When I was considering buying an ebike I also found it difficult to find a good long term review locally. I didn't exactly know what to buy or that I really wanted to buy one. But the Fiido Q1 initially sparked my interest. Small, compact, and fold-able so I can probably fit it into my car which is a sedan.
It wasn't something I was rushing to buy but I kept on looking and researching about it until a lot of other Fiido models came out in the market. The brand had a lot of different foldable ebikes. From the time a started looking until the time I actually purchased my ebike the price of the bikes lowered a bit. Initially the Q1s was at about Php30,000 now you can buy one at P26,000. One of the first Facebook sellers I found selling the Fiido L2 started at about Php42,000 and as I found more sellers the lowest I found was at Php34,500. The whole range of Fiido's available start from P26K - P38K (it's cheaper when you pay cash) for the latest M1 which is a fat mountain bike.
Most of the Fiido models have a rated range of 40 - 55km except for the L2 which had 80 - 125km range. The range varies so much especially for the bike since you can actually use pedal assist to extend the range. I have yet to come across posts about the actual ranges of the bikes. Initially I thought I didn't need the range and I wanted to purchase just the basic which was the D1 (because only D2S was available in the shop nearest me) and it was just about Php26K. But when I finally decided to buy I got the L2. Below is a long video about the L2.
Why did I chose the Fiido L2 instead of the cheaper models. The real reason is impulse, I really preferred this model when I saw it but the initial price it was selling for was Php42K. When I saw one being sold for Php34,500 this seemed to be more reasonable but still quite expensive if you can buy a D1 or D2 at P26K or 27K. But my rationale were:
- range, while I didn't really need it it's always good to have long range
- it had a basket and a bike lock that came with it. Not really big extras but those are good to have. I didn't have to purchase third party baskets online
- front and rear suspension, at the time I got it I didn't really think it was that important but when I started to use the bike it was important. Riding the bike is really comfortable with the stock seats and the suspension system.
- 350 watt motor vs 250 watts I don't notice the difference but it's still essentially a bigger motor
- the removable battery and its large capacity. It seems easier to replace and order the battery. Also, battery life is connected to charging cycles, my thinking is because a larger battery will have longer cycles before charge it lasts longer and, as the battery degrades, it can still hold more usable range compared to a smaller capacity battery. I just hope my logic hold true.
Here are picture of the L2 a stole from giztechreview.com - my bike is orange as well but I'm just too lazy to take pictures, transfer and post here.
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| The handlbar has a built-in phone holder where you can also charge your phone via a usb port below the holder. |
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| Here's the gear mode and the battery indicator. As you can see the battery indicator isn't accurate. As the battery drains when you pull the throttle sometime one of the lights dims and goes back again as you de-press. I find it hard to gauge the state of charge especially as it goes down to one or two bars. |
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| The removable battery where you use the keys to turn the power on and you long press the middle button on the battery indicator to turn on the bike. |
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| The rear wheel and the disc brakes. Those bars on the fender bend easily, so when transporting make sure that these are not leaning on something. |
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| The build quality seems to be very good. |
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| It has a LED head light and a tail light. The headlight shows good illumination but I still added lights both in the front and rear for added visibility. I think you'll really need extra rear lights since the rear light is quite low. |
Here is my experience after two weeks of ownership:
1. I haven't figured out the range. I use Google Maps and Strava as an odometer but there seems to be some discrepancy in the mileage readings. After my first full charge I'm at about 60km and have about 2 bars left with bar 2 flashing as I put on the 'gas'.
2. On higher incline hills you'll need to pedal to help the bike out. You'll not have to put much effort to it though but you'll need to use the throttle while you pedal. Pure bike assist mode without the throttle would require more effort.
3. I'm not sure about this but the difference in gearing is torque and top speed but I don't notice torque that mush since I'm usually at gear 3 immediately. Top speed based on using Waze or GPS based apps as speedometer is 20kph it's listed at 25kph though. Not really sure.
4. Once you hit top speed at a flat surface, trying to increase you speed by pedaling may not help at all - at least I haven't tried it. It seems that way though.
5. Having full suspension is worth it. While I don't know what having no suspension feels like - this bike is really comfortable.
There are shops which can modify the bike to increase the top speed. I think they modify the controller of the bike. When I inquired it's about Php7,000 for the controller upgrade. I'll consider upgrading when the 6 month warranty expires. I think 40 kph top speed should be fine. The current top speed seems quite slow but you'll sacrifice range with an increase in speed. I'm also not sure if I want to spend more on this.
Right now I'm still trying to get to know the bike and I'll post long term reviews in the next month. I'll post links below for some more resources about electric bicycles which I found useful. I should actually have watched these before I purchased the bike...
Bolton Bikes
ElectricBikeReview
EbikeSchool
