They’re not known for quality, reliability, or service: Like many other similarly named alphabet soup brands that appeared out of nowhere to make ebikes, it’s not worth wasting your money on and you’re better off buying something from an actual bike manufacturer.
All the same brands you’d buy a quality bicycle from also make decent ebikes: Trek, Specialized, Cube, Canyon, Breezer, Tern, etc.
REI Co-op bikes are good entry level ebikes with support if you live near an REI, and if you’re really looking for a budget bike otherwise, I guess Lectric is alright.
“Specialized”, “Trek” are reliable bike manufacturers. I don’t have an ebike but if I were to get one it would be from an established bike manufacturer.
I like my now-discontinued D4S but I get it wouldn’t be for everyone. Though it also has some features* at a fraction** of the price of this. Their new stuff is a different price category and not going for value IMO. And it’s not like the D4S is heavy at 45lbs (certainly not the lightest, but weight is diminishing returns IMO).
*= gears (really needed on a 250w bike), adjustable-height handlebar stem, included (but not preinstalled) fenders, speedometer/battery etc w/o needing an app
**= I bought mine on-sale for $720, and it went even cheaper after that
I cannot stress enough how much single-speed at 250w and this price is a deal-breaker. Even if it were a premium product it wouldn’t make up for the lack of some sort of gear system (I’d say IGH because belt drive but I know that might conflict with the motor’s use of the hub for its own gearing).
Anything from Fiido is kind of a non-starter for me personally
OOTL, what’s wrong with Fiido?
They’re not known for quality, reliability, or service: Like many other similarly named alphabet soup brands that appeared out of nowhere to make ebikes, it’s not worth wasting your money on and you’re better off buying something from an actual bike manufacturer.
As someone new to the space, can you list a few good manufacturers?
All the same brands you’d buy a quality bicycle from also make decent ebikes: Trek, Specialized, Cube, Canyon, Breezer, Tern, etc.
REI Co-op bikes are good entry level ebikes with support if you live near an REI, and if you’re really looking for a budget bike otherwise, I guess Lectric is alright.
“Specialized”, “Trek” are reliable bike manufacturers. I don’t have an ebike but if I were to get one it would be from an established bike manufacturer.
Specialized also sell the Vado SL (superlight), a light ebike like the one in this article, also around 15Kg.
I like my now-discontinued D4S but I get it wouldn’t be for everyone. Though it also has some features* at a fraction** of the price of this. Their new stuff is a different price category and not going for value IMO. And it’s not like the D4S is heavy at 45lbs (certainly not the lightest, but weight is diminishing returns IMO).
*= gears (really needed on a 250w bike), adjustable-height handlebar stem, included (but not preinstalled) fenders, speedometer/battery etc w/o needing an app
**= I bought mine on-sale for $720, and it went even cheaper after that
I cannot stress enough how much single-speed at 250w and this price is a deal-breaker. Even if it were a premium product it wouldn’t make up for the lack of some sort of gear system (I’d say IGH because belt drive but I know that might conflict with the motor’s use of the hub for its own gearing).
They could’ve done mid drive + IGH or used something like a Pinion gearbox with a hub.