Anyone know of Taotao, or Ewind bikes ?

[rick-n-ns]

Hi all, new here, Like it say Rick from Nova Scotia, a near E-bike virgin, I test drove a 250 watt front hub Giant once.

Anyway I need to get me some E-sistance, and the choices are just too numerous, and of course everyone has the best. I don't believe everything I hear. I actually test drove an IGO mid drive that was supposed to have more hill climbing power, well that was disappointing, as I felt it had no more torque than the small hub Giant.

I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with the Taotao, or Ewind bikes, I'm not sure which name is correct, but some of the models are named; Commuter, Classic, and Rebel, this is a pic. of the Rebel (if I can work it) which I like.

This bike is priced at around $1200.oo while the price alone might suggest junk, I have to think that a lot of the components are quite generic, such as frame, wheels, brakes etc. maybe even so much as the motor, and battery. They don't mention name brand of motor or battery cell type. Admittedly I don't know, hence the reason I joined up today.

I need a E-bike mostly to get me up a 600 foot hill at the end of my trip every day. I can do 20-30 miles on my own, add to that a lot of walking while I enjoy my other pass time Metal detecting, so yeah I'm pooped at the end of the day, and that hill is tough on my old body. Oh yeah some day to fight the headwind.

Thanks EBR.
Rick

EDIT: forgot to mention it is "I think" 350 Watt, with 36V 10AH Battery. The specs. are not real clear, and maybe only a 250 watt (continuous) 350 MAX.

 

[Nirmala]

There is one bad review I found on Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/eWind-Rebel-2015-electric-ebike/dp/B00V5DP0MY

This bike looks like it would be very heavy, and so it might not work out so well to only use the motor on the one big hill. You might feel like you are riding up hill all of the time with the motor off. And if it is a 250 watt (350 watt peak output) motor, it might not even make it up that one big hill.

Also this looks like it is one of the many Chinese designed and manufactured ebikes that are being sold under different brand names. You can read more about this business model here:
https://www.electricbike.com/geoby-one-of-chinas-biggest-suppliers-of-generic-e-bikes-for-export/

The big concern with buying a bike like this is the question of support after the sale. Is there an established bike shop selling this model near you that will be there when something goes wrong?

There is a big learning curve with ebikes, so I would suggest spending some more time reading up and especially exploring the reviews on EBR.

 

[rick-n-ns]

Thanks Nirmala, for the reply and the links. I don't think I could base any decision on just one review be it good or bad.

I'm not holding a lot of stock in the other article either, because if those BIG chinese companies selling millions of bikes were as crap as the author of that article wants us to believe they are there would be a lot more "bad reviews" to be read...wouldn't there ? Again just about every E-bike, and part thereof comes from there.

There certainly isn't many dealers in my area, there is an IGO dealer in Halifax, Already had a bad experience with that company, and thieir mid-drives they didn't want to take back a bike which arrived with many problems, they insisted I straighten out the bent stuff and I'd love it, they would send me the replacement parts for what was broke, and missing.....

Research, I've actually done a quite a bit of it, couple of years worth, almost till my head hurts. So many models I don't like, don't like "weird" frames, step through, (girls bike) would prefer no shocks at all, as we never needed them as kids, and they just add unnecessary weight IMO. in already heavy(er) machine. I've watched many of Court's "ring-ring" videos, which I liked to watch, but he likes everything, and won't come out and say anything to negative, why would he, only stuff like "they used a cheaper shock" or "I wish the key was removable".

My hill I mentioned is on average about 10%, aren't most E-bikes able to do that? Not to mention that I can make it up on my own power, so the bike would just be helping me.

Starting to ramble, sorry.

I have also looked seriously at the new "Stunner" from Biktrix, supposed to be out soon ? would have liked to see it have disk brakes though. In the end I may just get a kit and put it on a "normal" looking bike. I guess as winter is near I have some more time to think about the options.

 

[Nirmala]

You are somewhat correct that any motor will help out on the hill, especially if you can keep your speed up. The 350 watt (600 watt peak output) hub motor on my ebike will bog down if I let the speed get too low. Then it can even overheat and automatically shut down until it cools off. So I just pedal hard when needed to be sure my speed stays up near at least 9-10 mph.

I think the Chinese companies are selling millions of bikes in China, and are just starting to market their own designs here in the US.

The Stunner does seem like a lot of bike for the money. I am also impressed with the specs on the upcoming Cross Current from Juiced Riders: http://www.juicedriders.com which if you are waiting til spring anyways might be a good option.

If you want to pedal most of the time without any assist, then maybe the simple approach of the lightweight ShareRoller added to a nice light road bike would be a good option. Any of these ebikes would be a bit heavy to pedal a lot without the motor helping at least some.

 

[rick-n-ns]

Thanks again, Yes I was concerned about speed on the hill, I may get down to 5MPH, that would be a "problem", overheating problem for a hub motor. I'm starting to see that like many other things there may not be one "perfect" E-bike.

The link to Juiced looks like a nice normal looking bike, hardly even know it's an E-bike. I like disk brakes, and the wide range freewheel cassett. Back to no perfect, I would like a throttle as well.

 

[J.R.]

@rick-n-ns

I do an 800' x 2.2 mile climb everyday and have done it for more than a year with a 500 watt direct drive hub and since October I added a second ebike in the mix with a 350 watt geared hub and haven't had any issues in more than 6000 miles of commuting and recreation. I've never dropped below 11 or 12 mph.

The bike you posted looks nice for the money and the hub is likely geared by it's size. If you could spend $1500-$2000 USD I think your ebike world would open up significantly.

Good luck!

 

[rick-n-ns]

@JR

Well thanks, that is encouraging news, your 800 feet over 2.2 is roughly 7%, my climb would average about 10% but much shorter, it's good to know some real numbers from a real person that the 350 watt geared hub is capable of that.

I'm not against spending more than 1200. As stated looking at the Stunner, but the numbers are confusing EX; reserve for 49 on one site, reserve for 99 on another, price is anywhere from 1350, 1399, and 1499. AND it's not even on this side of the pond yet. With a threat that price is going up soon, considering that the juggernaut is selling for 1399, with disk brakes, and more expensive wheels/tires, I don't get it. Having to pay for something before it's even built, is probably a road I'm not taking.

 

[Hellfish]

@JR

Well thanks, that is encouraging news, your 800 feet over 2.2 is roughly 7%, my climb would average about 10% but much shorter, it's good to know some real numbers from a real person that the 350 watt geared hub is capable of that.

I'm not against spending more than 1200. As stated looking at the Stunner, but the numbers are confusing EX; reserve for 49 on one site, reserve for 99 on another, price is anywhere from 1350, 1399, and 1499. AND it's not even on this side of the pond yet. With a threat that price is going up soon, considering that the juggernaut is selling for 1399, with disk brakes, and more expensive wheels/tires, I don't get it. Having to pay for something before it's even built, is probably a road I'm not taking.

I completely agree about the confusing numbers from Biktrix. I was seriously looking at the Stunner but was put off by the way they are marketing that thing. I'm pretty sure that it's not intentional but I figured if they can't get simple price details right, how are they going to be to deal with if you have a problem with the final product. Also, it just rubbed me the wrong way that they had misleading info on their website and this Canadian based company (I live in BC) was going to charge me in USD (I also priced out a Juggernaut). They quote domestic shipping the same as US shipping and to top it off, GST in USD! I ended up ordering a RadRover, picked it up on Thursday and couldn't be happier! I have over 50km on it now even with all the rain and wind we're getting on Vancouver Island right now. It's preforming beyond my expectations. It climbs hills brilliantly, and today after 32kms of soggy trails including several steep climbs it still had 4 out of 5 bars left on the battery meter.

The low Canadian dollar right now is a pain in the ass. I tried the Ewind bike pictured above. My LBS sells it for about $1400CAD+GST/PST. The RadRover cost me about $1940CAD + my expenses to pick it up in Seattle. Thanks to the friendly customs guy that waved me through the border, I paid no duty or tax I'm more than happy to have paid roughly $400 more for the RadRover. It's that much more powerful, fast and fun. The Ewind felt cheap and under powered in comparison.

 

[George S.]

The designer of the Stunner, @roshan, is a very experienced person, and he's available on this Forum, Biktrix. The campaign is a little confusing, and I'm just not a fan of Indiegogo. But Roshan has a lot of experience and the mid-drive would handle a 10% grade easily.

To me, 10% is where you need some power to maintain speed, even with steady pedaling. But that's with any hub motor. With a mid-drive, you can just get in a low gear and go. Another Canadian company, Voltbike, has the Interceptor. He's on this forum.

You could build a BBS02 bike. @flymeaway has some builds archived, maybe under $1500, if you search.

 

[rick-n-ns]

Thanks Hellfish for the first hand opinion of the "low powered" Ewind.
RE Stunner, As far as the tax being in US dollars, if it was added to the US price, and then converted to CAN dollars, that would be the exact same thing as converting the bike price to CAN, and then adding tax in CAN $, and as far as the sinking loonie, yeah that sucks hard. With banks 2% surcharge it is 35% as of today $1000.oo US will cost us Canadians $1350.oo

 

[rick-n-ns]

The designer of the Stunner, @roshan, is a very experienced person, and he's available on this Forum, Biktrix. The campaign is a little confusing, and I'm just not a fan of Indiegogo. But Roshan has a lot of experience and the mid-drive would handle a 10% grade easily.

To me, 10% is where you need some power to maintain speed, even with steady pedaling. But that's with any hub motor. With a mid-drive, you can just get in a low gear and go. Another Canadian company, Voltbike, has the Interceptor. He's on this forum.

You could build a BBS02 bike. @flymeaway has some builds archived, maybe under $1500, if you search.

Thanks George, I see your a prominent member here.

I am hoping the Stunner with the BBS02 will handle the 10%, in fact I'm kind of expecting it will do it with no pedaling. Frankly I'll be a tad disappointed if it won't, not that I mind putting in my share, it's just I don't think I'm capable of 500 watts at least for any length of time, and I can do these hills.

And I guess time will soon tell as I bit the bullet, and made commitment to buy the Stunner.

 

[George S.]

As I recall from the Stunner page, the bike peaks close to 900 watts. As long as you are in a low gear as you start the hill, it should be fine. I'm not sure what chainring @roshan is supplying with the bike, and he might be willing to do a little custom work if you ask. Normally, for a mid-drive, a 10% grade is not much of a challenge. Here's an article on chainrings:

http://electric-fatbike.com/bbs02-chainrings/

I think the 44t (teeth) might be the safest bet. It's pretty easy to switch them, down the line, and there are adapters. I don't want to make you think you will have any problem with the stock motor. These motors are incredibly adaptable.

There is more written about the BBS02, more stuff on Ebay, more YouTube videos, more people with parts, than anything else. The newer version, the HD, is just way too much for a more basic bike like the Stunner.

Hope it shows up in a month or so. I'm surprised by his timeline.