FLX BLADE

[garyal1]

Discharge ports on both the Addmotor and FLX blade bikes were identical. Discharge ports on Both Frey Batteries were slightly different in that they had additional communications connections besides the main power connectors. This is actually better for future battery monitoring, but would not interchange with my existing bikes. So for me these "newer" "improved" plugs were not desirable.

I took a close up photo on mine and sent it to Frey along with my promise to purchase two bikes from them but ONLY if they matched my discharge port. They told me theirs was newer style and improved. I agreed with them it was newer and had other features for future, but that I wanted ALL my bikes to have interchangeable batteries.

They met my requirement no problem. Remember, Frey does not build batteries...they buy them and their supplier can put any darn discharge port on there that you require! No difference in cost to Frey or to me....

Right now my family has 6 Ebikes including (inlaws and outlaws) and 9 batteries and ALL are inter changeable EXCEPT my home built Frey HT 1000 that I built with Phase Runner controller, mounted external to the motor and a 60 volt, 50 amp triangle battery.

 

[formula101]

Instead, I will mount the Phase runner under the cover and install a 60 volt 28 AH triangle battery into the bike with a 50amp BMS. At 60 volts this will give me a 3000 watt Bafang ultra. I will post more when I get more parts in. The Rolhoff rear wheel in boost 148mm rear is taking a while...

That's going to be an amazing setup. Can't wait to hear more!

I've got a HT1000 and got a FLX Blade for my shorter wife. I'm pretty disappointed with the Blade so far but hopefully we can get the issues sorted out. I'm loving my HT1000...

HI Entropic:

Thanks for your kind support! Yes, I will post some more photos as I start hanging parts on the frame.

I am curious about your problems on the FLX Blade unit. I had a problem in the first month with the rear SRAM group set coming loose and getting damaged. FLX, had me go get it replaced at a local bike shop and they paid for all of it. Then after 6 months the drive locked up and they sent me a NEW Drive in the mail! I put it in myself, but they offered to pay someone to do this as well.

While I could blame the first problem on FLX assembly practices.
The drive was in no way their fault. In BOTH cases they took great care of me without any hassle.

My FLX problem so far is that they're slow in responding to my e-mail messages since purchase. They were very fast pre-purchase. Maybe my expectations are too high, but I think they should be able to get back to me within a week... Hopefully they're just very busy with their success.

Issues so far:

• Derailleur hanger was bent in shipping. I could get shifting "pretty good" but not perfect. I'd much prefer to purchase a replacement and spares, but they want me to take it in to get repaired instead. My LBS was too busy to do this (my usual LBS actually seems a little reluctant to touch the bike at all, maybe I need to find someone new to work with) so I tried it myself and made it worse, but that's my fault and not theirs. There's third-party sites where I hope I can find a replacement if I strike out with FLX. I'm not at all surprised it's bent, but I am surprised that they can't just get a replacement out to me quickly.
  
• There's a noise in the front-end. I'm about 70% sure it's the front brake, but it could be the front fork, or perhaps the wheel. Goes away when I brake, I'm hoping it's just the pads moving around, but the noise is worrisome for me.
  
• Rear brake drags on the rotor. I think maybe a piston is seized or something. LBS advised to "just ride it for a while and see if it loosens up" so we'll plan on that but what will I do if it does need to be replaced?
  
• LBS noticed some play in the motor/crank spider. I was able to tighten it down a bit more with my Bafang tool, so I'm glad I had one.
  
• Didn't actually have a touring pack bike, which we ordered, so they gave us a standard for the standard's price. Not a problem. But the rear rack's upper braze-ons are not at all standard and they don't list a rack available for this bike on their site. They haven't responded to our requests for a recommendation.
  
• Finally, and most annoying for me, they list the bike as having a 27" "top tube height", which they confirmed was the same as "standover height" before we pulled the trigger. Well, our bike's standover height is actually more like 30"-31" depending on where you measure from. Even the shortest part of the top tube, below the seat (so not standover) is over 29" high. My wife is 5'5" with a 77cm PBH and it's a really tight fit for her. For me, it'd be unacceptable, but she's able to manage if she wears only certain clothes and shoes. She wants to tough it out, but I want her to have a bike that fits her... Of course, FLX "doesn't take returns" so I don't even know what our recourse would be, but it blows my mind that this measurement is this far off. Maybe their site and people only have a mish-mash of information between generations of the product or something? Despite buying it last month, this bike seems to be from 2017...

I think once we get these issues sorted everything will be good. I can see the promise of the bike. So far though, the Frey HT1000 is working out better for us.

These brands are 100% clueless when it comes to frame geometry and measurements. I chatted with a biktrix rep and he gave me completely erroneous information about frame geometry. The chart he sent me claimed a 65!!! cm top tube! I questioned whether this was accurate. He said he would measure the bike himself and after apparently doing so said it was 61 cm lol.

The impression I get is that customer service reps and owners alike just say whatever. As you said, you can't return the bike, so why does it matter?

 

[Ddc6284]

Anyone know the size of the rear axle? I know it's 12mm need to know thread pitch etc. The one on my bike is bad. Flx has been no help.

 

[formula101]

what?
EBR charges service fee for reviews of ebikes?
that is wrong - so by other words manufacturer pays for review, right?
and are EBR reviews really independent ?
I understand manufacturer lends ebike for review for free , but he has to pay for review?
that is weird.

I don't think that is weird.
If someone is going to work full time producing E-bike reviews, then he has to get some income to offset his costs.

This does not mean the review have to be biased, that depends on the person, and so far Court has proven to be fairly clean in that regard. He openly states that everyone has to pay the small fee, and to be fair, his reviews are not very conflictual. They are mostly descriptive, with some preference but few judgments

The more important issue is that the "reviews" shine a very bright light on the overwhelmingly shoddy quality of at least 90% of e-bikes being produced at this time. 9/10 times when seeing a review from one of these two channels, I want to either laugh or cry or both when I see the bike under review. Not only is quality bottom of the barrel, the level of duplication is absolutely absurd.

On top of that, the major brands esp trek and giant are chasing the independents down market with their own budget models which are simply the very same rebadged generics sold by dozens of other "companies."

The market for $1K to $1.5K e-bikes appears to be huge, which may explain why a company like radpower has becomes so successful.

 

[garyal1]

That may be true about the lower priced Ebikes currently on the Market.

However, this FLX Blade model with options was $4,300 plus Calif Sales Tax. Not a budget priced machine. It is a great bike with top end components and they sent me a replacement motor for the Bafang Ultra when it had a problem...Fair service and good treatment was my experience.

However, I have since moved on to the Frey bikes. Great design, lowest price for high end components and great service with a slight delay for time zone differences....

I have HT, AM 1000 5.0, and FAT 1000 2.0. Soon will have the CC and EX...……..

This company LISTENS and responds to the market!

 

[formula101]

That price point is brutal. I can buy a juiced bikes Rip Current S (1K watt-hour battery) AND a cross current S2 with 600 watt hour battery and still have a couple hundred dollars left over for accessories.

Can the Blade actually hit 40 mph? I've read the actual top end is closer to 34 mph. That's pretty darn close to rear hub models like the surface604 shred and juiced bikes 52volt models which can hit 30-32 mph (not on downhills).

 

[garyal1]

That price point is brutal. I can buy a juiced bikes Rip Current S (1K watt-hour battery) AND a cross current S2 with 600 watt hour battery and still have a couple hundred dollars left over for accessories.

Can the Blade actually hit 40 mph? I've read the actual top end is closer to 34 mph. That's pretty darn close to rear hub models like the surface604 shred and juiced bikes 52volt models which can hit 30-32 mph (not on downhills).

Apples and Oranges when comparing hub drives to mid drives....

For the Blade, yes, 34 MPH is about tops with fresh 48 volt battery and some pedaling. However, go try and climb a long steep hill with a hub drive.

A $4,000 + price point, including top components such as Spank wheels, SRAM X1 ebike cluster, Pike Lyric forks is not off the charts.
Compare FLX Blade to the Bosch stuff from Europe and it comes in low by a lot. With A LOT BETTER performance.

Now look at the comparable Frey HT 1000 and, yes the Blade is higher priced when you look at the delivered to your door cost. The Frey is 20-25% lower in cost. I have both and they are comparable, with the Frey giving boost specs and the Blade not.

My 60 volts, 50 amp HT 1000: Now this bike hits 42 mph on throttle only with Bafang ultra using the Phase Runner and CA3. Heats up pretty quick when 3500 watts are being pulled, but the temp sensor closed loop takes care of not smoking the system, throttles back current when temps exceed 100C.

 

[formula101]

This is a tricky comparison. Most every single mid drive I've ridden has been a 36V system from mainstream bicycle manufacturers: Raleigh, izip, specialized, giant, trek, ghost, etc. Most were mtb's but some were road/city models. The most impressive for climbing was a gazelle class 3 with a Bosch mid drive. That had effortless power when climbing. Same with the Trek Powerfly also powered by Bosch.

The rear hub drives were 48v systems from companies like Rad and Aventon. Not the nicest bikes, but plenty of power on tap for moderate grades, as far as I could tell. On the Aventon 500, 21 mph climbing is possible on moderate grades. The motor is doing almost of the work at the highest level of assist. The radrover was impressive as well.

Again, testing different voltages on different bikes on different courses doesn't make for a fair comparison, but my impression is that hub motors climb very, very well. Would 48v mid drives fare even better under identical conditions? It's possible, but hub drives are no slouch.

I'm well under 200 lbs and I ride a lot so am relatively fit though. Nonetheless, hub drives should have plenty of power for just about any climb.