punkride.com

Neutral review based on experience. But a fun product.

Neutral review based on experience purchasing a Zeegr F1 [Bluvall] E-bike. The sale and pre-sale information were good, a keen price and good web site info - best price around for a generic Chinese made eBike [they're all variants on a common rail design]. Shipping and delivery were timely and the product arrived in good condition. User and assembly instructions were woeful and based on a different eBike model - YouTube is your friend. A short test ride revealed an issue with the front fork assembly, it has stopped compressing and had seized. Then the pantomime as I started pursuing a warranty claim. Punkride played post-box between the Chinese OEM and myself as customer. The OEM seemed disbelieving that the item could be faulty, and kept asking for all manner of videos and photos showing a fault with a non-user serviceable item. The forks either work or they don't. Mine didn't. The preload button on the left fork is a placebo - I knew that, but the right fork with the compression adjustment had seized. Nearly 6 weeks of procrastinating followed with anonymous unsigned AI generated or AI enhanced Emails in reply to mine. All very polite, but tedious. Finally, and somewhat out of the blue, replacement forks arrived by courier. eBike is now fixed, but I had almost given up hope of that happening.The bike itself? Common rail mass produced cheap far Eastern stuff. I'm not that naïve to think £869 is going to get me a high quality well-engineered product. But it works, and it's fun. But it's rough and ready quality, and weighs a ton! The throttle assembly was loose on the handlebar and came off, snapping the control wire with it - soldering iron out and some sleeving on the handlebar to secure the assembly. The brake pads on the 180mm hydraulic disks were useless and juddery. Replaced with £8 Shimano pads for double the braking effort than the OEM ones and judder free braking. The front light is useless - but good USB C rechargeable bike lights are cheap enough. The rear shock absorber was useless - replaced with something that works and is pre-load and rebound adjustable - £25 Ali Express special. The 7 speed Shimano derailleur gear assembly seemed counterfeit - the jockey wheel plain bearings failed after less than 300 miles - even the very cheap Shimano stuff lasts far longer. Hey, all of £13 to replace with the real deal. All screws and threads now have copperslip grease added as the rust-proofing of the bike is woeful and the ferrous materials are very low quality. They'll rust up solid after one winter without protection. The headset top bearing failed developing excessive play after 300 miles, but is easily replaced - a new one came with the replacement forks so is now fitted. The front Bafang motor has great torque for starting you off quickly on the roads, but just spins on any loose surface. There's no torque split front to rear or anything fancy, not for £869. After 8-10mph the front motor drops out anyway. The rear motor chugs along happily thereafter at higher speeds. Tyres wear very quickly on the road, but aftermarket road tyres are available if that's your thing. Range: with pedal assist around 40miles, with no assistance around 25miles. The Li-Ion battery capacity probably isn't what is stated in the literature, but it's a reasonable range for a very heavy bike with a lot of rolling resistance. If you want good range you don't by fat tyre dual motor eBikes weighing 40kg!Would I buy one again? Absolutely, it's a cheap fun bike for mucking around on and great for trails and offroad. Be prepared to get your hands dirty and to fix small stuff as and when. At the price it is, consider buying a spare bike for parts if you want to get several years use out of it, as no reputable cycle shop will touch it or be able to source parts, and after a year or two it will be obsolete technology.

Date of experience: Feb 23, 2026