EG Enterprise Review

Hi folks. I purchased an EG Enterprise earlier this month and I've been reviewing the bike on a few other forums for the past few weeks. I just discovered endless-sphere today and I'm looking forward to participating in this group. I'm going to post my ongoing reviews here (see below) as this is the most active forum I've seen on electric bicycle reviews. I'm still about as green as they come with respect to e-bikes and I'd love to get your thoughts and advice. Thanks in advance.

Despite the smallish (200w) motor, the fact that it was made in China (*cough*) and the fact that there are NO CUSTOMER REVIEWS or feedback on any website (including Eco, Mybikeonline, amazon, egbike, etc.), I recently ordered an EG Enterprise, which is set to arrive today. I hope that it will hold up to my 12 mile (each way), mostly flat, mostly bike-path commute to and from work in the spring.

At $899, delivered, it seemed like a decent choice for my first electric bicycle considering the following features: Lithium-Ion battery, aluminum frame, front disk brake, front suspension, 18mph (unassisted), 35mile range, ped-assist/full electric, and 54lb total weight (including battery). It would have been even better with a rack and some fenders, but at the price point - I can’t complain.

Ultimately, I would have preferred a 250w or 350w BionX kit on a lighter mountain bike or hybrid frame - or even one of the all-in-one electric Schwinn, Giant or Ezee bikes, but considering the BionX kit (without a bike) costs around $1,600-$1,700, and the Schwinn, Giant and Ezee models that I was considering were more in the $2,200-$2,400 range . . . it was hard not to give the EG a try.

Does anyone have any feedback on this particular bike? On EGBikes in general? If anyone knows of a site with reviews can you please post a link? Also, I know that the US importer is in Canton MA, but does anyone have any details on the manufacturer in China? Quality control practices? Fair labor practices?

I will likely wait for the snow to recede a bit before putting the Enterprise to work, but as soon as I have a few trips under my belt I will return and let you know how the bike performs.

A bit of cyber-sleuthing turned up the name of EGBike's Chinese exporter (perhaps the manufacturer???) an outfit called "SHANGHAI B&W Import & Export Co. Ltd., located at 18B No. 8 Dongfang Road, Shanghai 200120 China". That's where the trail went cold. Hopefully, more details to follow - in the interim, if anyone has any info on EGBikes, the EG Enterprise, or related info, including any customer feedback, I'd love to hear from you.

After putting the little ones to bed last night I was able to spend a few hours un-boxing, assembling and groping the new EG Enterprise - below you will find my preliminary impressions. I will follow-up with a more complete review on how the bike actually performs after I have put the bike through its paces.

1) First Impressions - The bike was delivered on time (which was great because it arrived in two days as promised by the company; impressive) and the boxes arrived in good shape without any damage from shipping. The bike was delivered in 2 boxes, one giant box with the bike itself and a smaller box with the battery. The packing materials that the bike was shipped in did not at first glance inspire confidence, but the bike was delivered without any noticeable damage so I guess the bike was packaged appropriately for transport. After opening the boxes and removing the packing materials, it looked as though all the parts and pieces were delivered, but it was tough to be sure because there was no instruction or assembly manual shipped with the bike!! Luckily, I had downloaded and printed the instruction manual from the EGBike website earlier, so I was able to proceed.

2) Assembly - When initially discussing the bike with the sales people, I asked whether the bike needed to be assembled by a bike shop or whether I (with modest handyman skills) could assemble the bike myself. I was assured that the bike was 90% assembled at the factory and that the remaining 10% would be easy. Despite the bold-faced, capitalized warnings on the box that the bike should be professionally assembled, I found the sales people’s advice to be accurate. In about an hour and a half, with very few tools, I had the bike more-or-less assembled. The bike came with the two sizes of required allen-wrenches and a crescent-wrench; the only other tools that were necessary for assembly were a large and small Phillips screwdriver and an adjustable wrench. Assembly included mounting the handlebar and seat-post, and attaching the front wheel, pedals, lights and reflectors. I did not have the time to swap out the handgrips that were already on the handlebars for the twist-throttle handgrips (including connecting the electrical wiring of the throttle-grips to the wiring on the bike), but this doesn’t look like it will be an overly complicated task. I can’t imagine why the bike doesn’t come with the throttle-grips installed . . . but, it seems like a relatively minor task. I wish the assembly instructions were a bit more detailed and a bit clearer, but with a little trial and error, they got the job done.

3) Thoughts on Quality, Fit and Finish - First, though I’m sure it’s completely obvious at this point, let me make it clear that I’m a complete noob when it comes to all things related to bicycles. That said, my first impression of the bike is was favorable. The external fit and finish of the frame, wheels and components was good. Everything seemed well constructed, clean, sturdy and undamaged. I have not charged the battery or inflated the tires so I have not been on the bike yet to comment on the ride, but the moving parts all seem to be in working order and moving relatively silently. A few things to note that may (or may not) be an issue in the future - (a) there are quite a few wires snaking along the exterior of the various tubes of the frame, and while at first blush they seem to be adequately subdued by a small legion of zip-ties, I wonder if in the future they will get caught-up on objects and cause problems; (b) there are plastic caps on the end of the axle bolts on the rear axle that are not secured to the bolts in any way other than by gravity - there is no way that these will stay on the bike, they will get lost; (c) the tops of the keys that secure the battery to the bike are plastic and hinged (so that you can fold the top of the key against the lock and not have it protrude out from the bike frame), but are extremely low-grade plastic with a tiny flimsy hinge and will certainly brake over time; (d) the front and rear lights that were added as a “free-extra” are also extremely low grade and I do not expect them to last - but after all, they were free, so I suppose I shouldn’t expect much; and (e) the words “powered by a lithium-ion battery” are emblazoned on one of the minor tubes of the frame, which in my mind is a giant “STEAL ME” sign - one of the reasons I liked this bike is it was fairly unassuming and looked more or less like any other mountain bike - so I will have to cover these words somehow (any suggestions - paint? tape?). As you can see these are all very minor concerns, and let me reiterate that on balance, I am very pleased with the quality, fit and finish of the bike - especially considering the price and the location of the manufacturer.

4) Other Thoughts - This bike is heavy. It feels heavier than 54 pounds (though I have nothing but wimpy arms to support that opinion). I’m glad the bike has front disk brakes because at 20mph, I have a feeling that the bike is going to be a bear to stop. The saddle on the bike is tall even with the seat-post on the lowest setting. Because the battery is mounted behind/under the saddle, the saddle must be approximately 8 inches above the throat of the frame tube that holds the seat-post. I am 5’10” and when I stand straddling the bike, I barely clear the top of the frame tube. Even at the lowest setting the saddle hits me just below my waist. I’m going to take the bike to a local bike shop this weekend to get it properly fitted and to ensure that it is put together properly.

I will continue to review when I have more info. Again, if anyone has any info on EGBikes, their manufacturer, the Enterprise, or related info, including any customer feedback please let me know.

Just a quick note. Took the assembled EG Enterprise to the local bike shop guru for a quick once-over to be sure that my amateur assembly wasn’t going to result in my untimely death on the maiden voyage. He seemed impressed with the electronics, but warned that the “modest” (his words) components would likely fall victim to problems from wear-and-tear rather quickly. Troubling. He’s going to add some fenders and a rack to round out the “commuter” extras of the bike. I will try to include pictures after I get the bike back.

Still looking for any info out there on manufacturer . . . feel free to send an email directly if you’re not comfortable posting info on the board. Any info appreciated (you too Eco/Jeremy).

Another quick note - I received a call from the local bike shop yesterday. The bike guru explained that the disk on the front disk brake was not flat - in fact, it was bent in a few different places. As a result, the disk rubbed against the brake assembly and prevented the front wheel from spinning freely.

Despite his best efforts, he could not adjust the front brake enough to overcome the defect. If he adjusted the brake to avoid the rubbing, the brake could not provide enough force to stop the bike. If he adjusted the brake to provide enough force to stop the bike, it rubbed against the bent rotor.

I have to say that I am pretty disappointed that the bike was sold with a manufacturing defect. I hope that this is an isolated incident and does not speak to larger quality control issues with this product/manufacturer. Keep in mind, I have not even taken the bike for a test-ride yet. It makes me wonder what else I am going to discover after firing up the electronics and putting the bike through its paces.

I am going to reach out to the company this afternoon to see if they will do the right thing and stand behind their product (there is a 1 year warranty on the bike and non-electrical components). I have had nothing but good experiences with the seller so far - so I hope that they do the right thing and offer to pay for the repair. I will write a follow-up post and let you know exactly how the company responds. Stay tuned.

This time an actual test-ride to report on (albeit a brief one), more on that in a minute.

First, I picked up the newly-tuned bike from the local bike shop, and I am very satisfied with the results. The bike guru gave the bike a complete once-over, put on a set of full fenders, modified an existing bike rack so that it would fit on the bike (with the seat-post, battery pack and the new fenders), swapped out the bent front disk brake for an upgraded model, rigged up a more sturdy set of front and rear lights and sized the bike for my 5’11” frame. The bike now resembles a decent commuter bike.

Then, I reached out (as promised) via email to the bike’s retailer. I explained that there was a manufacturer’s defect involving the front brake and I faxed over a copy of the bike guru’s receipt (a separate receipt for the replacement part and service cost for the front brake only). I could not be happier with the reply. In about a half hour, the president of the company wrote back and said he would cover the cost and noted that if there are any manufacturer’s defects in the future - to let them know first so that they could send out a replacement part. Wow. How many retailers in today’s market provide that kind of service or customer loyalty? I have been impressed with this company from the first interaction - if there was ever an endorsement for turning your back on the “mart” stores in favor of the local guy, this is it. I sent a copy of the receipt last Friday (2/20) and got a prompt response from the president that a check would be sent out this week. After the check shows up, I will drop the details of the company and the president in a post to give a well-earned plug.

Finally, the test ride. After charging the battery for a full 12 hours (per the bike’s instructions - the first 3 charges (only) should be for 12 hours, letting the battery empty fully after each charge), I hoisted the bike onto the car’s bike rack (HEAVY!) and set out for a decent testing ground. I chose a 8 floor parking garage that is nearby to demo the bike. It’s indoors so it’s a bit warmer than riding outside in this lovely February weather, there’s less salt and sand on the ground to coat the gears, chain, hub, etc., and there’s a good selection of uphill, flats and downhill to test the bike’s abilities.

I rode the bike with no power to see how it handled without the motor. The bike was heavy, but handled well. The front suspension and seat-post suspension give the bike a comfortable ride, even over minor potholes and speed bumps. I went up and down through all of the bike’s gears a few times - it was a smooth and silent exchange, without any jumping or excessive delays even at the extremes. It’s a good thing that the bike has so many gears, because hauling this thing up hill with no electric support is a task. That said, it absolutely flies downhill and the brakes (with the aftermarket front brake) stop the bike remarkably well. The ride was silent, without the clicking and squeaking that I have grown to expect with lower-quality bike components. Now on to the power.

First, I tried the bike on power-assist low. I found this mode to be a barely noticeable (although welcome) addition to pedaling. In the complete silence of an empty parking garage, I could hear the motor in the rear hub power up with a pleasant “whoosh” when I first started pedaling (or continued pedaling after coasting for a bit), but otherwise this form of assistance was unobtrusive. It was as though the bike was compensating for its own husky weight. Then, I tried the bike in power-assist high. I have a feeling that this will be my preferred mode of travel for my commute. It was great - like having someone push the bike from behind with noticeable force. The faster I peddled, the more support the bike provided, until I was climbing hills with ease and pushing my limits of acceptable speeds on the downs. Breaking was still not a problem, even at the higher velocities. The “assist” competently turns off a second or two after you stop peddling or if you tap the breaks. It’s a very natural feeling system of propulsion. As you can imagine at 200w, this bike is not a hill climber. There is no way that I’m going to be able to break 20mph or keep up with cars on the road. It does, however, provide an extra boost that will no doubt extend my natural biking stamina on a 12 mile (each way) commute. Lastly, I tried the bike on electric only mode with the twist throttle. The experience was a bit underwhelming. If I started from a dead-stop, the bike did its best with my 190lb cargo and after a 5-10 seconds was up to speed; which (admittedly without a speedometer) did not feel anything like the advertised 18mph, even on flat ground. I suppose that my weight does not meet the “optimum conditions” footnoted in the bike’s advertised specs. I am going to use my portable GPS at some point to monitor the bikes range and speed and I’ll report back with a more accurate number, but for now I’d guess that on a flat surface at my weight the bike was around 10-12mph on electric only mode. Engaging the electric throttle when the bike was already up to speed was more enjoyable - I can see myself using the throttle to carry me on downs or flats when I need a bit of a break.

Unfortunately, I can’t say anything about the battery’s longevity. Due to the cold (30 degrees), I had to cut the test run short after about 45 minutes of fooling around. When I put the bike back on the car, the meter still showed full battery life. When I do the first full test run with the GPS, I’ll have better data to report, including info on battery life. One more quick note on the quality of the electrical components. The wires on the surface of the bike and the plastic “snap” connectors that connect the wires at critical junctions seem extremely flimsy. I brushed up against the bike with my leg and disconnected the main wiring coming out of the rear motor - the wires entering one side of a plastic “snap” connector just fell out! The connector was still closed, but the wires leading into the connector had nothing holding them in other than gravity. All I had to do was put the wires back in and use a bit of electrical tape to prevent them from falling out again - but it did not exactly inspire confidence. I am going to review all of these connections and add a bit more electrical tape to the bike to sure up any additional weak spots. Is this typical of electric kits?

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the first test run and I expect great performance from the enterprise in the future. More info and pics sometime soon.

Jrodpad,

Terrific review, that's a nice package for the money. I was looking at the bikes from EG myself and considered buying their "Kyoto" model. I like that these models have a full 21 speeds since many of the ebikes coming from China (hey what doesn't come from China nowadays) often have just one front ring. Most folks on this forum don't consider buying a 24V electric bike and it's one reason I didn't purchase the EG, opting instead to convert an extra bike I already had.



Just so folks know what your bike looks like I'm posting this stock photo;





More info and pictures are available at their website;

http://www.egbike.com/EGUSA/EGElectricMTB/index.htm


-R

Thanks Russell,

The pic is a fair representation of the bike - but mine is black with white details rather than the other way around. I really wanted something with a bit more power, but the comparable ready-made bikes that I was able to find at 36V were considerably more expensive.

I found that most of the enterprise’s peer bikes from China have either a steel frame (and are therefore considerably heavier) or have a more limited set of speeds or both. I’ll do my best to post pics of my bike with the aftermarket add-ons as soon as possible.

I would have loved to play with a kit and build a setup myself, I love spending time in the shop - but I didn’t have a decent bike to start with and I definitely don’t have the time to tinker at the moment (2 young kids at home), so the prefab route was more cost efficient and more convenient. I still can’t get the BionX system out of my head - it looks amazing.

- J

Nice that it has two levels of assist, like the bionx but with less levels. Looks like a good bike, and if you are satisfied with the speed, the only improvement would be more batteries to ride farther, and then only if you need it. You see a lot of high power, modified controller hot rods on this forum, but for getting to work, a simple bike that doesn't squander the battery is a good idea. The only problem you have is now you'll be hooked, and soon have several ebikes cluttering the garage.

Am I the only one who immediately thought shill alert?

John

Maybe, I'm sure he isn't Ping :lol: I sorta doubt a shill would mention any defect whatsoever. I can belive he likes it, its far better looking to me than many of the ebikes in the same price range.

I agree with DogMan. I do not believe he is a shill. He was as forthcoming with the bike's deficiencies as with its strengths. The description of the bike has cemented my decision to go with nothing less than a 36-volt system. And for that, I am thankful to him for his submissions.

Please keep us updated. My fear for our Pioneering Hero is that this system is underpowered for his needs and that unless he is very, very careful, he'll wind up asking it to do too much for him with sad results. Good Luck!

It may be like personal size, whatever it is, 12 more cm would be welcome but we get the job done without it. :wink: I find 36v a good copmpromise between more sustained speed than pedaling and flirting with the law. My bike at 22 mph is not legaly still a bike, but I feel it's close enough, and don't want to go to a 15 mph 24v bike to be legal. Meanwhile this forum is full of folks from The USA that think anything under 35 mph is a joke. My personal opinion is that ebike laws need to be revised to speak only of top speed, and commercial ready to ride bikes could have that speed programmed in. A 60 v bike could then have a good hill climb speed and then still be legal on the flats. Making the bike weak by using 24v just to be legal is not the greatest idea. I think it's one of the reasons EV Global flopped, along with sla technonogy.

jrodpad said:

the words “powered by a lithium-ion battery” are emblazoned on one of the minor tubes of the frame, which in my mind is a giant “STEAL ME” sign - one of the reasons I liked this bike is it was fairly unassuming and looked more or less like any other mountain bike - so I will have to cover these words somehow (any suggestions - paint? tape?).

Click to expand...

Unless it's under clear coat, heat up the decal with a hair drier, scrape most of it off with something like a stiff debit card, remove the glue & residues with paper towel + lighter fluid.

Thanks for the responses - I’ve got a fair bit to update from my last posts.

First, thanks to Mathurin for the advice on how to get the labels off - worked like a charm.

Second, with respect to the question above: no, I’m not a shill. I thought about posting a disclaimer in my original post to avoid speculation that I had any connection with the product - but I knew I would be posting a lot of text and after thinking it over decided it was unnecessary. But now, to avoid any additional speculation:

I am in no way affiliated or have any interest whatsoever, economic or otherwise, (other than owning an EG Enterprise) in EG Bikes or any of its affiliates, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, resellers, etc., etc. To go one step further, I don’t even know anyone who does (other than talking with the retailer over the phone when ordering the bike and when asking for a refund for repairs on a manufacturers defect - more on this last conversation below) have any such interest or affiliations.

Really, I’m just trying to get more info out there. When I did research on what type of bike to buy, there was no (zero) first hand accounts of how this bike performed in the real world from owners and I thought that I could help fill in the info gap a bit. There are only a limited number of options for people who don’t have the time to tinker and build their own kit - I suggest that anyone who wants to buy a premade electric bike do as much research as they possibly can and come to their own independent decision on which bike to buy. I am not trying to convince anyone to buy this bike - in fact, as I’ve written in the various posts above, if I could have afforded a better bike, the EG Enterprise would not have been my own first choice. I’m trying to highlight the bike’s flaws as evenly as I extol its virtues in my reviews and I will continue to be as critical as I believe the product deserves. I guess there’s no way for me to conclusively prove to everyone that I’m not part of some on-line rouge advertising consortium that floods forums with biased reviews . . . but I’m not - I wish that my job was that exciting.

Third, I finally heard back from the retailer yesterday about the refund for the manufacturer’s defect part (see my post from 2/25). As discussed above, I asked the retailer to pay for the cost of a new brake ($69) and send him a copy of the invoice ($69 for the parts and another $40 for the labor). Yesterday, a check arrived for $69. I am happy to see the retailer stood behind the product and paid for the replacement part. I noted in my post above that I would give the company a plug if it did the right thing and paid up - I bought my EG Enterprise from MyBike Online (www.mybikeonline.com). I purchased the bike from LeRoy Watkins, MyBike’s president and I have been dealing with LeRoy to address the manufacturer’s defect issue. It’s worth noting that MyBike’s “policy” is to have its customers send back any defective part for replacement. LeRoy didn’t have to cut me a check for the cost of the new brake, he could have said “send in the bad brake and I will mail you a new one”, but he did the honorable thing and in the interest of keeping his customer happy mailed out a check to help cover the costs. I’ve had a very good experience as a customer of MyBike and working with LeRoy. For people paying close attention, that’s right, MyBike did not cover the $40 for labor in installing the new brake, but as mentioned above, they’re already going beyond their articulated returns policy, so I feel like in the end we wound up splitting the cost of the defect and that I’m being treated fairly.

Fourth, and most importantly, I got the chance to do a real-world test! We had a brief reprieve from the snow and cold weather (mostly) a few weekends ago and I did a test run of my 12-13 mile commute in to work. This post is already long, so if you don’t want to keep reading, here’s the snapshot: the bike performed about as expected. The power assist was nice, but ultimately a bit underwhelming. The charge on the battery was amazing, although I would happily sacrifice a bit of battery life for a bit more power from the motor.

Now for the details.

Power: As discussed, I traveled most of the way on power assist high. It was a great help and compensated for how out of shape I am. It was also a great help on gradual inclines to take some of the sting out of long low hills. I also faced a 10-15mph headwind that was gusty. Most of my commute is along a river and the wind whipped up across the river and hit me in the face for (best guess) 75% of my ride. The power assist was key in helping me fight the wind. In fact, at one point in my ride when it was particularly windy, I passed a spandex-cowboy type on a fancy road bike who was being beaten up by the wind gusts. In your face spandex cowboy! When I needed a break from peddling, due to hills or wind or just biking for too long, I pulled back on the throttle and went on power-only mode. In the wind it felt really slow, but it gave me a few minutes here and there to rest my legs before switching back to power assist high and muscling through again. Most of my commute is flat, but in the one hilly part having the power boost was nice but this bike is not a hill climber. Not at all. If I had to deal with any significant hills along the way, the bike would not work out. It’s heavy to start with and the motor is not capable of taking over completely on real inclines. Lucky for me, on my commute hills are not an issue. If the bike had a little more power - even just a little more - I feel like riding in on power only mode and maintaining a decent speed would be a reality. For now, I feel like I can go much faster on power assist high and that I can use the power only mode for when I get tired and need a break from peddling.

Speed: I have a mostly-flat 12-13 mile commute to work over a mix of bike path and roads. I was hoping to do the commute in between 50 and 60 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my GPS with me at the time, so I still don’t have very reliable speed information for when the bike was on power only mode or on power assist high, but I kept my stopwatch running and can do a very rough estimate on average speed for the trip. I got lost two times on my test run, the first time I lost the bike path when it crossed an intersection and had to double back - not much time lost, maybe 5 minutes. The second time, I overshot my exit from the bike path and had to go a fair bit out of my way to correct the mistake, maybe about 15 minutes. The total time of my test run was 79 minutes. Correcting for getting lost, about 60 minutes. By my back-of-the-envelope, completely non-scientific estimate, I went about 12-13 mph as an average speed for the trip. With a bit more practice and better weather (at one point I had to walk my bike over ice for about 200-300 yards on a shaded part of the bike path), I’m sure I can bring my average speed up. Hopefully, next time I’ll take my GPS along for the ride and I’ll be able to figure out how fast the bike goes on power only and on power assist.

Battery: As explained above, when I started out on my test run, the battery had already had about 30-45 minutes of riding around on it. During the ride, the battery indicator on the handlebars showed a full battery the whole time - the manual says that the handlebar meter is better for when the battery is nearly empty. After the ride, the indicator on the battery itself read 2/3 full!!! One of two things is happening here - either the battery is great and the motor is highly efficient, or the indicators on the battery and handlebars are wrong. A few more test-runs will answer this question for sure.

Finally, while not the aluminum stallion I was hoping for, I’m generally happy with the bike’s performance. If the test run is indicative of my average commuting experience, I think riding in by bike will be a viable option in the spring. More info to follow on the next test-run.