"Chat is this real": I don't understand Alibaba but apparently a bike here sold at 700 US$ is sold at 30 US$, anyone can confirm/reccomend factories? (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 month ago by RNAi@hexbear.net to c/urbanism@hexbear.net

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

top 8 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] Lyudmila@hexbear.net 33 points 1 month ago

Typically the shockingly, impossibly cheap stuff like $30 ebikes are scam listings, or the price per unit for a large order of dozens or hundreds of ebikes.

[-] RNAi@hexbear.net 11 points 1 month ago

I suspected that, tho the min units were only 2...

[-] spectre@hexbear.net 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I mean I'd throw $30 just out of curiosity but I know not everyone has that luxury

[-] Praxinoscope@lemm.ee 16 points 1 month ago

I'd advice against buying these kinds of bikes. The components are going to be trash and you really don't want your brakes or gearing to fail when your personal safety could be affected.

[-] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@hexbear.net 11 points 1 month ago

I love buying cheap junk as much as the next guy, but anything that goes in between you and the ground you should not cheap out on. Do your research and make sure it's a good product before buying.

And regardless of what it is, make sure you toughly inspect and test it at lower speeds before you bomb down a hill at 40mph.

[-] SwitchyandWitchy@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago

It's a very sketchy feeling bombing a hill and having the thought, "what would happen if I suffer mechanical problem right now?"

[-] Hermes@hexbear.net 17 points 1 month ago

Lots of Alibaba sellers set prices way below the real prices to drive traffic. Typically they want you to inquire so they can raise the price significantly, you can report this to Alibaba to get them to increase their listed prices. If something is listed as "Alibaba Guaranteed" the item should be able to be bought at the listed price without negotiation, but they call still try to weasel out of it. As B2C users Alibaba really isnt meant for us, but who cares.

[-] SwitchyandWitchy@hexbear.net 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Don't cheap out on bikes. There are some great deals to be had for great frames and components on AliExpress, but the deals are more akin to finding a carbon fiber frame that would go for $1500+ in the US, being sold for $700 or so (last I checked). There is no bike, new, fully equipped for $30 that you could pay me any amount of money to ride. It sounds like a death trap.