I bought this used vBIke in the summer of 2022. It had been used for a few months as a commuter bike. Back and forth between the owner's apartment and his work place. There was about 670 Km on the bike at the time.
The bike showed little to no wear. It had been kept indoors all the time and the owner said it had never been taken out in the rain - judging by the condition, that appears to be true. There is no surface rust anywhere or any indication of moisture in any areas of the bike.
The vBIke Lexo ST is made in Canada. It's a folding 20 inch fat tire bike. When I bought this, I had two plans in mind. The first was to get used to ebikes, and the second was to eventually build my own (and likely a 26 inch version). The photo at the right is the bike after a few modifications. I added wire-pull hydraulic brakes, new discs, and a hard shell bag (for camera) at the back.
A tip to anyone getting a new ebike: opt for the hydraulic brakes option. The hydraulic brakes make it a lot easier to stop ... we're not talking about pedaling anymore, this bike goes up to 32 kph and stopping when going that fast is critical. vBike make a hydraulic version of this bike, the vBike Lexo STs. About the only difference between the ST and STs is the latter has hydraulic brakes. Decidedly, a must-have option.
During the summer, I made some changes (along with the ones mentioned above). I re-programmed the bike's controller switching from a five speed passenger assist system to a seven speed passenger assist system. This means there is less jarring between gear shifts. The upper speed range remains the same at 32 kph. After thoroughly cleaning and detailing the bike, it's just like it came out of the showroom.
I also started buying up a few 26 inch bikes. I was looking for a slightly better quality bike than the department store versions. Quite frankly, the department store versions are just fine. The problem has more to do with poor assembly at the store. Department store versions tend to use parts that are at the lower quality range, the frames and wheels are excellent.
I ended up with three bikes. A "Ross" 21-speed mountain bike, a "Kranked" 21-speed mountain bike, and a CCM Apex 24-speed mountain bike. The Ross and Kranked bikes needed work - lots of work and lots of parts. That helped me get back into repairs ... it's been quite a few years since I fixed and maintained my own bike. At that point, I didn't really know which of these three bikes would end up being the "donor" bike for a new ebike build. As it turns out, none of them had the proper geometry as an ebike base.
I gave all three bikes to family. Looking for a new donor bike, I ended up taking two more bikes into my small garage. The first was a CCM Incline ... I thought this the most likely candidate. The Incline parts were all significantly damaged, with a missing rear wheel and rear derailleur smashed beyond repair. The second was another CCM Apex. Both of these bikes were originally 24-speed versions. The Incline was a hard tail (with front suspension) with perfect geometry as an ebike. The CCM Apex, although it had the same model name as my other CCM Apex, was an earlier version with the rear suspension geometry slightly different - different enough that I could use that as a base.
Both bikes had been in a storage shed for years. You can see the CCM Incline at the left and the CCM Apex 6061 at the right.
The white CCM Apex is the bike I am focusing on. Since I don't have all the parts for the build yet, I am working on both frames at the same time - the new parts will work on both so I can easily change the donor frame. But - the CCM Apex is the one that needs the most work.