REVIEW – The FIIDO C11 city e-bike is one of the latest entries from the company. It’s got a lot of neat features that make it worthy of consideration if one happens to be in the market for a zippy-er way to get around. We did run into some slight snags but with a little help from the ever-growing e-bike community and some videos on the internet, we were able to untangle.
What is it?
The FIIDO C11 city e-bike is an electric bike that features a frame with a step-through design; the downward angle of what is traditionally called the top tube makes it very easy to get on. The combination of 700x40c tires with the front fork adjustable front fork suspension makes for a very smooth ride over most surfaces. Powered by a 500Wh removable battery, this baby tops out at a little under 25 mph. The range estimates clock in a little under 40 miles with the pedal assist and about half of that if you’re just leaning on the throttle. Be prepared for some assembly when yours arrives, as you will need to install the front tire. FIIDO has released an unboxing and assembly video (link at the end), making up for written instructions that were a little hard to follow for those of us new to the scene.
What’s included?
- FIIDO C11 city electric bike
- 700x40c front tire
- Accessory kit (all the tools and screws)
- Instruction manual
Design and features
The FIIDO C11 city e-bike isn’t necessarily what I would consider an “entry-level” e-bike. It is very easy to operate and get-up-and-go, but let’s get into it.
First off, one of the first things to notice is the seat. The one that’s included does not include any suspension on the underside, and is surprisingly comfortable for a default seat, but will likely be the first thing to replace.
The handlebars are also pretty comfy; the soft rubber grips don’t hurt during longer outings and kind of squish down under your fingers. They’re angled slightly down, which is actually pretty nice, coming from a history of strictly straight-across handlebars. The C-11 comes with hydraulic brakes in the front and rear. On the right hand side, we find our Shimano gear set.
The motor controls are mounted on the left-hand side of the handlebars, easily reachable with a thumb to cycle through the pedal assist levels and honk the OBNOXIOUS horn. It’s seriously awful, but it’ll definitely get everyone’s attention. Here’s one of the snags we talked about earlier. On our test rides, a very audible clicking sound was coming from the rear cassette area (see those big gear-looking things on the rear wheel? I recently learned those are called cassettes!). Having little to no cycling experience, it was a little difficult to diagnose and fix what was wrong, but we ended up having to adjust the tightness of the gear wires to make sure the chain stayed perfectly centered on the higher gear cassettes. Figuring that out brought us down quite the rabbit hole.
The 500Wh battery is very easy to install and remove. It can be charged either in or out of the bike itself, with a little rubber cover for the charging port. Be sure to check on that as ours arrived damaged, but FIIDO was very quick to provide two replacements. The C-11 comes with five pedal assist modes: eco, normal, sport, turbo, and turbo+. You can also turn it off, but we’re not here to ride WITHOUT the ‘e’ in ‘e-bike’. The motor is attached to the rear wheel and is 500w toothed and brushless. From our testing, the accelerator is pretty responsive, kicking in less than a second after giving it the gas (so to speak).
FIIDO has come out with their own app for Android and iPhone. The app allows you to lock and unlock the bike, monitor travel speed and distance, and can even help navigate through Google maps. A nice surprise was when it connected that navigation help to my smartwatch without me having to do anything.
The front fork suspension is hydraulic with 40mm of travel. It is very easy to adjust based on what kind of surface you plan to ride on. The 700x40c tires are pretty big for what’s being called a city e-bike, but still allow for easy, nimble steering. The frame comes with an attached rear rack where you can attach all sorts of stuff; we highly encourage accessorizing. There is also a pair of mounting screws in the front for a basket. The C-11 comes with what seems to be the industry standard front headlight and rear brake light. It gives my partner a little safety thrill every time.
That seat we talked about earlier can easily be adjusted to fit rider heights from 5’1″ to 6’5″. It’s by no means the worst, like I said, but it will likely be replaced by something a little cheekier.
Assembly
Rather than walking you through the assembly of the FIIDO C11 city e-bike step by step, I’m going to talk about how it was. It took my partner and I about an hour to figure it out, with a lot of rewinding and replaying of the assembly video. The front wheel itself was easy enough to install. The front headlight was a bit of a pain trying to hold onto it and the front fender on the same screw. The plastic front fender was a little warped, so adjusting and attaching the support strut was equally frustrating. It has since straightened out, but there was a bit on those first test rides where it would rub on the tire.
What I like about the FIIDO C-11 city e-bike
- Easy to use, once assembled and charged up
- Hand grips and handlebars; the slight downward angle makes the arms a little comfier and all the controls are easy to reach
- The rear storage rack; while not enough to serve as a passenger seat, it’ll carry about 50 lbs. of whatever you want
What needs to be improved?
- The written instruction manual isn’t great by itself, but since it leads to the assembly video, it’s not all bad
- A seat with suspension included might make up for the lack of integrated rear suspension seen in some other e-bike models
- While this may be lack of experience speaking, the out-of-the-box tightness of the gear wires might need a little more QC. The process of determining what was making that clicking sound did teach us quite a bit about bicycle maintenance
Final thoughts
Now, the reason you’re reading this review might be to help decide whether or not to purchase the FIIDO C-11 city e-bike, or you could be looking for thoughts on your recent purchase. Either way, you’re right where you need to be. The C-11 is a solid machine. It may not have the biggest engine or the longest lasting battery on the market, but it will get you places in comfort. It comes in two colors, white and emerald blue. White, of course, very classic, but the emerald blue is just pretty. We’re still seeing how far and long the battery can last, but it hasn’t disappointed. See you on the road!
Price: $1099.00 (often on sale for $899.00)
Where to buy: FIIDO
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by FIIDO. FIIDO did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
