Fiido L2 Issues After 10 Months

 After about 10 months of ownership and about 1,000kms traveled my Fiido L2 conked out. The bike essentially broke down twice. The first time we were able to make the bike run again by fixing some wires connected to the batteries. The bike ran a for about 8km after that until it finally gave in. When the bike first broke down I asked the FB Fiido community based in Laguna to recommend potential people who can service the bike. While one of the recommendations was a reseller of Fiido ebikes I didn't get the impression that they could service it. The other recommended entities were other escooter sellers and ebike sellers.

When my Fiido L2 broke down and second time I decided to get in touch with the most recommended company on Facebook which was Pro Scooter Shop which was in Manila. There were other potential options but they were the most popular and they immediately answered my messages on FB even if it was on a Saturday evening. I decided to go straight to them because I didn't want to wast time on generic ebike or escooter shops. I set an appointment and it was an hour and a half drive from home. It would have taken longer if it wasn't for Covid. 

Traveling to the city was a great decision. The issue was diagnosed within 5 minutes. Everything could have been done in less than 10 minutes but I had to wait for a part that had to be picked up in another location. It turns out the main issue was the LCD which controlled the power and settings of the bike. The wire had been worn down because of the constant turning. I also decided to replace the battery harness/connection since it was about to break. Given the distance and effort it takes to go to Pro Scooter I wanted to make sure everything was working well.

This is the LCD (that's what the call it) and that's the wire that had been run down.

 

This is the battery harness. As you can see the red cap and one of the prongs is already loose. This essentially still works but definitely it won't last.

I was also considering upgrading the controller which will increase the speed and I think torque of the ebike but I didn't think it was appropriate to spend a large sum of money given the recent calamities which befell the country. With an increase in speed I felt I will also need to upgrade the brakes which is another expensive upgrade. While the bike is slow with a max speed of 22kph based on the app Strava, it does its job. I still have fun with it.

I'm very much disappointed that the Fiido L2 broke down so quickly. I somewhat understand the wear and tear of the wire. But the battery harness should last longer, especially that I don't take the battery off that often. My hypothesis on why the battery harness broke down quick is that the bike may have been the display unit and the sales personnel kept removing the battery during their sales spiels. The guys in Pro Scoot Manila placed a plastic protector around the wires which touch the steering column hopefully it's going to last much longer. At the very least I know what to watch out for. 

 I really do enjoy having an electric bike and this was a sad incident given it's not even a year of ownership. It does seem that a lot of Fiido ebike owners are very happy with their bikes. I actually enjoy riding my Fiido L2 a lot especially as the Christmas season approaches. I'll take the opportunity to take night rides and enjoy the holiday atmosphere.

Here's a quick summary of the issues since I got it last February 6, 2020.

1. A little over a month after my purchase the tensioner fell off. Luckily I heard it fell and I was able to get all the parts back (minus the spring) and return it.

2. The tensioner fell again around April or May. It turns out another user experienced the tensioner falling of in another FB group.  I guess this has to be tightened once in a while.

3. A flat - around early October but this isn't about the bike. Had to mention it though.

4. LCD and preventive change of the brake harness thingy. 

I don't use my ebike as much as others and it seems there aren't that many issues that I see on FB at a least. I'm hoping that this bikes gives more joy than headaches. So far no biggies and I don't expect any more in the foreseeable future. So I'll bike on.

My Fiido L2 Electric Bicycle

One of my frustrations with the internet is not getting enough ownership experiences of products you want to purchase. There are a lot of unboxing and product reviews which provides you with a lot of details about products, especially about mobile phones, laptops, and other popular gadgets. These are all good but what I want is the actual ownership experience did the product deliver the performance after a few months. Did it last long, was it durable? I've had a bad experience with a low end HP laptop I bought which didn't even last a few months and I needed to have it serviced, then suddenly it stopped charging and I just decided to scrap it - it did not even last 2 years. My Xiaomi 360 IP camera didn't even last 6 month (I give this a pass because it was indoors but in the patio so it was exposed a bit to the environment...but 6 months!?)

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.

The handlbar has a built-in phone holder where you can also charge your phone via a usb port below the holder.

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.

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.

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.

The build quality seems to be very good.

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