Fishaw Folding E-Bike F30
Verified1 review
- +1
A quality folding ebike with super power up hills and excellent battery life – I spent quite a bit of time researching this one before I decided to purchase recently as this one is certainly at the upper end of folding ebikes but I was very interested in that it was a mid drive never having had one before. Certainly a quality ebike feels very solid with great tyres and quality components still rattles and squeaks a bit as I ride it I hope it will loosen up over time it has a very quiet mid drive motor I am very impressed with the torque and power up hills as I have two other hub drive e-bikes and they are nothing quite like this the only thing being you really do have to work the pedals with this one. Incredible hydraulic brakes very effective the best I have ever had in a bike which is excellent considering the weight of it. Excellent battery life so far being a 14ah, I hope it will last a considerable amount of years for me. Incredibly good front suspension the best I have ever had and in such a small bike too so smooth you barely feel any bumps from the front wheel. An incredibly comfortable ride very well designed and put together the handlebars, the seat, the suspension, I actually am amazed as in a small foldable normally there is a lot of compromise but not with this one. An excellent bike rack the best I have ever seen and used on a bike as I require them I put a pod on the back very impressed and happy with a 25kg weight limit. A few bits and pieces to assemble handlebars, front tire & mudguard, light, pedals but not too bad my other folding bikes all I had to do was put the saddle in the stem and that was it just be aware of that. Now the not so good not very good delivery at all no email from the company regarding dispatch only when I first placed the order an automated "in processing" email after a few days I received a random text and email from this "Big Post" who I had never heard of and I dare say 90% of people never heard of it would have been far more professional and polite for the company just to email me that they had dispatched and an expected timeframe, also not easy to follow any "tracking" at all particularly on the day of delivery no text or email sent it was just dumped out the front near my garage roller door the bloke never came in and said nothing just left it there luckily I was home and this is an expensive bike indeed.
Quite a few scratches and chips in the paint work I couldn't believe it considering I thought this would be impeccably packaged see my photos also the battery was scratched and even had some chips on the side of it I wondered at first if it was used because they had upgraded the battery to a 14ah to their credit, however I am guessing it was done in house in Oz and done with very little care as you can see there are two big gouges in the plastic surround of where the battery goes and paint chips I can tell someone jammed a screwdriver in there to pull the old one out and put this new one in it is quite a common problem with tube batteries where they don't pop out easily the first couple of times so one jams a screwdriver to flick it out one would think they could've used a bit more care.
But the main concern was that after about an eight minute ride I did two rides when I first assembled it - the power would drop out no power whatsoever in any gear so I contacted them and they indicated it was more than likely the sensor on the spoke and that I could adjust it - well quite frankly that is not good enough in a bike of this price they really should've checked all of this out and done a pre-delivery which I had asked them about last year but I could not actually get a straight answer, I am sure they are good when you buy from their two stores in house but they really need to check things over I believe for Online orders, anyhow so it actually took me a good few days to sort this out it is a very sensitive magnet that has to be absolutely spot on otherwise the bike will just not work also they only tend to reply to service inquiries in the late afternoon so you are left hanging earlier in the day but to be fair I did get a response but no follow-up I would've thought considering the magnitude of my position they would've followed up after a few days but not a word. Finally the handlebar stem is very very hard to fold down it just cannot be done with your hand as the pedal or lever is just too small to get a grip not a great design I have to jimmy a screwdriver in there and use the shaft to push it down to fold the bike unbelievable considering I need to do this several times a week but it also is then very very difficult to fold it back up just be aware of that hopefully it will loosen up over the time and they did suggest some silicon spray it's just my other two folding bikes never ever had this issue. Ok I hope this helps if anyone is interested, also please see my other review regarding the Smartmotion e20 a very very good folding bike as well.
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Hi Dewdrop Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review; it is very much appreciated. The F30, a mid-drive e-bike with so many features, has become a very popular model and receives positive feedback, such as your observations in this review. I am sure that when conducting your research, you found a mid-drive folding e-bike at this price point is excellent value for money, as there are very few folding mid-drive e-bikes on the Australian market. Fishaw has developed this one in response to feedback from our customers who wanted a quality folding mid-drive e-bike at an affordable price point, that didn’t compromise on features.
To address your concerns regarding delivery; our delivery policy states that you will receive delivery information from our logistics provider, which is Big Post at this stage. The notification will contain information on the expected delivery date, the courier company, for example TNT, one of the largest transporters in the country and a link for tracking. The delivery prices are quoted as 'leave safe home delivery', and our delivery policy states that this is a delivery that will be left if no one's home; if our customers want a scheduled home delivery option, they can contact us for a quote. As our freight is large and bulky, scheduled home delivery with a company like TNT is a considerably more expensive delivery option. You are able to register with TNT on the link provided on our Delivery Policy page to receive delivery updates, such as when the item is onboard for delivery with a driver and when it has been delivered, for example. Unfortunately, once our e-bikes leave our warehouse, we are not responsible for the conduct of third-party carriers. We have chosen to only work with reputable delivery companies who usually provide very good service to our customers, but unfortunately, occasionally let us down sometimes. The delivery driver, in your case, should have come to the door to see if anyone was home before leaving your e-bike, and I have brought this to management's attention.
I am sorry that your e-bike has arrived with some damage to the paintwork and the battery casing; this did not occur with a battery change in Australia, as the F30 e-bikes come standard with a 14 Ah battery from our factory in Europe. Our e-bikes are very well packaged, and you are the first customer to note damage such as this, which must have occurred at our factory and was not picked up by quality control, which is unacceptable. We ask customers to contact us immediately after unpacking and assembling their e-bikes if any damage has been sustained during transport or if anything is wrong with the e-bike so that a warranty case can be raised. The issue should be addressed as soon as possible. None of our staff would use a screwdriver to try and remove the battery, nor would they suggest this to any of our customers, as this can not only cause damage to the battery casing and paintwork but, more importantly, is dangerous and could cause damage to the battery. If you have been told this by anyone else, please know that we would never recommend this course of action and would strongly recommend that this should never be done.
As far as the sensor is concerned, as you have noted, the alignment is very sensitive and any slight movement of the sensor, which can occasionally move during transport, even though it would have been correctly aligned when it left our factory, will affect the power. Sometimes the sensor is accidentally moved very slightly during the unpacking and assembly of the e-bike but is easily rectified by following the instructions given by our technical support staff. If you are having trouble aligning it to the correct position, our team are only too happy to talk you through it on the phone or will even send a video to explain and show the exact alignment. I have brought the need for a video link in the manual and the assembly instructions to our management so that other customers can see what to do if this is the cause of loss of power to their e-bikes, so thank you for raising the issue of how sensitive the alignment is, and the need for clear instructions for our customers about the alignment of the sensor. This kind of feedback is invaluable.
I am sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble with the folding mechanism on your e-bike. They can be tight when they are first used, and they are not adjusted to be looser with initial use, as over time they will loosen and then they will be too loose and a safety issue if they come apart when riding. The best thing to do if they are very tight, as yours seems to be, is to open the latch and spray the opening mechanism, inside the latch, with WD40 silicone spray, which will help considerably and the more the stem is folded and unfolded, it will become much easier to open and close. Please be careful not to get any silicone spray on the hydraulic disc brakes when using this spray. If you contact us directly, we have some touch-up paint we can send you for the chips you have identified in your paintwork.
Kind regards FiSHAW Team