To run the forums, host the website, and travel, I charge a universal service fee for my reviews. This in-depth review was sponsored by EG. My goal is to be transparent and unbiased with you, this video and writeup are not meant to be an endorsement of EG products. I welcome your corrections, additions, and feedback in the comments below and the EG electric bike forums.
Pros:
- A hard-tail mountain ebike that is at home on light trails or for commuting given the wide range of gearing combined with a throttle, pedal assist, and a 28mph top speed to get you where you need to go quicker or to have some faster fun, backed by EG who has been around since 2005 and a dealer support network
- The price point is a big win for the bike, most value bikes don’t offer many features like hydraulic brakes as well as a 28mph top speed via watt hub motor with throttle, the bike comes in at just $1,499 and is supported by a dealer network, plus EG has been around the ebike world for years and has tons of experience supporting their bikes
- The frame comes in one high-step style, one 19” frame size, and two different color choices, both look really cool with this kind of satin finish to it, you can chose either titanium gray or satin black, I personally like the black since the battery blends in better, but its nice to see they color match the front suspension fork to whichever color you chose
- The bike is comes in at 52.5lbs and that weight includes the battery, motor, and everything on the bike ready to ride, if you wanted to shed some weight for carrying it around or loading it on and off a rack, you could always remove the battery and stow it somewhere else
- The geometry combines an upright riding position and a bit of an aggressive stance with these extra spacers and forward handlebars, the flat locking grips really finish it off well since if your weight is forward on the bike the grips won’t rub out of place and stay tight and sturdy
- Features an SR SunTour front spring suspension fork, this has a respectable 100mm of travel and also has hydraulic lockout as well as preload adjust, so you could really dial it in for your weight rating to get the best results for travel and bump absorption
- For tires, the Kyoto gets a set of 27.5” x 2.1” tires, these are Kenda brand and they feature 40-65psi rating, again useful if you want to dial it in for your weight and the average terrain you will be taking it on to get the best results tailored to you, I should also mention the sturdy 13 gage spokes, these are great to handle the speed of the motor in a stable manner
- I love the included independent disposable battery operated lights here, they have them both in the front and the rear, safety has always been a priority for myself and other cyclists, so it’s nice to see that more and more companies are including these on ebikes
- Mountain style bikes have been used more and more each year for commuting, so much so that there are many that are more friendly to commuters than the mountain, the Kyoto here does that not only with its high speeds and lights, but it also included rear rack bosses so you could add a rack if you don’t want to carry a backpack or other gear around going to and from your destination
- Powering the bike is a high capacity 48v 13ah lithium ion battery, this is secured via lock and key, my favorite part of the battery is the USB charging port on the side, this lets you run accessories off the main battery power, or you can even bring the battery around with you camping or on a picnic to use it as a portable power bank, overall this is a great choice for range and power given the 350 watt motor and 28mph top speed
- Charging is done with a 1.5lb 2amp charger so that slower charge will help the battery life, to really care for this and other lithium-ion packs, I have heard that storing in a cool dry location vs. extreme heat or cold will extend the life and try to keep it about 50% full when not using for long periods so you won’t stress the cells, try not to let it run down to zero, because that’s really hard on the cell chemistry
- Driven by a reliable rear hub-drive motor that is rated at a 350 watt nominal and 500 watt peak rating, this can be engaged either by the cadence sensor for various levels of cadence based pedal assist or the trigger throttle, is capable of speeds up to 28mph and the throttle even has override priority, great for slower riding then having to get out of the way of a car or obstacle quickly by engaging the throttle
- With that 28mph rating on the bike, this makes the bike a speed pedelec which is great for zipping round town and getting to your destination faster than others, you can even adjust the top speed in the display menus and bring it down for those that are new to ebikes or perhaps a bit intimidated, the speeds make this bike so much more fun and quicker than others, good consideration if you like to go fast or have a commute you are looking to shorten
- The 12 magnet cadence sensor on the bike is sealed, older ebikes (and even some current ones!) would have the magnets out in the open allowing them to get gunked up with debris and grime which would hinder the operation, I am glad more companies are doing this, even EG here and it is a nice to see they didn’t skimp on a value priced ebike
- Mechanically, the bike is operated by a 27 (3×9) speed Shimano Alivio dual derailleur setup, 11-32 tooth cassette in the rear, the trigger shifters on the handlebars give the bike an active and engaging feel, I personally prefer these over a thumb shifter or grip shifter
- A big win here are the Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, this features a 180mm disc brake rotor in the front as well as in the rear, this is defiantly the preferred setup to go with since you need a lot of stopping power for a faster bike, in addition, this bike includes motor inhibitors, a motor cut off switch built into the brakes making stopping easier
- While the bike is fast on the flats, the 350 watt motor is not something that eats hills for breakfast, this is where the 27 speed gearing range and throttle come in handy, these will ensure you can find the perfect mode to tackle the different hills in front of you
- The centrally mounted display is nice and large, easy to read, and is backlit as well, I love that you can adjust the top speeds with this thing as mentioned earlier, but it also has a walk mode, great for if you have a flat tire or need to lug the bike up a hill or have a heavy load to escort
Cons:
- I noticed during riding as well as putting the battery on and off the mounting point, it rattles around a bit, this is due to the way it is bolted on there and is kind of annoying, but still, it is better than some of the rack mounted batteries I sometimes see
- The center mounted kickstand can produce ‘pedal lock’’… pedal lock is an annoying occurrence that happens when you reverse a bike with the kickstand down, the crank rotates back and strikes the kickstand, causing the bike to lock up until you push it forward a bit and stow the kickstand back up
- Charging the battery is done via the included 2amp charger, not the fastest especially given that 48v 13ah rating, it could take you a while to charge it from dead to full, but I am told charging it at lower amps can reduce wear on the charging cycles over time
- A lot of tires on modern ebikes these days have included a reflective sidewall stripe or puncture protection, these are great for safety and security and I really appreciate them, however, this bike does not have either of them and is kind of a missed opportunity
- Some measures are here and there to save money which I appreciate because the savings are passed down to the consumer, however do keep in mind there is no tapered head tube here, the battery cells are a generic brand, and the metal cage style pedals can get bent if the bike takes a spill or tips over
- As I mentioned before, the bike has a kind of upright seating with all the extra spacers on the stem, yet the handlebar is forward for a more aggressive riding position, it almost feels like it can’t decide which one it wants to go with, maybe it is trying for the best of both worlds, but if feels out of place to me personally, you could always dial it in or replace certain aspects to get it right for you
- Here at Electric Bike Review, we are big fans of bottle cage bosses, unfortunately, they are not present on this bike, they normally make a great addition for a lot of reasons, you can fit a number of accessories on them, not just water bottles, there are aftermarket add-ons like a GPS tracker, a folding lock, mounting points for racks, and many others that can get your bike setup just the way you want, so it is a shame none are here
- The display is nice and large and easy to ready, however, it is not color, nor does it have a more accurate battery percentage readout, newer bikes are ditching the battery infographic that only shows how much battery you have in chunks to go with a percentage readout so you know exactly how much you have left
- The display cannot be removed, this is a shame in certain situations, such as parking at a bike rack, not only will it advertise to would-be thieves that it is an electric bike by having a display on it, but it is also now subject to outside elements like rain or snow, I have seen many people park their bike with a similar display and they will sometimes put their helmet over it when leaving to alleviate both of these considerations
- As a fan of safety, it is hard to knock on items like included lights in the front and rear, however, many manufacturers are having them integrated into the main battery power while letting you turn them on and off at the display controls, for this bike, they have independent buttons and are powered by disposable AA or AAA batteries, this means you could forget to turn them off a lot easier, as well as drain those batteries making it so you have to buy them more frequently
- There is a lot going on at the handlebars, so not only is there not much room for accessories, but having two sets of trigger shifters, controls, shifter windows, display, trigger throttle, and bell mean that you will have to reach around a lot to get what you want and block others, for example, on the left side, you have to reach over the shifting window display to reach the electric controls, this could be annoying if you are trying to multitask especially
- A minor gripe here, but the throttle is always hot… this is common for bikes that have a throttle override, and I personally prefer this setup for a lot of riding reasons, however, I should mention that once the bike is turned on, a bump of that throttle can send it going forward, so do be aware and careful of that
Mike R says
Seeing the image of the bike from the side, its fairly obvious why the Hailong style battery is rattling and not secure. There is no connection point to the frame, anywhere near the bottom of the battery holding bracket. This is a very common style of battery casing and bracket combination, and while there are two metal plates near the front of the battery within the mounting bracket where you attach the bracket to commonly located bottle cage holders, they also needed to put a mount near the back. there is a provision for that on the bracket. They just didn’t use it. Perhaps too lazy to put a third mount in the frame?
It really looks like they basically just bought a regular bike, and slapped an aftermarket kit on it. Did not even take the time to put wire wrap on the front wires so they are all dangling freely, and likely to get snared on something. Of course the frame does have a flat down tube for the battery, and some wires run inside, but they didn’t go very far to make it much different than what someone could do on their own. From that standpoint, its not much of a ‘bargain.’ Maybe this would work for a ding around bike for high school age kids?
Court says
Good observations and fair points, Mike. I’ve seen some even cheaper products online and wanted to celebrate the dealer network and upgrades on the Kyoto, but they are going for an affordable product and have made some sacrifices and compromises to get there. For people who are students or just very limited on money who aren’t actually mountain biking and do want some support… I could see a product like this being a good fit. Another example would be this Ancheer model that is super affordable and had a motor failure on a big climb for us but worked pretty well as an around-town platform.