Sondors Review

[jont999]

Hi - I was wondering what the thoughts on the Sondors fat bike are, any good reviews?

The price seems very cheap (which makes me cautious) at $499 with a 36V 8.8 Ah battery and 350w.

To good to be true?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Where are you?

 

[Woosh]

I think that price does not include freight, duty and VAT. The end user price would be around £750.
For a little more, you could have the Woosh Rio FB in early March.
I think the Rio is better specced.
If you have any question, just ask.

 

[redcup1999]

From their website:
"*SONDORS Electric Bikes ordered from EUROPE tab are available for immediate shipping in Europe from our UK warehouse - actual delivery time contingent on address location."

Which *should* mean no VAT / Import duty and minimal shipping costs. in which case the bike seems very reasonable. However, I know US company websites often don't include any taxes or shipping / handling costs.

It's certainly worth asking the question of them.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Unfortunately, you have to give all personal details before you get the shipping cost, which could be anything. The total price won't be $499. It mentions $247 international shipping somewhere.

Another thing is that the $499 one doesn't come with a LCD, so I guess that means that you only get maximum power when you pedal, which can be a bit of a nuisance. That's if there is a pedal sensor. There's no mention of one, so probably throttle only, which can also be tedious. No point in having a LCD if it's throttle only.

There's no gears and the provided gearing looks quite low, so you won't be able to pedal much past 15 mph. That's a pretty inefficient bike without gears, so you won't have good pedalling efficiency either. That means something like 10 to 15 miles from the 8.8 Ah battery. There's no way it'll do 20 miles on throttle only, except maybe in a velodrome at 12 mph or less, when you compare it with the Woosh that has gears, pedal sensor, LCD and other stuff.

That leaves us with a £600 bike with a range of about 12 miles, no gears and probably no pedal assist. The price looks about right to me. £800 for the one with the bigger battery, looks a bit over-priced to me.

 

[jont999]

Thanks for all the replies - really appreciate the input!

@d8veh - Based in South London

The low speed would be quite annoying - I'm fairly fit, but have a few nasty hills on the way to work which discourages me from cycling more often.

I think while I like the idea of a fat bike, for my commute I may want something more conventional - that Rio does look epic BTW!

I'm looking for something that will do a 14 mile round trip, handle a few hills, allow me to peddle faster that 15mph on the flat and fit me at 6"1 and 100kg.

I had been looking to go down to see Woosh bikes, but annoyingly work uses "Cycle Scheme" which Woosh doesn't seem to cover it

 

[Deleted member 4366]

14 miles is nothing. Nearly every normal electric bike can manage that. 100kg and hills means you want something with a bit of oomph or a crank drive. I think hub-motors are better for commuting. As you were looking at a $499 bike, I guess that you want something cheap. Maybe the Woosh Bermuda:

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?bermuda

 

[RRC]

I live in Illinois, USA. I bought a second hand Sondors fat bike in May 2016. I added an aftermarket LCD and 20a controller, paid $100 for the pair. All in $600 USD. It does come stock with pedal assist, but unless you buy the LCD, you are stuck at factory set PAS in the controller. Rode more than 2,400km last year. I use throttle to move the heavy bike off from a stop, but then always pedal. I'm very comfortable getting 40km with lever 1,2, or 3 during a ride. Many cheap components, but only stock part I have replaced is the seat. Bought a Haibike XDURO FullSeven S RX past November. Night and day difference, but don't mind taking the Sondors out in the salt and slush this winter!