WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.640 Nearly a year ago, I emailed Wave Electric Bikes about their Wave Beach 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.559 Cruiser, which claimed to be the world's most affordable ebike ever at 599 USD 00:00:10.559 --> 00:00:19.279 for early backers available through Indiegogo. It seemed too good to be 00:00:15.360 --> 00:00:21.680 true, and it was. The Wave 1.0 was a 00:00:19.279 --> 00:00:27.279 terrible bike with a shady crowdfunding campaign, but more on that later. So, 00:00:24.880 --> 00:00:32.800 they've sent us the follow-up, the Wave 2.0. Is it the improvement they need to 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:36.880 reearn consumer trust? Or is it just a slightly less terrible bike with a 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:47.520 slightly less terrible marketing strategy? 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:53.520 Tunnel Bear is the simple VPN app that makes it easy to browse privately and 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:57.840 enjoy a more open internet. Try Tunnel Bear for free at the link in the video 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:01.680 description. The Wave 2.0 to is a non-crowdfunded bike that is currently 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:06.880 listed on Wave Electric Bikes website for $1,000. The box comes with a big red 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:11.920 warning stating that professional assembly is required if you don't opt 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:16.000 for the $95 charge in the checkout to have someone come and do it for you. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:20.479 Though, the included instructions seemed pretty clear to me. So, I apparently 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:24.640 took my life into my own hands by putting it together myself. I guess I 00:01:23.119 --> 00:01:28.960 won't be able to make any warranty claims. Now that it's assembled, let's 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:35.840 see what we've got. The Wave 2.0 features a 750 W brushless hub motor, 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:38.320 six speeds, and a reported 25 mph top 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:43.600 speed with 23 mi of range using the throttle only and 40 m with pedal 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:49.520 assist. These numbers are likely thanks to the 500Wh battery with Samsung cells 00:01:47.360 --> 00:01:55.759 and the aluminum frame, both of which are big upgrades over the Wave 1.0's to 00:01:52.479 --> 00:01:57.520 generic cells and steel frame. And my 00:01:55.759 --> 00:02:01.280 real world numbers actually get reasonably close to those. I've got to 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:07.040 give them credit for that considering that Wave Electric Bikes obtained these 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:09.840 numbers with a 165-lb rider on perfectly 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:16.640 flat terrain with no stopping. But electrical components aside, as a bike, 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:19.200 the Wave 2.0 just feels kind of cheaply 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:22.640 made. The handlebars have a lot of play no matter how much you tighten 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:26.879 everything. It doesn't come with fenders or a quick release on the front wheel. 00:02:24.720 --> 00:02:33.120 The pedals are plastic. The brakes squeak horribly when wet. The motor 00:02:30.239 --> 00:02:38.000 shutters as it starts up. The luxury stitching on the handlebar grips is 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:43.519 already coming undone. The kickstand has already broken. My battery case arrived 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:49.440 with a crack in it. And the rack is useless to hold any pany bags because 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:53.680 the battery is completely in the way unless you raise it slightly with 00:02:51.200 --> 00:02:59.519 washers like I did. That would have cost them what 25. Furthermore, there's no 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:05.680 deceleration curve for the motor controller, so it abruptly cuts in and 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:07.599 out as you go below and above 20 mph. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:12.319 The only way to avoid this is by switching the bike to off-road mode, 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:16.959 which instantly removes the speed limitation and allows the bike to put 00:03:14.239 --> 00:03:22.560 out full power regardless of speed, making it very explicitly not street 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:26.959 legal in parts of the United States and Canada. Make of that what you will. Not 00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:31.840 everyone is concerned that their vehicle isn't street legal. One thing I do like 00:03:29.760 --> 00:03:36.560 about it is the fact that the front and rear lights are both powered by the main 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:40.959 battery and can be turned on and off with the press of a button. Though, I 00:03:38.799 --> 00:03:46.319 wish they were significantly brighter. And the complaints don't end there. The 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:48.319 LED display has no odometer, watt meter, 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:53.599 speedometer, or estimated remaining range. It just has readouts for battery 00:03:50.640 --> 00:03:58.720 and pedal assist levels. And if you want no pedal assist, you have to turn the 00:03:55.760 --> 00:04:03.840 entire thing off for some reason. Also, it can be difficult to distinguish the 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:06.400 buttons or the LEDs from one another, 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:12.560 especially if you're wearing gloves. So, overall, the Wave 2.0 is just a 00:04:09.519 --> 00:04:15.760 cheaplymade bike. I wouldn't pay $1,000 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:19.199 for it, and neither should you. So, what 00:04:15.760 --> 00:04:21.120 happened here? Why is it so lame? Well, 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:26.479 ladies and gentlemen, I did promise to look into the history of Wave electric 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:29.360 bikes, and wow, did I dig up some dirt. 00:04:26.479 --> 00:04:35.440 The Indiegogo campaign for the Wave 1.0 ebike ultimately raised 1.1 million, and 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:41.440 once they had the money, their promises began slipping away. Delivery dates were 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:44.720 pushed back multiple times. The Samsung 00:04:41.440 --> 00:04:47.360 batteries were changed to generic cells. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:51.280 The one-year warranty vanished. The promised top speed and total range were 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:55.120 decreased. When the bikes finally started shipping, customers received 00:04:52.960 --> 00:05:00.080 parts that were damaged, incorrect, non-functional, or just missing. In all 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:05.120 fairness, some customers are happy with their purchase. But many are not, and 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:09.440 these folks are still posting angry comments on the Indiegogo page demanding 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:14.240 refunds and decrying the lack of communication from Wave Electric Bikes. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:19.440 I spoke to my contact about all of this and he said that we definitely had some 00:05:16.960 --> 00:05:24.320 issues, but we were able to resolve these issues and produce the wave 2.0 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:28.800 without any of these issues. Really, what brand of alternative facts are 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:32.720 these because more than one and a half years later, some of the original 00:05:30.400 --> 00:05:38.880 backers have still not received their Wave 1.0 bicycles. And it gets a lot 00:05:36.400 --> 00:05:43.919 worse. While the campaign was still active, someone posted this image 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:47.360 comparing the Wave 1.0 ebike to a seemingly identical bike from 00:05:45.840 --> 00:05:54.639 Alibaba.com available for $400. But upon closer 00:05:51.440 --> 00:05:56.639 examination, it's Yeah, it's exactly the 00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:02.960 same bike. Turns out there's a company that's literally called OEM Bicycle that 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:06.400 sells these bikes in lots of 100. and they told me they've been doing so since 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:10.880 2014 before the Wave Indiegogo campaign even 00:06:08.880 --> 00:06:18.080 launched. And they're currently doing the exact same thing with the Lady Wave, 00:06:13.919 --> 00:06:19.840 or should I say the OEM EN15194. 00:06:18.080 --> 00:06:24.560 That would be pretty disturbing since reselling a product is against 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:28.880 Indiegogo's terms of service. Digging deeper, I found this forum post which 00:06:26.960 --> 00:06:33.680 points out similarities between Waves branding and music taken from Rad Power 00:06:31.280 --> 00:06:39.759 Bikes. And I also discovered that Waves logo is almost identical to Wave 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:42.479 Broadband's logo. Is there anything they 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:46.800 didn't rip off? My contact at Wave Electric Bikes denies that any of these 00:06:44.479 --> 00:06:51.919 things are ongoing problems and even says that it's the Alibaba vendors who 00:06:49.440 --> 00:06:58.960 are copying Wave and not the other way around and that Wave 1.0 customers and 00:06:55.919 --> 00:07:01.919 Wave 2.0 0 customers are completely 00:06:58.960 --> 00:07:07.199 unrelated, whatever that means. Because I don't agree. It looks like the Wave 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:12.960 2.0 has the same frame design, brakes, LED display, battery case, motor, and 00:07:09.440 --> 00:07:15.360 motor controller as the Wave 1.0. I 00:07:12.960 --> 00:07:19.440 wouldn't be surprised if OEM bicycle or some other Chinese vendor is still 00:07:17.440 --> 00:07:24.800 supplying Wave electric bikes with parts or even entire bicycles. But because the 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:28.800 Wave 2.0 is not crowdfunded, there's nothing inherently wrong with this. And 00:07:26.960 --> 00:07:33.440 lots of Chinese products are marked up and resold for much higher margins than 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:38.720 what I believe Wave is taking. But none of that changes that the Wave 2.0 is a 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:43.599 cheap bike sold by a sketchy company with a track record of disappointing and 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:48.000 misleading its customers. They say they've moved on to a different business 00:07:45.280 --> 00:07:53.680 model. But some of the Wave 1.0 to backers and all of the Lady Wave backers 00:07:51.039 --> 00:07:57.120 have still not received their bikes despite the fact that you can currently 00:07:55.599 --> 00:08:01.759 buy them straight from wavelectricbikes.com 00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:05.919 which is making the backers very upset which leads us to a pretty clear 00:08:03.440 --> 00:08:11.199 conclusion. There are some significant and unavoidable costs associated with 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:16.240 building a good ebike. So, you're probably not going to find one for less 00:08:13.440 --> 00:08:21.680 than $1,000. If that's too expensive for you, my completely unbiased advice is to 00:08:19.039 --> 00:08:26.879 just get yourself a regular bike from a wellestablished brand like Specialized 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:32.320 Giant or Trek. Or you could get a moped or even a fixerupper motorcycle if 00:08:29.440 --> 00:08:36.320 you're mechanically inclined. Just don't buy anything from Wave Electric Bikes, 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:41.839 at least until they've made things right with their current outstanding Indiegogo 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:47.440 supporters. And always remember kids, if a crowdfunding campaign looks too good 00:08:43.599 --> 00:08:49.200 to be true, it probably is. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:53.279 Fresh Books cloud accounting software has been redesigned from the ground up. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:57.680 It's customuilt for how you want to work. And it's a simple way to be more 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:01.839 productive and organized. Create and send professionallook invoices in less 00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:06.240 than 30 seconds and see when your client has seen your invoice to put an end to 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:10.800 those guessing games. For your unrestricted 30-day free trial, head 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:16.080 over to freshbooks.com/teips and enter Linus tech tips in the where 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:19.760 you heard about us section. Thanks for watching, guys. Leave a comment below 00:09:17.760 --> 00:09:24.240 about your favorite bike or electric bike. Don't forget to hit the like 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:27.600 button or the dislike button or both. Ah, that doesn't work. Get subscribed 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:33.200 cuz we've got a lot more electric vehicle reviews on the horizon. and 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:38.240 click up here for the last crowdfunding e vehicle that I hated, the FlyFly Smart 00:09:35.760 --> 00:09:38.240 Pad.