Eovolt Afternoon Pro 20" folding
Eovolt Afternoon Pro 20" folding. £2999.00 Bought from Halfords who built it. This is a fabulous bike from the design and folding point of view since it folds up really small plus the pedals and is stable and pushable due to a wheel magnet, you push by raising the seat post and using the saddle like a handle. The video demos show you all that. The seat is even comfortable. I was thrilled with it and loved the carbon belt.
BUT what they dont tell you is that your ride depends on the seat post clip which looks great but has one diddly smaĺl screw holding it together and holding up the post and you get a diddly alum key from Halfords.
If you must fold/unfold for every use for storage like me you most likely raise and lower the seat post. After 2 short rides my seat post sank 3 inches. Terrible for your lower back and hip flexors. Same on the 3rd ride. I opened the clip that time and it was hanging off sideways. I could not tighten it although I consulted the manual etc sat on my kitchen chair for 15 mins struggling. It said tighten but not too much. That is not helpful. I realized this most certainly would reoccur since I open and close the clip every time I use plus your weight plus the battery weight is all centered there. (I weigh 154 lbs.) I lost confidence for that reason. It is a design fault or weakness.
Halfords is too far away to keep going there for adjustments. (I must add It is too heavy to lift the bike without removing the seat post/ battery but that I could live with.)
Also the other problem was the electrics worked fine at home and the battery was fully charged. I decided to start using the electrics on ride 3 but they didnt even light up and didnt work. Returned the bike to Halfords who were very nice and very understanding and refunded me, since the electrics failed to work, after 18 days and 3 short test rides. They didnt know why the electrics failed and admitted this bike was new to them. I was extremely sad to return it. So disappointed. I have not found another bike to replace it as none of them will fold small enough to fit in my small lift. Eovolt please come up with a USER FRIENDLY method of keeping the seat post stable on your next version!!!
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EOVOLT has promptly replied to me. Many thanks.
They say none of the issues are true and they will take it up with Halfords etc (Bournemouth Holdenhurst Rd)
To clarify some things for Eovolt.
1. The sliding down seat post by 3 inches (counting by the position notches on the post) happened during my ride by millimetres so gradually I noticed it towards the end when I realized my back was not liking the ride and I seemed lower than when I started out. I corrected the height myself but the same happened on rides 2 and 3.
On the 3rd ride at the end I opened the clip and saw it had loosened so much it was hanging off sideways.) I read the manual again and looked for online instruction but I still couldnt manage to do it.
2. When I lost confidence in the clip and screw on the seat post that was what made me decide the bike was not for me and to return it. I pictured myself 7 miles from home with the wind against me and a slipped saddle post and trying to tighten it with a very small alum key and failing. Since I dont want EVER to be in that position my decision was based on that. I do think the clip is not user friendly if the seat post does slip down. I do think that if you use the clip a lot like I did it will work loose sooner or later. The screw is simply too small and its too fiddly unless you are a bike tech or very good at that sort of thing.
3. At Halfords when I walked 40 mins uphill with the bike ( since I dont own a car )the bike tech fixed the seat post clip in a jiffy with his special alum key tool and said it shouldnt happen again. I told him I wasnt confident in the clip and had decided to return the bike, so the failed electrics was not the actual reason.
4. Regarding the failed electrics that was something he would have examined later and I had already been refunded so I dont know why they failed. Also I forgot to give him the keys to the seat post which he would have needed and he rang me to ask for them so I dropped them into the store addressed to him 2 days later.
5. I would just clarify that Halfords, who ordered the bike direct from Eovolt and built it, gave me well over an hour tuition on folding/unfolding and went over the bike generally with me. I took out a 3 year care plan with them. That was the point of buying from Halfords and it is my nearest bike store and I believe the only local bike store in Bournemouth that is an Eovolt dealer. The electrics looked to be working fine and the seat post clip also fine. They told me the bike was returnable within 14 days.
I hope that is a fair account for Eovolt to consider if and when they take it up with Halfords.
Resposta da Eovolt UK
Very sorry to hear this Julie.
This is more a 2 star review of the after service you received or didnt receive in this case from the retailer which is frustrating as this isnt a review page for the retailer.
I assure you that none of these are issues with the bike. Could you please inform us of which branch of Halfords you bought it from so we can take this up with them.
There are thousands of these bikes on UK roads that none suffer from this problem and if they did we would work with the retailer to fix and address them.
You havent received the after sales service we expect from our retailers.
We have over 160 Eovolt retailers nationwide who pride themselves on supporting their customers, support you havent received in this case and Im sorry for that.
You could have had the bike replaced with a new one rather than be refunded.
You could have taken the bike to Primera in Bournemouth who would have worked with us to fix these issues very quickly for you.
