Volton Alation 350 and Volton Ease DLX

[EldRick]

I added a new Volton thread re. updates to the the Alation 500: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=53810

 

[Driverkpk]

I'm 6'3 215lbs do you think this bike would be suit me for a virtually flat paved 8 mile coummute?

Hello,

About a month ago I picked up two Volton e-bikes--the Alation 350 and the Ease DLX. I'm going to start this thread as a place holder for my feedback and review of two. The Alation has been my daily commuter for the last few weeks (about 8 miles round trip) and the Ease DLX is for the girlfriend and she'll be starting to use it on her commute (about 4 miles round trip) soon.

Vendor's site links
Alation 350:
http://www.voltonbicycles.com/alation-350/

Ease DLX:
http://www.voltonbicycles.com/ease-dlx/

Buy vs. build:
Last summer I began to gather components to build an ebike from scratch (and I still might do so) and picked up a Specialized hardrock as the foundation. My goals and intent were clean lines, battery in the downtube, and to completely minimize the frankenbike appearance. I also wanted to balance and keep what makes a bike a bike and not have some 50mph+ quasi-motorcycle. Please don't take offense to my thoughts here, I've seen some amazing bikes on ES--I just prefer to keep the lines as clean as possible and it relatively discreet. I made it as far as stripping it completely down to the frame and clearing the bare metal (I liked the metal/silver look), replacing the fork, brakes, pedals, and other various components as I started to prep it for it's transformation. Needless to say, I got incredibly busy with travel for work and the project was sidelined to the portion of the garage with the other half-completed projects.

A inspiration bike would be something like the Specialized Turbo seen here:

My interest began to renew a few months ago and I decided the cleanest frame I could find under the Turbo's seven grand price tag (not to mention skirting import laws to get it to the US) was the Stromer. Stromer is a Swiss design, but still a Taiwan-made bike with admittedly some quality components. It's retail begins around $2799 and used is still in the +$2k range. The build decision seemed to be growing, but after a lot of googling I came across Volton's site. The Alation seemed to share some of the design characteristics as the Stromer, but lacked some of the refinement and some of the cost.

There's not a lot of information on the company or bikes, but there is this questionable thread here on ES: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=42985. And there's also a video review and more info on electric bike review on the Alation 500 (the 500W model) http://electricbikereview.com/volton/alation-500/. I also noticed that Volton was selling these on eBay and Amazon without much feedback yet.

So without a lot of information, I began an email exchange with Joe Marchfield (owner) at Volton and his support staff with lots of questions. About 30 emails and a few phone calls later, I felt comfortable to move forward on both bikes. I'm going to write mostly about the Alation as that's been the commuter, but I'll add more about the Ease DLX as we have and use it more.

The Delivery and Bikes:
We received the bikes via FedEx Ground to SoCal about a four days after ordering (they're from Chicago). The bikes come in a large, single box each and are pretty much fully assembled. The front wheel is off, the handlebars are removed from the stem, and the fenders are off. All the rest of the bits and pieces are in place. The Alation was in pretty good shape, but the Ease had a few issues on delivery. A scratch on the frame where it wasn't fully wrapped around the battery case, a missing brake pad, the front disc was bent a bit, and the stem bolt-hole was not fully tapped, so it ended up stripping out the odd 7m bolt. (Long story, but bolt is a Chinese-only type of thing--not available anywhere). I contacted Volton support and they were very apologetic and sent out a new stem, disc, and made up for the damage. Obviously the stem still has the odd 7m bolt, however, this one was much better so no issues. So plus one for Volton's support and handling of this issue.

Went over the bikes and adjusted the derailleurs and brakes. Pretty straightforward.

The Alation 350:
The Alation 350 has a Bafang BPM 350W rear hub motor and a 36V 11ah Samsung battery. I've rearranged some of the handlebar configuration as I've found I prefer the pedal assist control closer to the grip so that you don't have to remove your hand to change it with your thumb. Previously, the bell was in the way--it got relocated to the right side. I also removed the cheap taillight and replaced it with the Planet Bike Turbo 1W. The controller doesn't have a name, but I've added a pic below with some basic info. The charger is also generic and has a small phono connection. Have noticed the pedal sensor is just on the inside of the front chainring. It's pretty good, but takes about an eight of a pedal before it kicks in.

I'll add some more precise measurements and pics when I get a chance. But the standover height is about 30.75 inches from the ground to the lowest point of the toptube and it's 20" from the bottom bracket to the top of the seat post. The seat tube itself is about 18"; however, there's an extra couple of inches due to the larger downtube where the controller is housed. Volton calls it a "medium", but I'd probably call it closer to a large as most people would think of it. Compared to my Cannondale F300 "medium" frame, it's a few inches larger all the way around. Volton currently only offers this size. I've seen many similar frames on Alibaba but haven't seen this exact one yet.

It does look like it'd be a good candidate to use a 24" wheelset. While the existing front fork is designed for the 26", it uses mechanical disks so no issues there. For the rear you'd have a couple of choices--either use the existing motor and build out a new wheel or for not much more order a second motor and build out the wheelset using that so it could be easily interchanged if desired. Ground clearance would become a bit of a concern, so exact measurements are needed, but depending on the tires/rims chosen, you could tweak this fairly easily.

The paint quality, welds, and finish are pretty good but it's still a Chinese-made bike that you'll probably end up upgrading a few things on. I've already ordered new grips, a horn/bell upgrade, and a CREE headlight and DC-DC convertor to work with the new headlamp. The battery and controller are not secured other than by pressure inside of the downtube. I also noticed that there are some sharp edges in there that if not attended too may lead to fraying or other issues. I'll be adding some grommets and tape as necessary to help secure things and make them a bit more durable. I'm not going to be looking into any mods or significant changes as I want to keep the warranty intact. Other than a triangle bag, not much else needed on this one.

I've used the speedometer app on my iPhone (so GPS) to clock it and it seems to peak around 20mph on the flats and then 20+ with pedaling. I have a few gradual hills and inclines in my commute and it handles these fairly easily. There is not much refinement however in the PAS mode, so basically, you're using a combination of being in medium or high and the throttle to keep things smooth and quick. The low setting on PAS is basically non-existant. I think I hear it doing something, but with the weight and power, it has basically no effect.

I've picked up one flat so far in the commute--huge rusty nail through the rear and determined it's a bit of a PITA to change out the tube. (This is true on any bike for the rear, but hadn't dealt with the ebike wires before complicating it.) It's not a quick release either obviously, so I'm now carrying mountain bike fix-a-flat thing in the triangle bag. Should mention too that the bikes came with a small multitool kit that I've thrown in as well. It's not a top shelf item, but is small and would work in a pinch.

The controller:

Handlebars:

Rear wheel/motor:

Downtube:

Charger:

Freewheel:

Motor Detail - Top line: BPM 36V 26(11)

Battery length:

Battery width:

Battery bottom (I added the bit of foam to help secure it against the controller):

Battery Sticker:

Key and Charger:

The Ease DLX:
Not much to say here yet, but after the replacement parts came in, everything buttoned up well. It has the same Bafang BPM 350W motor and controller as the Alation above, but right now seems a bit smoother. The battery here is an external, removable one, but is rated for the same 36V 11ah as above too. It comes with a rear rack that we've added a Basil Cento Rear Basket (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FGFL02) to. The basket is a bit large, but doesn't look out of place on the larger framed Ease. It has a much more upright riding positon and the step-through design makes it a bit easier for on/off (especially for the g/f). The included taillight is useless but built into the rack, so I left it on. I added another Planet Bike Turbo 1W to the back of the basket for better visibility. The head light is the same as the Alation and will probably be upgraded as well pending how mine works out.

The Ease DLX and the basket:

The two bikes seem to be pretty evenly matched in terms of pickup and speed. Considering they have the same motor and controller, this isn't surprising.

I'll add more detail and pics as time goes on, but hopefully this will help anyone who might be looking into these.