EVELO Dash

The Evelo Dash is just the e-bike that I wanted; a lightweight folder with a more substantial stature that some of the more notable (and more expensive) lightweight folders on the market. Evelo has achieved the perfect balance to make the e-bike truly ‘portable’ for throwing in the back of the car or in our travel trailer for road trips! The ride is very smooth, shifting is fun and effortless. I can’t say enough for the service team at Evelo; my first bike had some issues and they quickly resolve the issues until finally sending me a new Dash. I’m so appreciative and couldn’t be happier with my purchase.

As a person that works at the leader of EV vehicles, I went searching for my first electric bicycle to handle my work commute. Naturally I wanted the best and started comparing prices on various google search results. All too often when we are searching for things to buy at the best price and performance our money can get us, we tend to forget about Customer Service and the people who support the pre and post-purchase in our total cost. How do you put a price on that? I purchased an open box folding bike from a company I only learned about through positive youtube videos and their website and facebook page. I had issues with the front brake squeaking and the facebook community pointed me to customer service. I had a response and a dialogue going within the same day. They even answered the phone! I ultimately took it to a local bike shop to have it tuned and emailed that receipt to David at EVELO and within 24hrs had a credit back on my original payment. The quality of the folding "Dash" bike is exactly as reviewed and the customer service is way above industry standard. This company is run by professionals and now I feel my bike was more than a purchase, but an investment backed by a reputable company.

Right off the bat I'll say that it's not as powerful as some of the other "folding bikes" like the Rad Mini 4 or the Aventon Sinch but that doesn't tell the whole story. What's so great about this bike is it's ACTUALLY portable when it comes to size and weight. The Rad Mini 4 and Aventon Sinch are really full size bikes that happen to fold but they really aren't portable. Ok so what's so great about the Dash? The riding experience is so much better than the other folding bikes out there. The pedaling experience is so smooth and you hardly feel when the motor kicks in because it's so quiet but all of a sudden you notice that you're moving at a great pace. Pedal assist 1 to 5 feel fantastic and I love how every assist level has it's place. When you change gears you don't get that annoying CLUNK that you get when you have a chain. The belt not only feels great to pedal with but it's just so much cleaner looking on your bike. If you're someone like me who carries it into his apartment you don't have to worry about grease getting on things like the rug which I've had happen before with an old Motobecane Hybrid and that was a NIGHTMARE to clean up. The 350w motor is SUPER impressive for it's size. Like I said you won't get the acceleration that you get on the 750w motors on other bikes but as someone who is 220-230 (with my backpack full) I'm actually shocked it moves as well as it does. The battery is half the size compared to some other folding bikes and so far I've only used up 1-2 bars of battery since owning it so I'm assuming I'll get 30-40 miles of range on it, and for the size that's incredible. The battery is also well constructed which seems like some sort of aluminum casing and not some cheap plastic on the outside. It does take some time to charge but I'm sure you can buy an aftermarket charger that can fix that. I was worried about the tires at first but speaking with David he assured me these tires would be just as good as some of the fat tires on other folders and he was right. They are super comfortable and they really help with some of the portability because they are a bit thinner than fat tires. They have great grip too and have no trouble on gravel or dirt roads. The included LCD screen is fantastic, bright and colorful but I do wish it had a battery % on there but I notice this is a problem in general with folding bikes. They all seem to use these 5 bar battery gauges which just aren't that accurate. You want to know when you're on the last bar if you have 10 miles left or 2. Now when it comes to aesthetics it's just a sexy looking bike there's no denying that. The dark blue color is a fantastic choice because in certain lighting it looks black but when the sun in shining you can see that great pearl paint job. Really my only cons with this bike are I wish it had a 500w motor minimum but I get that would kill the range on the bike or they would have to put in a bigger battery which means a bigger frame for the battery and more weight and so on. I love how they thought portability first because that's the reason a lot of us get these folding bikes so we can carry them up stairs to our apartments. My other small complaint would be for the price I wish they included a bell like a lot of the other folders do. Yea you can just buy a cheap one on Amazon but that's not the point. Overall I think they have a real winner here and if you are looking for an eBike with portability with extreme quality, fit and finish and an overall great experience the Dash is your bike. Last thing I want to touch on is the customer support. Yes you get the 4 year 20k mile warranty which I think is the best in the industry? (I haven't seen better), but from the minute I was interested in this bike until now their sales reps will email you day and night to keep in touch and make sure everything is perfect. I probably wouldn't have pulled the trigger on this bike if it wasn't for David because I was very weary of 350w bikes but he assured me it would be good enough especially with the mid drive and he was right. They weren't afraid to talk about the shortcomings of the bike and they appreciated my feedback. I would not hesitate to order another EVELO and when I get a place where I don't need a folder I'm certain I'll pull the trigger on an Aurora Limited. Thanks for reading!

After 1.5 years with the Dash, I can say i'ts a great bike. The same things bother me a bit now that bothered me back at the beginning, but it has really revolutionized the way I commute.

The good: It's got a strong motor, and it lasts a reasonably long time.
My commute is just over 1 mile each way , on a pretty steep incline on the way home. And in the past I never went home in the middle of the day -- too much work! Now, it's no big deal if I forget something or have to meet someone at the house. It makes my options seem much easier.
When I started, I was complaining about the 1 biggest hill, and that's now manageable but still something that's hard, but I realize now how much easier the low grade hills are now. So I'm getting less exercise because I use the assist at a reasonably high level all the time. But I also don't have to think about anything -- I'm not having to psych myself up for the trip. It's just easy. I recognize these comments are general to all electric bikes, not just the dash, but I think it's important. And this is my first e-bike. As for specifics to the dash:
Customer support was absolutely spectacular.
The bike folds up -- it's not something I want to do every day, but when I put it in the car I feel a lot more comfortable with it inside the car, rather than on an unstable rack. I've also gotten rides from others a few times, and it doesn't matter if they have a bike rack.

The medium-to-not-as-good: It's heavy. Not as heavy as some other ebikes, but I don't think I could carry it if it was much heavier (I'm not in great shape, but not a slouch either: 5 foot 9 female) Now that I'm using level 5 assist a considerable fraction of the time, the battery doesn't last forever. I go up to 5 days of commuting between charges, roughly. No more. And it's a real PITA if I forget and am left with no charge! Because it's heavy to power up a hill if it's just my power.

It has a 'less aggressive' bike stance. That means, for me, that sometime my hip hurts after biking a lot on it (for some reason? I don't know). It also means that I really enjoy sometimes riding on my old 21 speed commuter bike with a more aggressive stance. That bike also feels so light and free in comparison (when I don't have any panniers on it). But I still come back to the evelo dash -- it's a great bike.

The folding mechanism is something I still struggle with -- I think I have messed up the brakes by folding it wrong (regardless, I had to have the brake hydraulics fixed at the shop twice, and I think it was due to folding wrong). But I really advocate for the folding -- It's SO MUCH more convenient to know i can put it in almost any car.

After a yr of happy riding, we can fully recommend these bikes! We chose (after yrs of other ebikes) the Evelo Dash for our traveling needs (class B RV) due to mid-drive motor (350w), lightweight (49lbs w/batt), 20" easy folder, belt drive (clean, no adusting/oiling), 5 speed internal hub shifter (can shift even when stopped), throttle, high build-quality, and excellent customer service. The only thing we didn't like was the saddle, and found fatter ones we liked for $20.