Stark Drive Reviews 

I ordered my bike in march and received it some days ago. Been riding it every day since then - great feeling riding the bike, like going downhill all the time:-)
The plan is to use it for commuting to work, so I will do quite long stretches every day. The quality appears to be good, even though the low price. It was a bit of a wait before it was delivered, but I felt it was worth the wait when comparing the price against the competitors.

The bike I received was more or less in-line with the quality one would expect for the price. All told, my 500w version with suspension was around $1,050 US delivered to California. I have two issues with the bike that have resulted in a low rating:

1) When the bike arrived, the brakes were not properly adjusted and the disks are warped. After only two rides, one of the two bolts holding the front brake caliper fell out, it apparently was not properly torqued at the factory. As well, both the front and rear brakes flutter and do not provide linear stopping due to warped brake disks.

2) Pedal assist: after roughly 5 rides on the bike, the pedal assist stopped working at all. The electric motor can only be engaged by using the throttle which I find to be quite annoying. I have physically inspected the crank sensor and it appears to be lined up properly and all the wire connections appear to be solid. I contacted STARK and they told me to take the bike to a local repair shop - at my expense, they only offered to replace any defective parts that the shop may identify.

Going forward, I would only buy a bike from an established company that will honor basic warranty requests as this bike is not really usable in its current state. I am heistant to go spend more money to chase down the crank sensor issue since there is no documentation on the cycle computer and I am not sure if it is a setting issue or failure of a component.

I am order #684, placed in June 2017 for Batch #2

UPDATE 7/5/18
My review is back on the site after STARK filed a number of false claims with Trustpilot that my review was not legitimate. I included my name and order number with the original review but STARK still went ahead and claimed that I was not indeed a legitimate customer even through they have all the data to verify such. I am by no means a STARK hater and am in fact rooting for STARK's success. But how can a company succeed when they are spending more time and resources trying to muzzle legitimate complaints than focusing on true customer service to ensure the product shipped actually works. I suggest STARK work with customers to repair/address real product failures and the negative reviews will melt away based on the goodwill they engender. Just my suggestion.

Hi,
I want to share some really positive story with you guys.
I knew from the first time that I'm backing a startup project that produces products in China. So for sure I will get my bike soon or later (soon in my case) but if anything breaks during the usage, maybe I will have to repare it or buy new parts myself. I was not expecting any real warranty on the bike.
I got my bike City+ in Sweden several months ago. I had so much fun time riding it as it is my first electric bike.
Than a few weeks ago in very short time the distance that was possible to ride with one charge went down to only 3-4km. Just like that. I used the bike in the same rate as before, I charged it like before.
I sent a letter to Stark support, and long story short this week received a brand new battery for my bike without paying for it. Wow.
OK I had to send back the broken battery with the keys that cost a small amount of money but how cares.
The reason I guess why Stark could do that is the fact that they sent out more than thousand bikes and there was just tree battery problem including mine so far. The factory was so curious about the problem that they send me a new one to be able to check the broken one.
I wanna thank the factory for this positive attitude, and of course to Stark for the great support so I can keep using the bike!

That showed me how the Factory really cares about the quality.

I am an American presently residing in India.

When my cycle arrived it did not have a battery.

1) **Update: Received battery today, and it was the battery I ordered. The plastic casing on one end of the battery was broken but using tape to seal it seems workable. The bike was received on May 18th, the battery on June 26th.

The cycle was ordered in September of 2017 and the first estimated shipping date was late October 2017, several other estimates were also missed along the way.

Lowering the review to 1 star again. Stark Drive refuses to acknowledge the $400 that they said was for pre-payment of India duties, that they accepted as pre-payment for India duties was ever actually intended for India duties.

2) SUMMARY/FACTS: Total support/fees paid to receive my Stark Drive are now as follows:

a) Total cost to me of $2,292.35.

b) Cycle with options as ordered $1,611.

c) Import duties of $681.35.

The cycle was supposed to come with a 500 watt motor, and the import duties were pre-paid as per instructions from Stark Drive. The cycle I received has 350 watt motor.

a) The motor was not upgraded to 500 watts (paid $175).

b) On the cycles arrival in India I was told by Stark Drive that my import duties were not pre-paid (pre-paid $400).

c) Total overpayment $575.

This financial problem remains unresolved.

Stark Drive said that the cycle would be destroyed in customs on “that day” if I did not pay the duties. I paid money for the duties, in this case directly to customs.

I have copies of earlier emails from Stark Drive confirming that the duties were pre-paid.

Stark Drive refused to refund the money, offered me a CREDIT. They did not specify whether this credit would be for only the $175 motor upgrade or if it would also include the $400 for pre-paying the import duties (per their originally stated policy).

The actual import duties/fees totaled $281.35. Stark Drive said I needed the $400 import duties deposit to cover currency flucuations.

Stark Drive states they no longer ship to India, so I am not too clear on how any credit could be used.

After having Stark Drive simply state "[your $575] slipped through the cracks" as an explanation of the problem and the lack of any tangible acknowledgment of said credit of unspecified amount I don't have a lot of confidence in the representations of Stark Drive.

NOTE: Stark Drive communications do not include an employee name or any type of employee ID number.

The vague nature of the replies is in my opinion a very poor business practice at best, a cover for a lack of integrity at worst.

These are not my only concerns about my having backed Stark Drive. This is enough and I can let the other concerns go...

NOTE: I have copies of all email communications with Stark Drive stored in order, in a Microsoft Word document and all of this can be verified.

The responses to my emails were sometimes polite, often quite short and I often found the tone to be rude. Questions, when answered at all, were not complete answers. An example being the "we will give you a credit" without specifying the amount... there are many others.

Realizing from the outset that this was a crowd funding campaign I have been quite accepting of the numerous delays and always aware of the risks of dealing with a start-up.

I really wanted to, and still may, be able to write a more positive review of Stark Drive but believe that it is important to let other potential backers realize the problems that I have experienced with this company.

My goal of using the Stark Drive to travel in India, click photos and share my experience of what I think can be a world changing technology (quality electric bicycles) is not yet realized.

Blogging as an American in India using electric cycle and clicking nice photos of beautiful India... sounded like fun to me.

Stark Drive, in my opinion is very quick to blame India, blame shippers, blame suppliers, and very poor in terms of accepting responsibility and acting with concern for their backers. This based on my experience primarily, but also based on the tone and content of some of their blog postings (subjective, I admit).

**Update: If I had received the 500 watt motor and if Stark Drive had either not had me pre-pay duties, or paid the duties with my deposit, my review would be at least 3 stars. For now I am going to use the bicycle for awhile and see what the situation is with the $575 in options/duties is before amending the rating further.

I would not have backed Stark Drive had I known what my experience with them would be. Still think the idea of electric cycle is a really good one...

The stated price of Stark Drive is more than reasonable, the actual price with shipping, duties etc. is closer to their competition.

The servicing and communication issues are huge, big problem.

_____________________________
re: Starkdrive reply:

The cycle is working good. The price, even with all of the extra charges, is probably in line with what a good electric bike might be.

I would love to be able to endorse Stark Drive but I will not. Their business practices preclude me being able to recommend them to anyone.

There where were multiple misrepresentations from Stark Drive including in their attached reply (no use working myself into a lather to prove this...).

Stark Drive seems to think that the fact they offered what they describe as a "loss leader" in India entitles them to using misrepresentations to keep to recover what they see as a loss. Doesn't cut it, BE AWARE.

Dealing with them on these issues was painful, and a total waste of time. Taking the time to carefully document to Stark Drive what the problems with this order were was not worthwhile. I am not going to repeat that mistake. My life, aside from when I have worked to communicate with Stark Drive is just too nice. Why worry.

I have no more to say.

-Edit- 09OCT2018 I followed up with Stark Drive after a few e-mails went back and forth. I can understand that they can't give me a refund or exchange for a smaller bicycle. Why they cannot provide manuals, detailed specs or configurations for any of their components used in constructing the bicycle is a mystery to me. Additionally, they said I would not get my fenders that I had previously paid for until I removed my negative review. There it is. Stark Drive conducts business in a wholly unethical manner. Goods paid for have not been received and by their last e-mail will not be sent until I remove my review.
-Edit- 20SEP2018 I contacted Stark Drive after receiving a voicemail from someone claiming to be Oscar and was instructed to follow up with an e-mail as they wanted to discuss my situation and improvements they could make. I did reply via e-mail and was told I could have the fenders I had already paid for if I took down my negative review first. Well, the negative review will remain because they don't care about making things right. Case in point. If they truly cared about the backer experience, their image or their ratings, they'd verify my shipping details and send the fenders I've been missing since March without worrying about my one negative review.

-Edit- I removed my Customer Order Number from this review on 06JUN2018. The original review was posted on 05JUN2018. How is it that this company can monitor Trust Pilot with such efficiency and vigor, but not respond to the simple requests of their customers and supporters? To reflect their petulance, I have changed my review from 2 to 1 star. I'm willing to change the review or remove it, if the company would work to resolve these glaring issues in a timely and professional manner.

I should have seen the red flags and saved my money. When I first explored the possibility of purchasing an affordable pedelec. There were a handful of options in my price range. I chose This crowdfunded project because they promised good service and a top notch bicycle. I had questions about the size of the bicycle and if it would be a good fit for me. I'm an experienced cyclist and had some basic questions about the bicycle that took several iterations/tries to be answered. I thought even if the bicycle was too big, I could at least retrofit a different frame with its components. I can't even do that, because this company refuses to answer questions about the bicycle components and provide manuals and diagrams.

I hesitate to sell this bicycle because anyone that owns one, doesn't want/need another one. And I'd hate to pass on unknown problems because it's too big for me to a prospective buyer. They get two stars for delivering close to the bicycle I backed as I still have not received the fenders. Their lack of response to my requests leaves a lot to be desired in the support and service component. I ordered fenders with this bike, and still haven't received them or a response about an ETA for them. I asked for a full refund, no response. I offered to deliver the bicycle in the US to a backer in exchange for a full refund, no response. I offered to deliver the bicycle to a US backer in exchange for credit equal to the amount I paid for the smaller bicycle they plan on producing in the future, no response. In short, I offered possible solutions to satisfy the issue and have not gotten any response except the canned messages that say someone will get back to me.

I cannot recommend this company based on their poor level of service and support.

Stark Drive delivered my bike and I absolutely love it. I am the new orous owner of 3 500w with all the bells and whistles. This whole experience has been about as far away from my expectations of crowdfunding as I can imagine. These guys were always available via email and chat and always responded to my questions whenever I had them. Not only that but they were willing to help me when I made some errors in the configuration even months after I backed them. I really really appreciate everything that stark drive is trying to do by making these electric bikes affordable. Comparable electric bike locally for me in the states would have cost me at least twice as much. And only that but it would’ve been much uglier.

The best part about the whole experience is that I can easily take the battery out of my bike in charging at work for free and still have my bicycle safely parked downstairs. I for one can’t wait until the new mini version of this bike comes out because I am going to be an early adopter. This will be great on my travels.

This company is doing its best with very limited resources and I can’t imagine everything that they’ve been going through with the hundreds of backers that they apparently have according to their website.

I received my bike after a long wait (11 months)... Having backed a crowdfunding campaign I knew it would have taken some time between the purchase and the actual arrival of the bike so I can't complain much. The bike arrived in great condition and it took me less than 1 hour to assemble it (and I'm no expert)... I tried it for a few kilometers and the experience was amazing: my battery was still charged and all the mechanisms proved to work. I know this company had some communication issues (maybe we backers would have needed some more updates to keep our hopes up, given all the scams nowadays) but I can imagine that they had to deal with several problems that couldn't give them so much spare time... Anyway, I'm very happy for my purchase and I'm recommending this company to anyone: many still thinks that e-bikes are ugly and expensive, my Stark bike is beautiful and I paid less than 800 dollars including expedition and some nice optionals :)

Everything was going good until Stark drive and UPS delivered to my old address, where the bike was taken by someone. Stark drives "customer support" is a complete joke. I was in contact with them through several emails, in which I was respectful with each one. Long story short, after they basically told me I'm screwed, they stopped replying to me completely. Very, very unprofessional in my honest opinion.
Update: It now seems they are trying to start a lawsuit against me for giving this review.
10/30/18 Update: It seems they have gotten new customer service, although it seems they are motivated by my bad review more than anything. I have finally recieved my bike. I haven't been on it yet but it looks nice. It did not come with instructions so I was left to figure it out myself. I'm writing this review before riding it because Stark drive is pushing me to change my review "since I have received my bike". I'm glad I now have my bike, but getting a bike with Stark drive seems like a gamble. You might be very happy with your experience, or you might have one like mine.

Happy about the product when I received it. Looked around for ages but can’t beat this price point :) already recommend it to my college.

In the place where I live, people don't know about electric bikes yet. I managed to ride a bike when I was resting in Europe. my "test" bike was Stark Drive. it was very neat and nice bike. at first I was afraid to press the gas, but when I did, I could not let it go))) I really liked it!!!! and I definitely wanted to own the same bike. I rode for about two hours and almost all the time pressed on the gas without pedaling. I am very excited about these bikes. Stark Drive product is really very high quality.

I absolutely love my Stark E Bike 🚲! I ride to work effortlessly with a big smile on my face. The bike not only looks amazing but runs perfectly. Unbelievable quality to price ratio!!!

I understand that some people have been waiting a while for their bikes but let me assure you this isn’t a scam. I was in batch 2 and got my bike about a month ago! I love it! My only regret is that I didn’t get the 500w motor (there are a lot of hills around my house and the 350w motor can’t handle some of the huge hills), but when Stark puts out their torque sensor version later this year, I’ll probably upgrade. If you’re still waiting for your bike - relax! You WILL get it!

Hi everyone

It seems some people are afraid this is a fraud. I don’t think it is. I’ve been in touch with them, and they always answered my emails. They explain in detail what has been happening with the shipping of the bikes on their blog, so... calm down everyone! They have photos of the bikes being shipped on trucks and trains; they have photos of people receiving their bikes. They have photos of people riding on their bikes on the city!! Come on everyone, take it easy, relax and you’ll get your bike(s) soon enough ! I recently payed for the taxes and - honestly - two bikes will be cheaper than an equivalent bike so... I think it’s a win deal! They have a new small bike and i really like it a lot. So ... maybe !!

PS: some time ago I was afraid this could be a scam of something and contacted my Visa card company in order to get my money back. I’ve told them recently that everything was ok, since I got more information given by stark, and told them to stop any procedures against the company. Maybe this act of mine can relax a little bit everyone of you that’s afraid of loosing money here. I’m sure you wont. Oh and I don’t work for them ! Btw, I’m from Portugal, and I’m really excited for my bikes to arrive !!! 😀

nach 14 Monaten sind unsere 2 ebikes ( city + ) nun endlich angekommen.
Die Räder wurden vom Fachmann zusammengebaut und das Ergebnis ist
gut.Wir warten noch auf die Lieferung der fehlenden Teile - sind optimistisch, dass sich diese Aufgabe in naher Zukunft erledigt.
Die Qualität der Räder überzeugt in jedem Fall-- Logistik und Kommunikation hat viel Spiel nach oben

Update may 8, 2018 – Third version of my report after Stark claims the content of 2nd.
So far I have not received the missing parts. Also there is no approval for the EU available. Stark told me not the truth and it seems, that a judicial dispute is becoming more likely.

March 28, 2018 - Second version of my report after Stark claims the content of 1st.
Below a short version of it.

April 28, 2017 - I requested by email from Stark whether the model Advance has an approval for the EU. Stark answered me by email the same day with "yes we do"
April 29, 2017 - I ordered two Ebikes, model Advance, with 500 W engine.
May 26, 2017 - I wrote in a chat with Stark that the German Federal Motor Transport Authority can not find the registration in the database. I asked him for the EU registration number of the Advance model. Stark responded to me in the same chat session "registration wants to be completed in time for our deliveries". From this chat I have a screenshot as proof.
January 22, 2018 - I received the two Ebikes via TNT. The ebikes were scratched and partly incomplete. There were no EU type registration/approval papers.
On my complaint list Stark has only once answered. After that no longer, although I reminded him 5 times in writing.

Nach fast 10 Monaten sind die Bikes endlich geliefert worden! Es gab viele Lügen und Versprechungen seitens Stark Drive!

Leider sind die bestellten Bikes nicht vollständig! Die bestellten Schutzbleche fehlen und man bekommt keine Reaktion von Stark Drive!
Ein Fahrrad wurde beim Versand oder auch direkt beim verpacken durch den Hersteller beschädigt! Des weiteren fehlte der Akku bei einem Bike!
Fotos von der Beschädigung und eine Bitte um nachliefern der Schutzbleche werden ignoriert! Mehrere Emails werden einfach ignoriert!
Eine Reaktion habe ich dann doch bekommen:

Please return the bikes.
The shipping address is Shenzhen china.
Please get back to us which carrier you will use.
Return shipping costs are your responsibility.
Be sure to inform the carrier you are sending high capacity lithium batteries.

Wegen des Akkus ist es nicht möglich die Fahrräder nach China zurück zusenden!

Was nicht geliefert wird, wird nicht erstattet und auch nicht nachgeliefert!

Garantie gibt es dann anscheinend auch nicht, da man auf Reklamationen einfach nicht reagiert!

Überlegt euch gut, ob Ihr ein Fahrrad bestellen wollt, da es nach der Bestellung kein Widerruf gibt und mit PayPal seid ihr auch nicht abgesichert, da Crowndfunding bei PayPal nicht abgesichert ist!!

Google translate:

After almost 10 months, the bikes have finally been delivered! There were many lies and promises from Stark Drive!

Unfortunately, the ordered bikes are not complete! The ordered fenders are missing and you get no reaction from Stark Drive!

A bicycle was damaged during shipping or directly when packaging by the manufacturer! Furthermore, the battery was missing on a bike!

Photos of the damage and a request to resupply the fenders are ignored! Several emails are simply ignored!

I got a reaction after all:

Please return the bikes.

The shipping address is Shenzhen China.

Please get back to us which carrier you will use.

Return shipping costs are your responsibility.

Be sure to inform the carrier you are sending high capacity lithium batteries.

Because of the battery, it is not possible to send the bikes back to China!

What is not delivered, will not be refunded and not re-delivered!

Apparently there is no guarantee either, because you simply do not react to complaints!

Think well, if you want to order a bike, because there is no revocation after the order and with PayPal you are not hedged, as crownfunding at PayPal is not secured!

My Experience with Stark Drive has been very Bad! Their Email responses are vague and not Informative! The best part about this company is the Bike itself, The Bike is of great quality However, I know a bit about running a Business and one thing I learned is take Criticism as a Positive to Improve and they do the exact opposite of that! They refuse to respond to any of the other Backers who are also frustrated! They need to fix a lot things if they even expect to stay around! I mean what kind of company refuses to help their Customers? Other then that the Bike is Amazing! Very well built and works great! 4 stars for the Bike, Improve on Customer Service and I'll add a star

Worst company ever.

Now that’s the response I was looking for! Thank you Stark. Keep that up and you’ll see your reviews quickly climb!

I bought into the Stark Drive startup and having been involved with other such ventures I knew some what to expect. BUT.
Since having been an investor in this startup Ive not been subject to any kind of after delivery customer service.
The battery for the bike they sent me is faulty and can i get any kind of corespondence out of the company? no non.
I am having difficulties with Stark Drive and its owner and it seems anyone at this company gives a hoot about its backers / customers.
Stark Drive, you can report this post in under 5 minutes??? look after your customers the same will you.

REPLY FROM Stark Drive....... Cont.
They write... Thank you for the review however we had already contacted you and informed you a new battery could be sent out if you were to send back your existing one for analysis, !!!!

My Reply, You only contacted me because I had posted how I felt on Trust pilot, so dont say you had already contacted me. Thats a lie.

They also write........ we have already done this is a very few other cases but you refused to send your pack, there is unfortunately nothing we can do if you do not follow our warranty procedures.

My Reply,,,,, What are you trying to say in the first half of this paragraph? it does not make sense, and yes I refused to send back my battery under your warranty as you expected me to ( in your words ) wait while the battery was sent back to the manufacturer for analysis! leaving me with a useless and un use-able product, for how long? I was'nt willing to find out as your RSVP process to questions is very very lapsed, not taking into account the amount of time it takes your company to send articles by post or courier. I will source a new battery for my bike that has a useful warranty process.

Purchased one just before Christmas, picked it up from the shop in Stockholm. It was easy to assemble all parts were good. The Swedish government will refund 25% of the cost as a campaign to promote electric bicycles. I intend to order three more later this year. With the government refund I will get one bike for free.

I feel sorry for the guy in Australia who lost his bike to the customs.
Seems like a stupid behavior from a government, concedering the environmental advantages with a e-bike