Review: Heybike Tyson

When I pulled up in front of my local library on the Tyson, a nearby preschooler was getting out of his car. He asked his mother (loudly, but not rudely), “Mommy, why do people ride motorcycles on the sidewalk?” She adroitly sidestepped the question and said, “Doesn’t that look fun?”

I locked my bike up and did not make eye contact. I wanted to respond, “Kid! It’s an electric bicycle, not a motorcycle. Got it?” But he had a point. Function dictates design, and a bike that propels itself with a motor doesn’t have to look like a bike that you pedal with your legs. The Tyson is short and squat, with small, wide tires set on a thick magnesium frame. It looks very cool and space-age, but this style of electric bike does make some trade-offs that I’m not sure are worth it.

Photograph: Adrienne So

The Tyson is a direct-to-consumer fat-tire folding ebike. If I could rank each direct-to-consumer electric bike on a scale of how easy it is to assemble for someone who is not a professional bike mechanic, the Tyson would fall somewhere in the middle. It was packaged carefully and the fork wasn’t bent, but some of the assembly steps did not correspond to Heybike’s video. My tester had some unaccounted-for mystery washers that I kind of just … threw on there and hoped for the best.

Mainly, I found assembly difficult because of how big it is. The Tyson has a thick magnesium frame, with 21.6-inch wheels that are 4 inches in diameter. In total, the bike weighs 77 pounds, which is almost 20 pounds heavier than my electric longtail cargo bike. I had trouble even lifting the wheels into the fork. I did inflate the tires with a traditional bike pump, but I found myself thinking that the air compressor for my car might be easier.

Granted, I should’ve looked at the specs, but the Tyson looks relatively compact and the phrase “folding ebike” also indicates that it will be modestly sized. It was not. The bike’s wheelbase is about 117.8 centimeters, which, again, makes it almost as long as my cargo bike. I was almost shocked that I could ride it. The minimum rider height is listed at 5'3", and I’m 5'2".

Photograph: Adrienne So

The Tyson is a Class 3 ebike, which basically means that it can go up to 28 miles per hour and has a speedometer. The bike meets the UL 2849 standard, which means that it’s legal to ride in New York City, with a powerful 1200W brushless motor. In my testing, the battery took about four hours to charge fully (more on this in a bit). It has hydraulic shifters, a kickstand, a rear rack, and integrated lights.

The Tyson also has the most extensive ebike dashboard I’ve ever seen. There are shifters for the 7-speed derailleur and a throttle. There are two separate buttons to turn on the lights and power up the bike, buttons to toggle between five different levels of assist, a horn, left and right turn signal buttons, and an auto mode. It’s mostly intuitive, but it’s a lot of buttons to sort through as you’re speeding along at 20 miles per hour. There’s also a Heybike app which is mostly useful for figuring out where your bike is (in my garage) and seeing the battery level.

The Tyson is $1,700. That’s actually pretty cheap for an electric bike, but of course not all the components are going to be top-of-the-line. My husband started laughing out loud when he saw me fumbling with the giant plastic front headlight. It looks like a clown headlight. My 7-year-old has toys that are higher quality. At one point, I accidentally walked into the bike and bumped it over from a standstill. The display immediately cracked. You know, life happens. I don’t deliberately drop bikes in the course of testing, but accidentally stumbling over a bike in my garage is well within the expected use of an affordable commuter bike.

Photograph: Will Matsuda

I did inquire about a replacement screen, but the company replied that it would take about 15 days to send one from China and I would have to install it myself. If this is something that you don’t feel comfortable doing—many bike shops do not, either—that is something you should consider if you don't want your affordable ebike to suddenly become an expensive paperweight.

Photograph: Will Matsuda

The frame was also thick enough that I knocked my knees on it while pedaling. There’s a reason why a motorcycle has a thick frame and a bike has a slim one—with a motorcycle, you don’t need to pedal. This would seem to indicate that the pedals on the Tyson are mostly just for show. However, when you exclusively use the throttle, I get barely 15 miles out of the battery (it's worth noting here that at 115 pounds, I myself am not that big of a person). The range increased dramatically whenever I pedaled, but was still a far cry from the Tyson’s advertised 55-mile range.

I also noticed a bit of delay when the bike offered assistance. With more expensive Bosch, Specialized, and Shimano drive systems, the assist feels pretty seamless. With the Tyson, it was more herky-jerky, which can be disconcerting if you don’t really want to go from zero to 60 on your way home from returning library books.

Still, before I cracked the screen, I found the Tyson had many more features than you might expect from a bike at this price point. Hydraulic front and back suspension, combined with the cushy seat and huge, plushy tires, made for a comfortable ride. The small diameter of the wheels made it maneuverable for crowded sidewalks full of obnoxious preschoolers.

Photograph: Will Matsuda

Photograph: Will Matsuda

The 1200W motor carried me up the steepest hills with ease. I also really liked that the throttle revs you up to only your selected assist level. For example, if you're on the first assist level, it speeds you up to only 6 miles per hour; the second, 10, and so forth. That reduces the herky-jerkiness a little. The bike also had a number of thoughtful little touches, like auto-on lights—you'd be surprised how often you need these in a rainy place like Oregon. A convenient triangle in the middle of the frame made it easy to lock up (you’d also be surprised by how hard it is to lock up a big ebike).

All in all, I think the Tyson is an affordable way to dip your toes into ebike waters. Making the switch from a car to a bike is a big transition, and biking requires a lot of accessories to make it actually fit into your lifestyle. The Tyson is a good way to see if you like or need things like lights, blinkers, or a rack before you make the switch. After all, a really nice bike doesn’t help you if you never get around to riding it because you never bought lights or a rack. Just be careful and don’t drop it! I’m still waiting for that replacement display to get to me.