The Ultimate A-Bike Electric Review: Compact And Powerful

Sinclair's A-Bike is a portable, folding electric bike. On paper, it's a fantastic concept, but in practice, it has a fatally flawed design. It's going to break after a few months, and then you're going to be stuck with a useless bike. In practice, it's a scam.

The A-bike's design is fatally flawed

The A-bike is a fantastic portable bike in theory, but in practice, its design is fatally flawed. After a few months of usage, the bike will start skipping, until the point where pedalling yields no wheel rotation. The bearings are a fairly loose push-fit in plastic housings which twist under load. This is a light, simple system that will not survive.

The secondary problems with the A-bike are the terrible breaks, which get unresponsive pretty quickly, and the fact that the bike as a whole is creaky and cheap. It feels like you're standing on a loosely connected jumble of plastic parts. The encasing of the chain/chainrings is also hard to open, requiring at least a dozen different screws and three or more different types of tools. The many screws of the encasing will also rust over time.

The customer service for the A-bike is also poor. When one user emailed the A-bike support, they did not reply. After a week, the user called them and the woman on the phone was dry and bothered, clearly uninterested in solving the problem. She told the user to open the encasing and take a picture.

Overall, the A-bike's design is fatally flawed and it is not a good purchase.

The A-bike's customer service is poor

While the A-bike is marketed as a fantastic portable bike, in practice, it has a fatally flawed design. The bike is creaky and cheap, and the breaks are terrible. The bearings are a fairly loose push-fit in plastic housings which twist under load. After a few months of usage, the bike will start skipping, until the point where pedalling yields no wheels rotation.

The customer service is poor. When one customer emailed the A-Bike support, nobody replied. After a week, they called and the woman on the phone was dry and bothered, clearly uninterested in solving the problem. She told the customer to open the encasing and take a picture. The encasing of the chain/chainrings is hard to open, requiring at least a dozen different screws and three or more different types of tools.

The A-bike's breaks are terrible

The A-bike is a scam. On paper, it's a fantastic portable bike, but in practice, it has a fatally flawed design. It's going to break after a few months, and then you're going to be stuck with a useless bike.

The bearings are a fairly loose push-fit in plastic housings which twist under load. Time will tell whether this light, simple system survives. The answer is that it won't survive. After a few months of usage, the A-bike started "skipping", until the point where pedalling yields no wheels rotation.

The A-bike support is also terrible. When I wrote an email to them, nobody replied. After a week I called them. There was a woman on the phone. She was dry and bothered, clearly uninterested in solving the problem. She told me to open the encasing and take a picture.

The A-bike's chain/chainring encasing is hard to open

The A-bike is a portable bike that, on paper, seems like a fantastic option. However, in practice, it has a fatally flawed design. Several reviews have described the bike as a scam, as it is likely to break after a few months. One user described how their A-bike started "skipping" until the point where pedalling yielded no wheel rotation.

One user described how they emailed A-bike support for help and received no reply. When they called, the woman on the phone was dry and bothered, clearly uninterested in solving the problem. She told the user to open the encasing and take a picture. This suggests that A-bike support is unhelpful and unresponsive, which is a further issue for users experiencing problems with their bikes.

Overall, the A-bike's chain/chainring encasing is difficult to open due to the large number of screws and the variety of tools required. This is made worse by the likelihood of the screws rusting over time and the lack of helpful support from the company.

The A-bike's bearings are a fairly loose push-fit in plastic housings

The bearings are an important component of the A-Bike, as they are used throughout the wheels, layshaft and bottom bracket. Over time, the loose fit of the bearings can cause the bike to skip, making it difficult to pedal and ultimately resulting in no wheel rotation. This can be a significant problem for riders, as it can leave them stranded and unable to use their bike.

The design of the bearings and their housing is a major engineering concern. The use of plastic for the housing may not provide sufficient strength and durability to withstand the forces exerted on the bearings during riding. This can lead to premature wear and failure of the bearings, impacting the overall performance and longevity of the bike.

Additionally, the loose fit of the bearings can contribute to a creaky and unstable ride, as mentioned in other reviews. This can affect the overall riding experience and may indicate a lack of precision in the bike's construction. It is important for riders to be aware of these potential issues and consider them when deciding whether to purchase or ride an A-Bike.

Frequently asked questions