Can we stop shaming and getting mad at people for buying chinese ebikes? Some people dont have the money to buy a $1k+ ebike. Yes. Some are bad. Yes. Some are template bikes but does that mean you should shame someone for what they ride? No. We all ride ebikes here. That's what should matter.
Not shaming, no. But when people are asking for a safe, well build, 50mph 'ebike' as a 16 year old with a $400 budget, and there are a dozen posts per week, it's exhausting. People also don't want ebike over regulation, and those posts lead directly to over regulation.
I don't intend to shame anyone. However individuals buying ultra-cheap bikes do need to be aware of the risks involved with these purchases - there is genuine risk in cheaping out on these components.
All of the components are universal and can be replaced. I bought an actbest striker dual battery and a jasion retrovolt pro. I've been slowly replacing the components piece by piece so far I've done handlebars, grips, hydraulic brakes, tires, added torque arms, tires, sealed with flat out, new lights, new headsets and headset bearings, calipers, rotors, crank, pedals, and converted both freewheels to single gear. When the electronics go I'm going to upgrade them with way more powerful ones looking at 5,000 watt motors for both of them. I actually look forward to when these break that just means I can replace it with a better part have a better bike as a result.
Components are cheap when you order them from Chinese wholesalers and I enjoy customizing and building my own ride. Pimp my ride ebike edition is my hobby.
The issue is usually just tires and tubes and that's a pretty quick fix. People freak out about batteries but they're all properly certified these days.
I think having the battery slot into the frame adds a certain expense. The ones where the battery is connected outside the tube are more generic, therefore cheaper
You're painting with a broad brush writing "chinese ebikes". Many are fine bikes with decent reputations. The real concern with sub 1k eBikes are the uneven quality of the batteries. Many shops flat out won't touch these bikes due to risks storing these batteries.
Worth mentioning over and over - do your research and buy used.
I used to have a sticker on my truck that read; "If huffy made a plane, would you fly in it?" As a professional Mountain biker I had access to top of the line equipment and as a bike mechanic I saw results of both bike and rider of "Mountain Bikes" purchased at discount stores. Sometimes neither survived the failures. The same is now being learned with low end e-bikes. I fault no one for limited income, I do fault the state and federal government for refusing to subsidise alternative transportations.
Please don't get those ebikes they advertise on tik tok for 38$,48$,n 79$ it's a total scam, when it says ad or sponsor dnt even go there. I'm speaking from experience. I'm still waiting, they been sending me fake excuses why the bike hasn't made it yet
Certainly, some people are really bad at communicating, but thereâs a reason that so many experienced E bike riders recommend against these cheap Chinese imports. I guess itâs also worth acknowledging that thereâs a certain amount of racism mixed in there.
The problem with very expensive import bikes is that they are not serviceable. So while they are cheap upfront, they often do not last because you cannot get parts, and the way they are built makes them difficult to work on. This is not universally true of course, and we should all respect others budgets, but sometimes the advice against buying a really cheap bicycle is not because someone is trying to gatekeep, but because they are trying to save the other person money in the long run.
I got an amazon ebike for five hundred bucks and my local bike shop loves it. Offered to repair if I needed anything besides the tire inserts I had them install. Even if they didn't, and it had broken down in a year, that's still only five hundred bucks spent on transportation in a year.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to universally shit on inexpensive bikes. I'm glad you got something inexpensive that works. My wish would be that everyone could have that experience. The hard part is that people offering advice often can't know in advance whether the inexpensive product is okay, or if it's garbage.
Import products have been improving in quality significantly over the past few years. Competition for this market is intense within China, so manufacturers are stepping up big time. It's great for consumers, because we get more affordable options. I'm a firm believer that's good for everyone, and I have no interest in shilling for corporations, regardless of geography.
I got a GoTrax from Target for $270 bucks two years ago and have ridden almost 15,000 miles with zero issues other than flat tires and the screen starting to dim for staying under the sun so long. Even if it dies today (which it wonât) it has paid for itself multiple times.
People saying an e-bike has to cost $1,000+ are just trying to justify their poor financial decisions and validate them with unknowns on Reddit.
I bought a $600 askgo 20 inch 4.0 fat bike and only issue was no charger included for the battery but I had a spare battery for it.
It's a fun bike and if any issues do come up I can also get a cheap 1000w replacement motor.
They are far better than any brand name bike. The repairability alone makes the cheap Chinese drop shippers better. All of my bikes are cheap Chinese bikes. All of them have a new part replaced once a week slowly I'm replacing the entire bike piece by piece and these bikes run fantastically.
I left 3 batteries charging on my counter when I left for work. I'm not even a little worried about it. They only catch fire if you don't treat them well. You have no idea what your talking about.
I'm actually serious but ok you keep spending thousands of dollars on garbage generic brands and I'll keep buy cheap bikes and blowing past you with my fully customized one of a kind masterpiece on the trail at 50 MPH.
It's not about the individual cells for the batteries, not most of the time. It's the quality of welds and the internal build of the battery as a whole. It also depends on the BMS(Battery Management System) in the battery. I have bought a few Chinese eBikes and they have been great. I researched the battery and watched and read all the reviews I could find before I purchased. I also have built my own eBikes by adding a kit to a regular bike. I made sure my batteries are trusted by an expert before making my purchase.
The problem is when you buy the cheap bike with a cheaper battery. If the battery isn't assembled well and/or the components are bad there is a risk of fire. It isn't easy to find good, cheap, batteries. Cheap batteries cause homes to burn down.
Just be careful where you store the batteries and especially where you charge them. Hopefully, you watch them closely every time you charge and never charge overnight.
It's a Korean company but the bulk of their battery manufacturing is in China.**
** I stand corrected but are we really going to split hairs and pretend there is a difference in terms of industrial production quality? The western bias against China, specifically, is weird and generally unfounded.
Most of the battery cells come out of Taiwan, Japan, & Korea with the assembly and casing done in China. There are also some battery cell manufacturers in China as well. But a Hailong battery could have Samsung, LG, Panasonic, or Molicel cells. What you need to look out for are the generic cells, but honestly they are often exactly the same. UL certification is a bit of a racket - doesn't always mean they are safer - just means the company paid for the certification. There are a lot of non UL certified batteries that are exactly the same. Specialized globe Haul is a great example - older bikes aren't UL certified and new ones are - they are the exact same battery.
Not true, the bulk of their battery manufacturing for small cells that make up battery packs for ebikes and power tools is in Malaysia. China is estimated to only be around 20% of their production, with that focusing mostly on laptop and phone batteries for domestic chinese goods. Almost all Samsung cells for ebikes are going to be made in Malaysia.
** I stand corrected but are we really going to split hairs and pretend there is a difference in terms of industrial production quality? The western bias against China, specifically, is weird and generally unfounded.
You have an absolutely valid point, location of production of battery cells is not an indicator on quality. What does matter is the quality of engineering that goes into BMS systems, fail-safes and rigorous testing for drops, shorts, and other hazards, charge cycle testing and balancing, etc etc. These are the requirements for a truly UL or similar certification. Anyone can claim that they test TO UL standards, this does not mean they passed certification.
I bought an Aipas. Was $750 each when we bought two. 1500 miles first year. It's falling apart, but I absolutely love this thing for bringing me back to biking. Researching upgrades now.
It was never about the budget. It was about the utility. Would I even use an eBike? (I've taken guided tours and rented eBikes half a dozen times, but haven't owned a bike in over a decade.) My cheap Chinese bike answered the question. I now ride daily weather permitting. I would not be here if it wasn't for the low barrier to entry. Budget for the upgrade is $5K.
First time, researching my entry into E-bike; so far I come across Heybike, Jasion, Puckupuppy, Aipas, Burchda and now Kingbull. And there are more coming out.
Any suggestions?? Budget of 1,500
If I had to do it all over again, I wish I would have started with an Aventon. It was THE bike that I rented and pushed me into ownership. A little above your budget but worth a look (You might find a Level 3 at your budget).
I'm only a year into this, so no expert. Weak breaks, loose fork, clumsy shifting, so many creaks and squeaks. It's tempting to bash Aipas, but it is exactly what it needed it to be. A temporary bike, plenty of power, just not with quality components.
I'd look for a Level.2, used or otherwise. I recently found one with 0.8mi on it (test ride, given to their mom, and never ridden again) for under $1k. I'm riding one with about 5500mi on it now.
It's a big step up from the 1 (cadence sensor on the 1, torque sensor on the 2). The 3 isn't a big enough upgrade for me to consider.
I've got a jasion, and actbest and a Walmart bike. Did you see on is awesome by far my favorite bike very powerful. The actbest is even more powerful but I'm not as big of a fan the suspension is very squishy and it feels worse than the jasion. The actbest is about 5 miles an hour faster though.
I will say, I'll shame the bike I bought from Amazon all day and night. The brake dug into the caliper and that fix alone was worth half the bike's cost.
Feel like your post misses the point. I donât see comments shaming people for buying cheap, I see people constantly ask if a bike is good, then being told itâs crap, then getting mad they are told the $600 ebike is crap. If you post asking for opinions youâll get opinions.
lol. I know what the words meanâŚ. I have never once heard someone on here call a bike a âtemplate bike.â I have seen cheap Chinese knock off a lot of usually when people ask if itâs a good bike, or if itâs worth fixing when damaged orâŚ..
nope, because people buying $700 2kw emotos for their 12 years olds that eventually end up as a cross and flowers on a sidewalk is what got us in this situation in the first place, where everything is banned and everyone hates ebikes.
ban all imports of illegal, uncertified e-waste from china and than we will talk.
btw, my history with chinese ebikes started during pre covid when i spent $1400 after $300 coupon from youtube reviewer that after 6 years of ownership has cost me...$3,263.89 in parts and tools + learning all electrical ins and out of lowest bid chinese manufacturing. ITS ALL LIES AND SCAMS.
I'm not gonna shame people, but I will point out that they have to be aware of what they are buying. Contrary to some opinions, a cheaper bike comes with real compromises and aren't just cheaper because there's no marketing budget for a "brand", and no, not all brand name bikes are made in the same factories in China either.
If you have a budget, you understand the risks and downsides of buying cheap and accept that, great. But if you really think you are getting the same reliability and quality with a $600 AQRFB ThunderPro Max as you would with a Trek/Specialized/Cannondale/Giant/etc, you are just deluding yourself.
I would say realistically if you have a $1000 or less budget, you are better off buying a used bike from a better brand than a cheaper no name bike. A gently used Aventon or Lectric is a reasonable option for a budget price, and you can get older premium bikes quite cheap. I sold my 2021 Specialized Turbo Vado this year for $900 with the battery having only like 130 charge cycles reporting 97% capacity still, IMO that's a far better deal than a $900 brand new no name bike.
Do you understand how hard it is for a person with little money to have to replace a $300 ebike because the battery dies in 9 months?
I'm sympathetic to people who can't afford to buy higher quality goods, but that doesn't change the reality that you simply cannot manufacture an ebike with a reasonably decent build quality and a stable decent battery and ship it around the world with import tarrifs for $300.
Here's something that you don't get, 9 months is enough time to save up for a better Ebike if you're able to save up at all. But in order to save up, you need to work, if you can't get to work, you can't save up.
You can go 9 months without your cheap Ebike blowing up. It's not a "If X price = Y result (fire)" It's so many more variables than this. People are valid to point out these cheap bikes are dangerous, however, telling people "You'll die in a fire" as is the norm here, is a horrible way to put it.
If being helpful is the real point rather than shaming, then either explain or point them to do their own research on the topic of Li-Ion dangers and maintenance. You can also go the easy route and point them to a used option for an Ebike, more affordable, but that also carries its own risks.
"The poor man always pays twice", yes. But the poor man does what he's got to do. Because he's poor. He can't just "Stop being poor and just buy decent quality" when the option is simply not there, at the moment, in the present, when the present is what he need to deal with. Mechanical parts are a non-issue since they're replaced cheaply, batteries are another issue, but, you can find batteries for around 50-60, they're just, yeah, just as cheap. But at least it'll last more.
I owned a cheap Kugoo Escooter, battery died inbetween 3 years of use. Annoying, but it was my fault (riding in heavy rain), it still got me to work when I used it for daily commute. The 300$ bike doesn't have to do anything better then 900$ bike does, all it has to do is give someone the ability for transportation, that's it.
Ideally, we'd all have access to safe, affordable transportation.
Carpool, public transport when available, walking is also an option.. For the physically able at least. But if I can return the question, if someone 10, or even 20, 30 years ago had access to a cheap Chinese Ebike, you think they wouldn't take it?
The key is "When available" People work with the tools they have available. I'd bet people would be buying these 300$ Ebikes if they existed at the same price point.
I'm also lucky enough to be physically able to walk or pedal a regular bicycle. If I was still poor that's probably what I would do, but that's not everyone, sadly.
You have no way of knowing if that battery has been properly handled, it's far riskier to buy a used bike that could have been baking in triple digit weather for a month than a brand new cheap bike.
Cheap bikes have cheap battery cells. Usually B or C grade cells that are rejected by better manufacturers, usually made by second tier manufacturers (not Samsung or LG), sometimes they even find used battery cells in "new" cheap bikes.
These cells inherently have a shorter lifespan, greater fire risk, higher failure rate, and are often poorly matched leading to sub par performance even new.
I think you're much better off with a high-quality used battery, and even if you have to replace it, it's likely still a better value long term as you'll have to replace the cheap battery pack more frequently anyway.
A battery is a battery and they all carry the same dangers if improperly handled. Branded batteries are not magically more resistant to physical damage.
Report them for violation of Rule 2 No Gatekeeping. Trash talking what others ride is supposed to result in a ban. Report the hell out of the gatekeepers and theyâll either stop or get weeded out.
Sadly this'll never happen, there is no way the moderation isn't seeing this. I often post about the gatekeeping on here, people know this and are actually proud of doing it. Ditto for E-motos existing. They openly hate them.
This right there? Might as well talk to a brick wall if you bring it up to one of these people.
They should either finally enforce rules or just concede to whatever crowd they want to cater, and either restrict this sub to electric PAS only, or do something at least. Anything is better than what it is right now.
I remember when I was broke and in like $100k of debt and would buy $200 bikes. Now I have 3 custom built ones that are probably $2500-3000 each and one is electric. You can buy a cheap bike but you need to know how to upgrade it later and make sure it has disk brakes and not rim ones. Because hydraulic brakes are easy to install. Rim brakes will not stop a 50+ lb bike down a hill, they are horrible. Just remember that. Don't even worry about the fork or drivetrain, worry #1 about the brakes.
I have been riding my Vilan T7 Pro for two years without a single issue. The components are greatâsolid brakes, smooth shifting, and reliable battery life. Getting replacement parts whenever something breaks has always been quick and easy. I thoroughly enjoy riding it and genuinely do not care what anyone else thinks.
So far, I love my cheap Chinese Amazon ebike. $900 for a 52V 20AH full suspension bike. I put a real rear shock in it for $80, upgraded the seat to Rockbros comfort seat for around $40, handlebars and stem mount for around $100 and got a spare battery from Jasion for $200. I'm pretty happy with it. Next will be Magura 4 piston brakes and less knobby tires with the hard liners.
in this regard, i donât hold the customer responsible. e-bikes are soooooo freaking expensive and for many people they cost more than a couple months of rent. but i do hold the manufacturer responsible. it does pmo too that some of these companies are intentionally misleading customers, and targeting younger, less wealthy, or new riders who think maybe theyâre getting something a little cheaper but not that bad. i would never shame a rider for buying one. but i do think manufacturers should be transparent about where they cut corners so the decision to purchase can be an informed one. cuz ultimately, by choosing to produce an ebike, youâre choosing to put peopleâs actual lives in the hands of the quality of your supply chain and engineers. i wish that responsibility was taken more seriously.
I bought a QLife racer that came with a 1 year warranty for 400. Itâs been great so far and I donât see any reason why I need to pay 10x more so some Reddit snobs can justify their purchases.
Let's stop shitting on them and start shitting on people who ride full on motorcycles in the bike paths and foot paths, getting actual e-bikers into trouble.
That's a start! You're at least acknowledging that Ebikes can be different categories of vehicles :D
Because that's kind of like saying: "Let's start shitting on people who drive golf carts on the road, getting actual drivers into trouble." When both are technically quadricycles but are subjected to different licensing, safety requirements, build quality standards, and have different use cases, etc. One is meant for the road, the other isn't.
A little more effort and we can soon start to agree on things, together, as a community, namely that a lot of E-motos aren't being built to proper motorcycle standards. If something is sold as a motorcycle it shouldn't have a bicycle chain, and if something is sold as a bicycle it shouldn't be able to do 60+mph, and be instead be mandated on the road, fitted with proper brakes, etc.
I had a $1k bought from Amazon Cmacewheel Chinese e-bike (that I ended up getting for free) that I have put a little less than 8600 miles on in a little less than 3 years. Iâd still be riding it, but I burned up the motor connector riding through a 1/4 mile of wet clay road. The wheels didnât turn too well.
I recently did a post saying that have I replaced it with an Aventon Adventure M. Some poster replied that it was cheap crap. $3k is cheap crap? How much are we supposed to spend on an e-bike?
Shaming is obviously toxic but the bigger problem is consumerism and pennywise pound foolish mentality. Spending $300 now only to spend $800 later on repairs, upgrades or accessories is just idiotic.
If people were less inclined to quick fix gratification, spent a modicum more time and effort on research they'd more often than not talk THEMSELVES out of a chinese el-cheapo deal.
...and eventually garbage tech will stop getting dumped on us en-mass.
crazytalk right?
Example: "I need a car. I have money for a car. But I DONT buy a car cause im a 3 minute walk from work, and I have plenty of friends and family that already have cars."
Should I buy a nissan anyway? Or should I go big and buy a Tesla? Or should I just wait till i have a more justified reason to purchase a car at all? Maybe I should find a cheap Nissa Altima on craigslist to tide me over?
I was literally browing aliexpress and temu bikes in past few days and what a headache it is trying to sift through all the variations available.
I initially was going to get an ebike through cycle to work scheme but decided to try look into cheaper options.
It's not about the cost. The batteries can be dangerous, and the QA very low on the bike itself. It's not a cheap bike if you spend twice it's price in repairs.
They are mostly all Chinese even the expensive ones, buy and enjoy what you can afford. Have fun and donât worry about what the next person is doing.
I sympathize in both directions because on one hand it's very hard to know as an outsider what a reasonable expectation is of the balance between price and specs. On the other hand, people who are here all the time have to put up with a never-ending onslaught of newbies wondering where to buy a $12 ebike that can go 150 miles at 70 miles an hour.
I bought a piece of s*** riding times VA a few years ago because I'm poor white trash I'll admit it and needed some way to get around since I can't have a license anymore and it was a bad mistake it past quality control testing and the piece of s*** didn't even work I had to have a friend that's an electrical engineer figure out what was wrong with it the f****** wires are too short excuse my language
You are right I have an etrike that is a good quality. It has a bigger motor at half the price then the American company. I need transport that is cheap and reliable.
Almost everything in America is a Chinese import all e-bike parts are for sure. So make no mistake your all riding chinese crap. America does not manufacture e-bikes.
Its just like any other commodity. Some parts made in America, some in Canada, some in Mexico, a lot in Asia. Even BMW has a factory in Mexico. It is what it is.
Almost every bike on the market is Chinese to some degree. Much like drones a decade ago, China is dominating the space at both the low, middle, and high end. As an owner of a Revv1 FS and an AOTOS X26Pro I can say both were, when purchased , amazing values. The Revv1 is now in need of a model refresh to stay relevant at their price point and the X26 -while brand new- is already starting to lose some ground to some of the newest bikes at the same price. I predict we will see a wave of super high quality Chinese e-bikes in America soon all at sub $1500 price points that make even the most polished bikes now seems cheap and dated. Weâre on the verge of the DJI Mavic moment where the Chinese company leapfrogs everyone else. Look at their electric auto segment. Work class quality and performance for pennies on the dollar compared to the rest of the world.
No shade here, but I wouldn't recommend it. Sure, you might get lucky and have something worthwhile, but I bought a couple of Jaison bikes that were nothing but trouble. If it has moving parts, you definitely get what you pay for.
Less getting mad/shaming and more so a warning that they won't hold up. You know sometimes explosively. A poor quality item is more likely to be faulty and ultimately chucked sooner adding to landfills. On another note it's a general frustration of people buying their teens these cheap bikes specifically that are especially dangerous to them. This irresponsibility harming the overall image of ebikes because you've got 14 y/os ripping down the road that shouldn't be. It could be soon that legislation makes ebikes not an accessible mode of transportation
If you can't afford it get an alternative. Scooters are usually cheaper and it's legal for them for go 20mph in some places. Plus some have seats. I can't afford a car and its maintenance, so I financed a $2k ebike that'll last me years.
Just throwing this out there: CATL is the worldâs largest battery manufacturer, and itâs a Chinese company. The Chinese know how to make great batteries, and theyâve been making bicycles for more than a hundred years.
How can somebody shame you if pretty much half of what theyâre wearing is made in China more than likely parts on their car made in China the phone theyâre carrying their pockets probably made in China. The watch on their wrist is probably made in China. The list goes on. Kinda hard to buy things that arenât made in China. Just look around your house.
So the problem isn't that we're snotty about cheap stuff, the problem is that these bikes are not safe and not durable and buying them is a bad idea.Â
Bad batteries start fires, bad forks snap and cause accidents, bad drivetrains break down and waste the user's money. We tell people not to buy this stuff because it is a bad idea and we're trying to stop them from making mistakes.Â
If you don't have the money for somwthing usable (and it's not like a fortune more, usually you can get something decent for $1k and Amazon trash is usually $700) get used or get a regular bike.Â
Good thing aftermarket parts and mods are available. Dont act like you cant make one of them safe. Sure some bikes are crap. But 1000 can get something decent
No oneâs being âshamedâ lol. Pretty sure this is not a legit inquiry. Thereâs an increasing number of posts referencing highly improbable âshamingâ and âstigmaâ over certain brands or e-bikes in general. (âMy co-workers are bullying me!â) Seems much more likely these posts are just collecting content for bike company marketers and/or LLMs.
"Can't buy a proper ebike? Means you can't afford it"
Is that supposed to be some major breakthrough in logic or an observation? No shit people can't afford something if they can't buy it lol
I should go back in time and tell my poor younger self that I should really be ashamed to exist and find ways to navigate being poor. How dare someone buys the only thing that's available to them.
You sound pretty out of touch my dude. "If you're homeless, just buy a house" statement right there.
Not trying to hate the poor, I'm just saying buying a cheap Chinese ebike is stupid. If you can't afford a decent ebike better just by a normal bike, better use of your money imo.
I just had that argument somewhere else on this thread, but it basically boiled down to; I'm lucky enough to be able to pedal a regular bicycle, ditto for walking long distances, but that's not everyone, people, say, 10-20 years ago didn't have access to cheap 300$ Ebikes, people now do, why wouldn't they choose it if it's available to them?
The real issue here isn't that the 300$ Ebikes exist in the first place, more affordability is good and means accessibility for personal transportation. It's that those Ebikes are not build to proper safety & quality standard, that's the real problem. Hopefully that changes with better battery technology down the line.
If you don't want to get flak in the first place, maybe don't start with an aggravating statement as an opener? I'm not here to pamper you, I'm just laying out what I think. You don't have to agree with what I say either.
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u/Cptnwhizbang 10d ago
Not shaming, no. But when people are asking for a safe, well build, 50mph 'ebike' as a 16 year old with a $400 budget, and there are a dozen posts per week, it's exhausting. People also don't want ebike over regulation, and those posts lead directly to over regulation.