Say Hello to Storm

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Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
I know I said my last post on here would be my last, lol, but I figured this might be of interest. Here's a video a guy made of a fat ebike with specs nearly identical to the Storm, to get an idea of what to expect. The comments section has some interesting insights. I hope you find it informative and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJoU45wC4Rw
Thanks for that info. I suspected living against a mountain, or any prolonged hills was a deal breaker over here for sure. For a fellow in flat terrain might be just fine. I do like fat tires. I wonder how some folks will fair off with extended lean back seat post? Prolly need some bracing..
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,632
411
83
Dallas
I was given permission to post this review from the face book, Storm Owners Group

This is Jim on his first ride,

OK, my daughter and I finished the bike tonight and I took it out for a test ride while she paced me with her scooter shouting "Yay! We built a bike!"

After we looped back down the street we live on and I dropped her off with my wife, I took it out around the block and tried some hills and longer stretches.

Full disclosure: I am significantly above the max weight (250 lbs) for the bike. I was not expecting high-end performance.

Overall impression: Wow! Lots of fun! There is good power and speed; I could get up and down gradual hills with ease. I really liked the power assist the best, though. I was *flying* when I pedaled and ran the motor at the same time (even up small hills), and I felt like the gearing was good for a wide band of power assist speeds. Also, overloading the bike as I was, I liked that I could pedal up the bigger hills. For someone as fat as I am a good gear ratio to help the motor makes a huge difference to overall ride enjoyment.

Basically, I liked how the motor took the edge off riding: The hills were faster and easier, and the cruising was fun with or without pedaling.

I had the seat up pretty high (long legs) and the clip held it snugly the whole time. I think I will figure out how to raise the handlebars a bit and rotate the brake levers down some, but overall very comfortable ride position. The seat is OK, and the tires take a lot of shock out of the ride so OK is good enough.

My wife wanted a try. She is 5'3" and normal weight for that height. Dropping the seat down all the way gave her a comfortable ride height and she was able to stop without falling over. She's about half my weight, so the bike really took off for her, which she liked. *Word of caution for shorter people*, that middle bar is pretty high so don't slide off the seat intending to stand when dismounting. Instead, you will end up sliding down onto it and you will regret it. No comment on how my wife figured that one out!

Oh yeah, the big tires take some getting used to steering-wise. I had never ridden a really fat-tire bike before, but the learning curve is short. I think I might pump them to max and see how that effects handling.

I think I will ride it into work tomorrow and give it a little longer road test...
Thanks so much Team Sondors for making such a fun bike available at such a reasonable price!
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,632
411
83
Dallas
Seems like about 90% of the owners are new to eBikes. Estimates put about 5000 bikes hitting the streets domestically. These new owners seem thrilled with their bikes, and report being bombarded with questions from passers by.

There has been a few failures, some doa, and some problems caused by inexperience, but the vast majority of people feel they've gotten a very good value for their money, and most of the reported problems have been minor.

Most of the Black/yellow, Double Black, and the Blue/Black are either already delivered, or winding down delivery.

So far about 2000 international bikes are yet to be delivered, and we're still waiting for all of the domestic signature Yellow bikes to start delivery. This we expect to happen any day now. I'm waiting of 2 Yellow bikes.
 

paul

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2007
5,547
44
48
66
Kalamazoo, MI
it is normal to expect a few problems but 90% is awesome figures, we are going to see the world of motorized bicycles grow really fast if companies l keep coming out with product that people can afford like the storm.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,632
411
83
Dallas
Good news, reports of ups delivery notices for Yellow bikes started coming out today. These are the last color to ship in the first wave, and the owners group believes the first and second waves ended up being combined. I should be getting notice soon for my 2 Yellow bikes. Hopefully my next post will be about my delivery notice.

They're taking orders for a third wave, which is scheduled to start delivery in October. I'm really thinking about buying one more bike.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,632
411
83
Dallas
It's great seeing what everyone is doing to customize their bikes. I'm definitely planning to go low profile, but with Hook Worms instead of these.

 

kevyleven007

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
1,217
8
38
texas
Where can you order parts for these bikes like tires, racks and fender's ? Would one of those triangle bag battery packs fit inside that plastic box? or would it be too wide/ big. It is a nice looking bike for the $. Congrats, So, you gonna turn it into a bomber?
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,632
411
83
Dallas
Most of my plans are cosmetic. This bike being a rigid frame, I don't think will ever make a good speedster.

Last night at the Dallas critical mass ride there were 2 black Storm's in attendance. I got a good look at both of them up close. They're actually very nice for the money. They have good paint. The box is very sturdy, and robust. There's plenty of room to fit a triangle battery inside the box. The motor is impressively quiet, especially considering it's a geared motor.

I don't think I'll make it faster, but I will put a big battery in it. I'll be honest, I didn't care for the big tires very much. they seemed kind of tractor like to me, but the rims are great. I'm going to shoe horn some hook worms on there and call it good.

Both riders I met last night said they're getting pretty impressive range. One got 40 miles, and the other got 31 miles, both on pas. They both said pedaling, and using full throttle at the same time defeats the limiter, and allows speeds above 20 mph.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,632
411
83
Dallas
Parts for a Storm are available all over the internet. I found the exact same paddle throttle on eBay. Bottle battery's are easy to find. You can buy all kinds of tires online including the exact same stock tires. This bike will be very easy to find parts for because almost any parts will work. About the only parts you couldn't find would be the frame, or the box.
 

beach cruiser

Member
Mar 13, 2012
126
1
18
Puget Sound Convergence Zone
Bn...I agree with you 100% on both of your above posts. I have a cheap Firmstrong MB (under $150.00). I purchased a 48v 1000 watt battery directly from China with a 30 mile range and that cost me over $700 and those amounts don't include the "little things" like lights, bell or horn, charger etc.

The old saying still applies: If it sounds too good to be true ......
 

allen standley

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
1,126
238
63
Bangor, Maine
You just joined.. I looked @ your public profile. no pics, no info about you that gives you creditability or reason for you to say that. Sometimes it's best to sit back and read and learn.
Be a silent rider til you can contribute some knowledge and/or experience.
 
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kevyleven007

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
1,217
8
38
texas
Parts for a Storm are available all over the internet. I found the exact same paddle throttle on eBay. Bottle battery's are easy to find. You can buy all kinds of tires online including the exact same stock tires. This bike will be very easy to find parts for because almost any parts will work. About the only parts you couldn't find would be the frame, or the box.
yeah but no fenders. Surely somebody has fenders for these somewhere! as to the range claims,?? I saw a review on utube and the pas was not even hooked up it just has a thumb throttle. Having said that I know for a fact that you can extend your range 3 or 4 times by riding slower, pedaling, and coasting in between half throttle bursts. I do it all the time.
 
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