During my testing of this bike, I found myself really enjoying the overall ride. There is an adjustable stem, handlebar and seat post height that really allow the rider to find a fit that works best for them, adding to its overall ride quality. The cruiser design of the bike offers riders an upright body position with a good field of view of the road in front of them.
Now, the folks at ADO say this bike will support riders from 5’ 3” to 6’ 11”. That’s a very large range, and while I’d love to put that to the test, we don’t have anyone near 6’ 11”. But, we do have someone who is 6’ 5” and they took the ADO Air 28 for a spin and found it to work well for them after moving up the seat a bit. So, take that for what it’s worth.
Commuters will appreciate perks like a front headlight, rear rack and pannier bag attachment bars.
Down below, the puncture-resistant Chaoyang 26×1.95” tires with a semi-slick tread pattern felt very smooth on the road with no noticeable road noise. Additionally, I spent a few hours riding on wet roads and the tires never budged on grip giving me a safe ride, even when cornering.
Speaking of wet roads, the ADO Air 28 has both front and rear color matched metal fenders that did an excellent job protecting me from rain and puddles splashes along my route.
One of the standout aspects of the ADO Air 28 is the unique battery placement where it doubles as a seat post. While we like the battery placement and overall look it gives, it turns out there is a bit of a tradeoff between style and comfort, specifically in the saddle on longer rides.
Traditional seat posts flex and absorb some impacts and vibrations in the road, however, in this case, the seat post is also the battery, so there’s no flex or shock absorption in the seat post. But, in all fairness, this was only noticed on rides lasting over an hour and on my shorter rides I didn’t notice it much at all. A softer seat might remedy the situation some.
One of my favorite features of the ADO Air 28 is the torque sensor. The torque sensor just feels right. It offers an instant and very subtle nudge to your natural pedaling effort courtesy of the 500W motor. Most importantly, when pedaling, I didn’t feel any sudden bursts of pedal assistance as is often felt on cadence sensor bikes.
The front suspension fork is an unbranded coil shock with lockout and an adjustable compression dial. During my testing, adjusting compression had minimal impact on typical road vibrations. I believe this is mostly the case as the bike’s geometry gives you an upright posture where your weight is more on the saddle than the handlebars. However, the fork excelled when tackling more abrupt changes like curbs and speed bumps, especially when I shifted to a standing position and put more weight on the handlebars.
ADO also offers an app in both iOS and Android that pairs with the Air 28, providing expanded functionality like ride data, error logs, additional settings (like KM/MPH), and even lets you take a virtual tour of their laboratory where the bikes are built and tested. During my testing, I got familiar with the app and found I was able to give the bike an Over-The-Air (OTA) update which was awesome to see.
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