[arnav17]

Hello BHpians,

Got the Emotorad T-rex Air Electric bicycle a month back and wanted to write a comprehensive review of the same so that it can help others make a decision.



Likes:
- Road presence! I have now become used to people staring at the cycle and many stopping me to ask about its price and range.
- An environment friendly alternative to a conventional bicycle.
- Can cover long distances effortlessly.
- No range anxiety ; if the battery runs out, you can pedal home!
- Faster and safer for Indian roads.
- The presence of the motor really helps in the case of steep slopes.
- Charging time is just about 3-4 hours and can give upto 50km on a full charge if used accordingly.


Dislikes:
- The battery is extremely heavy, makes it very difficult to pedal when you have run out of charge. It is doable but will exhaust most of your energy.
- The motor is moody at times and will not come on when you expect it to.
- It is definitely priced on the higher side at 35,000 rupees.
- The odometer is of a very strange design, you can keep it at 0km forever by just turning off the cycle before the completion of each km i.e. it won’t count any reading below 1km.
- Fit and finish is okay but not great. Suspension creaks a lot at times and needs WD-40 to sort it out.



Background:

I am currently in college which is around 5km from home. Taking the scooter was not a choice as I am still a few months short of 18, and my parents would not be available on most days due to which I have to take rickshaws, which are extremely pricey.
Seeing the alarming rise in spendings on rickshaws, I thought of asking for a bicycle, which would make travel convenient. The search finally ended with the T-Rex, which I got on my birthday last month and have covered around 150km till date.

[arnav17]

Why Electric?

To be honest, I myself am not sure why I was attracted to this apart from the pedal free movement using the accelerator very similar to a conventional scooter. However, I have no reason to regret my choice, as the motor has proven to be a boon in many difficult situations when stuck in traffic surrounding me from all sides.
In the past months, the chain gave away once and the motor came in handy once again, I avoided a 50-rupee late fee at college thanks to the fact that I could accelerate the rest of the way.

Options considered:

After electric had been finalised, there were contenders only from 2 brands, Hero and Emotorad. The Hero Lectro was rejected owing to the fact that it had no key to turn on the motor, and anyone can turn it on anytime. The motor on the Lectro though is actually very silent compared to the Emotorad and the acceleration too is brisker.
In the Emotorad Stable, there is the X1, X2, X3 and T-Rex air within the budget. The X-Factor had to be rejected as My father(who would occasionally use it) wanted gears, which I thought was insignificant then but thank him not after the battery run out incident. The T-Rex Air was a perfect option suiting all our requirements and we made no further delay in getting it on the spot.



(Lectro for reference)

Price:

The price of the cycle comes exactly to 35000. Don’t expect the showroom to give any discount, the price mentioned on the website is what they will match. Got Mudguards and a helmet which got the price to 37,000.

Warranty/Service:

The motor, frame and controller get 1 year of warranty and the battery gets 2 years. As regards to service, the first one will be free at around 600-700km post which it will cost about 500 bucks and if you are a fast cyclist, you will need to get the brake pads replaced frequently.

[arnav17]

Electronic Equipment:

The T-Rex Air unlike the other Emotorad cycles (X1, X2, X3) gets a M5 LCD display which offers more information than the other models which get a smaller display. It also offers a controller accessible by your left hand:



The ‘Home’ screen with the odometer and speedometer:



Trip meter:



Battery voltage indicator:



Current indicator:



Riding time:



Safety features:

The major safety feature I really love about the T-Rex is the auto cut off the disc brakes offer. A slight pull on the brake will cut the motor and it is really useful at times when you are in stop and go traffic in the higher modes of pedal assist.


Motor/Modes:

This bike has 3 ways in which it can be ridden :
1) No motor assistance, can ride like a normal bicycle (although heavier as mentioned) where PAS is set to zero.



2) Pedal Assist Mode (PAS) : This can be adjusted over multiple levels, and for each progression, the push given by the motor increases.


3) Throttle mode: The bicycle can be driven purely on the throttle but this is not recommended at all times as it drains battery heavily. (PAS should be atleast 1)

The T-Rex comes with a 250W rear hub motor which is powered by a 10.2 AH battery. On pedal assist, with speeds under 25km/h at all times, it can easily deliver 45km of range. On pure throttle within 25km/h, the bike can deliver 30km of range.



Important note: The top speed until which the motor can power the cycle is limited to 25km/h, but it can be changed using the display. The team at Emotorad recommend keeping it at 25km/h to keep the battery healthy, but if you feel 25 is a little too slow (like me), you can easily change it to 30 in a few seconds.

Frame/Wheels/Suspension:

The frame is what Emotorad calls a FeC High tensile MTB frame, and although it appears to be a little thin, it is quite strong. The wheels are 29 inchers ( the same model is also available with 27 inchers, depends on the riders height) and the cycle is equipped with a 100mm travel fork front suspension which does a good job with covering the humps but creaks a lot at times.

The 29" wheels:




Other Noteworthy features:
It gets an extremely powerful light that literally lights up everything in front of you and can easily blind oncoming traffic. The same light is equipped with a horn which is very meek and is barely audible (probably the same horn as the XL100).



At night:

[arnav17]

Battery:
As mentioned, the cycle gets a 10.2 AH battery which can be fully charged in about 3-4 hours. The technicians recommend charging it on the cycle itself, due to the fact that all though the battery is removable, you may accidentally damage the pins on the frame or the battery itself. The charger too is very compact and can be plugged into any socket.




The Charger Port and Switch:





Motor Performance:



The 250W rear hub motor is definitely not a slouch, goes off the mark pretty quickly for all the weight it is carrying. On only using the throttle, the T-Rex can go from 0-30km/h in a respectable 8 seconds. There is a half second delay between the throttle and the motor kicking in, but is not much of a hinderance. The throttle is definitely not sufficient while moving from a standstill in traffic, it simply takes too long to pick up pace, but once it reaches 10km/h, it’s a breeze. A small touch on the brakes cuts power to the motor, which put me in trouble once when I accidently touched the brakes while going uphill with a car behind me.

On pedal assist, the T-Rex is a hooligan (by bicycle standards). You will have no trouble keeping up with any car or bike and in the city, this would beat all cars and bikes pretty easily.

In fact, with pedal assist at the maximum stage (5), I reached almost 10 minutes before my friend who was in her swift in a 4km journey, which just shows the versatility of the cycle, you can squeeze in anywhere and no one will question you ( although you may be honked at multiple times).

The Shimano 7 speed gear system has been a proven reliable system and does its duty here as well without any issues.

[arnav17]

Looks:

From the front, the T-Rex air looks just like any other cycle. No hints that is is electric except for the Emotorad Logo:



The front disc brakes:



The T-Rex logo ; A scarier dinosaur would have looked way better:



With the Keychain I bought!:



The mudguard ; They offer absolutely no colours that match the cycle's colour:



The gear controller:



The side stand is very weak, and has to be replaced even if bent slightly:



Really like the shine in this “Forest Fury” colour!




Verdict:
The T-Rex is a very comprehensive E-cycle and probably one of the best in the market within a budget for someone looking for a gear cycle. Looking forward to a great journey on this bicycle.

Any queries, will be happy to respond ��



Thanks for reading

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by arnav17

Looks:
Thanks for reading

Team BHP Reviewers, we have a future talent prospect here.

Great detail orientation at 17 man!!

[Raghav07]

Wow, if such a detailed review for your E-Bicycle, imagine a car review from you!
10/10, and for 35k, Its great. I was expecting it to be in the 50k range.

A few queries though,
1. Is it really heavy to cycle without motor assistance? I am a cycler and have a Drago model from 91 Cycles, it has 29 inchers like this and would say its of medium weight.
2. How water resistant and mud resistant is the motor? I think its pretty new and not raining in your area right now, but let us know about it in the future, as my area has construction work going on and theres alot of mud.
3. How is the suspension? Is it stiff. Me and my friend have similar 29 inch wheel models(different brands) but his suspension is much more stiff than mine.

I love the LCD display, wish I had the ODO on my cycle. Green colour is excellent, but I love the black and matt gray shade on mine.

Great review, will want to see more from you!
Cheers, Raghav

[Aditya]

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of bikes have started going to our homepage reviews box. It's the ultimate stamp of trust from Team-BHP (as a platform) because lakhs of visitors every month check out reviews from there & make purchase decisions.

Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

[Kkumar]

An excellent and detailed review. My only query is with respect to the water resistance capability of the battery pack as well as that of the motor as I am from a place with almost six months of rain in a year. Also, what will be the cost of the battery pack if at all it needs replacement in the future. Thank you for sharing and keep on munching miles.

[catchjyoti]

What are the safety features? I.e., if I have to leave it outside a shop and come back in 15 minutes, what sort of locking mechanisms are available? Can someone just walk away with it (if not ride away)?

[arnav17]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Great detail orientation at 17 man!!

Thank you so much

Originally Posted by Raghav07

10/10, and for 35k, Its great. I was expecting it to be in the 50k range.

1. Is it really heavy to cycle without motor assistance? I am a cycler and have a Drago model from 91 Cycles, it has 29 inchers like this and would say its of medium weight.
2. How water resistant and mud resistant is the motor? I think its pretty new and not raining in your area right now, but let us know about it in the future, as my area has construction work going on and theres alot of mud.
3. How is the suspension? Is it stiff. Me and my friend have similar 29 inch wheel models(different brands) but his suspension is much more stiff than mine.

Thank you! Answering a couple of your questions:
1) Yes, it is definitely noticeable and makes it quite hard to cycle. You have to put in twice the effort you would normally put. However, it is still rideable.

2) You are right, no rains as of now but it did rain for a few days in between in which I still rode it without any issues. Just make sure you clean the battery port which might accumalate some amount of mud before the next ride.

3) Suspension is ok, but not great. It creaks at times and over partiularly bad roads, it does gives you elbow pain after some time. Yesterday I tried to finds ditches and humps while riding (Not too hard in Bengaluru TBH ) and I was left with significant elbow pain.

Originally Posted by Kkumar

An excellent and detailed review. My only query is with respect to the water resistance capability of the battery pack as well as that of the motor as I am from a place with almost six months of rain in a year. Also, what will be the cost of the battery pack if at all it needs replacement in the future.

Thank you! The bike can be ridden in light rains but definitely not when its pouring. Puddles and slush should be fine as long as you clean the cycle after use. It should fit your use case IMHO but do take a test ride once. Not sure about the cost of battery replacement but will check and update soon.

Originally Posted by catchjyoti

What are the safety features? I.e., if I have to leave it outside a shop and come back in 15 minutes, what sort of locking mechanisms are available? Can someone just walk away with it (if not ride away)?

Yes they can, which is one major drawback of this bicycle. For additional safety, I got a standard key lock for around 700 rupees and make sure I lock it wherever I leave it.

[bblost]

Very nice review.

This is a pretty nice bike for most people whose commute is short and the having the ability to charge the removable battery is so cool.

Originally Posted by arnav17

- Fit and finish is okay but not great. Suspension creaks a lot at times and needs WD-40 to sort it out.

WD-40 is not a lubricant.
After spraying it, apply some grease. This will help in sorting out this issue.

[john.gt]

Great review arnav17. Did you checkout any of the foldable electric cycles? I was looking at a few with the idea of last mile connectivity in mind. We can put it in the car and can park it at a comfortable space, even if its far and use the cycle for last mile connectivity. The issue of securing the cycle anywhere in Bangalore is indeed an issue.

[arnav17]

Originally Posted by bblost

Very nice review.

WD-40 is not a lubricant.
After spraying it, apply some grease. This will help in sorting out this issue.

Will do so, thanks! But the WD-40 did seem to help. No more creaking post the spray.

Originally Posted by john.gt

Great review arnav17. Did you checkout any of the foldable electric cycles?

Thank you! Yes did contemplate if a foldable cycle would suit my use case, but it definitely does not. My major commute is to and fro college, which is about 5km and offers a protected parking.

Not planning to take it anywhere as well so thought foldable cycle was not necessary. Also they are priced at quite a premium compared to normal bicycles. Emotorad's Doodle V3 costs almost 55k and it looks kiddish IMHO.



(Doodle for reference. Source Emotorad Website )