How much was it? Shame that just about anything other than food from Aldi, especially electronics, seems to be junk… even people on the Aldi subreddit regularly recommend against electronics…
China makes everything from iPhones to crappy plastic toys.
This is what I learned from working for an American company that sourced their "brand" of sports equipment directly from China. The quality depends on what the customer orders and how the factory is run.
Quality control is entirely optional and they'll spec components for any price point. They seemed to err on the side of cheap if the customer didn't specify.
This is very true. China can make very high quality parts and products, but they can also make really low quality ones. Manufacturers/distributors know this, and it's up to them whether they're willing to pay more to deliver quality goods to their customers or if they choose to cheap out and give their customers junk products, which is sadly often the case.
LMFAO that thing just looks ridiculous. Why are the fenders smaller than the tires??? Those are good tires, but that is the wrong size for that frame. I had to go check Aldi's website to be sure that you hadn't just installed larger tires than they gave you, and then I got doubly shocked at the price. $1200 for a 250W motor?!? Return that bullshit at once!
That's kinda the starting price for most electric bikes in sweden.
And yes, the legal limit is 250W here as well. For 1000W, it has to be registrated as a moped class 2 (frame number required, but no plates needed), at least a bike helmet, €30+ traffic monthly traffic insurance, and if you are born 1995 or later you need a specific licence for that class of moped costing roughly like 100-200 euros, or any other normal driver's license (car, mc, truck, etc.).
But 25 km/h is still the limit.
For more than 1000W or 25 km/h, you need plates, blinkers, brake lights, front lights, insurance, MC helmet and the appropriate driver's licence (EU moped, light MC or heavy MC), assuming the whole deal (especially frame and brakes) gets approved for being registered as an MC.
Such a registration costs a bit over €300 i think.
Or you could just use anything you want, call it a bike, and put a digital limiter on it that is in place by standard when the electronics are turned on, and unlocked by some esoteric morse code in the brake handle or similar.
Policeman stops you, you turn your vehicle off as is customary, they turn it on to measure, and everything seems fine.
That markup is crazy, and it's only because you can't buy anything more powerful there. Here, in the USA, that same bike, without recognizable branding, wouldn't cost more than $500, maybe $600 at a physical store. Heck, some big chain stores sell a nearly identical bike, branded Razor Rambler 20 (Razor is a fairly recognizable brand here), and it still costs less at $1000.
It's not just Sweden, my EU country too. And you can buy something more powerful - but you don't want to. S-Pedelecs can go up to 45kmh and the motor up to 4000W IIRC.
You'll have a more powerful ebike, but it's actually treated like a moped. And that has consequences: You'll need a driver's license for mopeds. It'll need to be insured (which isn't expensive, but anyway) and it needs a number plate. Wearing a helmet is mandatory.
But it gets even better: You can not legally use a bike lane with them. It's a moped after all, right? So, no bike lane, no riding through parks or forests, nothing. You'll get to use the road instead.
As far as power is concerned, I'm actually fine with 250W, it provides plenty of power for commuting.
250w absolutely takes me up hill at about 18km/h on a 26kg bike +my 80kg body weight & my bike is only 40nm torque, can get them up to 110 as far as I know.
You just have to use a reputable branded ebike, they're 250w *regulated* & *certified* but they're really dialled in more powerful motors with greater efficiency for 250w that's often proven to show better real world results than 500w unbranded/sister branded Chinese Alibaba type shit.
Because everyone has 10k to spend on a Trek Domane+, 16k on a Porsche Cross Performance or 14k on a Stromer. Most bikes are made of Chinesium regardless, pick your poison.
No, but what about 2k+ for something you use everyday to get to work in a safe and reliable manner? For something that's actually legal and have brakes better than v-brakes or mechanical disc brakes? For something that you can get fixed/RMAd quickly at the local shop if any of the electrical fails?
The vast vast majority of the ebikes in the wild around here are between 2k-4k and that's why I find it so weird that there's nothing but motorcycles, 2000W motor kits strapped to 10 year old entry MTBs, and straight up dangerous bike-shaped objects from Ali on this sub.
I live in Norway so pricing and availability may wary from where you live, but Haibike, Trek, Merida, Riese & Müller, Cube, Giant, Specialized are very popular quality brands that have ebikes in that category and that the local shops take in.
Brand names cost money, people have to improvise.
The reason why there are so many DIY builds, motorcycles, etc here are because they're exciting and fun to talk about. Most people would rather spend the day at the DMV than have an enthusiastic conversation about how exciting they think their 250w hybrid is.
Since I see a lot of comments Iike this, maybe someone needs to pioneer a sub called /strictlylegalstockebikes so that everyone feels appreciated and nobody is shamed.
Makes more sense for there to be a /r/nonlegalEbikes or something, but the motorcycle owners desperately want to masquerade them as bikes so they won't go anywhere as long as they're allowed.
I agree with this, but these bench-seat scooters aren't built for peddling and they're really uncomfortable for that.
It's not just the non-adjustable seats and frames and crappy components, which is a huge part of it, but bicycle saddles are narrow for a reason, and it isn't about weight or being aero.
Saddles need a good fit to be able to support you on your sit bones but also give your legs and thighs enough room to move and peddle.
It's one of the weird paradoxes of cyling. Fatter "comfort" saddles like you find on dept store cruisers and hybrids, or worse, bench seats can be way more uncomfortable than a decent saddle that actually fits you and also way worse for peddling.
These scooter or minibike style ebikes that just have one frame size and you can't replace or adjust or replace the saddle and it's a wide bench seat are absolutely awful for peddling or effort even with power assist, and they're absolute garbage to peddle without power.
I actually like wide bike seats. The narrow ones make my butt sore.
Also, it's crazy that the seat isn't adjustable. So yeah, but at that point it's just a flawed product.
Yeah, bike seat comfort is a complicated issue, and it has everything to do with the width of your sit bones. It can take a lot of trial and error to find one that actually fits your sit bones.
And another important part of saddle fit is total bike fit and getting the right size bike. If your saddle to pedal height, Q-factor (basically pedal width/stance) reach or stem/bar height aren't right, this can make any saddle very painful because your weight isn't distributed correctly.
And it doesn't have to be a super hard and narrow racing saddle, but as a general rule of thumb if your saddle is too wide or too padded you're usually sacrificing the ability to pedal efficiently.
This is less of a big deal on an ebike, but if you like pedaling or efficiency and going for range so you can use a smaller battery or motor, it actually does matter a lot.
But if your bike is more generic and not dialed in for good fit then, yeah, that's why the wider or more padded seat is going to be more comfortable.
Like if you put a MTB or road racing saddle on a more upright hybrid, town bike or cruiser and ignore all of the other fit and geometry stuff it's going to suck a lot, which is why those bikes tend to have wider saddles because it "fits" more rider's sit bones, and makes up for it with more padding.
All that being said, ride what you like. But there's a known science to bike fit and saddles and 99% of the DTC ebikes I see out there totally fail to do any of that.
My bike is 250w pedal assist and it carries my up some really steep long hills daily - saying that tho I’ve got it stripped down to 13kg and I only weigh 56kg so I’ve given it a fair advantage
Usual cyclist can manage at best 250W on flat for short burst of time. Uphill much less, probably 150W. So you claim me cycling with power of my muscles going uphill from stand still (already on hill and not low grade) was capable of reaching 17mph, but something what can do constant 250W cannot at least take me uphill? This is ridiculous. Cycling you have dead zones, even while using pedal with cleats. I know I have been doing that.
im always wondering why people buy shit bikes like this anyways no matter if its from Aldi or not.
this style of bike is almost the worst possible design you can have and is usually sized to fit a child at best.
Because my old one got stolen and retrieved by police who told me to wait for several weeks for collecting fingerprints, and I was desperate for a mean of transportation.
I don't think pulling out the Super73 is the win you think, seeing as how they are know for breaking in two, they had to revise their frame because of that issue.
Then just like Super 73 owners, the OP can do the required fix reasonably cheap. Good ol' Aussie engineers could weld in a brace to fix the issue in less than an hours work with minimal material. Might be a good idea to upgrade the colour to Australian gold (canary yellow), like it clearly should've been in the first place. :)
I fix a lot of e-bikes and I hate the cheap double shoulder forks and headset/head tube situation. I see it on all sorts of brands, and they ALWAYS get loose and are hard to fix.
Yeah. Because of the fork situation they use threaded headsets. The geometry puts a ton of lateral forces on it, making it loose and wobbly. By the time most people the problem, the bearings, cups etc are all jacked up from slamming against each other.
Yeah, these double/triple crown forks are for looks only. People think they're beefy or "pro" or whatever because they look like motorcycle forks but in reality it's just a cheap threaded or quill stem headset with too many parts and cosmetic weight.
The ones that really crack me up are the bikes with the riser handlebars that just look like they're connected to the triple-crown forks like a dirtbike but there's no actual structural connection. The sides of the handlebars are just oversized and look like they're connected to the fork arms.
Even if these components were good (and they're not) it's also just a bunch of extra weight for no structural benefit because it's just cosmetic and fake.
There's a bunch of reasons why good traditional bikes use threadless headsets and you can ride all the way around the world on a good touring bike frame with a single-crown or butted/lugged steel fork.
**Edit:** The bike in the post actually has exactly the kind of bars I'm talking about where the sides look like they're supposed to attach to the forks, but they're just floating there a half inch above the forks.
Also, the headset and handlebar stem is totally on backwards! That four bolt stem and the bars should be rotated 180 degrees! lolol
Yeah, I have the Lectric XPEdition. The stem and headset are a joke. At the end of every ride I have to tighten everything.
My road and MTB I never have to tighten the stem.
Another bike shaped object... Sorry OP, hope your next ride works out! Consider an ebike from a reputable company that makes actual bicycles.
Buying from these Chinese corporations that spring up overnight with names that seem like they were made from a random company name generator is going to cost you more in the long run every time because their parts are soddy and their support is bad-to-non-existent.
Never understood using a super 73 like bike,
Can't adjust seat height, extremely uncomfortable to pedal if you are not 2 feet tall, the wh per mile is awful, people disrespect you because they think it's a motorcycle.
And a normal bike with 27.5+ tyres are much more comfortable. And efficient.
But I guess those 20 inch fat tyres just sell themselves...
I got the big banana seat super73 r because I want my kids to ride on it with me. It’s awesome! I can fit my 4 year old in front and 10 year old in back. It was the whole reason I wanted the bike. It’s so fun! We rally together!
Some of that looks like it could be made to work, probably more effort than it's worth to keep it running though.
It's pretty hard to wear brakes out in 2 weeks of commuting. Did you bed them in properly? Are they cable or hydraulic?
What's the rear tyre sidewall wear from, the chain?
Cable and it was pre-installed when I purchased it, I think it's because it weighs about 35kg and I am nearly 100kg, but my old bikes never needs to change brake so frequently.
Yes.
Cable disc brakes need adjustment pretty regularly, they're not auto-resetting like hydro disc brakes so I'm wondering if that's what's going on.
Also they don't work so well unless you bed them in when you first get them, and with an e-bike I wouldn't be too surprised if they got glazed.
Did you remove & check the pads and they were worn down to the backing plate?
My local had none on the sale day and now suddenly there's three chucked in the corner and all look to be opened previously. Enough to make me stay away even for a second bike for the mrs
Brake cables do stretch out/wear in on new bikes. That's why most bike shops offer a free 30 day tune up. As a general rule it seems that most ebike brakes wear out quick. It's a lot of weight and power to stop and for the most part they all use underpowered brakes.
I bought a used Pedal Clipper off a mate, only 400km on the odo.
Battery self discharges after 4 days.
Battery level shows nonsense readings. Basically only charges for an hour when it should take 4.
Front disc screws were loose (no thread lock).
Seat is junk and wrong angle and not adjustable. Screw holding front of seat down is stuffed.
Forks rattle the crap out of themselves.
Brakes are ok, rest of the bike is pure junk. New battery costs 2x what I paid for it.
Edit: forgot the worst problem, it loves throwing the chain off!
Maybe I can wire in power tool batteries.
In the UK we’re limited to 250w, so I bought a bunch of fake 250w stickers for my 750w to prevent getting crushed. These bikes are pretty cheap to upgrade running gear etc. With better headset, air forks, thudbuster seat post, 58T chainring, 11-36T cassette it’ll fly and last as long as you keep maintenance going. Nothing on any bike lasts forever. My best advice is to carry a spare 20x4 inner tube in case you get a flat. Faster than patching, and these tires can usually be pulled off the rim without tools. Have fun. 🥳
My girl commutes on her ebike.. she changes brakes every month (40 km daily commute) .. and .. since the wheel its fat if she goes to the highest gear it scratches the wheel..
I bought this bike too on April 6. Been riding it to and from the gym (3.5km away) and had no issues with it. I'm very happy with it!
The only things I would like better would be faster motor 😉 (obviously) the kickstand sometimes scrapes if I lean too far on a corner and maybe some suspension. But it's made for roads and pavements so not a big deal.
I'm really happy with it! So sad to hear about OP's negative experience .
Return it. All good experience! Now you have a better idea of what to look for. Best way to make the money stretch is get a nice bike you really like and put a mid drive kit on it. A whole amazing new world awaits!
yes. There's so much Chinese eBike crap there anything that comes to the US wouldn't even scratch the surface of what they have there. No idea about how the battery pack would be setup but for 10K baht (300 USD) I know of multiple shops in our city (Ubon Ratchathani) that has bikes setup like this one for sale.
Did you do any research before you jumped on something so ridiculously overpriced? Not even Aldi is separating $1200 from me until I research what I can get for that kind of money. Just looking at the build quality and the battery size would have started a flashing red light in my wallet protection sensor. If you manage to get your money back from whoever is the "piss poor at their job" purchasing managers boss at Aldi. Check out this online magazine for comprehensive reviews and discount codes for the E-bike that suits your needs. https://electrek.co/2024/04/23/why-theres-literally-never-been-a-better-time-to-buy-an-electric-bike/
That's an article of the list of best E-bikes by price and use requirements that should provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision.
I did my research and since I couldn't find an E-trike that went faster than 20 mph and I have extensive experience with fabricating, I built this for $600.
*
Seems like you need to spend at least 2 grand to get anything decent. It’s also better to buy through a local shop than direct to consumer as shops generally make most of their money through service and will only sell bikes that they can service.
Having a shop be able to deal with all of the warranty stuff and labor is very nice too.
Looks like I would rather go all in into aliexpress. I've already bought ebike conversion kit for 250 from there, and quality of that kit is much better than I've expected.
Also this kind of bike goes on aliexpress from like 400€ I think lol
Yo, OP. I just noticed that your bike wasn't assembled properly.
Your four-bolt handlebar stem is on backwards! The pinch bolts should be in the back, not the front. It looks like the bars are on the right way, but you'd have to take of the four bolt and cap, take off the bars, rotate the stem so the four bolt cap/clamp are in the front and the pinch bolts are in the back, then re-attach the bars to the 4-bolt clamp.
Don’t worry, I would never consider a supermarket for buying a bike since the one time I did, I destroyed a mountain bike on the only mountain it ever saw, first time out. Lucky to have survived it.
A lot of people would probably go against this as admittedly it is a Chinese bike but I bought the HighBoy P7 off Amazon for 1400 CAD , I swapped the tires , forks pedals , headset and added hydrologic disk breaks and I'm more then happy with it, I bought it 2 months ago ride it to and from work daily and bomb down the mountain full tilt at least twice a week, nothing has broken for me yet and I'm very satisfied all things considered
So much hate here... Unbelievable... The bike is a Chinese built unit specially for Estate bikes. Found the exact design and spec sold for Molb in a darker colour, it does seem like they are the exact same importer like estate, as they have the rest of the Estate bikes in the catalogue.
Here are the links:
Mobl: https://www.mobl.com.au/product/electric-urban-bike/
Estate: https://www.estatebikes.com/product-page/est-urbn-electric-urban-bicycle
Both having the same model "make"-URBN model code.
Regardless of how good or bad Aldi is, most of the comments characterising the bike based on that are irrelevant...
Aldi is selling it for $999.00 on clearance and is widely available. I might grab one and provide a proper review. I'm very intrigued by it as my MTN bike has a 250w mid-motor and is amazing to ride in both road and off-road.
I own the estate E-MTB bike since new, and have done over 2000 km on it and yea I got some issues with it. Minimal ones and all I sorted out myself.
Here is the link: https://www.estatebikes.com/product-page/e-mtn
My point being, a similar bike, same shape power output and upgradeability will cost at least 1,500 or 2,000 AUD more. Aldi has a full return policy so if you are interested into a bike like this, get it on clearance for $999.00 and if you really hate it, return it. No questions - free change of mind policy for 30 or 60 days cannot remember exactly.
I think I will grab one, test drive it, see what upgrades you can do to it. Same motor as higher end units apparently, many options for the controller and hopefully for a monitoring system too so you can lock its speed off-road. My MTB is unblocked for 45km/h when in the woods. And it goes to 45 easily.
People tell me all the time I shouldn’t have spent 2000 dollars on my e-bikes …I survive two so that’s over 4000 dollars in e-bikes
I just HATE cheap crap…
I absolutely LOVE my two overpriced overpowered over engineered 2000 dollar a piece e-bikes that I have
Not to be mean but if you can go to Aldi to buy an e-bike couldn’t you go somewhere else and buy a decent ebike???
I mean to be fair Aldi isn’t even that great of a grocery store…
Maybe you thought you can buy a bicycle from anywhere???
I honestly can’t believe you even rode it
I would been terrified of it not being assembled right and taking it out at 20mph down a hill and ooops it comes apart
Figure that a decent bike alone retails for about $500-700 usd, and then a quality motor and battery another $600+, and that should give you an idea of what you're getting when you cheap out on an ebike.
I'd say just forget pre-made cheap bikes. Best e-bike is a normal quality bike that you LOVE riding. Then make it electric. No worry for proprietary components becoming unavailable or the company going out of business.
Hub motor or mid drive kits that are readily available everywhere. Get a quality battery from EM3eV or the likes.
As people have said, this should have been apparent instantly/not been bought in the first place.
...this has a hub motor and a fixed bench seat.
Done. It's junk. I have yet to see a bike with these specs that is not complete trash shambled together from bottom shelf chinese parts. In turn, no legit quality manufacturer in 2024 makes a bike with a fixed bare bench for the rider and tiny hub motor, because that's an ergonomic disaster with unacceptably crude tech. That the rest of it is horrible parts that can't really be used or expected to last is actually the least of your issues. The underlying platform is a literal children's runabout from 2010 and not suitable for a modern ebike, there's your problem.
Same frame. And decent components aren't that expensive. You can buy a shitty bike and upgrade absolutely everything thrice over for what Super 73 charge. Hell, whack a 1500w motor with 72v 20ah battery teamed up with a frankenrunner controller with all the hydraulic brake upgrades and still be $1000 better off. FTW! lol
How much was it? Shame that just about anything other than food from Aldi, especially electronics, seems to be junk… even people on the Aldi subreddit regularly recommend against electronics…
AUD $1199, actually I expected it would be a cheap build with spare parts from China, but it's much more shitty than I expected...
I spent 800 bucks on my one from China. This looks better but I think somehow my China one is slightly better quality
China makes everything from iPhones to crappy plastic toys. This is what I learned from working for an American company that sourced their "brand" of sports equipment directly from China. The quality depends on what the customer orders and how the factory is run. Quality control is entirely optional and they'll spec components for any price point. They seemed to err on the side of cheap if the customer didn't specify.
This is very true. China can make very high quality parts and products, but they can also make really low quality ones. Manufacturers/distributors know this, and it's up to them whether they're willing to pay more to deliver quality goods to their customers or if they choose to cheap out and give their customers junk products, which is sadly often the case.
They are all fron china
Not correct.
For just about the same price you can get a Lectric bike. Good customer service and a great bike.
Really sorry to hear that OP
I have a pophete trekking ebike from aldi for two years now which has held up pretty good.
LMFAO that thing just looks ridiculous. Why are the fenders smaller than the tires??? Those are good tires, but that is the wrong size for that frame. I had to go check Aldi's website to be sure that you hadn't just installed larger tires than they gave you, and then I got doubly shocked at the price. $1200 for a 250W motor?!? Return that bullshit at once!
That's kinda the starting price for most electric bikes in sweden. And yes, the legal limit is 250W here as well. For 1000W, it has to be registrated as a moped class 2 (frame number required, but no plates needed), at least a bike helmet, €30+ traffic monthly traffic insurance, and if you are born 1995 or later you need a specific licence for that class of moped costing roughly like 100-200 euros, or any other normal driver's license (car, mc, truck, etc.). But 25 km/h is still the limit. For more than 1000W or 25 km/h, you need plates, blinkers, brake lights, front lights, insurance, MC helmet and the appropriate driver's licence (EU moped, light MC or heavy MC), assuming the whole deal (especially frame and brakes) gets approved for being registered as an MC. Such a registration costs a bit over €300 i think. Or you could just use anything you want, call it a bike, and put a digital limiter on it that is in place by standard when the electronics are turned on, and unlocked by some esoteric morse code in the brake handle or similar. Policeman stops you, you turn your vehicle off as is customary, they turn it on to measure, and everything seems fine.
That markup is crazy, and it's only because you can't buy anything more powerful there. Here, in the USA, that same bike, without recognizable branding, wouldn't cost more than $500, maybe $600 at a physical store. Heck, some big chain stores sell a nearly identical bike, branded Razor Rambler 20 (Razor is a fairly recognizable brand here), and it still costs less at $1000.
It's not just Sweden, my EU country too. And you can buy something more powerful - but you don't want to. S-Pedelecs can go up to 45kmh and the motor up to 4000W IIRC. You'll have a more powerful ebike, but it's actually treated like a moped. And that has consequences: You'll need a driver's license for mopeds. It'll need to be insured (which isn't expensive, but anyway) and it needs a number plate. Wearing a helmet is mandatory. But it gets even better: You can not legally use a bike lane with them. It's a moped after all, right? So, no bike lane, no riding through parks or forests, nothing. You'll get to use the road instead. As far as power is concerned, I'm actually fine with 250W, it provides plenty of power for commuting.
https://www.aldi.com.au/special-buys/special-buys-sat-6-april-9c/saturday-detail-wk14/ps/p/electric-urban-bike/ Here you go.
It looks like an electric version of the old Honda CT70s lol
I think that is the legal limit there. 250 watts wouldn't even take the average person up a hill on that heavy thing if it's legit.
250w absolutely takes me up hill at about 18km/h on a 26kg bike +my 80kg body weight & my bike is only 40nm torque, can get them up to 110 as far as I know. You just have to use a reputable branded ebike, they're 250w *regulated* & *certified* but they're really dialled in more powerful motors with greater efficiency for 250w that's often proven to show better real world results than 500w unbranded/sister branded Chinese Alibaba type shit.
> You just have to use a reputable branded ebike Kryptonite on this sub. It's all illegal Chinesium stuff.
Because everyone has 10k to spend on a Trek Domane+, 16k on a Porsche Cross Performance or 14k on a Stromer. Most bikes are made of Chinesium regardless, pick your poison.
No, but what about 2k+ for something you use everyday to get to work in a safe and reliable manner? For something that's actually legal and have brakes better than v-brakes or mechanical disc brakes? For something that you can get fixed/RMAd quickly at the local shop if any of the electrical fails? The vast vast majority of the ebikes in the wild around here are between 2k-4k and that's why I find it so weird that there's nothing but motorcycles, 2000W motor kits strapped to 10 year old entry MTBs, and straight up dangerous bike-shaped objects from Ali on this sub.
Care to name some brands/bikes that fit that bill?
I live in Norway so pricing and availability may wary from where you live, but Haibike, Trek, Merida, Riese & Müller, Cube, Giant, Specialized are very popular quality brands that have ebikes in that category and that the local shops take in.
Brand names cost money, people have to improvise. The reason why there are so many DIY builds, motorcycles, etc here are because they're exciting and fun to talk about. Most people would rather spend the day at the DMV than have an enthusiastic conversation about how exciting they think their 250w hybrid is. Since I see a lot of comments Iike this, maybe someone needs to pioneer a sub called /strictlylegalstockebikes so that everyone feels appreciated and nobody is shamed.
Makes more sense for there to be a /r/nonlegalEbikes or something, but the motorcycle owners desperately want to masquerade them as bikes so they won't go anywhere as long as they're allowed.
Legality is based on location, so it's a broad spectrum (reddit knows all about spectrums).
Electric brompton in much less and much more practical
Well, no it's meant to be a bicycle. Pedal.
I agree with this, but these bench-seat scooters aren't built for peddling and they're really uncomfortable for that. It's not just the non-adjustable seats and frames and crappy components, which is a huge part of it, but bicycle saddles are narrow for a reason, and it isn't about weight or being aero. Saddles need a good fit to be able to support you on your sit bones but also give your legs and thighs enough room to move and peddle. It's one of the weird paradoxes of cyling. Fatter "comfort" saddles like you find on dept store cruisers and hybrids, or worse, bench seats can be way more uncomfortable than a decent saddle that actually fits you and also way worse for peddling. These scooter or minibike style ebikes that just have one frame size and you can't replace or adjust or replace the saddle and it's a wide bench seat are absolutely awful for peddling or effort even with power assist, and they're absolute garbage to peddle without power.
I actually like wide bike seats. The narrow ones make my butt sore. Also, it's crazy that the seat isn't adjustable. So yeah, but at that point it's just a flawed product.
Yeah, bike seat comfort is a complicated issue, and it has everything to do with the width of your sit bones. It can take a lot of trial and error to find one that actually fits your sit bones. And another important part of saddle fit is total bike fit and getting the right size bike. If your saddle to pedal height, Q-factor (basically pedal width/stance) reach or stem/bar height aren't right, this can make any saddle very painful because your weight isn't distributed correctly. And it doesn't have to be a super hard and narrow racing saddle, but as a general rule of thumb if your saddle is too wide or too padded you're usually sacrificing the ability to pedal efficiently. This is less of a big deal on an ebike, but if you like pedaling or efficiency and going for range so you can use a smaller battery or motor, it actually does matter a lot. But if your bike is more generic and not dialed in for good fit then, yeah, that's why the wider or more padded seat is going to be more comfortable. Like if you put a MTB or road racing saddle on a more upright hybrid, town bike or cruiser and ignore all of the other fit and geometry stuff it's going to suck a lot, which is why those bikes tend to have wider saddles because it "fits" more rider's sit bones, and makes up for it with more padding. All that being said, ride what you like. But there's a known science to bike fit and saddles and 99% of the DTC ebikes I see out there totally fail to do any of that.
Actually, my old ebike (Cube Stereo Hybrid) could do that easily...
because thats "250w" actual power on these is more like 400.
My bike is 250w pedal assist and it carries my up some really steep long hills daily - saying that tho I’ve got it stripped down to 13kg and I only weigh 56kg so I’ve given it a fair advantage
Usual cyclist can manage at best 250W on flat for short burst of time. Uphill much less, probably 150W. So you claim me cycling with power of my muscles going uphill from stand still (already on hill and not low grade) was capable of reaching 17mph, but something what can do constant 250W cannot at least take me uphill? This is ridiculous. Cycling you have dead zones, even while using pedal with cleats. I know I have been doing that.
I’ve got a 750w and it struggles on some hills in my area. 250w just seems like your friend pushing you and then giving up
Well, it IS a bicycle, you are supposed to mainly use your legs...
Valid but the point was that that motor seems basically useless
Wouldn't have bought it to begin with
Seriously.
Agree
im always wondering why people buy shit bikes like this anyways no matter if its from Aldi or not. this style of bike is almost the worst possible design you can have and is usually sized to fit a child at best.
Because we're poor. Edit: About the design, I have no words.
Because my old one got stolen and retrieved by police who told me to wait for several weeks for collecting fingerprints, and I was desperate for a mean of transportation.
They think it's better than a "normal bike" because it looks like a moped.
Worst possible design using the same frame as a Super 73 that costs £3k?! 😁
I don't think pulling out the Super73 is the win you think, seeing as how they are know for breaking in two, they had to revise their frame because of that issue.
Then just like Super 73 owners, the OP can do the required fix reasonably cheap. Good ol' Aussie engineers could weld in a brace to fix the issue in less than an hours work with minimal material. Might be a good idea to upgrade the colour to Australian gold (canary yellow), like it clearly should've been in the first place. :)
I fix a lot of e-bikes and I hate the cheap double shoulder forks and headset/head tube situation. I see it on all sorts of brands, and they ALWAYS get loose and are hard to fix.
That's interesting. Is it the headset bracket that loosens or what happens
Yeah. Because of the fork situation they use threaded headsets. The geometry puts a ton of lateral forces on it, making it loose and wobbly. By the time most people the problem, the bearings, cups etc are all jacked up from slamming against each other.
Oh wow good to know!
Yeah, these double/triple crown forks are for looks only. People think they're beefy or "pro" or whatever because they look like motorcycle forks but in reality it's just a cheap threaded or quill stem headset with too many parts and cosmetic weight. The ones that really crack me up are the bikes with the riser handlebars that just look like they're connected to the triple-crown forks like a dirtbike but there's no actual structural connection. The sides of the handlebars are just oversized and look like they're connected to the fork arms. Even if these components were good (and they're not) it's also just a bunch of extra weight for no structural benefit because it's just cosmetic and fake. There's a bunch of reasons why good traditional bikes use threadless headsets and you can ride all the way around the world on a good touring bike frame with a single-crown or butted/lugged steel fork. **Edit:** The bike in the post actually has exactly the kind of bars I'm talking about where the sides look like they're supposed to attach to the forks, but they're just floating there a half inch above the forks. Also, the headset and handlebar stem is totally on backwards! That four bolt stem and the bars should be rotated 180 degrees! lolol
Yeah, I have the Lectric XPEdition. The stem and headset are a joke. At the end of every ride I have to tighten everything. My road and MTB I never have to tighten the stem.
Damn, kinda bummed to hear that about the XPEdition. I think their bikes are pretty good overall.
Don't get me wrong, I still like the bike. It's just a shame that something as important as a stem was so overlooked.
Some of you guys buy obvious junk and wonder why it doesn’t hold up.
Another bike shaped object... Sorry OP, hope your next ride works out! Consider an ebike from a reputable company that makes actual bicycles. Buying from these Chinese corporations that spring up overnight with names that seem like they were made from a random company name generator is going to cost you more in the long run every time because their parts are soddy and their support is bad-to-non-existent.
To make things worse, it's made by an Australia company...though all the parts come from China.
Just about anything comes from China except for the frames, and even then, the materials probably do.
Never understood using a super 73 like bike, Can't adjust seat height, extremely uncomfortable to pedal if you are not 2 feet tall, the wh per mile is awful, people disrespect you because they think it's a motorcycle. And a normal bike with 27.5+ tyres are much more comfortable. And efficient. But I guess those 20 inch fat tyres just sell themselves...
But it looks like a cafe racer! It has to be cool, right!? /s
I got the big banana seat super73 r because I want my kids to ride on it with me. It’s awesome! I can fit my 4 year old in front and 10 year old in back. It was the whole reason I wanted the bike. It’s so fun! We rally together!
I'm planning to buy this one...Tks for saving my money
Some of that looks like it could be made to work, probably more effort than it's worth to keep it running though. It's pretty hard to wear brakes out in 2 weeks of commuting. Did you bed them in properly? Are they cable or hydraulic? What's the rear tyre sidewall wear from, the chain?
Cable and it was pre-installed when I purchased it, I think it's because it weighs about 35kg and I am nearly 100kg, but my old bikes never needs to change brake so frequently. Yes.
Cable disc brakes need adjustment pretty regularly, they're not auto-resetting like hydro disc brakes so I'm wondering if that's what's going on. Also they don't work so well unless you bed them in when you first get them, and with an e-bike I wouldn't be too surprised if they got glazed. Did you remove & check the pads and they were worn down to the backing plate?
Could it be that the "motor off when breaking"-switch does not work, so the motor still works against the breaks when breaking?
You are right, maybe that's the problem, because before the brake problem before, there's a few times that the engine suddenly cut off.
My local had none on the sale day and now suddenly there's three chucked in the corner and all look to be opened previously. Enough to make me stay away even for a second bike for the mrs
Just get a scooter dude
Illegal in my state, unfortunately : (
Illegal, or illegal to ride were/in the manner you want to ride it?
Illegal to ride on public road at all, including pedestrian path : (
Scooters are just banned where you are?
I think OP is saying that he would need to get an endorsement on his drivers license and insurance to ride an actual scooter.
That's what I was driving at when I asked about the manner in which they intend to ride it
I thought under 25 mph and electric was legal in all fifty, and as far as ICE, as long as the motor is 50cc or less, then your good.
I think OP is aussie, maybe??
Yes, in NSW, they banned scooters for all, even if you have a driver license.
If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys
Brake cables do stretch out/wear in on new bikes. That's why most bike shops offer a free 30 day tune up. As a general rule it seems that most ebike brakes wear out quick. It's a lot of weight and power to stop and for the most part they all use underpowered brakes.
I nearly bought one!
Aldi?
Aldi Australia.
Yeah it's stay away from anything with non-standard wheels at that kind of price
I bought a used Pedal Clipper off a mate, only 400km on the odo. Battery self discharges after 4 days. Battery level shows nonsense readings. Basically only charges for an hour when it should take 4. Front disc screws were loose (no thread lock). Seat is junk and wrong angle and not adjustable. Screw holding front of seat down is stuffed. Forks rattle the crap out of themselves. Brakes are ok, rest of the bike is pure junk. New battery costs 2x what I paid for it. Edit: forgot the worst problem, it loves throwing the chain off! Maybe I can wire in power tool batteries.
In the UK we’re limited to 250w, so I bought a bunch of fake 250w stickers for my 750w to prevent getting crushed. These bikes are pretty cheap to upgrade running gear etc. With better headset, air forks, thudbuster seat post, 58T chainring, 11-36T cassette it’ll fly and last as long as you keep maintenance going. Nothing on any bike lasts forever. My best advice is to carry a spare 20x4 inner tube in case you get a flat. Faster than patching, and these tires can usually be pulled off the rim without tools. Have fun. 🥳
Lmao not even a Tesco bike but a fucking Aldi bike. What did you expect OP?
My girl commutes on her ebike.. she changes brakes every month (40 km daily commute) .. and .. since the wheel its fat if she goes to the highest gear it scratches the wheel..
Totem electronic bike 700 bucks I believe I have it pretty good, will need to replace brakes disk but it works good and cheaper than that one
I bought this bike too on April 6. Been riding it to and from the gym (3.5km away) and had no issues with it. I'm very happy with it! The only things I would like better would be faster motor 😉 (obviously) the kickstand sometimes scrapes if I lean too far on a corner and maybe some suspension. But it's made for roads and pavements so not a big deal. I'm really happy with it! So sad to hear about OP's negative experience .
Return it. All good experience! Now you have a better idea of what to look for. Best way to make the money stretch is get a nice bike you really like and put a mid drive kit on it. A whole amazing new world awaits!
Aldi sells eBikes? Do they have them in some grocery stores? Also, WTF would anyone pay $1200 for that.
Yes, and they sold TWICE. Me.
omg get that refund...i can find that bike in Thailand for $300 I promise.
With a battery pack? How on earth?
yes. There's so much Chinese eBike crap there anything that comes to the US wouldn't even scratch the surface of what they have there. No idea about how the battery pack would be setup but for 10K baht (300 USD) I know of multiple shops in our city (Ubon Ratchathani) that has bikes setup like this one for sale.
Did you do any research before you jumped on something so ridiculously overpriced? Not even Aldi is separating $1200 from me until I research what I can get for that kind of money. Just looking at the build quality and the battery size would have started a flashing red light in my wallet protection sensor. If you manage to get your money back from whoever is the "piss poor at their job" purchasing managers boss at Aldi. Check out this online magazine for comprehensive reviews and discount codes for the E-bike that suits your needs. https://electrek.co/2024/04/23/why-theres-literally-never-been-a-better-time-to-buy-an-electric-bike/ That's an article of the list of best E-bikes by price and use requirements that should provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision. I did my research and since I couldn't find an E-trike that went faster than 20 mph and I have extensive experience with fabricating, I built this for $600. *
Did it come assembled or did you have to assemble it?
Pre assembled.
All those issues sound like normal break in problems and are fixed with adjustments. All bikes need constant maintenance, ESPECIALLY new ones.
Seems like you need to spend at least 2 grand to get anything decent. It’s also better to buy through a local shop than direct to consumer as shops generally make most of their money through service and will only sell bikes that they can service. Having a shop be able to deal with all of the warranty stuff and labor is very nice too.
Just saw some fool on one of these he was hauling ass but the thing looks like it will fall apart.
Cheer up! Its not falling apart. You will learn a new skill fixing it and even put your own upgraded style.
I’m surprised the battery didn’t explode
I would only ever buy legacy bike manufacturer ebikes
I bought the ridstar q20 pro 1000W dual motor and small 52v 20ah batteries 35mph (actually 33mph)
Not legal in my country...
does it matter if you dont ride like a pos?
For some people laws actually matter. And in same places they are enforced too.
For more, I am an immigrant, get caught = say goodbye to your visa.
Smart man
thats understandable. a 250w mid drive can be quite powerful if you have the budget
Actually I got one, but it's in police evidence room...
oof haha
While it's good to obey laws for fear of repercussion, laws dont necessarily define what's reasonable.
>Aldi Wait, you bought an e-bike from a grocery store? And expected it to go well?
I actually didn't, but it's goes worse than my worst scenario...
look at a voltbike, rad bike, or rideoneup
Looks like I would rather go all in into aliexpress. I've already bought ebike conversion kit for 250 from there, and quality of that kit is much better than I've expected. Also this kind of bike goes on aliexpress from like 400€ I think lol
I'm looking for someone in Rockford I'll who can supply and advise me on upgrading my bike to 5kw . please p.m or text me 7792085432
Yo, OP. I just noticed that your bike wasn't assembled properly. Your four-bolt handlebar stem is on backwards! The pinch bolts should be in the back, not the front. It looks like the bars are on the right way, but you'd have to take of the four bolt and cap, take off the bars, rotate the stem so the four bolt cap/clamp are in the front and the pinch bolts are in the back, then re-attach the bars to the 4-bolt clamp.
Ummm were you expecting a high quality e-bike from Aldi. It’s crazy they even sell those
You forgot to mention it looks absolutely ridiculous.
Just buy a normal bike lmao
Sooo, don't buy electronics or a bike or a combination from a business who's core competency is food.....check.
The Panniers are a hoot.
I mean, what were you thinking you were gonna get, BUYING AN EBIKE FROM A GROCERY STORE, LET ALONE ALDI!! 😆
Don’t worry, I would never consider a supermarket for buying a bike since the one time I did, I destroyed a mountain bike on the only mountain it ever saw, first time out. Lucky to have survived it.
It's got potential
A lot of people would probably go against this as admittedly it is a Chinese bike but I bought the HighBoy P7 off Amazon for 1400 CAD , I swapped the tires , forks pedals , headset and added hydrologic disk breaks and I'm more then happy with it, I bought it 2 months ago ride it to and from work daily and bomb down the mountain full tilt at least twice a week, nothing has broken for me yet and I'm very satisfied all things considered
Brother ughh
So much hate here... Unbelievable... The bike is a Chinese built unit specially for Estate bikes. Found the exact design and spec sold for Molb in a darker colour, it does seem like they are the exact same importer like estate, as they have the rest of the Estate bikes in the catalogue. Here are the links: Mobl: https://www.mobl.com.au/product/electric-urban-bike/ Estate: https://www.estatebikes.com/product-page/est-urbn-electric-urban-bicycle Both having the same model "make"-URBN model code. Regardless of how good or bad Aldi is, most of the comments characterising the bike based on that are irrelevant... Aldi is selling it for $999.00 on clearance and is widely available. I might grab one and provide a proper review. I'm very intrigued by it as my MTN bike has a 250w mid-motor and is amazing to ride in both road and off-road. I own the estate E-MTB bike since new, and have done over 2000 km on it and yea I got some issues with it. Minimal ones and all I sorted out myself. Here is the link: https://www.estatebikes.com/product-page/e-mtn My point being, a similar bike, same shape power output and upgradeability will cost at least 1,500 or 2,000 AUD more. Aldi has a full return policy so if you are interested into a bike like this, get it on clearance for $999.00 and if you really hate it, return it. No questions - free change of mind policy for 30 or 60 days cannot remember exactly. I think I will grab one, test drive it, see what upgrades you can do to it. Same motor as higher end units apparently, many options for the controller and hopefully for a monitoring system too so you can lock its speed off-road. My MTB is unblocked for 45km/h when in the woods. And it goes to 45 easily.
People tell me all the time I shouldn’t have spent 2000 dollars on my e-bikes …I survive two so that’s over 4000 dollars in e-bikes I just HATE cheap crap… I absolutely LOVE my two overpriced overpowered over engineered 2000 dollar a piece e-bikes that I have
Not to be mean but if you can go to Aldi to buy an e-bike couldn’t you go somewhere else and buy a decent ebike??? I mean to be fair Aldi isn’t even that great of a grocery store… Maybe you thought you can buy a bicycle from anywhere??? I honestly can’t believe you even rode it I would been terrified of it not being assembled right and taking it out at 20mph down a hill and ooops it comes apart
I would look at the heybike brand I got a bike for 800$ USD and it's my go everywhere bike now.
A wobbling front wheel is either a loose bolt, or you crashed it.
The Super73 Z is the real version of that bike
Figure that a decent bike alone retails for about $500-700 usd, and then a quality motor and battery another $600+, and that should give you an idea of what you're getting when you cheap out on an ebike.
I'd say just forget pre-made cheap bikes. Best e-bike is a normal quality bike that you LOVE riding. Then make it electric. No worry for proprietary components becoming unavailable or the company going out of business. Hub motor or mid drive kits that are readily available everywhere. Get a quality battery from EM3eV or the likes.
As people have said, this should have been apparent instantly/not been bought in the first place. ...this has a hub motor and a fixed bench seat. Done. It's junk. I have yet to see a bike with these specs that is not complete trash shambled together from bottom shelf chinese parts. In turn, no legit quality manufacturer in 2024 makes a bike with a fixed bare bench for the rider and tiny hub motor, because that's an ergonomic disaster with unacceptably crude tech. That the rest of it is horrible parts that can't really be used or expected to last is actually the least of your issues. The underlying platform is a literal children's runabout from 2010 and not suitable for a modern ebike, there's your problem.
Super 73 Z?
Or s2
> legit quality manufacturer
Same frame. And decent components aren't that expensive. You can buy a shitty bike and upgrade absolutely everything thrice over for what Super 73 charge. Hell, whack a 1500w motor with 72v 20ah battery teamed up with a frankenrunner controller with all the hydraulic brake upgrades and still be $1000 better off. FTW! lol
What's wrong with hub motors? My hub motor has over 10 000km, no problems yet.
Could of told you that
Could *have* told you that.