An electric bicycle that has a powerful 380 watt motor, superfat all terrain tires, and speeds of up to 20 mph.
Besides weighing in at 45lbs, Sondors eBike can travel a range of 30 to 50 miles with a single charge. Fully charging the battery only takes a mere 90 minutes.
Delivery in May-June 2015.
You might be right here. But:
Not everything what the Department of Transport does is correct. Challenge authority! Laws can change.
It's always sad to see when a more fuel efficient way of transportation is made illegal. Wow … I would make a V8 illegal! I agree that there need to be rules … but making it illegal … wrong!
I completely agree, much like Segways. They look a bit pretentious but they should be legal (I'm not sure if the law has changed for them recently but I remember them being allowed only for police). I just wanted to warn people in case it's denied!
Segways are fun … did rent one in Paris 2 years ago … I see some driving around in Melbourne (only tourists) but I believe they are not allowed on the street.
Yeah … at the moment you risk your licence. So it makes sense to warn about the usage.
(Sad that Australia can't even innovate in this area with these restrictions … some laws are just stupid and need to change and keep up with time.)
I still voted the deal positive as I think it is a very good price for such an ebike. On the other side never forget it is a crowd funding website … you don't purchase the product you fund an idea!
@mini_wombat:
Some laws definitely need adjusting, some are far too restrictive or have exaggerated consequences.
The specs are nice, charging in 90 minutes is great and reasonably fast for local travel. Hope these get allowed one day!
I don't think any states here allow over 200watt electric vehicles.
Actually I think the power limit was increased from 200 to 250w in 2012.
Still, 380w far exceeds the limits allowed by Aussie law but I wonder how this is going to be enforced.
part of queenslands anti-hooning laws
Many cities around the world are actively promoting eBikes - Barcelona and Copenhagen are some. See this interesting project supported by Copenhagen in Denmark: https://www.superpedestrian.com/
NYC made them illegal on the other side.
Might be time for rethinking the legislation, considering the green push in many Australian cities.
It doesn't sound like it would meet the EU standards either.
Copenhagen wheel is a 250watt electric motor. That meets the EU regulations.
This product, which is a lot more powerful, is meant for the American market, which has different guidelines.
The Australian one is modelled on the European Union's Committee for Standardisation.
What I am suggesting is that it might be time for a Road Transport Reform, to catch-up with the developments in the field. There is an eTransport revolution about to happen…Australia might want to consider how it positions itself sooner rather than later.
All well and good but how does this make the deal a bargain, if there is no legislative change. More of a gamble than a deal. as its a bit fast to ride around the backyard in.
Seems like they have considered how they want to position themselves - at 250w.
http://www.ausebike.com/history/problems.html
Under Australian law a “power assisted pedal cycle” must be primarily pedal powered with a motor that has a continuously rated power not exceeding 200 watts. The 200 watt limit was nominated because it has been shown that a person pedaling can produce the same output.
However, a battery powered vehicle is many times heavier than an ordinary push-bike – clearly demonstrated when you try pedaling one! After all, you have added the weight of a motor, controller and a battery. Therefore the benefit of the permitted 200 watts of power is far outweighed by the extra weight that has to be propelled.
This problem is most noticeable on scooter-styled vehicles since they often weigh more (due to all those cosmetic plastic parts) and frequently have very poor pedal geometry. This makes this type of vehicle downright dangerous if the rider is trying to cross through traffic
NSW RMS allow up to maximum 200watts
http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/roads/safety-rules/stand…
In US the regulation allows up to 750w or 1hp.
it says…
Get one (1) Sondors eBike for the special pricing of $599! Save $700 or 53% OFF the $1,299 retail price for a limited time. Offer ends February 13th at 11:59pm PST. Hurry, prices will go up! The next pricing level is $699! *Choose Sondors eBike color at the end of campaign. **Shipping is a variable cost based on volume/location. The more we sell the cheaper it is. We can guarantee it will be less than $194 each for USA and $250 for International.
so is it US$699 (AUD$900)now?
You also just missed the boat with the early bird price of US$499.
Must admit that I get turned off at prices when I know it was offered at a cheaper price.
Top value for an eBike though and was tempted but delivery and Exchange rate killed it for me.
$1091 AU seems far less attractive than the title would suggest.
seems like spam.
are these crowd funding type places really a deal (I'm not just asking about this bike).
They all say buy now 'cos later it will be more expensive, plus the item is not actually available at any price at the moment.
I agree. It can't really be a deal if it isn't available and you don't even know if the product will make it out of the prototype phase
I back some Perth guys who did a rear bike cam/light "Fly6" .. think it was $99USD .. now they flog it for $275ish (which is crazy high). I know it's unusual but they delivered on time and it was an excellent product… so yeah so real deals I guess but you can never be sure if the risk will out weigh the reward… and I would never tell some one they should 'back' something based on that alone.
I understand your point, and some products do get launched perfectly and you can get some real bargains. But overall, I tend to err on the side of caution. Been burned by a few Kickstarter/Greenlight projects.
I agree, especially when there's really no evidence you're going to get an end product, let alone one that is accurate to what you were initially buying. Wonder if there should be rules in place to prevent these type of "deals", probably not though as there aren't many of these posted.
"Sure it's not legal to ride on the roads but buy it anyway because reform!"
If anyone is interested in a cheap, crowd sourced e-bike project that is street legal, I saw this the other week.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1182676007/a-quality-di…
or buy one 'current' model from their store right now? $399 (choose a colour)
http://dillenger.com.au/shop/electric-bikes/cheetah-folding-…
NOTE: I'd like to see a comparison by some one who knows about these things between the OP and this bike.
That Kickstarter (in the post above) is supposedly due to them finding a newer manufacturing process to make them cheaper. When you can get a bike down from 699 to 399 - some corners are being cut - so buy the current model at a discount maybe? Get it now and don't be the test case for new bugs in manufacturing.
Not a fan of this bike, even if the showstopping power issue was overcome.
It is just over sized, which adds up to a hefty approx. 25kg! No wonder it needs a big motor.
And looking at the specs, it for some reason has monster tyres - 29 x 4.8". I did a quick search and couldn't even find these locally - if you can get them, they'd presumably cost a fair bit. Why choose those?
Sure, you can buy something different afterwards, but look at the frame and it's built to accommodate these massive tyres - I think it'd look a bit weird with a massive gap. Plus if you want accessories like mudguards, you may have difficulty fitting them due to the non-standard "XXXL" sizing.
I saw someone riding a normal bike with these sized tyres on the weekend (tread pattern looked like spiders). They're for riding on the beach aren't they?
I've been riding an electric bike for 14 months now, 10-17km to work each day and back, depending on location. I've never had a problem with the law stopping me (and i work in the CBD), i've got no idea how many watt my bike is (200 or 250w) and i've seen others with 500w+ bikes that push 50km/h easily on the same path i ride. Having a heavy bike is ok, provided you are commuting only.
I bought a panasonic ebike and I'm sure it does the same specs as this, minus those stupid tyres. The bike is almost dead (sounds like there are bones grinding somewhere in the bike) and charging takes 5 hours, after about 30km of riding currently. I'll ride it to the ground, and i've saved so much money riding. It has been great value.
I'd buy this bike if the conversion wasnt a killer and if it was a local purchase. The people who sold me the panasonic ebike have fled Melbourne, no doubt scared off by electric bicycle laws.
Click clunk ??
rear hub bearings maybe ? Ive had this issue with e-bikes before. easy enough fix.
quite a high chance of that, definitely coming from the back wheel. I'll show it to a mate who is pro. THanks for the tip
$3,383,007USD raised of $75,000 goal
Hey Guys I work as a volunteer at the Bike Shed(at Ceres), many blokes they buy electric motor and battery from ebay and they choose a big bike frame.
we do get electric bikes as donations ,as there is no replacement for the batteries.
Even there is some people fit in a mower motor on their bikes( i know its nosiey and smelly )
Cheers
:-)
OK firstly a disclaimer - I build electric bikes. Proper, high powered ones. (totally different kettle of fish, here's one of my recent creations if you're interested: https://www.facebook.com/hyenaelectricbikes/photos/pcb.74339… )
Yes our laws do state 200/250w watts (there 2 different sets of laws operating side by side but I wont go into that) for riding on the road but this is a joke. Any of the "200w" motors out there will do 500w and most of them probably are running closer to 500w. And even 500w is barely worth the effort when you're lugging along all the extra weight of the batteries and motor. I've followed lycra clad riders numerous times and found I need to use about 400-600w of battery power to keep up with these guys at around 35km/hr. In the wisdom of our govt this is illegal on 2 fronts, because I'm using more than 200w of power and because I'm "speeding" as the motor is going more than 25km/hr.
Anyway, that aside this bike is certainly cheap, no doubt, but I would not recommend anyone here buy it.
I wont go as far as to say their claims are bullshit but they're using some pretty creative marketing wording.
Saying it does 20 mph (32km/hr) with up to 50mi (80km) range and promoting it for riding on the beach and the like is just not possible. That top speed might be possible with a freshly charged battery on smooth, flat concrete but that's about all. Likewise it order to get 80km range from it you'd need to be rolling along a smooth surface at like 10km/hr. And those fat tyres would have terrible rolling resistance / efficiency too.
With 350w of power I doubt this would even move off the line in the sand. Maybe it'd crawl along along the hard sand right at the waters edge but you typically need 1000w+ . I've ridden on the beach alot, and it's great, but you need alot of power. Last time I was there I used 2000w just PUSHING my bike back up through the soft sand to the footpath.
This article yields some interesting info too if you were interested in buying one:
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/a-500-ebike-not-so-fast-110086504…
Thanks for the information, hopefully other's interested in buying will read this beforehand.
Those of you quoting the "it's illegal to ride an electric bike of more than 200 (or 250)W" line are you certain that's the case, or is it just the case if you're unlicenced?
ie is it legal to ride a "high powered" electric bike if you have a motorcycle (or possibly car) licence?
Technically to answer your question, yes. It would be legal to ride with a motorcycle licence.
However, practically no for this example. This is because the bike itself is in a motorcycle grade. So it needs to pass certification and be registered. As no importer has certified it, and I doubt anyone would go to the expense of doing that themselves. And then if so, it would need to comply with the standard road rules for powered bikes, i.e. no riding on footpaths.
And if it's not registered and CTP insured, then it's not permitted to be driven on road, regardless of whether you have a motorbike licence.
Yep, fair enough.
THis bkie is geared to the group of SoCal people who want to ride along the foreshore paths chasing roller blade wearing bikini models.
Not a bike for a commuter to think about getting.
Better off spending more money on a better product from a reputable builder, with after sales support.
I have a BH Neo and love it.
And i know should i need a charger, batteries, replacement electronics, hub motor etc etc , that spares are available.
There are a lot of great e-bike manufacturers out there.
Hell, alot of people already have a half way decent bike gathering dust. Buy a Bionx kit and retrofit.
Yes it will be more that $1000 that this yellow peril will cost landed, but will last years !!
I know there have been good crowdfunding ideas brought to market, i'm just probably still feeling pissed off about the 3 Kreyos i bought…..
I believe according to Queensland Dept of Transport these would be illegal (for QLD at least, not sure of other states) based on having more than 200 watts of power.
Happy to be corrected.