Ive owned my ST1 Platinum for 3 weeks now. The bike is a beauty and fun to ride. Its max speed is 48km/hr which is not easy to sustain unless you are very athletic. The bike is well balanced, making cornering and riding with no hands very easy. The battery has never ran out on me and gives me enough juice to ride to and from work (42km round trip with hills) with about 30% battery life left. The 3 chain rings really give you efficiency you will need if you decide to ride the bike with the motor off.

Cons:
-The hub motor failed on me after only 80km of total riding! It was the 2nd day of riding the bike, the motor seized up and was unable to ride it or walk it. I brought it in for a warranty replacement.

-The 2nd motor has failed me 5 days /140km after getting it. I have never rode this in rain, I don’t over torque the motor by standing up while pedaling or attempting wheelies. I ride on paved roads only and rarely use the highest power mode.

-The brakes are very squeaky.

Conclusion:
Its a great bike with a lot of new technology that hasn’t been perfected yet. I’m very disappointed that my motor died twice. But at the same time, that’s what the 3 year warranty is there for. People say the bike is overpriced. I do not think so. A good mountain bike can easily run you $3,500 with NO pedal assist or motor. Aside from its defective motor, the bike is very solid and you will be impressed with how smooth it is.

This company needs to get a grip on QUALITY control from its motor manufacture, or they will get a bad rep and can forget about trying to penetrate the US markets.

8/10

I’d buy one at $5K.

Shame in the States not in Oz!

Think about this! We do not ever come to defend our product under a false pretense.. You can quote me on that! Nor do we tell people to stand up on our behalf. All of the people that stick up for us are probably actual customers.. Do some digging and contact these people yourself! I implore you. They are most likely customers of ours that have had a great experience. Same goes for everyone on E.S. I don’t come on to defend our brand any longer because plenty of people like Kurt above have probably bought our products and have been 100% satisfied. Something to mull over before you do something impulsive.

Compared to the KHS days, ALL of our bikes have shot up in component quality. Our high end HT-3 and XC-3 are much higher spec than anything KHS has to offer. Also, for 2014, we are making another huge leap in component quality. Even our entry level XC-1 will be at the level of a mid/high range KHS bike.

We don’t advertise anything shady at all in my opinion. For power levels, we advertise peak power (Volts x Amps). For range, we use an industry standard 20 Wh/mile at a constant 18-20 mph (explicitly stated on the website for reference). For top speed, we physically take each bike, measure with GPS and Radar, and give a two way average. There is not one thing we lie about. In all honesty, we are probably one of the few that are completely truthful. If there is something you would like us to improve/change, let us know and we will discuss it as a company.

How about this? When we are ready to launch the 2014 bikes, I will personally call you and schedule a time where we can go test them. You will see there is nothing on the market with such high quality and high power for anywhere near the price. A bit of exciting news is that we have battery in frame bikes and motors/transmissions/controllers coming that are both designed by HPC and assembled here in the USA. As far as I know, no other company offers this. They have been a long time coming and will soon be released.