definitely lived the American dream and more importantly had fun doing it.
Crazy Lenny definitely lived the American dream and more importantly had fun doing it.
Bought mine from KBO. Came packaged very nicely and well protected. It took me about an hour to assemble with the enclosed tool. The only adjustments I made were charging the battery and adding air to the tires. Everything else was good. I did have an issue with the headlight and they sent a replacement which didn't fix it so they are sending a new controller. They are very responsive to my emails and phone calls while trying to resolve the problem.
The problem I see with buying from the local dealers is they try to sell you a lesser bike for way more money. I'm talking two or three times as much, not just a few hundred more. I would like to support my local dealers but I'm not going to get ripped off and end up with an inferior product. If I could have bought the KBO Breeze from a local dealer and only paid a few hundred more I would have done that. I didn't see any bikes that matched the features of the KBO bike at the dealers and I went to 3 different dealers. After having the KBO for a few weeks now, if I had it to do over I would buy the same KBO again.
The problem I see with buying from the local dealers is they try to sell you a lesser bike for way more money. I'm talking two or three times as much, not just a few hundred more. I would like to support my local dealers but I'm not going to get ripped off and end up with an inferior product. If I could have bought the KBO Breeze from a local dealer and only paid a few hundred more I would have done that. I didn't see any bikes that matched the features of the KBO bike at the dealers and I went to 3 different dealers. After having the KBO for a few weeks now, if I had it to do over I would buy the same KBO again.
ronniebellie
Member
- Local time
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- Jul 21, 2022
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I purchased my Priority Current from Costco Next. Got $700 off the listed price with enviolo hub, carbon fiber belt, and hydraulic disk breaks. Shipping from New York was free. Only some minor shipping damage to the display. Priority support shipped a new one out right away. I'm 65 years old and am loving the bike. Will buy one next year for my wife also. We plan on taking long rails to trails bike trips around the USA during retirement starting with the 222 mile long Katy Trail in Missouri. My son always tells me "buy nice or buy twice." I took his advice and am not regretting it.
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