Hi! Newbie from the north coast of California

[Jack Coul]

Hi ! Like many of us here I started out many years ago on a motor cycle racing motocross. When I turned 70 got my first mountain bike then when i turned 81 I got my first e-mountain bike and have been riding and racing it for the past year. My e-bike is a 2020 LevoSL comp. I have upgraded the suspension to DVO Dimond forks, DVO Topaz shock and MaguraM7 brakes. Big improvement in the handling. I'm lucky since I'm unemployed (retired) I get to ride 3 to 4 times a week.
I watched Rob's video on his Chinese build and got inspired to try it myself. Unfortunately it has turned into a major pain in the butt. I bought the frame, duel suspension carbon and the bafagn m600 motor kit from Top-Fire in China 7 months ago. The frame got serious damage in shipping so Top-Fire did replace it but this took over 2 months because of covid and supply chain problems and shipping take about 1 month each way. The frame does look pretty good, I painted it gloss black and put some cool stickers on it. When I finally got the motor I installed it the next day and every thing was looking great.....BUT....the motor would not power up. The way the bafang company works is they do not sell directly to customers only to sellers and all warranty work has to go through the seller. Well Top-Fire does not want to deal with the warranty, they keep telling me to take it here then there or try this or that and they just keep putting me off. I contacted bafang support and they say yes they will fix the motor under warranty but the seller has to ship it to them first. I keep going back and forth with bafang and Top-Fire but no resolution yet. I keep hoping that some day I will get to ride my new e-bike.n I am sharing this just in case some one else is considering a Chinese build and that they should investigate the company as much as they can and even then it is a risk.
Well thats my story....I hope to start posting here and get some help from other members.

 

[RustyIron]

Hey, Jack.
Welcome from another gray haired Californian. I just got my first eMTB last year, at the age of 58. I was reluctant because I'm still young enough to ride an Amish bike well, and I wasn't ready to turn in my Man Card. But what I found when going to the eMTB, my body stays in good enough condition to ride at least several days a week. Strains, sprains, and injuries are fewer and less severe, and I feel better overall. I still ride both, but I can feel the difference the next day.

I've been intrigued by the import "do it yourself" bikes. But then I think about some of the other products I've used from that area of the world. Most recently it was a bench top belt sander. I wanted it for a small, one-time project. An American or Western European tool would have cost many hundreds of dollars. Instead, I got one from the land of shoddy products for about fifty bucks. I got it home and it didn't work right. It was a shoddy design. I took it apart, and found the workmanship was equally awful. It took several hours to make it work the way I needed. If the cost of my labor was a consideration, I would have been better off buying the GOOD one in the first place. But like you, I'm retired, and sometimes up for a challenge. I spent a little money, a lot of time, and in the end, my imported belt sander is still not as good as one made by a legitimate manufacturer.

My point is that I could buy some imported parts cheaply, beat my head against the wall trying to get them to work, and in the end, still not have something as good as I can buy at my local bike store. Hopefully, those shifty businessmen across the ocean will eventually provide you with a product that works.

 

[Jack Coul]

Hey, Jack.
Welcome from another gray haired Californian. I just got my first eMTB last year, at the age of 58. I was reluctant because I'm still young enough to ride an Amish bike well, and I wasn't ready to turn in my Man Card. But what I found when going to the eMTB, my body stays in good enough condition to ride at least several days a week. Strains, sprains, and injuries are fewer and less severe, and I feel better overall. I still ride both, but I can feel the difference the next day.

I've been intrigued by the import "do it yourself" bikes. But then I think about some of the other products I've used from that area of the world. Most recently it was a bench top belt sander. I wanted it for a small, one-time project. An American or Western European tool would have cost many hundreds of dollars. Instead, I got one from the land of shoddy products for about fifty bucks. I got it home and it didn't work right. It was a shoddy design. I took it apart, and found the workmanship was equally awful. It took several hours to make it work the way I needed. If the cost of my labor was a consideration, I would have been better off buying the GOOD one in the first place. But like you, I'm retired, and sometimes up for a challenge. I spent a little money, a lot of time, and in the end, my imported belt sander is still not as good as one made by a legitimate manufacturer.

My point is that I could buy some imported parts cheaply, beat my head against the wall trying to get them to work, and in the end, still not have something as good as I can buy at my local bike store. Hopefully, those shifty businessmen across the ocean will eventually provide you with a product that works.

Hey, Jack.
Welcome from another gray haired Californian. I just got my first eMTB last year, at the age of 58. I was reluctant because I'm still young enough to ride an Amish bike well, and I wasn't ready to turn in my Man Card. But what I found when going to the eMTB, my body stays in good enough condition to ride at least several days a week. Strains, sprains, and injuries are fewer and less severe, and I feel better overall. I still ride both, but I can feel the difference the next day.

I've been intrigued by the import "do it yourself" bikes. But then I think about some of the other products I've used from that area of the world. Most recently it was a bench top belt sander. I wanted it for a small, one-time project. An American or Western European tool would have cost many hundreds of dollars. Instead, I got one from the land of shoddy products for about fifty bucks. I got it home and it didn't work right. It was a shoddy design. I took it apart, and found the workmanship was equally awful. It took several hours to make it work the way I needed. If the cost of my labor was a consideration, I would have been better off buying the GOOD one in the first place. But like you, I'm retired, and sometimes up for a challenge. I spent a little money, a lot of time, and in the end, my imported belt sander is still not as good as one made by a legitimate manufacturer.

My point is that I could buy some imported parts cheaply, beat my head against the wall trying to get them to work, and in the end, still not have something as good as I can buy at my local bike store. Hopefully, those shifty businessmen across the ocean will eventually provide you with a product that works.

Hey RustyIron. Thanks....I'm still haggling with them and I hope i do get it working because I like the bike and know it would be fun to ride, be able to ride steeper and longer hills. Yea my riding was just getting to where I couldn't make some of the climbs but now with the e-bike there a breeze and as you know I go further and faster and do get a good work out.