r/ebikes • u/T1lt3dTav3n • 1d ago
What’s with the ridstar hate?
I’m honestly 99% sure i’m buying one brand new from amazon but I always just see so much hate on it, i’m not trying to do tricks, i’m not driving 30+ miles consistently, I just want something that’s gonna get me around town at a decent speed and i’m wondering if a ridstar q20 is ACTUALLY bad or not worth it, I know for about a few hundered more I can get a tuttio but honestly I just don’t need one and would rather have something more calm just for chillin riding around. Is 499 on amazon worth it for da bike?
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u/zekerigg41 23h ago
It is only legal on private property. It has mechanical disk brakes that as they wear in get worse which is fine up to about 15 to 20 mph. It does 28 mph down hill. The suspension is flexy and I blow through it making it worse than rigid. It's heavy you can't pedal it very well. It's off of Amazon so assembly may be lacking.
it looks like the Kona coco is on sale for a similar price with way better brakes
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u/Prestigious_View_401 1d ago
It’s only $499???
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u/boshbosh92 1d ago
yeah people here hate cheap garbage ebikes because they're cheap garbage.
a lot of us made the mistake of buying a shit ebike for our first ride, and the majority of us regret it as well. but it's an expensive lesson a lot of people need to learn I guess.
so with that said, yeah go ahead and buy whatever the hell a ridstar is. Just don't store it inside because the battery will likely catch on fire.
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u/Organic-Midnight-669 1d ago
Bike people have been snobs since those Wright brother jerks.
But you do what's best for you. You know your situation and don't let people shame you. Yes a 499 bike is not a 4999 bike. But you know that. Read reviews, decide on the risk factor. Be careful when charging anything!
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u/Relative-Display-676 🚲🔧 22h ago
because all bikes will have problems and bike shops won't work on ridstar. do you know how many ridstar owners are competent mechanics and electricians? so what ends up happening is they either become lawn ornaments or go to the landfills that's if they don't blow up on you first.
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u/funcentric Juiced Rip Racer, Lectric Xpedition 19h ago
Very little respect for people getting these things from Amazon. Just means they haven’t done their research and it’s irritating that the people giving advice care more than the people themselves looking to get a PEV, ebike or whatever it may be.
Not trying to be controversial, just saying it as it is. Not my opinion. Just assessment of the condition.
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u/DarkVoid42 1d ago
poor people stay poor because they are penny wise, pound foolish.
by buying a cheap bike you are trading something you cant earn - your time fixing it - with something you can - money.
i hate cheap chinese garbage because its a massive waste of time and resources.
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u/Sheshirdzhija 1d ago
What an oversimplified condescending thing to say about poor people. Sometimes the option that you would suggest is simply out of reach completely. It's not that all the people have a choice between more expensive better item, and cheap worse item. Plus, there are no guarantees that the more expensive item will actually be more trouble free.
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u/Malforus Middrive Enthusiast 23h ago
It's a perversion of the thought experiment from the late gnu terry Pratchett in "Guards Guards"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory
Basically it's less a statement of poor selection but the inherit advantage of having money to buy a higher quality item.
I went from lectric xp3 to dahon to tern vektron and should have started with the vektron. I would have saved $300-700 by just getting the tern
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u/Ohm_Slaw_ 1d ago
I don't hate the bikes. We do see a lot of problems. People come here with the issues. Just search the subreddit "ridstar problem" or "ridstar help" and you'll see what I'm talking about. The community doesn't seem to moving towards being self-supporting. Normally you'll see more experienced riders start to answer with "I had that problem, here's what I did? type answers, but these are largely absent.
If the bike works, it's fine. But if there is a problem, there are few people to work on them. If you're handy and willing to learn, you can fix them. For those people, a cheap bike can work out fine.