Tonaro dead?

[georgefromvt]

Is Tonaro, the Chinese maker of the Evelo brand ebike gone? I can't google Tonaro any more. Evelo is moving to a newer mid drive system. My first Ebike was a RMartin (Tonaro), rode well. My last Tonaro was an Evelo, VERY expensive head ache. Great customer service from evelo but the bike was a dud. Despite excellent maintenance and no abuse the mid drive system died twice, had to be rebuilt. Is the Tonaro Ebike Company dead?
http://www.evelo.com/safety-sale/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search_Brand_Phrase

 

[amberwolf]

Maybe your internet is broken.

Googles fine here
https://www.google.com/search?q=Tonaro&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Lots of results for the word, mostly relating to their bikes.

Their Chinese site comes up as the third result, but I get a warning from the browser that it is a compromised site, so I'm not opening it to check.

 

[Chalo]

That bike in the picture looks like cheesy junk, not worth your time.

The RMartin bike I de-electrified years ago was awful in almost every regard. It wasn't working when it was given to me, and it had a number of show-stopping problems with the motor and battery. I removed all the electrical gear, built a new rear wheel on a super widely spaced hub, and replaced the hideously nasty suspension fork with a rigid one. It's still crude and gross-looking and peppered with nonstandard parts, but at least it works pretty well. I use it as a loaner. I would strongly discourage anybody from paying money for one.

 

[gorach]

Tonaro in the UK is and has been dead for a long time. They offered a number of models, the Bighit being the best of them. They were however ridiculously overbuilt and heavy and the clutch/reducer design was hideous, underwent about four revisions and still never got it right. Which was a great shame as it was built for the European market ie 250w nominal. In fact the motor could handle 2000w and the beauty of it at the time was that it could be easily overvolted from 36v to 44 or 48v and the tiny 6fet controller could cope with 25amps or so with the shunt mod. So the bike never really came alive until the cheapo battery was replaced by something with more volts or amps or both and could outclimb anything on the market at the time - this at a time Bosch were just entering the market with an infinitely better designed system but at twice the price. The Bafang series were still a mere glint in the eye of Mr and Mrs Bafang then. The chief defect of OEM midrives is that once the motor or the frame goes you are left with a heap of useless junk (unless you are a genius like Chalo!) It still amazes me how long it took for someone to use the BB as a mounting point and to put the reducer gear inside a waterproof casing. I still have loads of parts for a couple of Tonaros if anyone is looking for them.

 

[rwegrzen]

Tonaro here in the US sold under the Evelo name has worked for me in the past 4 1/2 years and 10k+ miles. Now on 2nd battery pack (bottle style) purchased from Luna Cycle which mounts easily on the downtube of my Aurora. No need to be concerned about a proprietary replacement battery.

I did had a problem with the gearbox at the 3 year point which cost me $250. I have spent about $300 on modifications over the years to make the bike more suitable for my 10 mile commute on items like better tires, a more comfortable seat and handlebars, improved lighting and a carrier basket.

Here in the states the Evelo people have been very responsive to my maintenance issues. With some basic bike mechanical skills I haven't needed to bring my bike to a shop.

 

[georgefromvt]

Tonaro here in the US sold under the Evelo name has worked for me in the past 4 1/2 years and 10k+ miles. Now on 2nd battery pack (bottle style) purchased from Luna Cycle which mounts easily on the downtube of my Aurora. No need to be concerned about a proprietary replacement battery.

I did had a problem with the gearbox at the 3 year point which cost me $250. I have spent about $300 on modifications over the years to make the bike more suitable for my 10 mile commute on items like better tires, a more comfortable seat and handlebars, improved lighting and a carrier basket.

Here in the states the Evelo people have been very responsive to my maintenance issues. With some basic bike mechanical skills I haven't needed to bring my bike to a shop.

It's great your Evelo is performing well. Mine was an expensive headache. Despite excellent maintenance and no abuse, my evelo died twice in less than two years. Twice the mid drive had to be rebuilt. Evelo customer service was excellent, they provided free parts (complete) mid drive motors and technical support but that doesn't make up for a dead bike. After the second rebuild, I donated it to a non profit. My Evelo was a VERY expensive headache. I think there was something wrong with it to the start. It was a 500 watt 48 volt bike but my very heavy hub powered Radwagon outclimbed and out performed the Evelo. Mine was a lemon.