E bikes. Best folding please for comfort.

[Belledog]

Hi all
probably been asked a million times before but is a minefield out there. We are after 2 folders with a price of around £2500 Each. Problem we have is so many are not in stock to try out. We want to get it right due to the cost of them so we are after, in this order, comfort,lightweight,ease of use.
thank You in advance
Karen.

 

[2x2camper]

I'm new here (Hello) spotted the thread about someone looking for a comfy folding EB and we have something that might be interesting.

We've had these for about a year, using them on the road but more commonly on forest moutainbike trails and they've proven to have a massive range and be very comfy (after adding a plumper seat that and proper mud guards) as they have full suspension front and rear, full size wheels etc.....but they FOLD

I'd not suggest they have the build quality of the £2500 ones, but we've abused them through trails and then powerwashed the mud off and they're still alive.

You can find them all over the place with different names, ours are SamEbike and are the 48v 500w version. If you're prepared to wait a month they're about £650 from China direct or around £1000 from a UK supplier.



Amazon product ASIN B084FCJ2J4

At 500w they are illegal though

 

[Joynel]

At 500w they are illegal though

yup.... but any bought in the UK will be limited and the throttle disabled in the settings.

 

[Joynel]

.....I think wattage the limit may only apply to road use though, someone else may know

 

[2x2camper]

.....I think wattage the limit may only apply to road use though, someone else may know

it includes off road use unless on private land with no public acess

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[2x2camper]

yup.... but any bought in the UK will be limited and the throttle disabled in the settings.

Ah so the user can disable it then

 

[Joynel]

Ah so the user can disable it then

You can limit the power, speed and throttle in the settings....but look, I'm not a criminal mastermind, I bought these ones because I thought the spoked wheels looked nicer than the three spoke ones without realizing they were only offered on the more powerful bike.

For what its worth I'm still peddling hard enough to show cardiac arrest symptoms on the longer steep forest inclines so its not exactly a motorbike!

 

[Belledog]

I'm new here (Hello) spotted the thread about someone looking for a comfy folding EB and we have something that might be interesting.

We've had these for about a year, using them on the road but more commonly on forest moutainbike trails and they've proven to have a massive range and be very comfy (after adding a plumper seat that and proper mud guards) as they have full suspension front and rear, full size wheels etc.....but they FOLD

I'd not suggest they have the build quality of the £2500 ones, but we've abused them through trails and then powerwashed the mud off and they're still alive.

You can find them all over the place with different names, ours are SamEbike and are the 48v 500w version. If you're prepared to wait a month they're about £650 from China direct or around £1000 from a UK supplier.



Amazon product ASIN B084FCJ2J4

Ordered mine now. But thanks.

 

[Hotelman]

We have recently bought 2, only the handle bars fold, and we also had the removable pedals fitted.
When we looked at ‘proper folding bikes’ we realised that they are great if height storage is a problem.
we are thrilled with our R and M bikes.

Riese & Muller are among the best but I think their folders start at around 3 grand.
Like you say you really need to ride a bike before buying.

Riese & Müller | E-Bikes, Cargo Bikes and Folding Bikes

High-quality E-Bikes, Cargo Bikes and folding bikes perfected to the last detail, with groundbreaking technology and pioneering design.

www.r-m.de

[/QUOTE

 

[Lenny HB]

Ordered mine now. But thanks.

Are you going to tell what they are?

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[Belledog]

Are you going to tell what they are?

Of course. We have gone for the volt axis bikes.

 

[Marmite]

Avoid the Halfords folders its the old adage * you get what you pay for* We bought two and they fell apart within 3 months got money back from Halfrauds . Have you looked at specialist builders? For the money you are looking at shelling out Yorvick Bikes or Ribble cycles would do you a custom build.

Funny .. we purchased two Carrera e-city foleding bikes from Halfords 2 years ago and love them. Nothing has gone wrong with them, and we use them a lot. Admit they are heavyish but:
Battery in frame so mid weight distribution
Rear hub motor, so no skidding on hills as is likely with front hub drive
20" wheels - have used them on bridleways and rough tracks, but not necessariyly the best equiped for that terrain which would benefit from much bigger wheels and tyres.
Foldable so can fit in the back of the car, or when in MH we have them folded at one end of the garage leaving the other end free for the other "essentials". They do go in the garage without folding, but its our preference top fold to give us two discrete areas.
We cycle most of the time without the motor on, then switch on when needed. Not had any issues with range.
Only paid £650 each for them on a deal

 

[Belledog]

Funny .. we purchased two Carrera e-city foleding bikes from Halfords 2 years ago and love them. Nothing has gone wrong with them, and we use them a lot. Admit they are heavyish but:
Battery in frame so mid weight distribution
Rear hub motor, so no skidding on hills as is likely with front hub drive
20" wheels - have used them on bridleways and rough tracks, but not necessariyly the best equiped for that terrain which would benefit from much bigger wheels and tyres.
Foldable so can fit in the back of the car, or when in MH we have them folded at one end of the garage leaving the other end free for the other "essentials". They do go in the garage without folding, but its our preference top fold to give us two discrete areas.
We cycle most of the time without the motor on, then switch on when needed. Not had any issues with range.
Only paid £650 each for them on a deal

That’s a very good price. They go for a grand now I believe

 

[Mickthemove]

Good luck with your purchase, about comfort, other than the fit, on a standard folding bike, it is all about the saddle............. generaly they all ride much a muchness but the saddle can make a huge difference to comfort

 

[rosalan]

I love my AS bike

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[Bobby-gg]

GoCycle no chain, no sprockets and no idea what connects the pedals to the wheels. All inside the frame.

Would you like to see inside a gocycle?

First thing I did with mine was take it apart!

It's got a front chainring, a normal chain and a modified shimano 3 speed hub - it's quite simple and elegant

 

[Minxy]

Good luck with your purchase, about comfort, other than the fit, on a standard folding bike, it is all about the saddle............. generaly they all ride much a muchness but the saddle can make a huge difference to comfort

I agree about the saddle, when we had Bromptons we changed the standard saddles for 'big bum' ones off Ebay, they were less that £10 each (might have been £7) and totally transformed the comfort and rideability.

 

[Trackman]

Are Brompton just for the city.

I have a Brompton, not electric, which I use on canal towpaths, roads and all sorts. Keep it on my narrowboat. It's well over 20 years old.
If I wanted a folding e-bike I'd look at theirs first.

 

[Howard B]

Funny .. we purchased two Carrera e-city foleding bikes from Halfords 2 years ago and love them. Nothing has gone wrong with them, and we use them a lot. Admit they are heavyish but:
Battery in frame so mid weight distribution
Rear hub motor, so no skidding on hills as is likely with front hub drive
20" wheels - have used them on bridleways and rough tracks, but not necessariyly the best equiped for that terrain which would benefit from much bigger wheels and tyres.
Foldable so can fit in the back of the car, or when in MH we have them folded at one end of the garage leaving the other end free for the other "essentials". They do go in the garage without folding, but its our preference top fold to give us two discrete areas.
We cycle most of the time without the motor on, then switch on when needed. Not had any issues with range.
Only paid £650 each for them on a deal

What sort of size do these fold down to? Looking to see if we could get something to fit the back of an Adria Twin. Thanks

 

[Puddleduck]

Good luck with your purchase, about comfort, other than the fit, on a standard folding bike, it is all about the saddle............. generaly they all ride much a muchness but the saddle can make a huge difference to comfort

Our local bike shop offers a saddle fitting service. You sit on a piece of memory foam and they take measurements from the foam, listen to the type pf cycling you do / ittend to do and then can give you a good idea of which saddle will suit. I expected to be told I'd need a £200+ saddle but they recommended a £19.99 "comfort plus" touring saddle and it has made a huge difference. Martin's saddle is similar and was £24.99. Both were ordered in for us, fitted to the bikes and we went of a trial ride, back to the shop and the saddles were further adjusted. What a difference!!!!!

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[ToBoldlyGo]

Writing off this year, I'm keeping fingers crossed for touring abroad next year so thinking about folding ebikes again. Thinking of up to about £2k per bike, the Volt and E-Go Max are top of my list at the moment so I'm interested to hear what you say about the motor position.

At the moment neither of us are cyclists but we were on a rare cycle in the Lake Distrct and watched as this oldish (like us) guy came zooming up the hill. I was wistful about his fitness but yes it was an abike.

He told us he loved it and it had taken 20 years off him. I can well see how one can take to them to the point of having different 'sets' for home and away! I don't really want folders but then I'd be so pd off at losing that much money off the back of the motorhome.

The only thing I'd say is that the Volt Metro ebike has a rear hub motor, and when you run low on power it's really hard to pedal without battery power (like trying to cycle in deep sand!)!

So I'm looking to buy another ebike, but I'm looking to get a hybrid non-folder ebike with a centrally mounted Bosch motor to use on the roads (and hills) from home, and then we'll keep the two Volt Metros for us to take out in the motorhome.

 

[CazPaul]

These 2 from the local tip, a few pennies each and cracking bikes. Just as good as any E bike going downhill.

 

[ToBoldlyGo]

Thanks Joynel they look very interesting. I see the motor is 500w is it limited to 15mph assistance ie is it EU/UK road legal? I'be see others have commented on this. On ebay eg I see samebikes with a 350 watt motor but in a .gov site I see the motor limit for a bike to be an EAPC is 250 watts. That's all it says about 250w on the .gov site, nothing about software limiting the motor.

 

[2x2camper]

Thanks Joynel they look very interesting. I see the motor is 500w is it limited to 15mph assistance ie is it EU/UK road legal? I'be see others have commented on this. On ebay eg I see samebikes with a 350 watt motor but in a .gov site I see the motor limit for a bike to be an EAPC is 250 watts. That's all it says about 250w on the .gov site, nothing about software limiting the motor.

Motor has to be limited to 250 watts and speed to 25kph ie 15.5mph

 

[ToBoldlyGo]

How do you know that, can you point me to a .gov document? There's a lot of difference to my mind between a motor rated at 250 watts continuous power consumption and one limited through software and I don't want to buy the latter then find it's not road / bridleway legal.

Motor has to be limited to 250 watts and speed to 25kph ie 15.5mph

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[2x2camper]

How do you know that, can you point me to a .gov document? There's a lot of difference to my mind between a motor rated at 250 watts continuous power consumption and one limited through software and I don't want to buy the latter then find it's not road / bridleway legal.

Electric bikes: licensing, tax and insurance

Electric bikes meeting the EAPC regulations can be ridden on the road without being taxed, licensed or insured

www.gov.uk

 

[Minxy]

How do you know that, can you point me to a .gov document? There's a lot of difference to my mind between a motor rated at 250 watts continuous power consumption and one limited through software and I don't want to buy the latter then find it's not road / bridleway legal.

On the document link above it says quite clearly max of 250 watts so a 'restricted' motor is not permitted:

Its electric motor:​

• must have a maximum power output of 250 watts

 

[2x2camper]

On the document link above it says quite clearly max of 250 watts so a 'restricted' motor is not permitted:

Its electric motor:​

• must have a maximum power output of 250 watts

However I doubt if anyone would be "done" if their bike was set up within the legal limits. I would have thought all bikes sold now could be changed in software.

Certainly don't tell Mrs 2x2

 

[Minxy]

However I doubt if anyone would be "done" if their bike was set up within the legal limits. I would have thought all bikes sold now could be changed in software.

No idea, however as it is permitted (I assume it still is) to have scooter/motorbike power restricted so that those without a bike licence can ride them legally it would be an interesting 'discussion', but of course they do have insurance which may make it a bit blurry!

Certainly don't tell Mrs 2x2

Calling Mrx 2x2 ....

 

[ED O'DARAC]

I anyone is down south, a good motorhoming friend has a top e-bike shop on the Marina at Brighton which has moho-friendly parking plus all top German and UK brands. He has owned Pilote, Dethleffs, LeVoyageur and Frankia. Graham will assist.... https://www.elctrc.co.uk/collections/portable-ebikes

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[Molly A]

Gocycle | The Best Electric Bike in the World

I bought my other half one (secondhand) after years of trying to get her into cycling - she loves it.

They are definitely the sexiest looking bikes..I would defo go for one as their performance is also pretty good.