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As for deliveroo riders, yeah bound to happen. Many are riding legit e bikes (and then be hacked), others just put together some far east express parts and use a hand throttle. That part of it isn't the worst. Its the absolute POS bikes they fit them to that don't have brakes capable of stopping very well even when new (£89.99 of argo's finest with a £600 500w kit attached with zip ties). Regularly get them in the shop with punctures, but unless they commit to £££ brake upgrades
I used to see those when I worked in a shop, and aside from proper maintenance, all those bikes really needed was a Shimano hydraulic front brake, $30.
Oh, and a motherfucking plug so the rear wheel can be removed from the bike without busting out a fucking soldering iron.
They're total shit, but the cable discs and hardwired motor are just utterly beyond the pale.
Kimmo-
No I mean the ones that have Canti bosses, and then the worlds lowest £ plastic bodied v brake with plastic brake pads and steel cables that are corroded to death when you get them out of the box. 100% guaranteed to cause harm and injure pedestrians and anyone else who gets near one, and that was before they had a cheap motor kit zip tied onto them.
Mate's building burned down a few year ago due to one of these things being charged up in a neighbouring flat. Lost everything and insurance took 2 years to even vaguely settle some of his lifes collection of things. The flat with the fire wasn't properly insured, the individual not a proper resident or on any contract, and the bike/ekit that caused it not approved for use anywhere, so ended up his own insurance company taking the full hit (and the landlords, and the other flat owners/tenants) due to one crappy e bike kit.
BrickMan
Beware of swytch, on regular hybrids they are OK, they are well enough made, good enough instructions and seem to be reliable (so long as not DOA).
But on folding bikes, jesus, just avoid in my extensive recent experience.
Loads of them for Brompton (and the other popular folder, Dahon?) have been shipped with front axles way way too short for safe usage, their 'fix' for the actual axle being too short is to use dangerously undersize and substandard fasteners. Note also Brompton do not condone use of anything but their own add e system, I think the front part of the frame and the fork are different for e bike variants (much beefier), as the classic style fork leg brazed into cast crown is NOT up to the job of resisting the forces from a front wheel hub motor.
There have been issues, there have been accidents (though when something is not manufactured right and 'passed qc', its not really an accident, its a court case) and there will be more.
As for deliveroo riders, yeah bound to happen. Many are riding legit e bikes (and then hacked), others just put together some far east express parts and use a hand throttle. That part of it isn't the worst. Its the absolute POS bikes they fit them to that don't have brakes capable of stopping very well even when new (£89.99 of argo's finest with a £600 500w kit attached with zip ties). Regularly get them in the shop with punctures, but unless they commit to £££ brake upgrades and maintenance I have to turn them away, otherwise it can become my liability for enabling them to ride a bike with actually no brakes.
Many of the legit riders who used to use scooters/motorbikes gave up and went to ebikes, as the cost of legitmate businesses hire + reward insurance for the job is in the £1500-3200pa range, motorbike theft is high and in the UK there is a serious shortage of good and affordable MC mechanics, so their bikes often become total deathtraps (that thankfully the UK MOT system mostly weed out).