Folding electric bikes : advice please

[Stretto Boy]

We have been toying with the idea of getting some folding electric bikes to take with us on our trips. Actually, I would prefer to take my motorcycle but SHMBO isn't keen.

To inform our decision, I would like some help with the following questions:

1. Are there any that will take my weight? I am around 19 stones.

2. Even if the frame is sturdy enough, is it likely to be the case that the performance will be hopeless and/or the battery life too short?

3. If we can find something suitable (for me, the wife weighs about the same as a pair of my socks) I would like to store them in such a way that they are away from the weather and thieves. Are there any that fold up small enough to go in the under-bed storage area or in a rear box? This is the sort of box I have in mind, although a deeper one (if available) might be required and I have concerns about being able to lift the bikes up that high:

 

[appydaze]

Halfords do a 'Coyote' electric folding bike, although our local branch is out of stock. I bought one a couple of months ago and l am near your weight and for me it works fine. It only has six gears and could do with more. lt has a Lithium battery and a parcel carrier on the back, and is very well built. Look it up on Halfords web site.

 

[Floydster]

The Wisper 806 Torque will take 135kg/290lb/20st 9lb.
We've got the non folding versions and they do us ok.

 

[Gaston aires]

Use your motorbike ! We have never used the electric folding bike, save your money, a normal push bike or motorscooter is much better.
Phil

 

[appydaze]

Halfords do a 'Coyote' electric folding bike, although our local branch is out of stock. I bought one a couple of months ago and l am near your weight and for me it works fine. It only has six gears and could do with more. lt has a Lithium battery and a parcel carrier on the back, and is very well built. Look it up on Halfords web site.

Forgot to say.... only £500.00

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[Pausim]

Gocycles fold down into a carrying case and are very easy to pack into a motorhome. I can get 2 into my little VW up. Unfortunately they are expensive and only carry up to 100kg. Great to ride though, automatic gears mean that if you pull up in a hurry you will be back in first ready to pull away again. I was looking for something I could lift and pack away without causing myself physical damage, at 16kg including battery they caught my eye. Having tried them we instantly decided this was a good use of the children's inheritance.

 

[Stretto Boy]

Thanks Pausim. Insufficient weight carrying capacity for me but will consider this for SWMBO. Unless of course you can up-plate an electric bike

Looks like a Wisper or a Coyote for me. Probably the latter, as I think I will need a folding one.

Before I invest, I will have one more go at persuading 'er indoors to ride pillion on my motorcycle.

 

[Floydster]

Looks like a Wisper or a Coyote for me. Probably the latter, as I think I will need a folding one.

The wisper is a folder too.

 

[138go]

If you buy anything with a hub motor they will have trouble with hills. By far the best are the mid drive units that use the bikes gears to move the bike. Lots of different ones around. The cheaper ones are the hub drives.

 

[Pausim]

The cheaper ones are the hub drives.

Not always true, the Gocycle has a bespoke hub drive, is not cheap and is in my opinion one of the best electric bikes to be had. My previous bike a Freego was also hub drive and had no problem with hills.

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[Lofty1]

Halfords do a 'Coyote' electric folding bike, although our local branch is out of stock. I bought one a couple of months ago and l am near your weight and for me it works fine. It only has six gears and could do with more. lt has a Lithium battery and a parcel carrier on the back, and is very well built. Look it up on Halfords web site.

I tried the coyote for a day found it a little slow because of the gear ratio so traded it back with Halfords and went for the crossover e top speed on the flat about 16 mph and range up to 30 miles costs £650 ps I am 17 stone

 

[TinaLes]

We have a pair of folding Freegos, which we purchased last year from E-Bikes Direct. We opted for the larger 16amp/hour batteries. They are limited to 16MPH but have a twist throttle which makes them exciting to use. They have a very long range 67/68 miles they reckon with pedal assist, however we have only done 20 miles or so and the battery wasn't even half empty.
Most folders have 20inch wheels, and fold up very well, so easily fit in car boot, or in that rear box you have pictured.
Only cons are, quite heavy with battery inserted,(23KGS) so remove before lifting helps, yes the quality ones are very expensive circa £1000 upwards for premium brands with 3 year battery guarantee, constant worry about leaving them unattended, even padlocked up, some say take out battery, but no way, as its too heavy to carry around with you when sightseeing, yes they are insured but thats not the point.
The Pros: fantastic to ride up steep hills, they just keep pulling, always puts a smile on peoples faces when they have a go, as they are pretty fast when you peddle as well.
They are still a great form of exercise as it gets you to places that you may have thought were too arduous before.
We hope to get more use out of them next year, we have been MH omeless this year, while we wait for Sept 1st Registration of our new van, feels like the longest wait for Santa that we have ever had.
Good luck, hope you find one that suits you.
Les & Tina

 

[hilldweller]

I would prefer to take my motorcycle but SHMBO isn't keen.

Remember The Law is your worst enemy. No ebike can be over 250W which is sweet FA in grunt terms. Yes, a bit of fun on the flat but physics is physics and to raise 19st up a hill takes energy and torque, so a geared drive will be slow and in all cases there is only so much energy in the battery.

Now a tank of petrol, that's a whole different ball game.

 

[138go]

Majority of the folding bikes are 110 Kg rider weight you can get ones that will take a heavier weight but you need to shop around. If you are handy you could use a Bafang kit and convert a standard folding bike. That way you can get exactly what you want.

Not a difficult job and a nice winter project. You need a day to convert one and a few spanners. Lots of kits available and you can get them with more power than 250w .. Yes I know TOTALLY ILLEGAL ..

Our bikes weigh 16kg without the battery so easy to lift. This is the second bike this kit has been on so if you want to change bike or break one it's just a case of swapping the bits over.

 

[Falcon 269]

AS Bikes. Surprised no-one else has mentioned them yet. We have two of their folding e-bikes and they're excellent. Powerful and good range out of the batteries. Fantastic customer service, too.

What you get with any electric bike is pedal-assist. It makes it loads easier for you to deal with inclines and headwinds but in case you were thinking otherwise, you can't just sit on and 'twist 'n' go'. Well, you can but you won't go far or very fast LOL!

E-bikes are heavy even with the batteries removed. I doubt the Fiamma box would hold one bike let alone two, and you would have close to max weight or more on the rack/box mounting. I'd be very leery of going that route.

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[TinaLes]

AS Bikes. Surprised no-one else has mentioned them yet. We have two of their folding e-bikes and they're excellent. Powerful and good range out of the batteries. Fantastic customer service, too.

What you get with any electric bike is pedal-assist. It makes it loads easier for you to deal with inclines and headwinds but in case you were thinking otherwise, you can't just sit on and 'twist 'n' go'. Well, you can but you won't go far or very fast LOL!

E-bikes are heavy even with the batteries removed. I doubt the Fiamma box would hold one bike let alone two, and you would have close to max weight or more on the rack/box mounting. I'd be very leery of going that route.

Totaly agree with above, we were thinking that we wouldn't have enough room in our previous MH to store them, so we would have opted for a Thule G2 type bike rack, they are not too expensive and the bikes with their batteries removed, can be locked securely on the racks, I think from memory they have a 65KG weight max, so should do the job.
We can just "Twist & Go" with ours, but we managed to get them before the law changed banning the throttles on the handle bar grips, the batteries are pretty big, so even with limited peddling (OH not me) we can go for miles and miles, but I have to keep stopping for her to catch up!

 

[Falcon 269]

I should make it clear that AS Bikes still have the facility for 'twist & go' but it can be disabled in order to render them legal in places like Spain. However, I have no idea how long the battery would last using it purely as a T&G. It would also be asking a lot of a 250w to keep hauling bigger riders without some pedalling going on.

 

[hilldweller]

If you are handy you could use a Bafang kit and convert a standard folding bike.

Not seen that type of kit before, here's a link. Big legal problem is the CE mark if some stroppy copper picks on you abroad.

Question: Does the motor drive the pedals ( and you ) or via a clutch to the sprocket ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...C1.A0.H0.X8fun+.TRS0&_nkw=8fun+motor&_sacat=0

 

[hilldweller]

A few more numbers.

We are allowed 250W for an on road ebike.

What I did not know is a fit human is capable of only 50 - 150W, so that 250W is much better than I thought. A race cyclist should manage a burst of 400W.

 

[ludo]

Another vote for AS Bikes. They are good bikes and the after sales service is second to none!

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[138go]

Not seen that type of kit before, here's a link. Big legal problem is the CE mark if some stroppy copper picks on you abroad.

Question: Does the motor drive the pedals ( and you ) or via a clutch to the sprocket ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...C1.A0.H0.X8fun+.TRS0&_nkw=8fun+motor&_sacat=0

There is an option for a 250w 36v motor there is also a 350w 36v motor and others as well. You can limit the power of the 350w one for road use and then change it for off road use .. Or just forget !

The motor drives the front chainwheel all you need is a standard bike with a 68mm - 72mm front bearing. Kit comes with all the hardware bits. All you need to do is remove the front bearing and replace with motor assembly. The brake levers in the kit have switches in them to stop the motor. You are left with a 46T chainring on the front and whatever you have on the back. Nice simple display and get a battery and away you go. Nice thing about thiis is you can convert just about any bike. The one I am using at the moment was on my MTB but needed something smaller for the garage so just bought a £395 folding bike and used the bits.

 

[Ber090]

Another thumbs up for AS bikes. Ours are 3 and 4 years old and are still going strong. Great firm to deal with

 

[Pia]

We have 2 Freego without the batteries they weight 21kg on the back..they just fit on the current bike carrier but are a hassle because the fit is tight....the current weight limit is 60kg. We're taking the MH in to our local Adria dealer on Thursday to see if we can have a lift bike carrier which weights and additional 16kg fitted saely without the need for re-inforcement. We'll see what happens..I guess the non-lift bike carrier is lighter...but we would need a new one of a different design to get them on comfortably.
We love the Freegos they are amazing my hubby is hefty just about on the recommended weight limit and they carry him no problem!!

 

[Puddleduck]

I'm not going to tell you which bike(s) to buy but please try before you buy!!!! I didn't buy the one I was intending to as when I tried it I wasn't comfortable with it, I ended up buying one I had originally dismissed as unsuitable. I love the bike I bought.

If the dealer / shop won't let you try before you buy go elsewhere. Just sitting on the bike isn't good enough. Also remember you can change the saddle to suit you better. Everyone's "sit bones" are different and you should be measured to ensure the saddle is the correct shape for you.

 

[Pia]

I'm not going to tell you which bike(s) to buy but please try before you buy!!!! I didn't buy the one I was intending to as when I tried it I wasn't comfortable with it, I ended up buying one I had originally dismissed as unsuitable. I love the bike I bought.

If the dealer / shop won't let you try before you buy go elsewhere. Just sitting on the bike isn't good enough. Also remember you can change the saddle to suit you better. Everyone's "sit bones" are different and you should be measured to ensure the saddle is the correct shape for you.

Sound advice...we tried loads before we finally settled on our favourites and we bought from a delaer about an hour away from home because he was ssooooo good. He took us out on the bikes we had already decided on and tried elsewhere and took us through all the programmes and gears etc...we had a really good experience so we went back to him to purchase our 2.

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