Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have owned this bike for a few weeks now and so far have put 140 miles on it according to the built-in computer. My primary use for this bike is for getting around Boston since I don't drive and the T is always crowded. Over this time I have made some observations about each component found on this bike, here is what I have to say. Initial assembly: This bike comes in a very, very large box since it comes mostly assembled, only the front wheel and handlebar needs to be attached using the included tools. I also unpacked the battery and charger first to get the battery charging while I put everything together. The package shipped from California all the way to Mass so I was a bit worried the condition it would arrive in. The box arrived with one hole in it and it was the guard over the rear derailer was bent inwards, it was easily bent back out and no damage was done. The gears do need to be tuned out of the box, and since I am new to that, I took this bike to a local shop to have everything checked over and tuned properly. The Battery/Motor: due to my height (6'3), I opted for the Blue Spark model which has bigger wheels and also a bigger battery and motor compared to the other available models. The motor has 6 different assist levels, 0 being pedals only and no motor, 5 being full motor assistance whenever pedaling. The twist throttle can be used any time except for level 0. I weigh about 205 lbs and on a flat surface the motor has no problem accelerating me up to the max speed of 20mph and can maintain that speed well if on flat ground. Being only a 350w motor, the power isn't anything too competitive but it is more than enough for my daily riding. The motor is also extremely quiet to the point others can't immediately tell this bike is electric. The battery takes approximately 6 hours to charge from completely dead, but I have yet to fully drain this battery. my longest ride so far has been 13 miles and that only drained the battery halfway using only electric for most of the ride. Drivetrain: The Blue Spark comes with Shimano Altus gears installed. Since I have no experience tuning bike gears, I left that to my bike mechanic. With everything tuned properly, the gears work smoothly and are completely silent when pedaling. The gears shift reliably using paddle shifters and so far I have had no issues with them. The only thing I would prefer is a higher gear ratio, when the bike is at 20 mph, even with the highest of the 24 gears selected, I feel like I am pedaling faster than I should be. I understand this is a mountain bike and that is the reason for the lower gears but I will get into that in the next section. Suspension: With this being a mountain bike, I expected the suspension to be on par with my previous mountain bike that this bike has replaced. The front suspension fork on this bike seems like it would get the job done being that it has the option to be locked and the stiffness can also be adjusted just by turning a dial. In my experience, however, the suspension handles nothing like I would expect from a mountain bike. Minor bumps and potholes are managed by the front wheel but the rear wheel always feels quite harsh. My primary use for this bike is on streets and occasionally riding thru grass/wooded areas. Even on seemingly light offroad paths, every bump is enough to shake this bike uncomfortably. If you plan to do any type of serious mountain biking, I would look elsewhere since this suspension isn't built for it. Brakes: This bike comes with mechanically actuated disc brakes. One of the first things I noticed was the brakes required significantly more force to stop compared to my old bike which used rim brakes. I talked to my bike mechanic about this and he suggested for a higher speed bike like this one along with a heavier rider like me, to upgrade to hydraulic brakes since it will allow for easier braking and eliminate the risk of snapping a brake cable in the future. I had Shimano hydraulic brakes installed on this bike and the braking performance has been much better. The brakes did cost me close to $300 but I believe it was worth it for the improvement is performance and safety. Customer Service: Before I ordered this bike, I ordered the cheaper option offered by Ancheer, but I changed my mind after and ordered the Blue Spark for its larger wheel size. Since I only ordered the other bike 30 minutes ago, I emailed Ancheer and requested they cancel the order. If you ever need to contact this company, be prepared to wait... a lot. Their customer service Based in some other country so the only time I recieve a response from them is around 4 in the morning and it's usually in broken english. Being that I ordered the bike on a Friday afternoon, they did not contact me until Monday morning only to tell me that the bike already shipped and there is nothing they can do. I didn't buy that for a second, though, since the tracking showed FedEx did not pick it up until Monday night. After some confusion with my mailroom, I had the incorrect bike returned to the sender to avoid any extra shipping charges which did end up working. Ancheer, however, stopped responding to my emails for a few days and it ended up being a few weeks of back and forth emails with them to sort out the bike. After a few weeks though, I did finally get my money back on the wrong bike. The only issue I've had with the Blue Spark is the instructions for the bike computer not being included and I had no idea how to reset the milage for the trip. Ancheer was able to send me a pdf of the instructions the next day, thankfully. I'd recommend this bike to anyone who is interested in electric bikes but doesn't want to make a larger investment to something more powerful quite yet. If you are planning to ride on anything other than roads or maybe a dirt path, I suggest you research other bikes since this suspension isn't up for it. UPDATE 11/1/19 After finishing a ride last night, I noticed my rear tire was vibrating a bit, not thinking much of it I brought the bike in to charge for the night. When I returned I found my rear tire to be completely flat. I found one very small hole on the tire that looks like it was punctured by a needle. I will be replacing the rear inner tube now. I also need to purchase a wrench for the back wheel since the correct size for that wheel was not included with the bike.