My Bafang Ultra Mountain Bike! Frey AM1000

[FlyingFinn]

Just for your information, i accepted the 130USD hub replacement money in my case, which is far more than the value/actual costs. Then I bought an upgraded DT swiss wheel myself. Going around the warranty process and start replacing your broken parts and then expecting them to pay is not reasonable nor agreed upon beforehand from what I read. Them sending a new rear wheel would have been the warranty coverage you're talking about or sending a hub and pay for the costs of changing/rebuilding.

Well atleast to pay the value of the orginal hub 100$? and replacement work 87$.

[Hardcore]

I have no idea about the costs of things, nor did I expect them to pay the replacement costs fully in my case as in Switzerland the hourly rate is simply too high compared to, for instance, China. So I was happy with my resolution as I got the bike up and running within 3 days. I don't know what else you can expect from them. If you believe you deserve a better deal by all means

[FlyingFinn]

I have no idea about the costs of things, nor did I expect them to pay the replacement costs fully in my case as in Switzerland the hourly rate is simply too high compared to, for instance, China. So I was happy with my resolution as I got the bike up and running within 3 days. I don't know what else you can expect from them. If you believe you deserve a better deal by all means

As I was told that this was the first case involving this particular issue after hundreds of sold bikes and you can’t afford to pay 300$ to cover your f*ck-up, I think you’re in the wrong business.

I do retail myself and would never treat my customers like this if the fault has been at my end. The key priority is to get the end product fixed asap and the client happy. If it involves more expensive labour then it does. In the end the client hasn’t chosen where it breaks. Client chooses only where he buys...

If you’re only covering to pay rates for an Asian wrench-wielding flip flop masterpiece then don’t call it a warranty. Then it’s something else like: Free spare parts for a limited time and the new part arrives after a month! Meanwhile you can enjoy walking...

[robocam]

When you contacted Frey, what options did they give you?

As I was told that this was the first case involving this particular issue after hundreds of sold bikes and you can’t afford to pay 300$ to cover your f*ck-up, I think you’re in the wrong business.

I do retail myself and would never treat my customers like this if the fault has been at my end. The key priority is to get the end product fixed asap and the client happy. If it involves more expensive labour then it does. In the end the client hasn’t chosen where it breaks. Client chooses only where he buys...

If you’re only covering to pay rates from an Asian wrench-wielding flip flop masterpiece then don’t call it a warranty. Then it’s something else like: Free spare parts for a limited time and the new part arrives after a month! Meanwhile you can enjoy walking...

[robocam]

Just curious about your opinion on how this is being handled.

LOL, I sure hope for their sake Frey doesn't scam you on customer service. It would prove my point, but....

[FlyingFinn]

When you contacted Frey, what options did they give you?

Offered a new 36-hole hub to be installed on a 32-hole rim. Only a true genius would try something like that. Would had had to buy another rim on my own...

Or

130$ cash which I escalated to AliBaba.

Or

A new rear wheel which I don’t need since I already bought the new hub.

[Elinx]

Offered a ......
130$ cash which I escalated to AliBaba.
.....

Please I really don't understand why you are dissapointed in Frey. You have reason to be dissapointed of the quality of (some) parts, but IMHO Frey has given your reasonable offers. That you didn't want two of these offers I can imagine.
Here in your first post you announced this problem:

]........
Had to buy a DT Swiss rear hub for 259€!!! ........
I opened a partial refund case for $130 in AliBaba. This episode is going to cost me atleast 350€ replacement work included!........

They offered this asked amount to you too and you have escalate it to a dispute.
I don't understand why there must be a dispute if Frey is giving you what your asking for.

[FlyingFinn]

Offered a ......
130$ cash which I escalated to AliBaba.
.....

Please I really don't understand why you are dissapointed in Frey. You have reason to be dissapointed of the quality of (some) parts, but IMHO Frey has given your reasonable offers. That you didn't want two of these offers I can imagine.
Here in your first post you announced this problem:

]........
Had to buy a DT Swiss rear hub for 259€!!! ........
I opened a partial refund case for $130 in AliBaba. This episode is going to cost me atleast 350€ replacement work included!........

They offered this asked amount to you too and you have escalate it to a dispute.
I don't understand why there must be a dispute if Frey is giving you what your asking for.

They refused to pay that amount at first. Now when the real extent of the issue was discovered I’m not happy with that amount anymore.

[Elinx]

...
They refused to pay that amount at first. Now when the real extent of the issue was discovered I’m not happy with that amount anymore.

OK, that explains something, but I can imagine that Alibaba conclude the same as I did first.
I hope for you it will be different.

[robocam]

When they refused to pay that amount, was this through the Ali messaging system or here in this thread? Was it before or after you showed them pictures?

Offered a ......
130$ cash which I escalated to AliBaba.
.....

Please I really don't understand why you are dissapointed in Frey. You have reason to be dissapointed of the quality of (some) parts, but IMHO Frey has given your reasonable offers. That you didn't want two of these offers I can imagine.
Here in your first post you announced this problem:

]........
Had to buy a DT Swiss rear hub for 259€!!! ........
I opened a partial refund case for $130 in AliBaba. This episode is going to cost me atleast 350€ replacement work included!........

They offered this asked amount to you too and you have escalate it to a dispute.
I don't understand why there must be a dispute if Frey is giving you what your asking for.

They refused to pay that amount at first. Now when the real extent of the issue was discovered I’m not happy with that amount anymore.

[robocam]

I checked with a square this time (to make sure the ruler markings line up), and it is closer to 28-3/4" at the lowest point. The bike is flat on the ground unloaded. That's just about where you would be if you got off your seat. This is a medium framed X-1. Batboy, I'll try to measure my AM1000 for you soon.

IMG_0956 - standover-s.jpg (103.96 KiB) Viewed 653 times

Do you mind posting a photo? The question is what is the standover at the point where someone would actually stand over the bicycle not the lowest possible standover measurement obtainable.

In bicycle shoes, someone with a 28" inseam might improve their standover by half an inch.

Bikes these days (27.5, 29, 26 with fat tires) with suspension, aren't really designed to have much more than 29" of standover in a best case scenario...

[FlyingFinn]

When they refused to pay that amount, was this through the Ali messaging system or here in this thread? Was it before or after you showed them pictures?

Offered a ......
130$ cash which I escalated to AliBaba.
.....

Please I really don't understand why you are dissapointed in Frey. You have reason to be dissapointed of the quality of (some) parts, but IMHO Frey has given your reasonable offers. That you didn't want two of these offers I can imagine.
Here in your first post you announced this problem:

]........
Had to buy a DT Swiss rear hub for 259€!!! ........
I opened a partial refund case for $130 in AliBaba. This episode is going to cost me atleast 350€ replacement work included!........

They offered this asked amount to you too and you have escalate it to a dispute.
I don't understand why there must be a dispute if Frey is giving you what your asking for.

They refused to pay that amount at first. Now when the real extent of the issue was discovered I’m not happy with that amount anymore.

It was in Alibaba before the pictures when the bikeshop wrongfully informed me that only the freehub needs to be changed.

[robocam]

So initially you wanted Frey to give you $130 when you thought it just needed a new freehub?

It was in Alibaba before the pictures when the bikeshop wrongfully informed me that only the freehub needs to be changed.

[formula101]

I checked with a square this time (to make sure the ruler markings line up), and it is closer to 28-3/4" at the lowest point. The bike is flat on the ground unloaded. That's just about where you would be if you got off your seat. This is a medium framed X-1. Batboy, I'll try to measure my AM1000 for you soon.

Do you mind posting a photo? The question is what is the standover at the point where someone would actually stand over the bicycle not the lowest possible standover measurement obtainable.

In bicycle shoes, someone with a 28" inseam might improve their standover by half an inch.

Bikes these days (27.5, 29, 26 with fat tires) with suspension, aren't really designed to have much more than 29" of standover in a best case scenario...

Awesome, thanks for the followup robocam.

Geometry charts for e-bikes are typically barebones at best, and flat out inaccurate in too many cases. It's great to see real world measurements to verify.

Just curious about your opinion on how this is being handled.

LOL, I sure hope for their sake Frey doesn't scam you on customer service. It would prove my point, but....

I think he should've contacted Frey first instead of throwing them under the bus online. How can they possibly address the problem if they don't know of it's existence in the first place?!? At least give them a chance to respond and make things right. Instead, he threw a fit online and fixed the problem himself and then gave a non-committal "I think they should do something to make it right" response without giving an indication that he'd even contact the company in the future for a follow up.

I don't even buy this argument that the hub was crap quality. Failures are commonplace with even the most expensive bikes and components. The highest end carbon and ti frames can and do fail. You can taco aluminum rims of any price. Conversely, I've bought many cheap components and even bikes that were reliable for many years. I recently bought a few replacement stems for $7 each, and aside from having to buy a couple of additional spacers, they are perfectly functional and of good quality. There is no consistent correlation between price and durability or performance.

As far as Frey, they were technically in the right asking for photos and whatnot, but as far as their PR game, it almost always makes sense to appease a customer who has the leverage to make you look bad online and thereby hurt your bottom line. Their failing was more of a practical rather than an ethical one.

The customer had a right to be upset and to note the problem but seemed more intent on causing drama online rather than do the right thing and solve this behind the scenes.

[formula101]

Offered a ......
130$ cash which I escalated to AliBaba.
.....

Please I really don't understand why you are dissapointed in Frey. You have reason to be dissapointed of the quality of (some) parts, but IMHO Frey has given your reasonable offers. That you didn't want two of these offers I can imagine.
Here in your first post you announced this problem:

]........
Had to buy a DT Swiss rear hub for 259€!!! ........
I opened a partial refund case for $130 in AliBaba. This episode is going to cost me atleast 350€ replacement work included!........

They offered this asked amount to you too and you have escalate it to a dispute.
I don't understand why there must be a dispute if Frey is giving you what your asking for.

They refused to pay that amount at first. Now when the real extent of the issue was discovered I’m not happy with that amount anymore.

OK, this boy is flat out insane. I'm all in on Team FREY!

He is setting himself up for bad karma.

[Hardcore]

I checked with a square this time (to make sure the ruler markings line up), and it is closer to 28-3/4" at the lowest point. The bike is flat on the ground unloaded. That's just about where you would be if you got off your seat. This is a medium framed X-1. Batboy, I'll try to measure my AM1000 for you soon.

IMG_0956 - standover-s.jpg

Do you mind posting a photo? The question is what is the standover at the point where someone would actually stand over the bicycle not the lowest possible standover measurement obtainable.

In bicycle shoes, someone with a 28" inseam might improve their standover by half an inch.

Bikes these days (27.5, 29, 26 with fat tires) with suspension, aren't really designed to have much more than 29" of standover in a best case scenario...

For those interested, here a picture of a medium sized AM1000 unloaded an on flat grounds.

Cheers

[batboy]

I checked with a square this time (to make sure the ruler markings line up), and it is closer to 28-3/4" at the lowest point. The bike is flat on the ground unloaded. That's just about where you would be if you got off your seat. This is a medium framed X-1. Batboy, I'll try to measure my AM1000 for you soon.

IMG_0956 - standover-s.jpg

Do you mind posting a photo? The question is what is the standover at the point where someone would actually stand over the bicycle not the lowest possible standover measurement obtainable.

In bicycle shoes, someone with a 28" inseam might improve their standover by half an inch.

Bikes these days (27.5, 29, 26 with fat tires) with suspension, aren't really designed to have much more than 29" of standover in a best case scenario...

Thanks for posting this robo!

[robocam]

Hi! Sorry about the confusion. The photo I posted was of a different bike (unless you were looking for info about the X-1, and if so, you're welcome!). The post by Hardcore should answer your question about the AM1000. From his photo, it looks like it's about 28.2 inches.

I checked with a square this time (to make sure the ruler markings line up), and it is closer to 28-3/4" at the lowest point. The bike is flat on the ground unloaded. That's just about where you would be if you got off your seat. This is a medium framed X-1. Batboy, I'll try to measure my AM1000 for you soon.

IMG_0956 - standover-s.jpg

Do you mind posting a photo? The question is what is the standover at the point where someone would actually stand over the bicycle not the lowest possible standover measurement obtainable.

In bicycle shoes, someone with a 28" inseam might improve their standover by half an inch.

Bikes these days (27.5, 29, 26 with fat tires) with suspension, aren't really designed to have much more than 29" of standover in a best case scenario...

Thanks for posting this robo!

[FlyingFinn]

Here is the picture from the rear hub dismantled. This is the quality of bearings they use. Be careful folks. Wouldn’t want this to fail in high speed...

[bugnut]

Here is the picture from the rear hub dismantled. This is the quality of bearings they use. Be careful folks. Wouldn’t want this to fail in high speed...

My opinion is that FREY did the right thing for you. I do not think that you crying on the internet will affect FREY one bit. There are way to many satisfied customers and if someone was researching FREY bikes I think your unreasonable expectations would stand out as just that.

[NeilE]

I was riding my AM1000 with 580 miles on it and my hub failed today. I was a few miles away from home in a very hilly area. Pushing the bike up hills to get home wasn't fun. I purchased the bike last November and this was the 1st problem. I hope Frey has a good solution as I will not be very comfortable riding the bike far from home with a cheap rear hub that could fail at any time.

[FlyingFinn]

I was riding my AM1000 with 580 miles on it and my hub failed today. I was a few miles away from home in a very hilly area. Pushing the bike up hills to get home wasn't fun. I purchased the bike last November and this was the 1st problem. I hope Frey has a good solution as I will not be very comfortable riding the bike far from home with a cheap rear hub that could fail at any time.

Please post pictures as well when you get them so these fanboys will calm down and might even admit there is a real issue with the rear hubs.

I bought a DT Swiss 350 hub since it has a modular construction that gives possibility to change for eg. only the axle or freehub. There is also available a steel freehub for the 350 as an upgrade in which I will change if the current aluminium one fails. You will get a spare XD -freehub with the 350 as well which you can maybe sell for $40.

[FlyingFinn]

First post hey... who else thinks NeilE is actually a butthurt FlyingFinn posting under a new name?

Register a new account in 2018 and wait for a year just for the perfect moment to come here and start trolling. You must be f*ckin out of your mind...

[brake034]

The best thing NeilE can do is raise a claim to Frey by email, best to do that with some pictures and a simple explanation what happened.

I am very sure the Frey team will do it's best to solve the issue the best they can.

I think it's not a correct way for Frey to try and solve claims on this forum, they have a team monitoring emails but may not check each post in this or any other thread on the ES forum?!

[FlyingFinn]

I think it's not a correct way for Frey to try and solve claims on this forum, they have a team monitoring emails but may not check each post in this or any other thread on the ES forum?!

Nobody has demanded or even expected that Frey comes here to solve things. This is FYI -type of communication to all other owners of the bike. Don’t worry, I assume people are clever enough to handle the warranty negotiations in AliBaba.

Are you signalling that we should hush things up?