Denise
New Member
Hi everybody, this is my first post and it's about my shopping impressions on some Canadian (Quebec) e-bikes and a short review on the one I finally chose - the Toba Edwin with Bion-x drive. I was mostly coming to get info and to know opinions and reviews from others. Although Court looked into some Canadian e-bikes, he cannot test ride every single e-bike on the market, so I had to go and check some for myself. I'm not as nimble to hold a camera and pedal at the same time, so this will be only in writing. Here's a picture of the Toba Edwin:
First off, I went to test ride Velec and Toba Edwin - they both have step thru petite/shorty sizes and were available closer to home - Sherbrooke, QC. The Toba Edwin has the added bonus of being a pedal forward bike. I'm a 5'1" (1.54 m) female.
The Velec, although with cadence sensor, felt good on pedal assist, but the bike, albeit full suspension, did not feel right and this, because I'm a recumbent owner (Bacchetta Bellandare) and have accustomed to a more relaxed, feet forward position. I thought about electrifying the Bacchetta, but it's already too heavy in the back and the lower you sit, the less visible you are to drivers. The Velec has a headlight and the Toba has rear light in the rack battery. Later, my take on the Toba.
After my 2 first test rides, I traveled to Drummondville to try out the Evox step thru, and then to St. Hyacinthe to test ride the Solexity, which I was looking forward to. At the bike shop in Drummondville, the gentleman, which I think was the owner, was friendly and helpful and the Evox was fully charged and ready to go. The battery is said to fully charge in one hour.
It felt like it had cadence sensor, not torque - the throttle was abrupt, sudden and jerked me backwards. It was a bumpy ride without any suspension and although the step thru is for short riders, the handlebar was not close enough for me to ride comfortably and could not be adjusted. He suggested bringing the seat forward instead, but then the Evox would lose its crank forward design.
Next stop, St. Hyacinthe for Solexity and I was really excited about that. I just called to ask if they had the e-bike demo for test ride, but did not say when I was coming, since I was not sure when that would be.
First, they could not find the keys for the battery, then they realized the battery was drained, vide, empty, kaput. The staff was helpful and willing, but there's nothing you can do with an empty battery, except wait hours for at least half a charge. He did inflate the tires and sent me out to try it anyways, so I did. The bicycle is a beauty to look at, I had a comfy ride and felt like there was a good suspension on the seat. No rattling at all. Although it's not a crank forward, I would have taken it for the sum of $2,300. This Solexity runs on Bion-x 350W motor.
The Solexity 400 ($2k) runs on a different electric system so I wanted to see what was the difference between those 2, but as I learned its battery was also empty, I put it off. If I lived in the same location as the bike shop, I would have come back the next day or whenever those e-bikes were fully charged, to choose between the 2, which were covered by a 2 year warranty. But living far away, I cannot risk taking an e-bike that might need service under warranty, since it was left without charge, who knows how long.
All the e-bikes felt heavy to me, but I was able to lift at least one end/wheel off the ground. I returned home and purchased the black Toba Edwin (BionX 48 V x 6.6Ah) demo for a little over $2.4k, since I could not wait any longer to get my own e-bike and the Canadian summer is passing by.
As I mentioned, I had my eyes on the most crank forward e-bike I could find and the Toba Edwin has 24 speed, when usually, in that category, you get 7 speed, 8 speed max. But I'm not entirely happy with the Shimano gear shifting - I do prefer grip shift or twist. There's no set up for installing a bottle cage onto the frame. I have 80 $ credit with the store that I want to invest in a front pet basket but the thick cables in front have to be squashed for the basket to be installed, so I'm questioning whether or not to install it.
I inquired the salesperson about adding a seatpost suspension and was told it's not recommended for a crank forward like the Toba, and to that, I pointed out the Devinci Comfort, an 8 speed crank forward that comes with a Suntour seat post suspension.
Before I purchased the Toba, I was considering electrifying the Devinci Comfort, but the cables would've been exposed as it's not intended to be an electric bike. For a while, I was having a bit of buyer's regret. Today I rode 18 km and was very pleased and I'm getting used to the Shimano shifting. The tires rarely skid, even on gravel trails. No strange noise or rattling.
I will pursue the suspension seat post for the Toba, since my tush took some beating. It cannot add to the seat height, as the bike is barely short enough for me. The saddle also needs replacement - not comfy at all on long rides. A front suspension would've been great - my arms and hands still feel the vibrations. Full suspension crank forwards are rare.
As I climb and descend, I switch A LOT between the 4 levels of regen and 4 levels acceleration on the Bion-x control, much more than the bike gears. I'm not sure how the constant level changing may affect the battery. The regen is useful in slowing downhills. I have not used the throttle much - I go fast on pedal assist alone, even when climbing, but still have to work hard and when leg muscles need recovery, I can coast and avoid the burning. The 4th level assist is much more powerful than the 3rd - it gives a big boost.
I've been riding mostly on the 1 x 8 gears, so maybe high gears are not necessary for e-bikes. It's nice to know they are there, if ever the battery runs out of juice.
Battery level can be checked either in console or battery itself. There's a nifty finger touch sensor on the battery, that informs through different colors the level of charge. It comes with only a power adapter, much like a laptop power adapter. The manual says to disconnect once it's fully charged and red light turns to green. The charger is in the battery and I wonder how much weight is added because of it. Is it better to have the charger inside the battery? For what purpose? Maybe I can worry less about it over charging and damaging the battery?
I'll also be shopping for an outlet adapter with timer, so when I travel, I can leave the battery connected and the adapter will turn itself on for 5 hours every 1 or 2 months. I think some batteries can hibernate and dismiss recharging every month or so.
You can't have it all and I'm satisfied with my Bion-x bike. It's quiet, responsive, it will take me on long rides and hopefully, have a long life. At the end of my 18 km ride, the charge level was green, which indicates above 75%, according to the manual and it took less than 1 hour to fully recharge.
First off, I went to test ride Velec and Toba Edwin - they both have step thru petite/shorty sizes and were available closer to home - Sherbrooke, QC. The Toba Edwin has the added bonus of being a pedal forward bike. I'm a 5'1" (1.54 m) female.
The Velec, although with cadence sensor, felt good on pedal assist, but the bike, albeit full suspension, did not feel right and this, because I'm a recumbent owner (Bacchetta Bellandare) and have accustomed to a more relaxed, feet forward position. I thought about electrifying the Bacchetta, but it's already too heavy in the back and the lower you sit, the less visible you are to drivers. The Velec has a headlight and the Toba has rear light in the rack battery. Later, my take on the Toba.
After my 2 first test rides, I traveled to Drummondville to try out the Evox step thru, and then to St. Hyacinthe to test ride the Solexity, which I was looking forward to. At the bike shop in Drummondville, the gentleman, which I think was the owner, was friendly and helpful and the Evox was fully charged and ready to go. The battery is said to fully charge in one hour.
It felt like it had cadence sensor, not torque - the throttle was abrupt, sudden and jerked me backwards. It was a bumpy ride without any suspension and although the step thru is for short riders, the handlebar was not close enough for me to ride comfortably and could not be adjusted. He suggested bringing the seat forward instead, but then the Evox would lose its crank forward design.
Next stop, St. Hyacinthe for Solexity and I was really excited about that. I just called to ask if they had the e-bike demo for test ride, but did not say when I was coming, since I was not sure when that would be.
First, they could not find the keys for the battery, then they realized the battery was drained, vide, empty, kaput. The staff was helpful and willing, but there's nothing you can do with an empty battery, except wait hours for at least half a charge. He did inflate the tires and sent me out to try it anyways, so I did. The bicycle is a beauty to look at, I had a comfy ride and felt like there was a good suspension on the seat. No rattling at all. Although it's not a crank forward, I would have taken it for the sum of $2,300. This Solexity runs on Bion-x 350W motor.
The Solexity 400 ($2k) runs on a different electric system so I wanted to see what was the difference between those 2, but as I learned its battery was also empty, I put it off. If I lived in the same location as the bike shop, I would have come back the next day or whenever those e-bikes were fully charged, to choose between the 2, which were covered by a 2 year warranty. But living far away, I cannot risk taking an e-bike that might need service under warranty, since it was left without charge, who knows how long.
All the e-bikes felt heavy to me, but I was able to lift at least one end/wheel off the ground. I returned home and purchased the black Toba Edwin (BionX 48 V x 6.6Ah) demo for a little over $2.4k, since I could not wait any longer to get my own e-bike and the Canadian summer is passing by.
As I mentioned, I had my eyes on the most crank forward e-bike I could find and the Toba Edwin has 24 speed, when usually, in that category, you get 7 speed, 8 speed max. But I'm not entirely happy with the Shimano gear shifting - I do prefer grip shift or twist. There's no set up for installing a bottle cage onto the frame. I have 80 $ credit with the store that I want to invest in a front pet basket but the thick cables in front have to be squashed for the basket to be installed, so I'm questioning whether or not to install it.
I inquired the salesperson about adding a seatpost suspension and was told it's not recommended for a crank forward like the Toba, and to that, I pointed out the Devinci Comfort, an 8 speed crank forward that comes with a Suntour seat post suspension.
Before I purchased the Toba, I was considering electrifying the Devinci Comfort, but the cables would've been exposed as it's not intended to be an electric bike. For a while, I was having a bit of buyer's regret. Today I rode 18 km and was very pleased and I'm getting used to the Shimano shifting. The tires rarely skid, even on gravel trails. No strange noise or rattling.
I will pursue the suspension seat post for the Toba, since my tush took some beating. It cannot add to the seat height, as the bike is barely short enough for me. The saddle also needs replacement - not comfy at all on long rides. A front suspension would've been great - my arms and hands still feel the vibrations. Full suspension crank forwards are rare.
As I climb and descend, I switch A LOT between the 4 levels of regen and 4 levels acceleration on the Bion-x control, much more than the bike gears. I'm not sure how the constant level changing may affect the battery. The regen is useful in slowing downhills. I have not used the throttle much - I go fast on pedal assist alone, even when climbing, but still have to work hard and when leg muscles need recovery, I can coast and avoid the burning. The 4th level assist is much more powerful than the 3rd - it gives a big boost.
I've been riding mostly on the 1 x 8 gears, so maybe high gears are not necessary for e-bikes. It's nice to know they are there, if ever the battery runs out of juice.
Battery level can be checked either in console or battery itself. There's a nifty finger touch sensor on the battery, that informs through different colors the level of charge. It comes with only a power adapter, much like a laptop power adapter. The manual says to disconnect once it's fully charged and red light turns to green. The charger is in the battery and I wonder how much weight is added because of it. Is it better to have the charger inside the battery? For what purpose? Maybe I can worry less about it over charging and damaging the battery?
I'll also be shopping for an outlet adapter with timer, so when I travel, I can leave the battery connected and the adapter will turn itself on for 5 hours every 1 or 2 months. I think some batteries can hibernate and dismiss recharging every month or so.
You can't have it all and I'm satisfied with my Bion-x bike. It's quiet, responsive, it will take me on long rides and hopefully, have a long life. At the end of my 18 km ride, the charge level was green, which indicates above 75%, according to the manual and it took less than 1 hour to fully recharge.
