This eBike conversion kit is AWESOME. DON'T buy it.
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
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This eBike conversion kit works better than some eBikes. But they have a BIG problem...
See the original assembly footage that DIDN'T make it into this video: bit.ly/49kpYWS
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Hey there! We’re Josh and Alisha, the creators of Terradrift, which is all about sustainable travel and adventure. That means travel tips, adventure guides, gear reviews, and a whole lot more. And all of it encourages you to explore responsibly. 'Cause we've just got the one planet, and since we like to get out there and enjoy it as often as possible both near and far, it's our responsibility to treat it with a little bit of respect. So lace up the ol' boots, grab your favorite pack, and wander on! #terradrift #wanderon #swytch
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See the original assembly footage that DIDN'T make it into this video: bit.ly/49kpYWS
Your review was spot on to how a paying customer feels. As someone who has one of the original kits for my wife and then decided to go back for more with a newer kit for myself. I laughed when you said they only check emails on Mondays. I said the very same thing when I was trying to contact them. Maybe it's true. Nice kit once installed, just be prepared to wait for everything in between.
From what I've heard this is a classic example of a group of engineers making an excellent product, but not being able to sell it🥴
Absolutely right: they never replyed to my two seperate comments on official UA-cam videos😂 #nosocialmediamanagement
Sold out there's a waiting list for new stock
@@ellivisionbytheartistandre6467 There's a wait list for PRE orders with no time frames given. They don't even list how much it costs until you get to preorders. Ridiculous and super sketch.
It’s around £400 seems getting cheaper year after year as e-bikes are advancing very quickly and competition is at its best
Sounds like they need to hire more staff, move into a larger production facility, etc. I get the feeling that they're trying to hack it with just the original design team and it's clearly not working. Or it's suffering the same fate as your typical Kickstarter scam--lots of marketing hype and not a lot of follow-through.
As well as taking 7 months to arrive, my kit started rusting within 6 months (the wheel hub and nuts + bolts) and then started malfunctioning. Swytch dragged out the warranty support until it expired and are now asking me to pay for replacement parts. The 6 months it worked it was amazing, but overall not worth the cost and frustration.
If you're in Europe then you have 5 years protection. An item of a significant price has an expected longevity. If it's failing after a year then it's not fit for purpose and they must replace it or give you compensation
Two years of problems with my first gen Swytch kit, now they’ve given me a modest discount on an upgrade. We shall see. When it’s working, I love it. When it cuts out suddenly 3/4 the way up a long hill, not so much. Two diagnostic contacts and replacement parts shipment, problem remains. Wish me luck!
Best of luck and following as I wait for mine.
you could have just built your own hub motor and it would have been cheaper easier and more powerful
@@frostedlambseasier for you
For me it was an intermittent contact in the bag connector cutting off the ground connection of the pedal signal. I "fixed" it by running an extra wire through the charging port hole (I've got a 2nd gen kit I think) to an unused brake sensor jack. Oh, and another one, after the same thing happened with the "+" contact (either 5V or 3.3V). Hack job, but what can you do after warranty's over?
You should check if your sensor's LED stays on or not when it cuts out, maybe you've got the same issue. Could be anything though, really.
I also have had intermittent problems with both 1st gen Swytch kits I bought.. It's been 2 - 3 years of complete and utter frustration and not being able to rely on the motor kicking in even on short trips.. I have had the pedal sensor replaced and still the same problem.. when it works it i great.. when it doesn't which is 50% of the time.. it's a pain!
I ordered my kit on the October and choose to have it delivered on the March as it was for my wife and at 67 she doesn't do much cycling in the winter,it came without any missing parts,I only had to modify the pedal sensor and the axle as it comes at a 10mm thickness,so if your drop out is 9mm then you just have to file 0.5 mm off each flat surface and it drops in easily,the manual tells you all this,I accidentally ordered the wrong size of wheel and my correspondence back and forth with the Swytch team was answered almost immediately every time,the wheel was out of stock but they sent me a returned wheel temporarily so I could get my wife's bike up and running and when the new wheel came into stock a few weeks later they sent it out to me,you must have been unlucky to get the service you did cos mine was first class
I ordered my Swytch on 8/31/23 and got it in two months. I bought mine for a Nashbar tandem bicycle. I figured a purpose-built e-tandem would be crazy expensive, so the Swytch was a fairly economical way to test the waters. Finally got it installed today. Manual was reasonable, as was the online video. I had to do some gerryrigging to get the sensor positioned on the tandem. Seems to work OK. If it turns out to be reliable, and gives me a little extra torque on hills, I'll call it a good purchase. I paid around $700 shipped with most of the doodads.
A TANDEM BIKE????!!!
THATS WAY TOO HEAVY FOR THIS.
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???!!!!😢😮. 😂😂😂😂😂😂!!!
@@8_x_9. I've been using it for a year, and other than needing to tighten some spokes, it has met my expectations. If the weight is doing anything it's probably just shortening my battery life. I get about 15 miles before needing to recharge. We charge it while having lunch and then ride another 15 miles and call it a day.
1200 bucks for a switch bike for almost half I get a an entire electric bike
Ride1up 800 dollar road bike is way more bike then this kit
I am a swytch bike happy costumer.and the parts fit as per the specification i’ve provided,no missing parts.
They’ve said it’s gonna be 12 weeks time delivery time but surprisingly it delivered in 3 weeks.
I recomend people to buy this product,it’s really amazing.👍🏻
Thanks for sharing your experience! I certainly look for to receiving mine. I ordered mine today, March 5, 2024, as a B-Day gift to myself, turn 67 tomorrow.
I don't really think so.😂.
this is the first legitimately honest review i've heard of the Swytch kit. I installed a conversion kit last year, and narrowly avoided getting hooked by Swytch. I pre-ordered and was so excited because I managed to snag one of the "200 remaining" or whatever, but became a little skeptical after there were still "only 200 remaining!!!!" after like two weeks. I waited about 2 months hearing nothing from the company, while I did a deeper dive into the more critical reviews and decided to cancel.
After like two weeks of research into less "user-friendly" kits, I ordered a motor kit and battery from amazon and it was at my door 2 days later... and the bike working about two weeks after that. 1500 miles and zero problems, and paid less than Swytch for like 10x the range and a more powerful motor. Absolutely ridiculous company preying on people's inexperience and fear of tackling a larger project.
Do you have any kit reccomendations? I've been trying to look for decent ones on yt but its hard as every video is from the actual creators haha
My husband and i have one of there original kits with the 3lb batterys we also bought extra batteries with a longer distance capability we have had our kits for 4 years and are loving them.
Thanks for the great honest review. It looks like a very cool innovative concept. Hopefully they can iron out the kinks and be much more efficient in their quality control and distribution.
looks like a bad concept to con people who dont know you can just buy a 250w hub for much cheaper
I have a swytch kit had to wait 8 months very frustrating. I fitted it in 1 hour and it worked well, no problems. I have had it 11 months and I am very pleased with it.
My quit took 4 days to arrive. I have installed it with no issues and enjoying it.
Lucky!
I know many teenagers/electronic hobbyists who bought hub motor kits and installed it on their bikes and then put it on sale after a few months. The biggest problem they encountered was the final weight. At 25kg+, it became a heavy bike to pedal and caused exhaustion. A 36v/6ah battery bike will weigh around 21kg and that should be the limit. I see these people on UA-cam flaunting their 30+ kilo ecycles, lugging them behind their pickup trucks 😂 Its no longer a cycle.
I found a new project called freebeat Morph 2-in-1 e-Bike and it seems really interesting! It offers a unique feature where you can charge the bike while using it indoors. This means you can generate energy during your indoor rides and convert it into CO2-free mileage for your outdoor adventures. It's a great way to stay fit and make a positive impact on the environment. I think the Morph e-Bike is a game changer in the e-bike industry. It's definitely worth checking out!
Not me getting an ad for it
Sadly, I have to agree, that's a very accurate assessment of the experience with Swytch. In addition to the initial vlog that we put out, where we mentioned the 6 month wait, I also released another vlog where I explained that the Brompton won't actually fold with the battery mounted on the front, as it shows in their advert and as advertised in their instruction manual. The kit has to be fitted with the battery facing the rider. Which is not ideal at all. Anyway, great vlog and cheers for included a clip from our channel.
Great review. I wanted to buy one of these but I changed my mind because of what you described in the video. There is no way that I am spending my money to get frustrated. I hate poor customer service.
Maybe that’s your loss
@@jkreimborg lol. My loss? Surely not. Who's not going to get my money? Bad customer service means lost revenue in the long run. Eventually, commercial failure is the outcome.
@@meagain416 oh well that how start up low on capital sometimes do it .
Elon Musk says about his car company: it is 1000 times harder to set up production then to build a prototype
How long does the battery last, how many miles do you get on it, and how fast does it go?
I have 3 kits from them. Two are on Dahon folders and work great. The third on a hybrid 700, also works well. Did have some minor parts issues at times, but usually able to get fixes in a couple weeks. My original generation bag batteries no longer take a charge, but was able to upgrade to the new generation quite easily. I only use the electric function for hills and the occasional need to go fast. Agree on the long lead times being an issue. Never had any install issues, but I’m handy.
I love the versatility and relative light weight of the kits,
As a contrast my wife has a BLIX folding E-bike. We got that to help pull a child on a single wheel trailer bike. Works great also, but a lot heavier and cost is higher. I had all the bikes I converted, some for 20 years. Would I buy a bike to convert, only a small folder.
It doesn’t sound that bad .. they seem more unorganized than scammy
They need to take a bigger profit lost and use that preorder money to order 2 or 3 kits per purchase and have inventory.. this may also cut production cost in the near future
The fact that kits are missing parts is a factory issue.. they need to send someone over there for a solid month to make sure the factory is doing what they’re being paid to do... hell... I’ll go ... very insistent by nature lol
I mostly agree. I don't necessarily think they're trying to scam people. It really just sounds like they don't know how to properly run this kind of business. They're investing so little into quality control, support and inventory that it's biting them in the butt. The product itself works really well when it actually fits on your bike.
We bought 2. Had none of the problems this review shows. Ours came with all the parts, installed fine and work fine.
you're just lucky, but how long did you wait for delivery? Do you really believe that they pay their supplier in advance?, it's a company that plays with our money, the more swytch take the time to deliver to us the more money they make
you could have bought a 1000w hub and battery for the same price
Please tell me more! I want a no-frills hub and batter and throttle. Once a month or so I go on a long ride and need some help across the finish line. I don't need pedal assist. I don't fancy this and fancy that. I just want to be able to push the thumb throttle for the last 20 miles and get me home. Then, I'll take off the hub and battery and put my regular front wheel until the long ride next month. Any good suggestions? You sound like someone who would know. Thanks.@@frostedlambs
Not tru at all.@@frostedlambs
@@danielbecerra669 yep see em super cheap second hand every day
I have never in my longest years on this earth have heard a more straight shooting review in my life. I appreciate that you are direct and not a pawn that is paid for reviews. I know if I have had reviews like this in the past on my many failed purchases, I wouldn't have gone through the pain of ordering from the jump. I thank you for this review, it saved me time and frustration.
I just got my Swytch kit installed. I ordered mine essentially June 1 off 2023 and received it end of July. That’s a totally reasonable turn around. I feel they were upfront about least times, and I’ve had excellent customer support.
I do echo some complaints. Namely, they didn’t send the adapter for the battery mount. Want a big deal for me as I just mounted on the handle bars as standard. They immediately issued me a refund so that was nice.
I ordered the LED display. It’s meant for 20mm handle bars but mine are 30mm (ish). So I bought a $10 handle bar extension, which turned out to be really nice for cleaning up my bars anyways. It would be better if the display(s) just came with an adjustable band to make it more universal. Also, the kit did not come with an instruction manual for that particular display, which was frustrating. It is very simple, but not intuitive. Ideally, their manual should include all the display options, but support pointed to the manual online, which I couldn’t find on my own for some reason (probably on me for that one. I only needed about 10 seconds to grasp the functionality and then everything was fine.
I struggled a bit to find a place to mount the magnetic sensor, but it ultimately worked out. I can totally see others not being able to though.
The magnetic disc that attaches to the pedals was a bit frustrating. A wife range of space options would be really nice.
Overall, I’ve had a pleasant enough experience and am psyched on the product. The only thing I wish is that the top speed could be higher. I was admittedly stumped by units, being a dumb American, I read the Max is 32, thinking mph, but it’s kph or 20 mph. Not that that’s at all terrible, I just had gotten myself excited.
So, I agree their supply chain could be straightened out more, and they could either accommodate more bike varieties or better yet make it possible for people to fully vet the product before buying it using better video tutorials. The products are high quality, work well, and I love that I didn’t have to shop for a new bike. It works great and I brag about it.
Did you pay more to be delivered quickly? if you paid the lowest price with such a short deadline while I paid extra to be delivered quickly to finally be delivered after 8 months, this would mean that I am the victim of a scam by Swytch. This is a serious issue
@@dpaquis they actually sell by "crowdsourcing" or crowdfunding...that means they would not build/ship until a certain number of minimum paid orders[money] is at hand through pre order...hence the months and months of wait which is a common complaint. their kit was special years ago but you could diy the same system by buying parts here and there and thats what it did for 1/4 of the price of what swytch was charging.
Thanks for the info. I was really thinking of buying a Swytch bike kit. Not now. I think you have saved me a lot of time and frustration. I may just get an E-Bike instead.
Bought an switch PRE launch kit in 2019/20 waited for 4 months and ask for a refund... waited another 30 days to get the money back. Just today i got an email from them offering me a kit for 399€... One of the things i pointed to them is why shouldn't the battery be laying flat on the handlebar. That would help a lot especially if you live in a windy area. thanks for the video
I bought the first generation Swytch to convert an old cheap Raleigh 26 in hardtail MTB. Yes, had to go through the pre-order rigamarole, paying a surprise sales tax at the end of the process. But the instructions were not bad. The big problem I faced was an intermittent fault that made the bike inoperable. After contacting customer service quite a few times and after receiving several replacement parts, the problem turned out to be a faulty battery mount. Since then, it's worked fine. The real defect with the kit in my view is the lack of range provided by the standard supplied battery. The range is just too short for leisure rides, maxxing out to about 12 miles on the most favorable terrain and not much more than half that in hills.🎉
Thanks for the review, when I looked at the website and saw that you had to go on a waitlist and couldn't just order it right away it was a red flag. Definitely one to watch and wait for several iterations
This company seems to have a good product, but they don't seem ready to deal with many consumers. I will not go with them. I have no interest in having someone hold my card number for six months and getting a product that may not have all the parts I need. You have saved me a lot of precious time.
Just had mine delivered. Easy to assemble and I’m enjoying it. All great so far. 😊
I may have been luckier that you but I ordered my kit knowing that it would take 6 months to deliver BUT I got the biggest discount. My kit did arrive in 6 months - over the winter when I would not be riding anyways. I did a bunch of research before I bought so I had ordered the correct size and options. I ordered 2 kits (for my self and my wife) and use my bike on a daily basis riding 20 to 25 KM per day. The only issue I have had is the zip ties holdng the crank sensor all broke. I will also state that I used to race and build bikes as a hobby and an an engineer. I would highly recommend the bigger battery which has an amazing range, the bike is very fast. I have full throttle driven the bike before a rain storm over 15 KM full speed and still had 40% battery left. Your point about placing the additional accessories is valid but can be fixed by buying a handle bar accessory extension for $15. And yes instructions (which came with the kit are sparse) and you have to really search online to find some instructions (namely how to program the OLED display for may speed and tire size). overall I am very happy with this kit.
Personally, I think that you should do this full time, reviewing, juuuuuust kidding, no, actually I'm not.!? You are uckin hysterical, and, in my ever so humble opinion, informative, honest, no B.S. straight forward and did I mention effing funny. Thank you very much for your honest review/evaluation of this product. You have saved me alot of time and aggravation trying to get the low down on ANY of these kits. Six months to a year !!!!! Your reaction was (not intended) priceless!! You shine brighter than 98 percent of these " reviewers" great job. Did I mention how....🤣🤣🤣you are. AND FOR THE RECORD, I HAVE NOT BEEN PAID, COERCED, THREATENED OR OTHERWISE ENCOURAGED TO WRITE THIS COMMENT. JIC the conspiratorial cone heads happen to surface here! Cheers, Carpe Diem, sincerely Rick H.
guess this is why i stop seeing ads for these
Really wanted to know how it rode
i got two kits from Swytch. Yes they took a long time to get their act together and the first kit required A LOT of patience and i was on the verge of bailing out. However in the end they did deliver, and the kit continues to deliver after 1000km. The second kit's order process was much smoother too, so they seem to have learned. All in all i don't regret the purchase.
Glad it worked out in the end!
Have you ever heard about real e-bike motor kits like ToSeven DM01 , CYC PHOTON ?
they're a good company great product[compared to others] and legit ......but they do have some very very serious issues they need to address...exactly what you covered in the video.
i have ordered this 9 months ago the wait and customer service sucks but once i have it installed i use my bike now way more than before
I have a 2nd Gen, and it was great for 2 years or so. But the parts deteriorate quite easily over time and no local bike service shop will really touch them. My wife bought this exact kit in the video, and it was full of problems to begin with. Battery was faulty and kept running out after a mere 3-4 miles. Support was terrible and response times were a week to three weeks. It took so long we ended up just asking to send it back and have a refund. All in all probably took 5 months to sort that out with the kit originally arriving about 2 months later than promised. Still, they did eventually pay for courier to pick it up, tested it and gave us a refund. Save up the money and just get a proper e-bike.
I was on the fence about this product for awhile now, thanks for helping make a decision and save money.
I ordered one Dec. 2023 with estimated delivery of March 2024. They delayed the delivery twice to June 2024 then to August 2024. I asked for a refund and got it quickly.
The fact that it won't work on folding bikes and that's what I'm interested in really helps my decision. Thanks!
wow...noooo this is not a buisiness, this is a startup......not ready to sell
Thank you for this awesome review. I have been wanting this kit for my brompton for over a year now. The main reason why I havent pulled the trigger is because I am literally confuse on how and why they are selling it like a start up. The company has launch the product since 2017!? Business model is definitely not efficient.
I agree with everything, it's a amazing idea and execution even with a competitive price, it's just not really solving a problem people are having
How much does it cost
I have a Swytch kit on my Brompton using the Gen 2 power-pack instead of that wimpy credit card battery. I can get close to 30 miles on one charge on the Gen 2 battery. I won't buy another one because they totally messed up a good system and their customer support really sucks.
Thank you for your time! I was contemplating this product, but not anymore!
Thank you for an amazing and honest review!!! So many ppl who are doing commercials out there under the guise of reviews it’s terrible so I’m glad you kept it 💯!
Yeah, I waited almost a year for this product. "When I first heard about it, not the time it took to receive"Me being in NYC, this was awesome and stopped me from buying an ebike worth a couple of thousand dollars. I never received my product at launch. I won't go into all the issues because they were already mentioned in this video. I ended up requesting a refund, which took three months, and just bought a 3500$ ebike, and I'm happy. Hopefully, this product will improve for others.
I got a Chinese kit with a 500 watt hub motor and 12 A.hr battery for $600. One year later I'm quite happy. I mounted it on a 1998 Specialized FSR comp full suspension frame for a smooth and bump free ride.
Note that Walmart sells E-bikes in the $500-$600 range. This new kit is grossly overpriced at twice that number.
can i ask u what kind of kit u got or where ?
I paid more for this kit to have it sooner, finally I got it after nine months with a missing part and a range of only 20 KM with the max version,
I contacted support and they refuse to believe what you tell them and even when a fault is obvious, they continue to deny the problem, I regret buying this kit, even if the concept is great, the company is not serious.
I completely agree with what is said in the video
I received our kit this month after ordering in the pre-sale in October. Yeah that’s like nine months.
I got the kit for my bike to replace a car and so far after 900km I love it. But you have to do a proper research if it will fit your bike (I had no problem for 11 year old cube cross bike) but I was considering putting it on my road bike, no chance because there is not enough space for pedal sensor on the cranks. I waited maybe 7 months, that whole preorder process sucks big time but I get that since they are new small company they are trying to protect themselves. Getting an actual ebike for me is no go because I don't have space for yet another bike and good enough for me ebikes start at 2500 EUR so swytch is way cheaper. I would say if you don't mind doing a little DYI project, don't mind waiting and you are sure it would fit than get it. Just manage your expectations upfront and all will be fine.
I liked the concept, but not the preorder procedure... And for only 30-50 kilometers range, it appeared too expensive. So I bought a Yosepower kit from china for my BMX/Folding Bike. The ebay-dealer has a good customer service and helped me to solve some little technical problems.
i got a brompton, bought mine about six month ago and its very solid ebike conversion....still debating if i'll buy another for my carbon road bike....i'm retired now and i'm not as strong as i used to be, so ebike conversion was more of a necessity to me
ordered mine, arrived 10 days later, fitted brilliantly, amazing product
Nice! Wish we had that experience! 😅
I have checked both the front and rear wheels, and they are smooth. It is confirmed that there is a defect in the battery,, it should have been able to cover a distance of 30 kilometers, which now is less than a year old. It can only travel less than 8 kilometers on a single charge. I used to travel 11 kilometers every day, five days a week, but now I use less than 8 kilometers per day.)
This is exactly what I was worried about seeing them in perpetual preorder
This is very valuable thank you
I wonder why there is nothing else on the market like it. Yeah there were attempts from Livall and similar but everyone seems to miss the mark. Yes, even reviewers. Vast majority of people have normal, city or ladybikes they use to commute. They don't need 200km of range, instead the commute is 5-10km, and not the whole commute needs assist, only the uphill parts, meaning a tiny battery that does 20km is already triple the capacity they'd need. Make a kit with a smaller battery, and WAAAY less cabling, seriously, unlike Swytch marketing material wants you to believe there is a fuckton of cables which make your bike ugly. Make it only push assist instead of screens and brake and pedal sensors and don't mount it on the bike, instead let people keep it in their front or back basket. Viola, you just covered 90% of use cases for every man woman and child going to work and school, granny and grandpa going to the market, cargo bicycle struggling with a 300m uphill slope once a day...
Do I see a Trek 5200, 2001?? I have the same bike, great bike!
My trusty Trek! Bought her used years ago and refuse to give her up!
So this thing will not just go on its own like proper E bikes? the videos seem to show that you must still bike and thins thing just gives it a boost and makes biking easier ?
yes
What i really concerns is the wheel quality since I do touring, need very good wheel to load the front pannies weight
The main problem is the battery size. If they made the kit without a battery, they could sell it for a lot less. Let the consumer buy their own battery.
Standard 🤨
@@MAL1GNANT the battery is the money maker...the basic that comes with the kit is so so in performace and lackluster range....most upgrade$$ ...there ya go..!
I somehow signed up for their emails a couple of years ago and get emails nonstop from them. I was interested in the supposed "50% off" pre-order deal, but when I clicked through to it, it was like signing up for the pre-order.... So pre-ordering the pre-order. And then when I finally got the email that I was clear to pre-order, all I could actually order was the battery, not the full kit! This company needs some serious help with management. Seems like a great idea and great product but they seem very amateurish and kind of sketchy.
2:11 into the vid and i`ve already thumbs-upped and subscribed. Awestruck!
they are the worst. they don't send you working parts so you can't realize it sucks and return it. it takes forever for them to return messages. my sensor didn't work and they said they dont have the part and don't know when they will have it back in stock. its like wtf?! really? so now what im just suppose to sit on a pile of metal until whenever its available. I had to spend 120 to take it to a bike shop and now I have to get it all take off so I can wait for this part of which they don't know when it will be available. they are the worst and just stole my money. highly don't recommend anyone buying this conversion from them!!! Thanks for the honest review!!
I wonder if they have improved. Might be worth a follow-up video at some point?
Absolutely! They haven’t shown any sign of improvement thus far. When they do we hope they reach out!
Check out Kirby ebike kit just launched similar product . I’ve owned Swytch bike kits I also waited 6 months to receive after sales is the issue.
I was just going to mention this after watching a review, looks great
Forgot to mention its called the EZ Rider
after doing some searches is exactly why I declined testing it when they reached out to me.
I have the older and this version… I am sad … I like the older version worked well but had to get a different bike (that was ok) but it was sooo heavy so I got the upgrade … yes both times I experience delays. My second kit didn’t come for nearly 8 months but it was just an upgrade know wheel. The version that you had tested is the one that I’m having the most trouble with my battery is crap and I have reached out to them three times to get it either replaced or whatever since they’re in the UK the response time is way off for us stateside. I’m sad because I feel like I’ve wasted so much money trying to get these kits and yes when they work, they work really well. I really wish you all got to try it out three years ago when I bought the first kit. I probably have $800 still in my pocket.
The switch kit is a piece of junk, AVOID
Swytch customer service is appalling
After doing a couple searches, my feed and the commercials are loaded with e bike vids and switch commercials.
This bid is 7 months old. Wonder if they got it together in the meantime.
Disappointing, as some others have commented, that you didn't actually show the product! How long does it take to actually film it - minutes? I pre-ordered mine in the autumn of '22 and it arrived in March (about 5 months) ,but that was over winter so I was quite happy about it. Everything came complete, fitted it in a morning and it's proved really good for getting an old mountain bike more usable for a 70 year old. I'm a bit puzzled by the disabled guy who wants to get 20 miles out of the battery on the no pedalling setup (with the thumb throttle). Where can you buy an ebike that will actually do that?! Let alone for @£600. Wishful thinking IMHO (as well as actually being illegal in the UK anyway). In short, a well made, easy to fit and decent performing kit for the money - as long as you figure out exactly what you want from an e-bike conversion. Pay less and will be cheap Chinese c**p but you can pay more and not necessarily get better. Oh, and I had to consult their customer support twice about minor points and they got back to me next day latest by email with the info I needed. No problem. For a startup they are making a decent fist of it as far as I can see.
We're glad you had a good experience!
While we originally filmed the unboxing, setup, and testing extensively, by the end of it, we were so disappointed by our experience that we took a step back and decided to make a video about our overall experience instead of a straight review of the bike itself. There are plenty of "watch me ride down the road on my swytch" videos on UA-cam and we really didn't see a point in over-doing it if we're just going to tell you not to buy one anyway!
In the future we may upload all of that unused footage as a massive supercut in our member's area on UA-cam.
You censored the word crap? Really?
30 mile range in real world easy on this bike.Effortless 👍
Before you leave a comment: If you had a great experience with this brand, good for you! Just understand that there's a LOT of us who had a terrible experience. And yeah, this could be a totally legit company, but they operate like they're not. You should not have to get on a pre-order waiting list with no idea how much you're actually going to pay or how long it's going to take to deliver. Some people wait weeks, some people 6+ months. Doesn't make any business sense. And you shouldn't have to wait at least a week for customer service to get back to you when you've shelled out this much money for a product. AND before you comment that you came here for a more thorough review of the bike, let me stop you right there. The point of this video is to tell you not to bother. So don't be surprised when it's left out that the battery is underwhelming and the charger connection BROKE after about a year of use. Until they do better, this is where things stand.
so 11 months later. how often do you use this?
I was occasionally using it to get around town but the proprietary charger broke several months ago! To replace it I'd have to go through the same preorder process where I'll eventually be invited to an "order portal". 😂
If they're still in business in 2 years, I'll get one. It's like how the 1st gen ipod sucked compared to the 5th
Thanks for this engaging and helpful review. Maybe I got lucky...or I am wondering whether Swytch has recently improved its supply and delivery service. I ordered my gen 3 kit, with accessories, including a seat post mount, on 31January 2024 and it all arrived on 21 February. Installation went smoothly (the oled display didn't fit my 30mm handlebars but an accedsory recommended by Swytch overcame that) and my short test cycle went like a dream, except i had to slightly reposition my derailleur mount to make space on my down tube. I can't yet report on range; it's effectively day two for me.
I have the Swytch for over a year now. I really like it, although it took a long time for it to arrive. Also the radius is not as much as they promised (pro-kit). But nevertheless I find myself a lot more on my bike then I used to.
Good review but cut the vocal fry, it made me not finish the video.
I have a swytch kit. It's pretty cool and I wholeheartedly agree with everything thing this video says. If I could write a "- 1 star review" about the purchase and shipping process, I would.
Run away.
I recently received 2 kits for a Dahon fold up and contrary to the comments here, the customer service experience I received was great 👍🏾 I got responses approximately within a day. Saying they shouldn’t be selling bikes just because you don’t like the waiting times seems self centred and ignorant. They tell you up front there’s a waiting time so why complain? If it’s not for you, fine but why sling mud? If this is the business model a London startup has to do to compete against cheap imports from china, all power to them.
Basically…
… aa bunch of nerds from MIT had an idea.. then they used drop out of school clueless marketing and business firm interns to save money
Returned mine. Its average kit at best.
Also have used EZ rider also an average kit (looks like swytch 1.0 but with a display which is the best part)
These kits are for supposedly bromptons.
Engineers if I cant fold my brompton with kit, then it is NOT a brompton kit imo
Sadly, I must agree. Assembling for my friend. More issues than expected. I wish he had spoke to me first. I would have recommended a ebike complete. Warning do not get a 1 speed e-bike. Had one, hated it. I need gears and so will you.
I like the idea of the all in one friction drives Any new ones out there?
Thanks for this review. I think I'll hold off on this product.
Wow, that is disappointing, I want d to buy one of these but I dont want to wait 6 months and deal with poor customer service
Thanks for the warning!
Why don’t they have you send your bike to them and they put it together for you. After they should give you paperwork about what every part they use to swytch your bike to an e-bike then make sure the bike actually works. After they finished they should send your e-bike back to you.
Thank you for the valuable information. Will look at a alternative ebike device.
I like my kit sure it was kinda a wait but I got everything included, especially my LED display and thum throttle I paid extra for it's a nice kit the only con im kinda meh with is the max kit only has 20 miles range on full charge depending on how fast you go and if using the throttle all the time but meh I still like it it's good for small runs or if bored a nice ride, I originally got it for my mountain bike to try but ended up putting on my trike since same size tire
I think it'll be great for me. My knee is going bad but I still want to try. I just need a break every once a while, not a full powered ride
Wow ! What a great presenting style! Plus pretty nifty haircut :) Thanks for the honest and thorough information
Is there a review of the device beyond the company review that this video focuses on?
I waited for my kit for 8 months and than decided to cancel my order and get a refund. The whole communication process was nothing less than a nightmare.
Great short hair style!
I have a Raleigh 3 Speed Touring that has a 28 1/2" wheel that they could never match. After 6 months and three attempts at shipping me a wheel size they concluded they did not have the rim size for my bike. My initial deposit of $338.99 (CDN) was returned as $198.75. Even with the exchange rate difference of .02 difference it seemed like a gouge they should not have taken. Seems like a nice conversion kit IF they have a proper rim size for you.... Pure frustration after 6 months.
Womp womp...
@@Terradrift I was informed that the difference was to cover the shipping costs.... I would not have ordered a rim if they had told me up front that they didn't make my rim size. A bit of a waste of time for everyone.
Great vid thanks!
Good honest review. Thank you. I am attracted to the promise of simplicity but hope that a better run competitor emerges.
We hope so, too!
All too real and made worse by never ending ads.
I was almost about to pull the trigger thanks for the warning. Any recommendations on a similar kit? I really want to convert my bike as I can’t afford to buy a whole new bike. Great video!