For those who may not be aware, I adore riding motorcycles and cycling. I miss it deeply, but I vowed I would return. With this in mind, I chose to purchase an electric bike with the hope that I could eliminate the need for a car, as well as an electric motorcycle for longer trips.
I was divided between two products, the WAU Bike and the SAMEBIKE YY26 and after taking the WAU Bike for a test ride, I ultimately chose the SAMEBIKE YY26 instead. A steal if it’s real, the SAMEBIKE YY26 electric bicycle from China boasts the metrics I’ve provided below at a price that’s close to $1399.
You need to be incredibly cautious, just as with Geekbuying, as there are many things that are scams. After contacting a few vendors, I chose the seller known as “SAMEBIKE Official Store” because it had a lot of positive reviews.
The seller I communicated with, and what follows is expected, had decent communication skills and could answer my inquiries in English, but there was an issue since, just before I placed my order, Brexit occurred, and the seller ceased selling to the United Kingdom. When this occurred, I made the decision to use the WAU Bike, but I held off because I had other obligations at the moment.
The vendor was able to sell to the United Kingdom once more around a month ago, but they had to charge a shipping price, which I joyfully determined was worthwhile. Ordering was simple, as one would expect from Geekbuying, however I didn’t receive any tracking information or anything else after that. Nevertheless, the seller consistently replied that I will receive my purchase shortly.
Before I move on to the next section, let me quickly add that it passed customs without any problems, which I assume the seller cleared with the shipping fee. However, they kept referring to it as a car, despite the fact that in Mandarin, every vehicle is referred to as a car – even a bicycle is called a leg-step car.
| Brand: | SAMEBIKE |
| Type: | Electric Bike |
| Model: | YY26 |
| Color: | Black |
| Frame: | 6061 Aluminum Alloy |
| Tire: | 26 x 4 inch CST |
| Motor: | 750W Brushless Geared Motor |
| Battery: | 48V 15Ah Battery |
| Range: | 100-120km |
| Charge Time: | 4-6 hours |
| Display: | Custom S830 LCD Display |
| Max Speed: | 35km/h |
| Load: | 150kg |
| Derailleur: | Shimano 7-speed |
| Freewheel: | 7-speed |
| Handlebar Height: | 42.9'' |
| Seat Height: | 35.4-39.4'' |
| Package Weight: | 38kg |
| Package Size(L x W x H): | 158 x 32 x 77cm |
SAMEBIKE YY26: Design and Build Quality
The delivery of the electric bike took about two to three weeks, and I feel bad for the poor DHL guy who carried it because I could not lift it myself and yet the person casually strolled over with it!
As you can see in the pictures below, the bike was carefully wrapped, and as far as I can tell, nothing is damaged. It wasn’t too difficult to put it together, but I would suggest using two people. It is necessary to attach the front wheel, and if you don’t watch the video guide beforehand, you can experience some difficulties, like I did. After that, all that is left to attach are the handlebars.
It’s time to test the e-bike now that it has been made. The e-bike is created in the images above, but I haven’t yet added lights or raised the saddle. I was mainly curious to check how well the e-bike handled at this point in time, and it did so incredibly well. I tightened the handlebar afterward since today I learned what happens when the handlebar turns but the wheel doesn’t!
After resolving the steering problem, I took it for a test ride. Although it was heavier than I had anticipated, let’s be honest – using it as a regular bike isn’t what we’re after here.
SAMEBIKE YY26: Motor and Driving
The reviews for this bike have been fantastic thus far, but we do have a problem that has more to do with the shipment than the actual product. The plastic piece that switches between the levels was broken during shipping, so I don’t think I can use the pedal-assist for pedaling. I discovered this when I tried to set up the pedal-assist. There is a reason I care a lot about this, as I will be using the throttle on private property to check the “real mileage” since I know many who are planning to buy this bike will be acquiring it for that purpose. I will find out and report back later.
I made the decision to take it out on the road to test it out now that the batteries were prepared and nearly fully charged. The first thing I can say is that it won’t affect the pedal assist; instead, you can adjust the level of support by pressing a button. However, after testing it out the first day, I discovered that the switch only affects the other gears, not the pedal assist, which stinks but isn’t fatal and can be fixed by me.
Day 1 of the initial test is really disheartening because nothing functioned. I rode my bike down to a nearby field where I knew nobody would be and turned on the pedal assistance, but nothing changed. Nothing happened when I was expecting the engine to start. After that, I thought maybe using the throttle would help, but nothing happened once more. As you can imagine, riding back with a heavy bike is not enjoyable.
I’m not sure if there’s anything I should have done differently with this bike, but the handbook makes no recommendations. I’ll try again another day after taking another look at everything and working from there.
Okay, so it’s not quite day 2, but this is my second time riding the bike, and I’m much more impressed this time. When I contacted the seller, I learned that every setting on this bike was incorrect. A simple test that I performed by elevating the back wheel revealed that everything was turning as it should and that the bike’s top speed is approximately 15.5 mph. As I stated earlier in this review, it is against the law to have a throttle on any public road in the United Kingdom. However, I plan to test this on private property before removing the throttle, even though I believe many people reading this will probably decide to keep it.
The next step is to determine how far this bike can actually travel. Before I submit the data, keep in mind that throttling and pedaling are both involved because, in all honesty, pedaling is so simple that I kept doing it by default. It’s also important to note that I weigh more than 150 kg, which has an impact on how much power the bike can produce. Finally, there are a lot of hills around where I reside.
There is nothing to remark about this one because the result is shown in three photographs. It should be noted that towards the halfway point of the test (22 miles image), error 10 and error 7 appeared and flashed. This hasn’t happened again, but I do have a replacement controller here.
According to the images above and following the same route as before, the battery lasted for approximately 11 miles. While riding, it kept flashing and felt like it could give a little more, but I stopped the experiment there because it had started to slow down and I did not want it to cut out in the middle of traffic.
SAMEBIKE YY26: Battery and Range
Even though the bike has two batteries, one of them has a capacity of 15Ah, so we may calculate the range in terms of time rather than kilometers. 51 minutes will pass when using 15Ah at 20 amps. Accordingly, you can expect to get around 17 miles out of an electric bike while it is operating at full power at a speed of around 20 mph. Surprisingly, this indicates that the bike’s developer, while defining “pure electric,” got the range quite right.
Theoretically, you could ride the electric bike at full power for at least 32 miles on two batteries, which will give you double that amount of range. As it is quite unlikely that you will be utilizing the maximum power, you will probably get more out of it, but if you plan accordingly, you should be okay if you are concerned about range anxiety.
According to my search statistics, one thing people are interested in learning is the range of this electric bike. While I can get reasonably far on it given my weight, I’ll explain how far it can go under worst-case conditions. However, you should be able to get much further than this since it assumes constant use of full power, which isn’t always the case when riding by yourself. Prior to that, I can pedal help for up to 20 miles at a maximum speed of 15.5 miles per hour.
SAMEBIKE YY26: Conclusions
So, with someone who weighs over 150 kg at the time of writing this review, 11 kilometers per battery, give or take. This was mostly electric and didn’t involve much pedaling. Based on the seller’s promises, the question is now: could it travel 30km (18.6 miles) entirely on electricity?
Most certainly, yes. While it cannot travel the distance it claims to be able to due to my weight, I believe it would be capable of traveling fairly close to 18 miles if I were half as heavy. I have no doubt that it would travel considerably farther with pedaling, as it advertises.
If you’re looking for a bike to bring you into town and back, I’d suggest this one. The size of the bike itself, which they may wish to replace with new tires or get used to, is the only thing that might not be ideal for certain people.
Oh, and just to finish this up before I forget: how much does it cost to charge this bike? The charger requires between six and eight hours to fully charge and has a 96w output (2a at 48v), or 0.7680 Kwh. According to the extreme, eight hours are required to fully charge the battery, and my electricity provider rates me 18.974 pence per kWh, charging the bike cost me 15 pence.
