When it comes to riding e-bikes off-road, fat tires are a simple and easy way to get more comfort out of your ride. Adventure-style electric bikes, such as the Fiido Titan I’ve been testing, let amateur and experienced riders alike enjoy hitting trails and other off-road surfaces without needing thousands of dollars in high-end suspension to enjoy the ride. By adding powerful motors and big batteries, e-bikes like these ensure that the ride is just as capable as it is long-lasting!
Check out the video version of my review below to see my test riding in action!
Fiido Titan video review
Fiido Titan tech specs
- Motor: 750W geared rear hub motor
- Top speed: 45 km/h (28 mph) when unlocked
- Range: Claimed up to 135 km (84 mi) on a single battery (multi-battery version available)
- Battery: 48V 14.5Ah (696 Wh)
- Weight: 37.6 kg (83 lb)
- Max load: 120 kg (265 lb) on saddle, 80 kg (177 lb) on rear rack
- Brakes: Quad piston hydraulic disc brakes
- Extras: UL 2849-certified, Torque sensor, color LCD display with speedometer, wattmeter, battery meter, PAS level indicator, odometer and tripmeter, front and rear LED lights, right-side thumb throttle, lockable battery with option for two extra side-mounted batteries, frame-integrated rack, fenders, and kickstand
What does this e-bike offer?
The Fiido Titan is obviously more of an off-road oriented e-bike, but like many adventure-style electric bikes, it will undoubtedly be used for mix-duty riding.
The ability to ride both on and off-road is a huge advantage for fat tire e-bikes, since the electric motor helps overcome the extra weight and sluggishness of fat tires when used on pedal-only bicycles.
Speaking of pedaling, the torque sensor is a nice added benefit but I don’t feel it kick on as quickly as I would have expected from a torque sensor-enabled e-bike. Torque sensors generally give a more responsive pedal assist sensation without the typical cadence sensor lag, but I still feel like this one could be snappier. The 9-speed transmission at least gives you plenty of gear choice options, if you are one of these pedal-happy riders (which I definitely recommend!).
The 750W motor in the rear wheel is plenty snappy though, and makes short work of just about any terrain. Its 70Nm of torque offers pretty darn good turning force for climbing hills, though it’s not at the top of the pack there. For a $1,699 e-bike though, that combination of power and torque is quite respectable and will be sufficient for most riders in most scenarios.
The 48V 14.5 Ah battery is similarly middle-of-the-pack, but that’s fine for a modestly priced e-bike. Nearly 700 Wh of capacity is generally sufficient for average riders, though the option for up to three batteries means that riders can triple their battery capacity if they desire. That’s more than I need most days, but it’s nice to know that there’s the option for extremely long-range riding.
Just don’t expect to get the advertised 80+ mile range on a single battery – that’s horse-hockey. Half of that figure is probably the best you’ll do even on lower power pedal assist unless the bike is just barely giving any power at all at minimum power level, in which case most people won’t want to ride it. If you push the Fiido Titan hard on throttle-only riding, you could wind up with a quarter of that range at closer to 20-25 miles.
Speaking of throttle-only riding, here’s a fun feature: When you unlock the 28 mph top speed, you can actually get over 20 mph on throttle-only, which is a rarity. It also has questionable legal implications if you’re riding on public roads or trails in some states, so use that feature responsibly. But I could reliably cruise at around 25 mph on throttle only, which is helpful on those long straightaways.
The cast rims are a nice inclusion, since they mean you’ll never have to worry about rusting or bent spokes. They look quite attractive too if you ask me.
The rear rack is also slick-looking and frame-integrated, which is how they give it that 170+ pound weight rating. However, the wood insert that helps it look so good also means you are limited on areas where you can tie down gear or bolt-on accessories like storage boxes. You can always remove it though, if you want to give yourself more mounting options.
A few important downsides
The main downside that struck me as odd about this bike is that the brakes just don’t feel as powerful as I was expecting for a quad-piston hydraulic brake setup. I never felt like I didn’t have enough stopping power, but I expected that “light touch” sensation that I usually get with quad-piston hydraulic brakes, where a soft lever pull gives me decently powerful braking, and a hard lever pull locks up the wheels. On the Fiido Titan, I had to pull much harder than I usually do to get that strong braking sensation. Again, it never felt like it was dangerous or lacking braking, but it just didn’t have the more premium feeling I get from more premium hardware.
And I don’t know if I’d call this a downside, but it strikes me as weird that the headlight isn’t handlebar-mounted or fork-mounted and so it doesn’t move with the steering. It’s strange to not have your headlight steer with you on a bike, and sometimes can be frustrating when you’re trying to look in the direction you’re turning but the light keeps shining into the outer edge of the turn, not actually illuminating the path ahead of you in the curve.
Ultimately, the Fiido Titan feels like a solid entrant in the fat tire adventure e-bike space. No one has ever said “We need more options for fat tire e-bikes,” as we’re already drowning in choices.
But Fiido has been around the block a few times with many different styles of e-bikes and they’ve done a good job contributing to more options here with a fun and comfortable ride.
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