Ouch, love to see a great product like this. However, hate to see that bike theft wasn’t discussed at all.
“Easy installation” with two screws seems like a benefit to customers except when they come back to their parked bike only to find their expensive mod also had a hidden feature: “easy uninstallation”.
That is the same for most bicycle parts that you can remove with a small multitool and optionally a cable cutter yet most thieves just grub the whole bike as it is more convenient and it provides the getaway vehicle.
Most bicycle parts don’t cost thousands of dollars though
You don't even need to unscrew the motor : simply pull one-handed the seat release lever, and leave with both the seat and the motor attached.
pitlock pit stoppers?
https://www.pitlock.de/en/set-sichert-2-innensechskantschrau...
In addition to the theft concerns, it's also not a great product.
for the non bikers, to help us understand, whats wrong with it?
This is an inherently inefficient design, where that inefficiency means increased 1) battery use and 2) tire wear.
From a cyclist’s perspective, this is fundamentally a stopgap product for “curious” customers dipping their toes into e-bikes. I don’t say that necessarily to criticize it. There’s a place for a product that someone can put on any old bike and see if they want to buy a more expensive long-term solution. But that doesn’t make it a product I’d recommend.
The tire wear problem is significant enough that there are heat resistant tires specifically for this type of drum application (designed for old-style indoor trainers, not for use on the road), because use on a drum will cause premature wear for normal road tires.
it's also likely mildly more dangerous than a standard ebike, as ebikes typically overprovision their brakes. A customer putting this on a standard bike (especially a disc brake bike) might have less stopping power than they want on an ebike.
Why “especially a disc brake bike”? They’re the most reliable and resilient system so far, especially compared to rim brakes (V-brakes or cantilevers).
The requirement for better brakes is more a myth. Yes an e-bike is heavier but the rider + bike pair is not significantly heavier so e-bikes don't really need better brakes as most of them aren't going significantly faster than regular "muscular bikes", especially the legal ones that have an assistance speed limit. Rider weight makes a much bigger difference yet bike brands don't insist on speccing more powerful brakes on bigger riders.
As an experienced mountain biker I’d love if the downvoters could engage with the comment. I agree with it. A proper legal e-bike, especially when clamped to 25 km/h or a similar limit, doesn’t really need that much stopping power than a comparable regular bike. Maybe the sum of all the factors (often less experienced riders, slightly more speed in some situations, slightly higher weight) warrants going to a bigger rotor diameter or a different brake pads compound, which is how it’s usually done. But it’s still nothing compared to speccing cargo bike brakes or tandem brakes, there you really have to account for the weight and go all the way to like 200mm rotors and four-pot calipers.
I wouldn't worry about it in this application, because the added weight and power is so minimal. Also: many of the cheap ebikes ($1000-1500 range) have absolutely terrible, underprovisioned brakes.
only real worry I'd have is a scenario like
1. someone has a cheap disc brake bike for pleasure rides (mostly in the sun)
2. they get something like this for commuting or whatever
3. now they're on their disc brake bike most days (including when it rains), going faster than they're used to
it's not the end of the world, but it also doesn't seem great
Destroys tires, very limited range/power due to poor power delivery from motor to tire. Parasitic drag when coasting or battery is dead.
Limited power delivery, horrible in the rain, prevents using fenders
Rain is an interesting thing, because the number of bikers in Tokyo goes down maybe by 60% or more the second it rains. I kinda avoid as well.
Nothing Tokyo specific about that, biking in the rain is dangerous and generally sucky. I have good all weather gear, but I still end up with wet shoes/socks and muddy spray up my back and legs (yes, I have a mudguard, but it's not 100% effective).
Would you need a fender with it there?
Yes, without a fender my rear wheel throws mud all over my back. This is not the right shape to serve as a mud shield
It’s directly above the wheel. I just use an ass saver and while that’s way inferior to your setup, it reduces the volume thrown up a lot.
They aren’t reliable or efficient.
in addition, it also has not a great name... the word Oxis in Greek means "sharp", not agile. you can look for "οξύς"
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They could ship it with a pair of those bolts where the heads break off during installation
This product is for people who live in safe neighborhoods and bike a lot, aka not the average American.
Where do you live where people bike a lot and yet bike theft isn't common?