Why I Bought the Bird A-frame E-bike

Рет қаралды 17,160

10 ай бұрын

In this video, we take an in-depth look at the Bird A-frame e-bike. I walk you through all the bike's features and show you some of the problems I've had too. In the end, I recommend you buy it. It's my honest review of a good electric bicycle that nobody paid me to make. I hope you enjoy!

Пікірлер: 87

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

Skip to 15:23 if you just want to know whether you should buy it or not but don't care to know why.

@ryansherwood7136 4 ай бұрын

This is such a helpful and extremely well done video. Props for being straight to the point. I wish all reviews were exactly like this.

@richardfisher8897 10 ай бұрын

Great review! I shared it on the Bird Bike face book page! I bought with out your review but you addressed EVERY issue I was concerned about. I do not regret my purchase one bit. and when the Battery does go...... I will rebuild, probably less expensive anyway

@TurboNorm 9 ай бұрын

Excellent review. Nice photos and good quality images.

@JagLite 10 ай бұрын

Excellent review. Honest and informative.. The price is amazingly low so I appreciate that you didn't expect the performance of other e-bikes that cost three times as much. Because of the very low price there are always going to be modifications and replacement of parts so telling us what you did is very helpful. Thanks Robert!

@jeanlafrance6350 4 ай бұрын

Salut Robert. Thank you for your review. Today i went to check for that bike and with your video that i just watch , i will buy the Bird bike tomorrow. That is a bike for me.

@daviddeese 8 ай бұрын

Very informative. I most certainly will buy a bird bike. Thank you very much.

@AMM118Honda 8 ай бұрын

Getting close to 10K sub - keep up this good work!!

@GarthGoldberg 4 ай бұрын

I'm encouraged by your review. I just bought the V-frame version of this for my wife. Ocean State Job Lots had a smoking deal where you buy the bike for $1,000 and get a $500 gift card, good for almost anything in the store. So the bike only costs $500 plus tax, shipped to the local store. The V-frame is going to fit her fine, and she's confused by gears. So the single speed with five levels of assist is perfect. At 52 pounds, this is actually fairly light for an ebike. She's only going to ride with me occasionally and it doesn't make sense to buy a $2,500 or more ebike for her. I think the disc brakes will bed in and be a little quieter with use; the same was true with my Trek which has hydraulic Tektro brakes. At 20 mph or less the stopping power should be more than sufficient.

@rechard-jb9cr 7 ай бұрын

Great review! I happen to be looking at this very bike.

@CougarIIXT 5 ай бұрын

Great video! Thanks for all the details!

@user-cj1yo7bx1s 6 ай бұрын

What a great review,thank you very much for sharing

@everythingebike 10 ай бұрын

I like your video. Well done, well edited, photography is very good. Detailed shots are excellent.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

Thank you!!

@AmorMori 10 ай бұрын

Best review of an e-bike I’ve seen

@Guyguy4242 Ай бұрын

Wow Bravo, c'est instructif et complet. De plus la vidéo est très bien montée!

@ekaterinabankevitch8513 9 ай бұрын

Thank you, Robert, for this excellent review. I've got a chance to buy a lady's Bird bike for a very good price. In your video I found all the information to make up my mind and take a decision.

@ekaterinabankevitch8513 8 ай бұрын

@@SerenitySmyles I didn't buy the bike, so can't tell you, sorry

@jackd8336 2 ай бұрын

Amazing review - thank you the fine details in real life matter when it comes to deciding whether a purchase should be made or not 🍻

@hoohoohoblin 6 ай бұрын

Great review!! I really like mine. Brakes are loud and the spokes on the back wheel got really loose after 300 miles, but it has been good otherwise.

@MrDonnyblaze420 4 ай бұрын

Nice !! Brooklyn Brawler shirt!!

@ty301herbo8 6 ай бұрын

Great Review

@criggie 10 ай бұрын

Consider the bike+rider has unlimited range, but the battery/assist has a maximum range. Pedantic I know, but you're not stranded if the battery dies completely.

@SuperBrad327 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video

@isisdaddy1 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for the measurements

@RobertAdairWorkshop 9 ай бұрын

You got it!

@nytrydr2 9 ай бұрын

Wow, fantastic video Robert! Hey, I’m over 400 subscribers!🎉😝

@RobertAdairWorkshop 9 ай бұрын

I saw that last night watching your citation video. That's really, really cool. The hard work's paying off, slowly.

@fawazhalloum3921 10 ай бұрын

Just bought this bike for my wife. We have the issue with the belt noise. I watched your video on fixing it and bought the tool. hopefully, it works out easily

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

Did it work?

@fawazhalloum3921 10 ай бұрын

It actually did! Great tutorial! I wouldn't say its 10 minutes tho, at least not for me with no bike repair knowledge or skill. it took me 2.5 hours because I ran into trouble with the brake touching the rotor after I adjusted the wheel. so I just loosened the breaks. Now another issue presented itself. the bracket holding the back wheel fender broke. I have to fix that. also, the tie downs holding the taillight cable to the fender are not holding up. a lot to fix in the bike. but it's good and fun. definitely worth what you paid for it. Here in Canada, I paid 1700 plus tax, but it least its from Costco and has a great return policy in case it breaks down completely. @@RobertAdairWorkshop

@fawazhalloum3921 9 ай бұрын

Update: The bike suddenly stopped working. It turns on and the display turns on. But the PAS and throttle don't work. Taking it back to Costco.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 9 ай бұрын

@@fawazhalloum3921 Yikes. Any idea what broke?

@fawazhalloum3921 9 ай бұрын

@@RobertAdairWorkshop No idea. the screen turns on, the display functions. when I unplug the controller cable the display reacts. It all seems alright. But when we engage the throttle or pedal assist, no energy comes through. I have no idea. Starting to get a sense of why they dumped them on the wholesale market.

@CRtube123 8 ай бұрын

Great video! Just bought mine. Do you think it will survive canadian winter or heavy rainy conditions? Thanks

@RobertAdairWorkshop 8 ай бұрын

I think it will. Two areas that could be a concern, though: The connector for the rear wheel and the connector that the battery slots into. I added some dielectric grease to mine to help keep the connections dry, but then never rode it in the rain. Otherwise, everything else is pretty well sealed.

@metal_bloo 10 ай бұрын

It would be awesome to see if you found racks that work with this bike’s rack holes

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

The rear rack upper bolts have odd alignment because the stays aren't square. I have a rack that I think will work, made by Planet Bike, but it's going to require a custom front bracket to work with the bike. I'll share more when I have that done.

@fr8hauler 9 ай бұрын

How big a change is the single speed vs a regular 7 or 18 speed bicycle? Just use the assist levels as your gears? Thanks for the video!

@RobertAdairWorkshop 9 ай бұрын

i've not ridden the 7 speed variant. But the 500W motor in this makes plenty of torque and does a good job getting it up to 20. You're totally right, the assist is the gears.

@aroundtheway4887 10 ай бұрын

I just brought this bike and I found myself using the throttle only feature, all the time and it just give me 30. Miles on one charge, at the time every bike I was looking at, where I live ,was just pedal assisted only bikes, so I ran with the bird when I seen it , the man at the bike shop did show me a $2200 online price tag then was like just give me $800, and it will go 50 miles before charging it again lol,so I thought the battery was bad on going bad because the 30 or 35 on one charge I be getting depending if I pedal assisted or throttle

@tenshi509 2 ай бұрын

Hey man, I just bought the bike and I'm having some trouble setting up the front wheel. One of the axle nuts won't come off, do you have any tips fro that?

@charliefunboy5210 10 ай бұрын

QUESTION please: Great review, I have the V-frame and like it. I'm over 65 so I needed the step thru. My tail light is on the fender so adding the rack in the back didn't cover it. I added a new saddle and that really smoothed the ride out. My only issues is that I would like to raise the height of the handlebar. I know they sell 'extenders/risers" but I'm not sure if they will work on the Bird ebike. The say it has to be a 1-1/8" diameter. Any thoughts on this? I would appreciate hearing from anyone that might be able to help. thank you

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

The Bird Bike's steerer tube is 1 1/8" so you should be alright there. Looking at mine, there is roughly 3/4" (19mm) of space above the top stem clamp bolt. I'd think you could muve it up that 3/4" without any issue and not use an extender. You'd need some sort of custom spacer that would fit between the one-piece handlebar and the head tube, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to preload the headset and you'd have a big gap there. If you need to go higher than that, I don't know why one of those extenders wouldn't work, provided it is well secured to the fork steerer. The big takeaway is that you'll need a spacer, the right diameters (inside and outside) that will fit between the frame and the handlebar assembly.

@charliefunboy5210 10 ай бұрын

@@RobertAdairWorkshop Thank you so much. I greatly appreciate the time you took to help me. I understand what you're saying. Take care

@boorayin2773 10 ай бұрын

Fabulous review - thanks! I'm hesitant to plonk down the money for a bike that I don't get to sit on first (as low as this price is for an e-bike) and I'm nervous that the company is about to go bankrupt (hence the dumping of their bikes onto the market) and service/spare parts will cease to exist - but thanks for the info.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

You're exactly right on all points. Each of these is a concern and I share them with you.

@richdavenport7751 10 ай бұрын

Looks like a good bike

@GabrielKnight666 9 ай бұрын

No, it doesn’t.

@jimsvideos7201 10 ай бұрын

E-bike question for you if it's worth your time: My commute at the new job includes about 130 meters of elevation change over about a five kilometer distance. I figure it's about 150 kJ of energy if that helps. How much of that could I realistically capture via regen braking?

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

Are you sure about the kJ estimate? Assuming an average speed of 12mph, I calculate only about 4 watts.

@jimsvideos7201 10 ай бұрын

@@RobertAdairWorkshop 4? Huh. I had the energy correct there, but 4 watts for about 15 minutes is puzzling. Thank you for taking the time though, I remain intrigued by the idea.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

@@jimsvideos7201 I did it based on units, assuming 12mph average speed to get time and 150 kj for energy. I'll bet there's a legitimate regen calculator that would be better.

@lordtrini 8 ай бұрын

Do u think that u can swap the front fork to a suspension fork?

@RobertAdairWorkshop 8 ай бұрын

No, probably not easily. It has a built in steering-stop that hangs down and engages the fork. You'd have to find a way to work around it with a suspension fork. I think its doable, but you'd spend a lot of time and money doing it.

@apatel1186 9 ай бұрын

Are you able to connect to the app? I can’t find the QR that is listed in the instructions to scan. Without the app uou can’t set an alarm right?

@RobertAdairWorkshop 9 ай бұрын

Yeah, the alarm won’t work without the app. My bike didn’t have a QR code either. I had to manually type in the serial number (located on the underside of the down tube near the crank) into the app. I’m using the iPhone version of the app, if that helps.

@jimsvideos7201 10 ай бұрын

This bike in particular seems to be ok as long as you don't really want to change too much about it. I don't know how to feel about the price either but it's a place to start at least. Thank you for the insightful review; the questions are valuable for evaluating other types.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

Totally agree

@Bioandroid2023 10 ай бұрын

Is the step through frame (woman’s bike) about the same size frame? Considering that bike over the a frame for comfort.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

It looks like the seat can go quite a bit lower on the V- frame, looking at photos and comparing it with the back wheel size. The forks look the same. I can’t tell for sure but it looks like it might be a bit shorter wheelbase too.

@Bioandroid2023 10 ай бұрын

@@RobertAdairWorkshop thanks for the info. I’m thinking of buying the V and if I don’t like it, I’ll give it to a family member. IMO, Bird might not be around for long term support. They were in my area with rental bikes and scooters. A-holes made it there mission to throw them in any body of water they could find. The company pulled out.

@jotten3368 3 ай бұрын

Hey 😀, Is it possible to change the display in km/h instead of mp/h 🤔🕵️‍♂️ Thanks already 🙏

@RobertAdairWorkshop 3 ай бұрын

It's in the settings menu. Check out page 24: support.bird.co/hc/en-us/article_attachments/5236626092052

@metal_bloo 10 ай бұрын

Another thing to note is that a ton of people, including myself, have had problems with the battery. They only have a 1 year warranty for it and if your battery happens to die out or lose capacity before that one year mark you are out of luck. You can buy more from bird for about $400.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 10 ай бұрын

That's really good to know. I had planned to disassemble the battery and replace the cells when the thing died. Didn't know Bird sold extras. But I'm suspicious of Bird, too, since it seems they dumped all of the bikes onto the wholesale market. I suspect they won't support any of them in the near future, which is a shame.

@GarthGoldberg 4 ай бұрын

@@RobertAdairWorkshop Isn't this going to be a problem with any of the no-name-brand Chinese ebikes? And a replacement Bosch, Shimano or Yamaha ebike battery is also going to be pricey.

@mytube30005 9 ай бұрын

Since this is a single speed bike, do you have to paddle very fast in order to get to 20mph?

@RobertAdairWorkshop 9 ай бұрын

Yep, you do. At 20mph, I'm spinning 90-rpm. To go faster than that, you either need a big hill, or you need to go above 100 revs per minute. I'ts really geared to max out at 20.

@mytube30005 9 ай бұрын

@@RobertAdairWorkshop thanks for the review. The price has dropped down so much but I don't think I will get one. I heard the European version has 7 speeds. That would be much better.

@JoseAlvarez-if8tt 4 ай бұрын

I bought one but I cant figure out how to lock and unlock from the app I don’t see anything besides the light on and off button

@RobertAdairWorkshop 4 ай бұрын

I wonder if Bird changed their app to remove that feature?

@Duettoholger 17 күн бұрын

Hat irgendjemand eine Adresse wo man Ersatzteile bekommen kann? Ich suche den Sensor an Tretlager.

@tegrof245 3 ай бұрын

How much does a replacement battery cost? How long does it last before you need to replace?

@RobertAdairWorkshop 3 ай бұрын

I don't think you can get a replacement battery. You'd have to re-cell your original when it dies.

@tegrof245 2 ай бұрын

Is the app still available considering the bike is discontinued

@RobertAdairWorkshop 2 ай бұрын

@@tegrof245 It uses their ride-share app. I was able to download it and install it on my iPhone this morning.

@tegrof245 2 ай бұрын

@@RobertAdairWorkshop Thank tou

@tegrof245 2 ай бұрын

Purchased vframe for my wife. It won’t charge and light stays green. Pressed button on battery and is not showing blue or green. Any ideas?

@stijn791 7 ай бұрын

Nice bike but they are stopping with the production of bikes and its really hard to find a repair shop.

@RobertAdairWorkshop 6 ай бұрын

I noticed that. I read somewhere that Bird sold off their inventory to third-party sellers which is why so many people are selling them. Never a good sign when a manufacturer dumps their inventory. In this case, I think it's because they couldn't sell them at $2k each and instead of adjusting their marketing, just gave up. It's a shame.