I’m going to start out this off by instantly begging you to not purchase this ridiculous contraption you’ll see within the article under. You’ve been warned. Okay, now feast your eyes on this monstrosity! A $350 e-bike from Alibaba that comes with not only a suspension fork, not simply full-suspension, however at the least 5 extra shocks than any bike ought to ever conceivably possess, seemingly randomly sprinkled across the bike’s body.
Credit score goes to my writer, Seth, for locating this absolute gem. He and I play slightly recreation the place we ship one another more and more ridiculous Alibaba finds, attempting to one-up the madness of the opposite’s earlier discover. This one is certainly a contender.
Noticed on AliExpress’s platform, the location that makes it dangerously simple to obtain the strangest (and generally coolest) issues from the Far East, that is an e-bike that simply retains on giving.
To start with, try the suspension. There’s a entrance suspension fork, which is theoretically customary. There’s additionally rear suspension, however as a substitute of the only rear shock or occasional twin shocks (one on both facet), the designers of this e-bike gave us quad shocks. Then, as a substitute of leaving not-well-enough alone, they determined {that a} rear swingarm with quad shocks wasn’t sufficient, after which turned the complete rear half of the e-bike into one other swingarm with two extra shocks.
At this level, I’m beginning to get confused. Will we name the battery sprung or unsprung weight now?
This a lot suspension is like attempting to drink from a firehose, however we’re not even completed. As a result of if that wasn’t sufficient springiness for you, there are two extra springs within the saddle, technically bringing us as much as 10 springs complete! A man hit a velocity bump on this e-bike final week, and a few say he’s nonetheless bouncing.
Whereas I’d like to offer them the good thing about the doubt, my expertise with the most cost effective of Alibaba e-bikes tells me that they doubtless didn’t modify the spring fee of the shocks once they simply stored copy/pasting them. Meaning the bike in all probability rides stiffer than if it had half the variety of shocks (or it simply has the right pre-load for a 600 lb rider).
Sadly, the remainder of the bike is reasonably par for the course by way of low cost direct-from-China electrical bicycles. We’ve obtained our “500 Watt” motor, a surprisingly massive 48V 15Ah battery, folding handlebars, a cute little rear child’s seat full with seize bar (a pleasant contact, to be sincere), a full twist throttle, fenders, and even a whole lighting bundle with flip indicators.
The 66-lb (30 kg) bike isn’t very mild, however every of these shocks provides to the poundage, to not point out all the opposite doodads we’ve obtained bolted on across the bike.
The bike nonetheless folds in half, which is shocking contemplating a lot of the body is taken up by springs. At first look, I didn’t even see the folding mechanism hiding there.
It’s a wild specimen, and the free transport to the US makes the $350 value much more tempting. However please don’t purchase one thing like this (that lead picture is AI-generated… I didn’t purchase or experience this!). There are some actual issues right here. Who is aware of what sort of high quality management or security certification went into that battery, not to mention the body and different key parts?
Let’s simply get pleasure from this one on the display like most of my Alibaba finds and respect that somebody on the market mentioned, “let’s see what number of low cost shocks we are able to match on a motorcycle,” and no one stopped them.
