Tonaro Bighit

[Gwethall]

Purchased From: Powerpedals


Purchase Price: £975.00

Time Owned: 3 Months

Local Terrain: Very Hilly


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
Looks, build quality, reliability, range, hill climbing, value for money.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
Slightly heavy, simplistic.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
I have delayed reviewing my new Tonaro Bighit, to give any faults a chance to develop and ensure there are no teething problems, But now after three months of almost daily use, except in the worst of the snow, though rain and mud and freezing temperatures without missing a beat, I feel confident enough to extol it's virtues.
The suspension frame looks modern and attracts some admiring looks, but it also provides a very smooth ride. A small gripe here, although I am getting used to it, the saddle is not the most comfortable I have come across, and I think I might invest in one designed for a wider load. The bike is slightly heavier than some other makes I have tried, but it has the power to cope and there is no resistance or drag at all when the motor is switched off so it is easy to ride without power when required or the terrain allows. In fact the weight is in a way reassuring, as you feel there has been no compromise in the strength or build quality to save a couple of pounds (Kilograms for younger readers). The controls are quite basic, one switch on/off, and one switch to select one of three levels of assistance. The battery charge level is indicated by a row of lights incorporated into the top of the LED front light. So no bells and whistles, but to be frank I'm not that interested in knowing how hard the battery is trying, or how hard the motor is working, nor do I need a speedometer to tell me if I am traveling at a speed I am comfortable with. To me basic is good, less to go wrong.
The range has been surprising given how hard it has to work to assist me over the hills in North Devon, on numerous outings of twenty plus miles it has returned me home with two of the four battery capacity indicator lights still illuminated. So; it looks good, it's uncomplicated, it's a pleasure to ride, it's reliable, and it has staying power, but above all else, what really stands out, is it's ability to climb hills. It really is a buzz to approach a huge hill, drop down a couple of cogs, turn the power level up and feel confident you are going to pedal to the top.
I'm sure there are equally good bikes out there from other manufacturers, but at this price this bike is astonishing value for money.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Rating (out of 10) : 9

 

[Grumpyoldgit]

I have recently acquired a Tonaro "Bighit" and although it is too soon to post a review, on the evidence so far I would have to agree with you. It is uncomplicated and performs superbly.
I don't get get on well with technology, it has taken me three attempts to post this reply, so I mean uncomplicated in a good way.

Purchased From: Powerpedals


Purchase Price: £975.00

Time Owned: 3 Months

Local Terrain: Very Hilly


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
Looks, build quality, reliability, range, hill climbing, value for money.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
Slightly heavy, simplistic.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
I have delayed reviewing my new Tonaro Bighit, to give any faults a chance to develop and ensure there are no teething problems, But now after three months of almost daily use, except in the worst of the snow, though rain and mud and freezing temperatures without missing a beat, I feel confident enough to extol it's virtues.
The suspension frame looks modern and attracts some admiring looks, but it also provides a very smooth ride. A small gripe here, although I am getting used to it, the saddle is not the most comfortable I have come across, and I think I might invest in one designed for a wider load. The bike is slightly heavier than some other makes I have tried, but it has the power to cope and there is no resistance or drag at all when the motor is switched off so it is easy to ride without power when required or the terrain allows. In fact the weight is in a way reassuring, as you feel there has been no compromise in the strength or build quality to save a couple of pounds (Kilograms for younger readers). The controls are quite basic, one switch on/off, and one switch to select one of three levels of assistance. The battery charge level is indicated by a row of lights incorporated into the top of the LED front light. So no bells and whistles, but to be frank I'm not that interested in knowing how hard the battery is trying, or how hard the motor is working, nor do I need a speedometer to tell me if I am traveling at a speed I am comfortable with. To me basic is good, less to go wrong.
The range has been surprising given how hard it has to work to assist me over the hills in North Devon, on numerous outings of twenty plus miles it has returned me home with two of the four battery capacity indicator lights still illuminated. So; it looks good, it's uncomplicated, it's a pleasure to ride, it's reliable, and it has staying power, but above all else, what really stands out, is it's ability to climb hills. It really is a buzz to approach a huge hill, drop down a couple of cogs, turn the power level up and feel confident you are going to pedal to the top.
I'm sure there are equally good bikes out there from other manufacturers, but at this price this bike is astonishing value for money.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Rating (out of 10) : 9

 

[Grumpyoldgit]

I have recently acquired a Tonaro Bighit, and although it is too soon to write a review, on the evidence so far I have to agree with you. I don't get on too well with technology (this is my forth attempt to post a reply) so the lack of gismos suits me, and the crank drive system just does it's job quietly and remarkably efficiently without me having to think about it. At this stage I am delighted with my purchase and as you say, it ranks very highly on the value for money scale. Two complaints though, riding around grinning all the time makes me look like the village idiot, and why couldn't they have given it a more exciting name.

 

[paul228]

BigHit is a very big hit!

I agree 99% with these comments. I'm a fittish 65, been cycling since a kid but regret that living at the top of a very big hill means sometimes it's easier to stay home! A friend bought an electric bike, commutes 10 miles each way and raves how good it is. Sounded good to me! I investigated what was available. I wasn't so impressed with the powered hub concept because the power is not transmitted through the gears - I'm heavy and live at the top of a hill.

While seaching online I came across the Tonaro - it's really different, unique in fact - the motor helps turn the pedal crank - meaning that the gears work just how you'd expect - the motor's power is multiplied by the rear gear set. I've had it three months now and can report that it is fantastic. Tarmac hills are a thing of the past - and off road it climbs trails and tracks with astonishing ease. I go farther and faster than ever before - but don't suffer the extreme stress of the steep climb or high wind.

The best thing is that I can't wait to get out the next time.

I'd score it 99 because for me simplistic is very good indeed. Thanks to PowerPedals for their fantasic bike and brilliant service.

 

[shep]

Reviewer: Ceri Shepherd

Purchased Fromowerpedals

Purchase Price:995

Time Owned:1 Day

Local Terrain: Moderate Hills

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:Superb Looks, build quality, reliability, range, hill climbing, value for money.




----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:Slightly heavy,saddle.



----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:

After reading all the reviews and trying a Hub powered bike and a Panasonic powered bike. I went and bought a Tonaro Bighit. This was a bit of a risk for me as i had not tried the Tonaro. To say that i am delighted with my purchase is somewhat of an understatement, this is a superb electric bike. It is very well made with a far higher specification than similar bikes for the same price. It looks really good, rides very well and is powerful. We have a huge hill close to where i live, that goes on and on. Today we also had a powerful head wind. I dropped down a few gears selected high power assistance and up i went, no problems at all, GREAT. The suspension works very well on this bike and gives a good ride on the rough roads. The only fault that i can find and this is a really small one, is the saddle is quite firm. The quality is very good, and the build strength can only be described as INDUSTRIAL which i like as it promises many years of hard use.

The service from Phil at Powerpedals was special. Good Old fashioned customer service and that never goes out of fashion. In this day and age so many things are hyped way beyond the reality. The Tonaro Bighit delivers, i am a very happy customer.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Rating (out of 10) :

 

[lemmy]

That looks a nice bike.

Can you fit panniers? I use mine as a workhorse! Also, with my Panasonic drive the power tails off from just under 10mph which suits me well. Now Panasonic have altered the power characteristics so that power tails off from 14mph so I may need to buy another crank drive when I change bikes.

Does this one power down from 10mph, do you know?

 

[103Alex1]

FINALLY got round to testing one of these at Eden, mainly to see what all the fuss was about. I set all preconceptions aside and rode it with a completely open mind. It's half the price of many other competitors.... but I can see why.

It was a beast to pedal up a reasonably forgiving hill. After trying Kalkhoff Sahel and E-motion Neo this felt like stepping off a speedboat onto a canoe.

The 'half throttle' thing is also a complete liability. Had to turn the bike at the top of a steep slope and must have caught it accidentally with a finger of my left hand because the bike did a wheelie half way round (with me off it). I held on to it to make sure it didn't get damaged - but the pedal took a tasty chunk out of my leg and I now have 6 big scabs in a pedal shape along with a fair amount of bruising to boot !

Suffice to say the bike did nothing for me apart from to remind me why notwithstanding all the grief and hasstle my £2k+ eBikes have caused for various reasons, at least when I do manage to get to ride them for any distance they are half decent performers.

Spending money on better eBikes doesn't get you away from all the frustrations and ongoing money / time costs of owning and keeping a bicycle functioning well. But for all the demands they make at least they are enjoyable to ride when you do ride them.

It was quite an eye-opener.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Eden had three test areas.
A 50mtr diameter circle-which was completely flat,really useful for those who had never ridden an ebike or for that matter any bike,gave an intro to the idea.
An oval test track about 300 mtrs in length with a little hill,hairpin bend-it was ok for those who wished to try a number of different ebikes,not challenging but certainly better than some of the indoor tracks I have experienced,it was enjoyed by 100's of testers,mostly newbies,over the 5 days.
A steepish hill,about 100mtrs in length-I was told it was 20% in parts,it was not ideal and narrow at the top,only a few testers used it.
I didn't have much chance to try others bikes but there was a good camaraderie amongst all the ebike sellers,we all helped to assist testers whatever their choice of bike.
I must say that the Tonaro range seemed well received by those who tested it. I watched it go up the steep hill-the tester went up relatively slowly but without undue effort-it was certainly a good hill climber.
The hill had no prior run up before the climb so many testers took some time riding the circle to familiarise themselves with the bikes systems,albeit they appeared very simple-maybe 103Alex hadn't given the bike a fair test by attacking the hill too quickly before getting the hang of it,that would also explain the accident at the top.
Obviously PowerPedals (Tonaro) are a competitor but I thought they make a tough,rugged,simple to operate good hill climbing bike,very good value.
KudosDave

 

[Kudoscycles]

Unfortunately I didn't have the time at Eden to ride any of the Tonaro bikes but your experience was not typical of others. To give such a damning review on the basis of one ride up a steep hill seems unfair.
The hill was very much an on the flat-up the hill terrain,many of the other testers gave themselves a chance to familiarise themselves with the bike on the flat or the easy test track before attempting the hill,that lack of 'practice' may have also contributed to your accident.
Most testers seemed to view the Tonaro as a strong but simple to operate hill climber,although I appreciate the sophistication of a triple sensor input of a bike such as the KTM and other Bosch drive bikes there is something to be said for keeping it simple,I have always thought of the Tonaro as the Land Rover of the ebike world,whereas the KTM is the BMW and the Kalkhoff is the Mercedes.
Most testers I talked to really liked the Tonaro concept and performance.
KudosDave

 

[StuntmanBob]

I've had a Tonaro for 9 months now, and clocked up just over 5000km. Its a solid workhorse, loads of torque, and I'm still having a ball riding it 3 or 4 nights a week. This bike has taken everything I have thrown at it, and it has even thrown me back once (a hard stack at 25kmh, the only damage being to me).

What I like:
- The central drive, which effectively has 8 gears. Drop a gear and blast through a corner.
- The torque. Hill climbing and weight carrying abilities are fantastic (I towed a 35+kg trailer no problem).
- Solid build. As someone said above, this is 'Industrial' build, it isn't going to break in a hurry!
- Rear suspension. With a 33kg bike (all up) a rear shock smooths out a lot of the bumps, good for offroad or urban curb-hopping.
- The half twist throttle. Precise power, when you want it. I have disconnected the PAS and don't miss it.
- Disk brakes. Pulls up the 33kg dead-weight real quick, from any speed.
- Awesomely bright tail light. Built in front and rear LEDs are just the job for urban riding.

What I don't like:
- Its rather heavy at 33kg, but its not that detrimental - not hard to pedal with no power, and the motor has more than enough torque to cope.
- The crappy rear spring. It works but it is just a spring so there is no dampening. And mine squeaks a lot when the weather is warm!
- The average quality brake calipers. They require regular adjustment to stop the pads from squealing.
- The offset crank. Don't lean and pedal too far into right hand corners, pedal hop will get you!
- It handles like a pig. But you get over that and ride it because it is just so damn fun to ride!
- Trying to decipher the wiring. Why change colours inside the frame, just for the heck of it?!
- The gears can be a detriment. You lose some momentum when you need to change down a gear going up a hill. Like a normal bike, you don't want to be loading up the power when changing down.

I've modified mine, putting a 20A controller and a CA on it. I've just put a 48t front chainring on, and hopefully this weekend will fit my newly spoked NuVinci rear hub. This will eliminate the last point above.

This was my first ever ebike, and I decided to keep a record of my 'e-journey' from the start here: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1949728

All in all, I would not hesitate to buy this bike again. For the price bracket its in, its great!

 

[103Alex1]

Just to respond to a couple of the points above - I had no problem going straight up the hill on the other eBikes tested. They didn't require any special 'familiarization' and both performed very well. I could very well have made the mistake leading to the accident after owning such a bike for ages. It only takes a momentary lapse in concentration to catch a throttle in that way, especially one so sensitive.

I seriously don't think taking the bike round flat test test tracks would have made me any more or less likely to successfully turn it at the top of a tight slope without brushing the throttle - I knew it was there and definitely didn't intend to use it or touch it at all. So I think blaming this on my not doing 3 rounds of the circuit before riding up a moderate slope is rather missing the point. I wouldn't have had to dismount and manhandle a heavy bike round in a limited space on the flat routes. However in real life there may easily be situations in which I might - and it was not straightforward with the Tonaro.

We had very limited time having other things to do and it was also chucking it down which meant I was pretty focused on the important bits on the bikes which interested me. The testing was therefore very focused on the aspects which interested me personally.

Riding the bikes on the flat is of limited interest - unless they offer meaningful and powerful assistance up long hills their performance on the flat is inconsequential, as they won't be suitable for me personally. If I'd tested any I'd have been seriously tempted to buy I may have taken them for a longer and more varied ride by arrangement with a dealer than the flat circuits allowed, also testing how fast I could ride the bikes to when really going all out on the open road. I'm still considering doing this with the Xtrem when time and opportunity permits.

The hill was not particularly steep. It was an average slope no more than a multi-storey car park ramp, which I take on my own crank drive bike in about 4th or 5th gear and manage over such distances on an unpowered MTB without much difficulty by standing on the pedals. I find it very hard to believe it was 20% or anything like that in places - unless for perhaps a handful of metres, which would not be noticed with enough preceeding momentum. No doubt someone mapped it. If so, then the slopes I want a bike to ride up are considerably steeper.

The places I am looking for a bike to ride to have far steeper slopes of a considerably greater length leading to them. Pretty much anyone coastal in Devon and Cornwall and to a lesser extent some of the Cotswolds / surrounds knows the story. It is only on a sustained mile plus climb that you can see what a bike's really like to climb hills with.

On the hill climbing, being able to ride a bike up a short hill doesn't make it a good hill climber in the way that's meaningful to me. Being able to ride up one with little more effort than riding a road bike on the flat and at a decent pace for a sustained duration of several minutes, however, does. This was a tortoise compared to hare scenario speed-wise. However, I doubt the tortoise would have still been in the race at the end, because it was much more tiring getting the Tonaro up the short hill than the other bikes in the factory-supplied spec it was tested in. Perhaps with higher voltage battery and controller things would be different - but that's not what is being sold or tested.... or commented on.

 

[Geebee]

Just having a read through on this review, the throttle issue is doable on any bike with a throttle.

Yes they climb slowly but contrary to the above they will climb an extended steep hill with out putting any power into the pedals, I had to get home on one ride when I became incapable of adding any power, made it home no worries by just turning the pedals (no throttle).
Not a speed machine but the Esprit at least is a very good utility/ exercise machine.

 

[StuntmanBob]

Alex, I disagree with pretty much every thing you said. I've NEVER had an accidental throttle surge, find the bike able to climb long hills relatively easily at a satisfactory speed, and certainly don't have to dismount to get around tight corners! But anyhoo, you don't own one so you're not really in a position to judge based on a short test ride.

For happy Tonaro owners - In Australia, there is an off-the-shelf 48v upgrade kit available now. Its good to know this motor will cope with that voltage. 500W Upgrade Kit | ASEAKO Electric Bike

(The Aseako is identical in every aspect to the Tonaro, just another name for the same bike)

 

[103Alex1]

Alex, I disagree with pretty much every thing you said. I've NEVER had an accidental throttle surge, find the bike able to climb long hills relatively easily at a satisfactory speed, and certainly don't have to dismount to get around tight corners! But anyhoo, you don't own one so you're not really in a position to judge based on a short test ride.

Well the test run was a narrow path leading to barriers at a dead end on a slope. No way to turn bikes without getting off and turning them round. You can't turn anything without a turning circle. So perhaps more of a consequence of the testing arrangement itself than reflective of more usual riding conditions.

I can judge that I wouldn't have a throttle I couldn't flick off if I wasn't using it, that I have to dismount a bike to push pelican crossing lights on an almost daily basis and comparatively against the other bikes I tested and own.

The 500W / 48V kit would certainly likely help that bike a great deal based on what I experienced of it. I'd still have to fit a thumb throttle and a switch to get on one though.

 

[StuntmanBob]

Wow, what a difference a 48v battery makes. All of a sudden, there are no hills where I live!
The motor handles it fine, barely gets warm. My non-standard controller is stone cold.

A lot more speed, and much more power for the hills. I think with a pedal assist, it would be scary in mode 3 (I have throttle only). My NuVinci is undergeared now with 52t/20t, I'm going to revert back to an 18t.

With a non-standard controller (from ebikes.ca) and a Cycle Analyst, I can swap between 36v and 48v in about 30 seconds - so effectively have a spare battery now.

 

[StuntmanBob]

I pinched the Fox shock of my other bike and fitted it to the Tonaro. Its about 7mm shorter than the original, but pumped it up to 250psi to stop it from bottoming out (the wheel hits the battery box on heavy bumps if too soft). Nice to be able to lock it out on smooth sections of pathway...