zevulon
everything in Wheel (EIW) designs for electric bicycles are the worst of all worlds, sacrificing the best aspects of hubmotors, and bracket mounted mid-drives for----------an easy installation process.
is it worth it? no.
don't wait for the much balleyhooed copenhagen wheel, or the fly kly, just try hub motor or middrive bike wheels if your'e interested.
if you want a lightweight hub get the geared, if you want totally silent with lower maintainance but higher weight get the 'direct' ungeared hub motor. if you want the best performance with the highest installation cost or original bike cost, get the mid-drive mounted at the bracket.
simple. EIW is garbage. if you don't believe me , just do your own research and you'll find the ONLY advantage is installation with far too many disadvantages as to make a non-electric bike preferable to an EIW solution.
gna149
An enticing idea, unfortunately, not at that price. That's like buying one component of an electric bike at twice the price of a whole electric bike (i.e. the Sondors Bike early bird offer was $499).
AndrewMathison
I have had an electric bike, one of the cheaper models, that I bought secondhand for €200 five years ago, (around US$220). The battery alone was/is still worth more than that on ebay!!
It cost new €700 or about $760 and was 3 months old, ridden once.
There are lots new bikes around here nowadays at that price or close....
The battery still gives a sterling performance (around 55 Kms) as long as I keep the tyres well pumped up and adjust any brakes that drag...
I personally would not invest in this "wheel" for a normal bike, not even if you gave it to me for nothing, as it is FAR too expensive, plus its only a "half-way-house".....the normal bike is simply ruined....
Having a "proper" made for "electric" bike, (I have ridden several over the last 10 years or so) is best......
I recently, with almost 20,000 Kms ridden, replaced the chain, saddle, gear cluster and brake Bowden cables.....the bike rides like new again. Total cost of parts from ebay, around $45 and a few hours work......all cheap parts.....
The bike has electric assistance till 25Km per Hour.
The only changes I will make if I ever buy a second one, is to buy one with rear suspension (mine only has front) and a faster charging battery, as mine takes 5 to 6 hours from empty to full.....I do ride on a lot of "rougher" roads, but a well sprung saddle helps! (Says he with high pitched voice!!)
I do believe that I could actually get such a bike nowadays for the cost of this single wheel, and with a far greater "radius" of operation than either the wheel or my present electric bike.....
Someone with a high value "normal" bike, might simply sell the old one and add the money to the price of the new one.
Electric biking is fantastic, I can only recommend it to anyone interested, but buy cheap first till you have got used to it and you will then know what you REALLY want.....sell it and buy that "Cadillac" one!!
Complicated electronics on an electric bike, do not like being "outside" much, so consider that also before buying!!
Don't forget the helmet!!!
Andy
PS. Only charge the battery when either empty or close to empty, it will extend battery life dramatically.....never charge every day just for "safety" it will reduce battery life dramatically!!
PPS. If you have long distances to cover, say half the battery capacity or so, consider having a spare charged battery with you.....then you can really charge from empty only!!! :-)
NickHull
I have 2 Sondors eBikes. They are really great bikes - and I only paid $695 for the first and $750 for the other.
Why buy just a wheel when you can buy a whole bike?
Sondors isn't the only inexpensive eBike out there. I also have a Wave eBike coming that cost about the same as the Sondors, but doesn't have the Fat Bike styling
Jason Pase
I scored a Sondors for $499 ! Top speed is 32 km/hr and range is 30+ km = BEST BARGAIN in the e-bike world.
The 1 TaiN
Can it be used on a Ti-Lite Wheelchair?
StWils
"Fly Ky"? I think more likely " FlaKy". Front Wheel Hub motor with a removable battery and no rear wheel changes. Also, skip this nonsense of having every damn thing only accessible from a smart phone. What happens when you drop it, lose it, fail to pay your bill on time, forget the password, let your A-hole friends or kids have access, your girlfriend or wife have access, the list continues..
Noel K Frothingham
Let's not lose sight of the obvious - many of us have either a custom-built frame or a frame we've tweaked to be just the way we like. Many of us were also much younger and more athletic when we bought our frames and are not ready to toss a perfectly good frame out on its lugs since those frames aren't cheap, in financial terms or seat-time. Opinions are cheap when it's not your butt on the seat that put another persons wallet on a diet.
In other words, when I am interested in hearing opinions expressed in absolute terms, mirrors are found everywhere.
Regardless of how long e-power assist bikes have been around, until it is mass produced, designs are still in development stage. There are plenty of mistakes yet to be made and lessons to be learned. It's taken approx. 125 years to develop the sturdy, reliable, and relatively cheap bikes we ride today. It stands to reason that developing a workable, relatively inexpensive e-drive bike won't be a quick process. Patience, children. Patience.
If you can do better, get out there and do it.
DonGateley
This is also a Kickfraudster project. Go here to see what backers think:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flykly/flykly-smart-wheel/comments