Honbike Uni4 e-bike Review

 An excellent e-bike that’s great to look at and even better to ride

 

Here at What Gadget we love to test a wide range of products and in this review, we got a chance to spend some time with the Honbike Uni4 which is an e-Bike that is designed with the city in mind. 

 

Who is HONBIKE? 

 

Well HONBIKE is an Asian-based startup that used Indiegogo to crowdfund and went on to win a Red Dot Design Award in 2021 with their HF01 foldable e-bike.

Since then they have now released the Honbike Uni4 which is a city e-bike. 

First Impressions

 

The Honbike Uni4 provides you with an excellent e-bike experience that really does stand out from the crowd with its unique style and it also comes with some cool features such as: 

 

• Belt Drive with 10,000 KM+ maintenance free

• High Ratio Rear Hub Motor

• 432Wh integrated lithium-ion battery

• IPX6 rated

• Uphill assist with Gyroscope

• One-piece Tru wheel design

• Optimum Grip Tread Pattern tyre

• Built In LCD handlebar display 

• Robust Kickstand

 

The Honbike Uni4 e-bike has a design that will stand out from the crowd with its chunky tubular frame and six-spoke wheels and a belt drive instead of the more traditional chain and also a battery life to give you up to 53 miles of range. The design of this bike screams minimalist bike and is basically composed of 3 tubes The top tube is on an angle and extends to the seat tube, all the way down to where it links to the rear hud. 

 

The wheel will also grab your attention with its one-piece design that eliminates the need for spoke tension. I was also pleased with the size of the wheel coming in at 27.5 2.0.  

The design then finished with tucked-away cables and an integrated kickstand and a very comfortable saddle suitable for either sex to ride this bike.  I also found the bike to be very light this is due to the use of aircraft grade 7000 series aluminium.

 

In terms of price, the Honbike Uni4 comes in at £1699 and can be purchased directly from Honbike and Bikeinn.com.  The bike is available in 2 colours black or white now we were sent the black version which looks more dark grey but that is just our opinion.

 

Unboxing/Set up

 

The Honbike Uni4 was delivered to me in a rather large box which brought back memories of working in the Halfords cycle department in my college days and being on shift when a delivery arrived. (oh the good old days).

 

When we removed the bike from the box we found it was well packaged to keep it safe when in transportation. Alongside the bike were some accessories such as the front mudguard, peddles and charger. Honbike also provides you with all the tools you need such as:

 

• 4 hex keys/ Alan Keys for our UK readers. 

• Socket Spanner

• M5 screws

 

There is also a useful instructions guide to help you with putting the bike together and even with my Halfords experience it still took about 30 minutes to set up fully.   

 

Design

 

In this review, we were sent the black option of the bike and it comes with very subtle branding on it. The bike is made using aircraft grade 7000 series aluminium fashioned out of large-diameter tubing. You will see the way it’s been put together is offset which provides a unique appearance. 

 

The handlebar is flat with a slightly concave shape and it comes equipped with rubbed ergo grips that offer a good palm position.

The buttons on the left handlebar activate the 3 different mode functions and are easily accessible while riding. They are called Eco, City & Sport there is also a walk mode. Also on the left handlebar is an integrated bell that requires the use of your index finger and was quite loud when used down a busy road.

 

In the middle of the handlebar is an integrated  LCD display that shows battery power, speed and which mode the bike is on it also shows if you are connected to the app and last but least if the front light is activated. 

 

The right handlebar is equipped with a throttle which you engage by pressing down. Also as you expect both sides come with mechanical brakes which is surprising considering the cost of the bike I expected hydraulics. There is nothing wrong with mechanical brakes I have them on my mountain bike but that is only a fraction of the price compared to the Uni4. 

Moving to the rear of that bike the uni4 uses a carbon belt drive paired with a 36-volt 250W rear motor hub with a built-in gear reduction transmission.

 The integrated battery delivers a max range of 100km on a single charge and when it’s time to charge it takes 4.5 hours to recharge. It’s also got the benefit of being highly water resistant with a rating of IPX6 ideal for when you are caught in the rain. 

Considering this is an e-bike the Uni4 comes with an integral 432Wh lithium-ion battery which when it needs charging has to be close to a power outlet as the charger is not the largest in length. Once charged you should get up to 100 km in eco mode but that depends on the weather. 

 

When the battery level has dropped down to two bars you will notice power assist was reduced this was a forewarning that you need to recharge the bike. This save mode is very common in bikes like this.

 

In terms of parts replacing the brake cable, tires, disk brakes, saddle and pedals can all be done via the likes of Halfords or your local bike store. All other parts will need to be sourced via Honbike directly.

 

My Riding Experience on the Honbike Uni 4

 

When I first took the Uni4 out for a ride I was surprised at what a compliant ride this bike offers mainly due to the wide handlebars and ergo grips. I was also really surprised that I could not hear anything from this bike the motor was silent.

I was pleased with the tires used as they acted as suspension, absorbing shock even when turning corners. Now the Uni4 is a single-speed e-bike so there are no gears which allows you to just get on the bike and go you will notice just how smooth the belt drive is when pedalling.  

As mentioned this bike has 3 main power modes: 

• Eco
• City
• Sport

Eco mode offers a small amount of power assistance whereas city mode gives you that medium range and then sport mode offers the max power output. Activating the modes is done via the buttons on the left side of the handlebar and can be accessible with your thumb. 

 

What Honbike has done is on the display they have colour coded the modes with the use of coloured arrows to indicate the mode you are using to change modes while cycling you have the plus and minus buttons that allow you to cycle through the modes.

 

There is also an integrated gyroscope in the rear motor that monitors torque and speed, I felt when riding in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex where I live we do have a number of hills around and the more effort I put into the bike it matched my effort making the ride just feel effortless even going uphill. 

 

If you need a little more help the bike also has a throttle located on the right side of the handlebar. Using the throttle was smooth and was fun to increase the speed if you wanted to pass other riders or just get an extra bit of power to finish a particular section of the road.   

 

In terms of comfort the saddle is wide and spongy enough to allow for long periods of use I guess the design was considered as both genders can ride this bike.  As even after a long ride I felt no after-effects from using this bike. 

 

I also found if you were to take this bike onto some off-road environments such as a muddy path or gravel track this bike could handle the ride with ease. 

HonBike App 

The Honbike Uni4 also has an app that is connected via a Bluetooth connection. The app is not vital for using the bike but what it does offer is the total distance, duration, average speed and also a battery indicator. 

It’s nice to have but if your using an app like Strava that will give you most of the monitoring already making the Honbike app a little redundant. 

Verdict 

This was my first experience with an e-bike and it could not have been a better experience for riding around town this bike offers a nice level of comfort and enough power to make riding this bike just effortless. I really like the design of the bike and the use of a belt drive over a chain is a very good decision. 

I was also pleased with the tyres provided it really does allow you to ride on a range of surfaces useful considering some roads in the UK need a little TLC. In terms of the power provided, I really liked the fact if I put some serious effort into my cycling the bike seems to give you just as much back and the throttle is a nice compliment. 

 

I also like the fact you are provided mudguards, lights and even a kickstand. This bike is low maintenance, not too expensive and offers a really nice ride it’s been very difficult to find faults. If you are planning a UK holiday and want a bike that will look great but also help you up some tricky hills this bike gets a massive thumbs up from me! 

Product Rating   

Design: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

Set-Up: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

Comfort: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

Features: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0  

Riding Experience: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0 

Value for Money: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0  

 

Overall ranking: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0 

The Honbike Uni 4 is available for £1699 via the Honbike site

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