Professional Help

Bike Shops and vendors willing to assist with Wave bike assembly and advice

Location(s)
Georgetown and Alexandria

Contact Information
http://bicycleproshop.com/

Address
4810 17th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

Contact Information
206.547.4621 / info@ebikesnw.com / ebikesnw.com

Review of Wave support by Electric and Folding Bikes Northwest (Seattle, WA)
After calling ALL the eBike shops in Seattle ("We only work on what we sell") and many bike shops in North Seattle ("We don't work on any powered or PAS bikes"), I spoke with EFBNW.

David DJ Johnson, owner, answered the phone. After a few moments of chat about crowdsourced items, DJ told me he would be more than happy to help with bike assembly, and safety review, at regular shop rates. I asked what he thought it would take to assemble and he quickly replied, about an hour unless there was a problem. (He was supportive to crowd funded tech. The shop 'bought' a Copenhagen Wheel which has yet to ship after 2+ years).

I dropped the bike as the shop opened at 11am. DJ reviewed the contents of the box and electrical. He told me that he would try to assemble it same day so we could discuss the bike. About 3:30 I received a voicemail that the bike was assembled but he had concerns about the fork being bent. The front wheel was a little off true but is able to be ridden.

I returned about 5pm and spent the next 90 minutes (the shop closed at 6pm) with DJ comparing our Wave bikes to others, offering tips, insight and suggestions.

As it was past closing, DJ and his head mechanic were going to review the fork the following day and get back to me.

DJ's suggestions and thoughts on the Wave:

Suggestions:

* Put road appropriate tires on the region. Some would be good fits for most of the country but the tires on bike are not well suited for exclusive or primarily road riding. ($25-55 installed per tire) * Get a mirror for the road to be safe (less than $20) * Replace the kickstand ($20-25) * Replace rear light with a wired unit to match the front light. (More to come after this is done regarding wiring and voltage to match front light) (~$40+) * Upgrade the front disc brake (~$100) * (liked many of the suggestions expressed here to remove rattle noises)

Thoughts on the Wave:

*The build and welds were "cheap", the finish is just ok. * The frame was clearly made/modified with eBike in mind but the design is marginal, with a little refinement could have been a much better frame. *Poorly packaged for shipping *Why did they put a wired light on the front but battery operated on the rear? Odd * Tires as shipped are a poor choice for road and not tires for wet road riding in the NW (read: the north half of the country...) *Very cheap front disk brake. While functional, suggest it be replaced before bike is in daily/heavy riding * fenders - too short to truly keep the rider dry from spray OR the battery free from road debris - raised concern about keeping road water and gunk from battery area of bike *Seat post - that's not a quick release. That's just... weird. It works but why did they do that? * The rear wheel was designed to support a rear disc brake. The poor combination (or lack of planning) of wheel with this frame makes that impossible. Again, a little refinement in frame design or choice would have been a better fit and not cost any more.