Sondors Ebike Review Now Live

[ebikedelight]

I skipped the assembly part and fast forwarded directly to the riding experiences. ;-)

Yes....Court could cut down the time of most of his videos, by 50% or more...and tell us the important aspects quickly, then do the ride test .
Generally speaking, people like to gain their info as quickly as possible, and Courts videos do not achieve this.

 

[ebikedelight]

If I were doing these ebike reviews on utube, heres how I would reveal the info.

1. Name- model of the ebike
2. price of the ebike
3. motor wattage - motor construction
4. battery voltage- capacity - and chemistry
5 . weight of ebike
6. how long it takes to charge battery when its empty
7. controller wattage ratings and if the controller can be programmed.
8. Brake system

This covers most of the important aspects up front.

Then, if the ebike has things like shocks , regenerative braking etc..quickly discuss that.

THEN...do your test ride, and discuss silly things..like bottle holders, and horns.

I only give this advice, to try and help Court gain more viewers on utube...but he seems to ignore my sincere advice.

For me personally...I don't care about things like..leather grips, bottle holders, horns, etc...but I realize some people may care about that stuff , so that's why you discuss it later in the video, during the test ride.

 

[Brambor]

not so fast. Court's reviews are usually short and to the point. This Sondors review was a departure. It is half an hour. I simply did not have the 30 minutes yesterday. I have a pretty busy life.

 

[Adrian]

How did that saying go, "you can't please all of the people all of the time"

 

[ebikedelight]

not so fast. Court's reviews are usually short and to the point. This Sondors review was a departure. It is half an hour. I simply did not have the 30 minutes yesterday. I have a pretty busy life.

You seem to miss my point

Court will often discuss the least important things on these ebikes, in the beggining of the videos.

Ive seen this complaint, on other ebike forums.

 

[ebikedelight]

How did that saying go, "you can't please all of the people all of the time"

and that isn't the goal...the goal is to get the most important info to the people, in the beginning of the videos..to gain more viewers on Courts utube ebike channel.

IMHO...info about leather grips, water bottle holders and horns, should not be discussed initially because they are not nearly as important as price, motor wattage, batter capacity, etc.

 

[ebikedelight]

and that isn't the goal...the goal is to get the most important info to the people, in the beginning of the videos..to gain more viewers on Courts utube ebike channel.

IMHO...info about leather grips, water bottle holders and horns, should not be discussed initially because they are not nearly as important as price, motor wattage, batter capacity, etc.

I will give a supportive example

When a person goes to the car lot, to purchase a new vehicle, they don't initially care about how many cup holders the car has , or what type of floor mats it has....they are usually more concerned about the vehicles motor, price, gas mileage , etc.

 

[Adrian]

Given the lack of video reviews available of electric bikes I'd be surprised if people looking for information would be so easily discouraged from watching Court's videos. The ones I've seen are great - I'd prefer a lot more technical geeky information but I understand that the target audience isn't necessarily technically minded. So, for what they are and for whom they are aimed at, I think they do the job.

 

[EULITTLB]

Cheers Court, balanced review - you can't be everyone's cup of tea, do it your way and your way only, it is successful enough and is appreciated by the vast majority of viewers/readers.

 

[Bike_On]

Good review Court. Way to call them out on the marketing... to the world, most don't know the difference or care. I thought the allowance of the two boys to take a ride, kind of puts it into perspective. It was the coolest thing they have done in a while and may grow up to be ebike designers/enthusiast.

The bike was like a minimal DIY bike kit, with the extras being a battery box and lock down grips. (I kind of liked that upgrade the most.)
Sondors made a smart move with a Fat tire bike vs a standard comfort bike design. The FT style adds coolness and uniqueness, and likely drove sales. Ebikes are a tough sell already, and offering another cheap looking build "from China" does not move me.

The performance/quality level of motor and battery are entry-mid level, with proven motor design and not high risk. That same battery container is used by Falco and Optibike in some of their models. Not sure if Sondors has a BMS, but there are many inexpensive bottle batteries from China that are getting good results. My 36V, 11.6ahr Falco bottle battery is still going strong after 3 years. I use to get 10.2 ahrs max, down to 9.5 last year and near 9 ahrs now. Never had an issue and the standard LiMn chemistry is stable, and balances well. I suspect the bike components will wear before the motor/battery here, which is good. I have the same charger type as in the video, silent, 2amp, solid case.

 

[TSOX100]

I just received my bike last week. So far so good. I haven't found the pedal assist to be working and the range of 50 miles to be greatly exaggerated. I seem to be getting about 10-15miles (I'm 185lbs) some hills and I almost always have to pedal. The bike is heavy and needs my help, but overall happy with it. If this causes a few manufacturers to lower their price point then so be it (I think a few mftrs are over charging). At $700, i plan on riding till the motor burns out and upgrading.

Along the lines of upgrading, anyone upgraded parts to make the bike lighter? (swapping out the steel seat post for aluminum, tubes... etc). I also noticed Court mentioned possibly upgrading the a efneo bottom bracket to add gears. Anyone have any experience or pitfalls to doing so? I'm interested in adding this (although weary of joining another Indiegogo campaign).

 

[Brambor]

I'm not missing your point. I disagree with your opinion without specifically pointing it out.

You seem to miss my point

Court will often discuss the least important things on these ebikes, in the beggining of the videos.

Ive seen this complaint, on other ebike forums.

 

[eDean]

Each of Courts reviews can stand on its own. They assume you know nothing about eBikes. Ex. Explains what cogging is whenever he references it. Given the breadth of his audience, this is a very practical approach to take and respects the newbie and the vet (just got to the written review for stats if you don't have time, all aspects are broken out at the start of the writeup). A year ago when I discovered ebikes, the reviews on this site were invaluable and I appreciated the lack of insider jargon. I'm not sure how people can be so nit picky about what Court is producing here which is a huge effort both in word and video. It is the most comprehensive catalog of eBikes on the web. If viewership is low, that is because the interest in eBikes is low unfortunately, not due to videography. Google really ranks this site high.

If this bikes does have PAS, it might be wise to reshoot the video fast given how much exposure it is going to get.

 

[ebikedelight]

Each of Courts reviews can stand on its own. They assume you know nothing about eBikes. Ex. Explains what cogging is whenever he references it. Given the breadth of his audience, this is a very practical approach to take and respects the newbie and the vet (just got to the written review for stats if you don't have time, all aspects are broken out at the start of the writeup). A year ago when I discovered ebikes, the reviews on this site were invaluable and I appreciated the lack of insider jargon. I'm not sure how people can be so nit picky about what Court is producing here which is a huge effort both in word and video. It is the most comprehensive catalog of eBikes on the web. If viewership is low, that is because the interest in eBikes is low unfortunately, not due to videography. Google really ranks this site high.

If this bikes does have PAS, it might be wise to reshoot the video fast given how much exposure it is going to get.

Its called " constructive criticisms" ...which unfortunately, most of the human race is unable to accept.

I have thanked Court for his reviews on a few occasions and I also take the time to give him ideas on how to attract more viewers on utube, which I would think is something he would like to achieve. He can easily continue to give out info on the less important aspects of each ebike , but IMHO, I think that info is best suited to be relayed later in the videos...this will still keep the beginner ebikers coming to his utube channel and possibly bring in more advanced
ebikers that do not wish to sit thru the initial 5 minutes of the video , hearing about things like leather grips or bottle holders.

This is especially true when he reviews ebikes that cost $3000 or more.

 

[PowerMe]

I'll sometimes read a review rather than sit through a video of it because I can scan and get right to the part I want quickly. I can do that as well on video, but it's more hit 'n miss than with the written word. And, in a nod to the best of both worlds, if there's something interesting I see written in the review first, then I can usually find it pretty quickly in the video because the written review tends to follow the video review.

@ebikedelight - I'm sure it's frustrating to send a suggestion along and not have the recipient follow it, but Court seems to like his particular style and approach and that's his right. The world has room though for more than 1 ebike reviewer, so create some of your own videocasts and share them!

 

[ebikedelight]

I'll sometimes read a review rather than sit through a video of it because I can scan and get right to the part I want quickly. I can do that as well on video, but it's more hit 'n miss than with the written word. And, in a nod to the best of both worlds, if there's something interesting I see written in the review first, then I can usually find it pretty quickly in the video because the written review tends to follow the video review.

@ebikedelight - I'm sure it's frustrating to send a suggestion along and not have the recipient follow it, but Court seems to like his particular style and approach and that's his right. The world has room though for more than 1 ebike reviewer, so create some of your own videocasts and share them!

Actually, my main bit of advice for Court, is to just " restructure" the info he provides in is utube videos which may help get his view count much higher.

 

[grench]

so create some of your own videocasts and share them!

@ebikedelight +1

 

[Admin]

I just received my bike last week. So far so good. I haven't found the pedal assist to be working and the range of 50 miles to be greatly exaggerated. I seem to be getting about 10-15miles (I'm 185lbs) some hills and I almost always have to pedal. The bike is heavy and needs my help, but overall happy with it. If this causes a few manufacturers to lower their price point then so be it (I think a few mftrs are over charging). At $700, i plan on riding till the motor burns out and upgrading.

Along the lines of upgrading, anyone upgraded parts to make the bike lighter? (swapping out the steel seat post for aluminum, tubes... etc). I also noticed Court mentioned possibly upgrading the a efneo bottom bracket to add gears. Anyone have any experience or pitfalls to doing so? I'm interested in adding this (although weary of joining another Indiegogo campaign).

I'm not sure what the issue is with my assist (or if there is an issue?) but thanks for sharing your experience including range and performance. Glad to hear you're enjoying your bike

During my magnet tests I think I checked the seat post and it seemed to be aluminum, I don't remember the magnet sticking?

Regarding the bits about a future display and activating assist, Lon McClure on YouTube shared this bit of advice that people might be interested in: "Go to https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sondors-electric-bike/x/4920472#/updates then click "Show more" and search for "pedal assist" and (separately) "add-ons" as they were about three months ago"

To respond to your feedback @ebikedelight, thanks for sharing some ideas... again! I'm not trying to ignore you and I am taking your feedback into account. @eDean is correct about how each video is meant to stand alone so newbies can feel comfortable and fully connect with a bike. It would be a lot easier for me to quickly hit the specs and do a ride test then explore the "extras" that might be less important to a more knowledgeable viewer. To me, that approach feels rushed and disjointed because I end up going back to wheels after talking about the motor and back to the frame and ride quality or gears after already touching on the battery. I try to ease into each bike and then build up to the complex stuff, talk about what it's like to ride and what makes it special before hitting the motor and how that motor compliments the system. By talking about it and then riding towards the end I feel that I'm more fully able to guide the user because they can look for how the hardware is performing and how I'm interacting with it. If I did a ride early on, it's true that I could recall how it felt moments ago (and I do test ride before I shoot) but the progression of the video just feels disjointed to me that way... at least right now. I'm constantly tweaking things and I might gravitate towards your suggestions as time goes on. I'm glad that many people here reference the specs and writeups because those take a ton of work, way more than the videos... and they are less fun. Without the specs and articles people wouldn't be able to compare or find bikes and the idea is that once they have, they will enjoy seeing a slow, thorough overview before deciding to spend thousands of dollars. I've considered cutting the site off and focusing purely on video (I could do a lot more reviews this way) but it feels like the tools at the site (and comments there and the forum here) are valuable.

Anyway, I'm open to input from all sides and am very happy with the traffic that the site and YouTube get, maybe I could have more subscribers etc. but I'm mostly doing this to help people understand ebikes and find a bike that's right for their lifestyle and budget. I want that process to feel positive and be clear and easy to follow.

 

[Admin]

unlike some of the negative, pointless, and overly redundant comments we continuously see in this sub-forum.

It's no fun when you're trying to learn and get help but people disrespect you or criticise what you're excited about. That's why I try to keep these forums friendly and why my reviews are light, soft and a bit long... They're accessible and I'm extending my own emotional resources to help people connect. I speak to random people on an almost daily basis who call or email asking for advice and I try to respond a lot on YouTube comments and on EBR because I think being good to each other matters and I hope to build people up (and animals, animals count too!) I know what it feels like to be beaten down, the sad thing is most of the people who are causing damage are the ones who are really suffering, they were beat down by their family or friends growing up

...but sometimes they can heal, it's more fun and a lot less work being nice after all.

 

[EULITTLB]

Court, not everyone is an ebike expert and astute observations of minor details can make a difference for sure. Glad you mentioned the importance of animals!!!! I think it is better that the more experienced sift through the details to get what they want out of a review and people such as myself aren't put off immediately with how many teeth they are running on sprockets, battery specs, tubing etc. but are eased in to a review.
Sondors bike is certainly reasonable value for money for those that have received them, however personally I doubt even 6-700 ebikes have been delivered.