Manufacturers have descriptions such as CKD,90 per cent,98 per cent. These shipping terms are somewhat not understood, CKD means 'completely knocked down',ie in bits....most e-bikes are not shipped this way but some normal bikes can be,to be assembled in the receiver country.
90 per cent,is probably better described as 70 per cent,if you look on the review section,Trex has put a video of a bike delivered to this level,lots of packing,lots of assembly and adjustment required.
E-bikes shipped as 90 per cent can fit some 20 more bikes in a 40 foot container,so shipping is cheaper,these bikes are normally shipped with the front wheel strapped to the down tube,they are usually considerably wrapped to protect. We started shipping Kudos bikes to this level but there are several problems...
Bikes to this level can be easily damaged,usually scratches on parts of the bike which are readily seen. But the major problem is that bikes to this level are not usually post assembly checked,to check the bike the supplier has to finish the assembly,whereas at this level they can ship without final assembly.
I now order Kudos bikes to 98 per cent assembled,they usually only need handlebars rotated and adjustments,most suppliers who build to this level will at least check that all the electrics work.
The boxes holding the bikes tend to be thicker cardboard and the bikes are retained with triangle supports within the box,the box has to be much longer,less bikes in a container and UK shipping costs are higher but this is balanced with less PDI costs in the UK,less warranty problems and customers can ride the bike pretty much out of the box.
I visited a factory in China that put every bike on a bike rolling road,do a computer printout for each bike and have a sub assembly line to sort out any problems. I suspect that PDI sorting would be minimal from them but they charge about 100 U.S. dollars more than others....I am honest to say that most UK customers would not appreciate the extra cost,also most of their bike styles are aimed at the Dutch market,not really to UK tastes.
I have been to chinese suppliers who represent the good,bad and ugly of this industry....I went to one in the north which had no windows and no heating in minus 5!
The current supplier of the Kudos range builds all bikes to 98 per cent level,even older suppliers we build the bikes up to 98 per cent level even if the shipper was 90 per cent,by the time we have built the bike to test it seems crazy to take it to bits just to save a little courier costs.
The UK importer who courier delivers bikes at 90 per cent level,without opening the box from the container, is effectively asking his customers to do the PDI,that is just asking for trouble,but it does happen.
I suppose you get what you pay for,even in shipping.
Hope that is of interest.
KudosDave
,
90 per cent,is probably better described as 70 per cent,if you look on the review section,Trex has put a video of a bike delivered to this level,lots of packing,lots of assembly and adjustment required.
E-bikes shipped as 90 per cent can fit some 20 more bikes in a 40 foot container,so shipping is cheaper,these bikes are normally shipped with the front wheel strapped to the down tube,they are usually considerably wrapped to protect. We started shipping Kudos bikes to this level but there are several problems...
Bikes to this level can be easily damaged,usually scratches on parts of the bike which are readily seen. But the major problem is that bikes to this level are not usually post assembly checked,to check the bike the supplier has to finish the assembly,whereas at this level they can ship without final assembly.
I now order Kudos bikes to 98 per cent assembled,they usually only need handlebars rotated and adjustments,most suppliers who build to this level will at least check that all the electrics work.
The boxes holding the bikes tend to be thicker cardboard and the bikes are retained with triangle supports within the box,the box has to be much longer,less bikes in a container and UK shipping costs are higher but this is balanced with less PDI costs in the UK,less warranty problems and customers can ride the bike pretty much out of the box.
I visited a factory in China that put every bike on a bike rolling road,do a computer printout for each bike and have a sub assembly line to sort out any problems. I suspect that PDI sorting would be minimal from them but they charge about 100 U.S. dollars more than others....I am honest to say that most UK customers would not appreciate the extra cost,also most of their bike styles are aimed at the Dutch market,not really to UK tastes.
I have been to chinese suppliers who represent the good,bad and ugly of this industry....I went to one in the north which had no windows and no heating in minus 5!
The current supplier of the Kudos range builds all bikes to 98 per cent level,even older suppliers we build the bikes up to 98 per cent level even if the shipper was 90 per cent,by the time we have built the bike to test it seems crazy to take it to bits just to save a little courier costs.
The UK importer who courier delivers bikes at 90 per cent level,without opening the box from the container, is effectively asking his customers to do the PDI,that is just asking for trouble,but it does happen.
I suppose you get what you pay for,even in shipping.
Hope that is of interest.
KudosDave
,
