hows this bike look as a candidate?

Sinewave

10 mW
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
34
hows this look for a donor ebike, are the parts ok or are they junk? will cost me about $300

0a83393022.jpg



FULL 6061 ALLOY SUSPENISON FRAME 4 BAR LINK
INTEGRATED THREADLESS HEADSET,
SPINNER GRIND OS FORK, ALLOY STEM & H/B
SHIMANO ACERA 24 SPEED WITH SHIMANO ST-EF50 SHIFTER
CRANK SET FSA SIS DRIVE
FRONT & REAR DISC BRAKE, ALLOY HUB QR
ALLOY RIMS DOUBLE WALL, STAINLESS SPOKES
 
Ja, looks a bit like the "GMC Topkick", which retailed about the same price.

TKPL.jpg
http://ventas.webpcgroup.com/Varios/gmc_topkick_mountain_bike.htm
 
Front hub would be risk on an alloy fork, and disk mounting on some hubmotors motors is a fabrication job. I have found the cheapo bike a good platform, but a pile of 10 buck fleamarket bikes provided all the quality parts I needed to greatly improve it. A lot depends on the intended use too, I'm a commuter, so the cheeze suspension hasn't been an issue when riding on pavement. I don't mind canti brakes either since I live in the desert. This is what I'm riding, hard to belive it started out as a wallmart cheapie.58 TOOTH CRANK small pic.jpg
 
You won't get a good bike with dual suspension for 300$ unless you buy something that's 10 years old.

What you'd get is shitty components that are annoying to work on, need work frequently to keep working, poor quality tubing that's quite heavy, poor welds and poor build overall (think failure, not ugly) frames that are typically misaligned so nothing quite fits together, altho the only really critical part would be bb threading & play in the "suspension", but since they fail on both the bikes occasionally ghost shift. Full suspension that is absolutely useless, seems to be a gimmick that serves the purpose of looking like the real thing, adding mass and hurting aero in the process.

At their price point, if they didn't put gimicky shit on them like suspension, disk brakes, riser bars, gel seat, etc. then they could be of good service as form of transportation, but because they have to make way too many compromises to keep price low you end up with a bike that got put together in <15mins by a worker that's likely unskilled. So you get something that's definitively not safe out of the store, it'll get put together wrong and won't be adjusted even close to correct, so you'll have to pay a bike shop to go over it completely for you or diy, but even then you'd still have a barely ridable pos.

A better question would be: What isn't wrong with these bikes?


My suggestion would be to go check out bikes in local pawn shops, maybe take pics and post here.


Check out the disclaimer here, it's cute:
http://www.huckjambikes.com/

This video rocks also (bike is a Pacific):
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=I9w3Gbur74o


Disclaimer: the main bike I'm currently riding around is a box store POS, it has no suspension and the only original parts left on it are the steel BB & headset, the bb is clearly on it's last legs - just hoping it will not biodegrade before the end of winter.
 
this bike company is an oem manufacturer for many famous brand names.

other than the frame, do the other components such as the gears, cranks, brakes and wheels seem to be of respectable quality?

i found long ago that price doesnt always reflect quality, but thats the mentality that alot of companies want you to believe, sure there is alot of crap out there, but there is also good cheap stuff out there too.

this bike would sell for around $600-750 in the US.

i like the flat tubing, it will make mounting things easier ...not sure of the motor setup yet, but will be something that will allow the use of the bikes gears.
im going with a 'special' type of SLA for this one...that will allow full charging within 1 hour, and has the discharge rate of a capacitor.
 
dogman said:
...A lot depends on the intended use too, I'm a commuter, so the cheeze suspension hasn't been an issue when riding on pavement...

I agree. My Walmart full suspension MTB is far from being useless in my particular use as a road commuter. I find it to be extremely effective at absorbing the occasional pothole or uneven surface, and it's several years old, failure-free. Whatever energy loss there might be from "inferior" suspension dampening is compensated for by having a motor. Yes it's a fat pig of a bike, and I wouldn't dare try any 3 foot rock jumps on it, but all the expensive carbon fiber and lycra in the world won't hold a candle to it. I don't think it's fair to be so quick to condemn cheap suspension bikes as candidates for electric bicycles (for use in road commuting).
 
I'm afraid i have to go with the big box bikes in terms of increasing quality at a price. I keep am eye out for BMX types as my grandkids are into that ride over your head and jump over fences and stuff (skaters all) and I have noticed very little difference between the mid Walmart bike and the 3-500 BMX at the bike shop! Scary!
otherDoc
 
we're reaching a point where manufacturing techniques are being standardized now, if you want to see crap products go back about 10-15 years....but nowadays theres so much competition, its harder for companies to stay alive unless they provide acceptable quality and take a hit on their profit margins... because this is what new guys entering the market with less expenditures are having to do, in order to enter the market.

only industries that require extreme technical know how will be able to retain stupid high profit margins until more research is done by more companies to provide further competition...eg; lithium
 
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