Folding ebikes

[Mdimag0001]

We’re thinking of buying 2 folding E bikes, fat tire. Anyone have pros or cons?

 

[DavidEM]

I suspect you are considering a Lectric bike. I have had one on order for 7 weeks now and they have had my credit card money for that long. They told me it was about to ship a few days ago, but I will believe it when I see it. So with that said:

I do think the Lectric is a good choice for a folding E bike. I will know more when and if I ever get it.

Correction. FedEx now has it in California and even though it has to be shipped across country they say it will be delivered Friday. I will report back what I find when I get it.

David

 

[Mdimag0001]

Thanks

 

[creativepart]

They are a great addition. I purchased a Blix Vika + back in Dec 2019. In 2020 I put 800 miles on it riding around. It was so much fun I took a nice 2018 specialized Hybrid bike in my garage and made that into an electric bike, too. That was in Jan and I already have 375 miles on that one.

Once you start riding an electric bike its so fun that you really put on the miles.

There are a couple of things to know about eBikes in general.

1. They are pretty heavy. Typically between 55 and 65 lbs. So, even foldable they are a chore to lift and put into your toad or where ever.

2. During 2020 and beyond bikes in general and especially eBike have been selling faster than blazes. Just like RVs and Boats, too. And the buying boom is worldwide, too. So, it can be difficult to find one that you can just buy and take it home or have it shipped. Just as David M said, he's been waiting nearly 2-months. I've heard of folks that placed an order and were told to expect 6-months before delivery.

3. As with most things in great demand the prices are going up all over, as well. The Lectric bike is a good price. But if you look around at bike shops you'll see them going for $4,000 to $8,000. Honest, that's not an exaggeration.

I'm fully onboard for eBikes, as you can tell from above. But I'd say go for it.

Here's my folding Vika +. I see they are $1,599 now and expect to ship new orders in April:

https://blixbike.com/products/vika-electric-folding-bike

 

[Mdimag0001]

Thanks

 

[blueridge-fl]

Think about storage space and measure diligently before you buy. We originally wanted fat tire bikes but storage was a problem. Solved the problem by just getting standard tire size bikes. Folded up, they just barely fit in one half of a larger storage bay on a Vista.

 

[Mdimag0001]

Thanks I’ll keep that in mind!

 

[SmilingSimon]

Just a bit of warning, but if small diameter wheels, and especially if steep steer tube angle, it can be a bit 'pitchy' when hitting small potholes/trenches/ditches/etc and could pitch you forward and maybe even over handlebars.

that is why off road riders/mtn bike riders have gone to beyond the typ 26" size wheel onto larger 29" wheels.

also does not matter much what the tires are - but big balloon tires have much higher rolling resistance, ie hard to roll vs smaller higher pressure tires, and that can exacerbate the steep steering tube angle that is prevalent on folding bikes.

but if you never plan to ride off asphalt then ignore - but how can you not want to ride a lovely dirt path thru some very lovely woods ?

the above is for ANY bike type - elec or a 'exercise'/lazy (elec) bike )

 

[DavidEM]

I just got my Lectric Bike yesterday. It took exactly 2 months to arrive, but I got a free panier for my troubles, so.....

It was packed extremely well in a very heavy (about 10 lbs empty) cardboard box with appropriate foam spacers and packing wraps. The packing stuff filled a small trash bag. Once I got it all unpacked and set up, I recharged the batteries. It took 2-3 hours to turn green/full, surprising as the state of charge indicator was almost full when I started. But lithium batteries take a long time for the last 10% and that is probably what was affecting it.

I measured the AC charging current into the charger at 0.8 amps or almost 100 watts. For RV recharging that means I can use a small 150 watt inverter plugged into the dash cigarette lighter when we travel to recharge the battery. I will have to remove the battery to do so, but that looks easy.

The bike is completely outfitted as delivered: carrier rack on the back, kick stand, lights front and back and of course it folds up to about 37 x 18 x 27". See the pic below.

I took a quick spin around the neighborhood. I tried a few pedal assist settings and settled on position #2 which is relatively low which portends good range. I was only doing about 10 mph and was in ratio #4 or 5 (out of 7) on the Shimano derailleur. I don't think I will ever go any faster than 15 or so mph.

The pedal assist interacts with with human pedaling effort. You start pedaling and then a second later the assist kicks in. It is a little hard to get used to but after more practice I suspect it will be second nature. I will take a longer ride in the next few days and report on the range I get.

I still need to figure out how to carry it on my MH, a Thor Axis 24.1- maybe in the aft pass through but the dimensions are tight; on a hitch mounted bike carrier then.

Overall I am quite happy with this bike, especially the price- $899 compared to $1499 + $79 for the rear rack for the RadMini foldable e bike.

David

 

[creativepart]

Congrats David,

I got my folding Blix in December 2019. It's similar to the Lectric but has skinny tires (more range) and it too came with lights, rack, etc and has the same 7 speed gears.

I rode it 800 miles in 2020 and it took me about 3 rides before I was always riding in PAS 5 and I learned how to increase the speed limit on the controler to 25 mph. I would guess that 85% of my 800 miles was at 20 to 25 mph. I still pedaled everywhere but at 25 mph you can't pedal fast enough to really help the motor out. They call that "Shadow Pedaling" on the eBike forums.

On bike paths around others I rode much slower but on public roads with bike lanes the faster speed just seems safer.

Back in December 2020 I took a look at my "acoustic" bike (that's what they call non-electric bikes on the eBike forums) and thought it would be fun to make it electric too. It was a bike I bought in 2018, a Specialized Crosstrail "hybrid" bike - meaning 1/2 road bike and 1/2 mountain bike. But it's actually 2/3 mountain bike and 1/3 road bike. So, it was a great candidate for electrifying.

I bought a complete kit online for $750 and with ~2-days work had a "new" electric bike. Now this is more like it. It's got hydraulic disc brakes, a suspension fork, 29" wheels and is really fun to ride. It will go 28 mph, but for some reason on this bike I pedal more where it actually helps the motor and much less shadow pedaling. I also go slower probably because I'm doing more of the work.

As I've mentioned eBike forums let me pass on the links to those. https://endless-sphere.com/forums/ is one of the oldest forums and https://electricbikereview.com/forums/ is the forum for the Electric Bike Review YouTube channel.

There are a lot of Lectric bike owners posting on both. I saw someone posting yesterday that said "Lectric bikes are the gateway drug for eBikes." People buy them find out how fun it is to ride them and then end up with another eBikes within the year.

I know it was that way for my Blix. I pulled it out and rode it last week - nope, not going back to that. My new DIY eBike is so much more fun. I'm pretty sure I can sell the Blix for what I paid for it or even more. They've gone up $500 since I bought mine.

Oh, and with the new eBike I'm putting even more miles on the bike. I've already got 450 miles on the bike I started riding in January.

Enjoy!!

 

[thirty]

We bought two 2018 RadMini Electric Folding Fat Bikes and really like them. Super heavy duty, but heavy weight too. Like the folding option for fitting into the back of an SUV, but typically transport them with a fat tire bike rack.

 

[setaylor216]

We bought two 2018 RadMini Electric Folding Fat Bikes and really like them. Super heavy duty, but heavy weight too. Like the folding option for fitting into the back of an SUV, but typically transport them with a fat tire bike rack.

What thirty said. I tried to put our Rad Mini's in a compartment, but they are heavy and two won't quite fit. This is in a Forza 38W. Instead we have a bike rack that goes on the toad when traveling.

 

[tsd1]

My wife has had her Lectric folding bike for almost a year now, very happy with it. Fits in a tote and goes inside the RV. Getting a towable shelf "B-Dawg" so she can carry it outside the RV when I can't go. Otherwise fits in a tote inside but at 60lbs a bit much for her to handle up/down the steps.

 

[Raxel7851]

What thirty said. I tried to put our Rad Mini's in a compartment, but they are heavy and two won't quite fit. This is in a Forza 38W. Instead we have a bike rack that goes on the toad when traveling.

We saw a couple on YouTube that put their Rad Mini’s into 50 gallon Craftsman containers. They fit in there just right. We got them at Lowe’s for about $35. When we take them in our SUV, we use the containers. When we go camping we use our Hollywood E-bike hitch mounted carrier. Like previous posters have written, those rascals are on the heavy side. The bikes weigh 60lbs and the batteries weigh approximately 8lbs.

 

[Calson]

We are waiting since October for the heavy duty bike racks to be in stock as two e-bikes will weigh from 110 to 150 lbs and standard bike racks cannot support that amount of weight.

There are ebikes where it is not a problem getting parts or large capacity batteries and battery costs are going down dramatically.

Most ebikes have fat ballon tires that make sense if riding along the beach but otherwise only create more drag and effort for the rider and the motor and few miles per battery charge.Fenders are seldom provided but if using the bikes on dirt roads or trails they will keep the riders a lot cleaner.

I have been looking at the models that are designed to carry a load on the rear and have large cargo racks, like the Blix Packa Cargo bike. I like the idea of being able to put a small backpack with camera gear or to be able to transport a bag of groceries from a local store and not having to drive the RV.

 

[Raxel7851]

We are waiting since October for the heavy duty bike racks to be in stock as two e-bikes will weigh from 110 to 150 lbs and standard bike racks cannot support that amount of weight.

There are ebikes where it is not a problem getting parts or large capacity batteries and battery costs are going down dramatically.

Most ebikes have fat ballon tires that make sense if riding along the beach but otherwise only create more drag and effort for the rider and the motor and few miles per battery charge.Fenders are seldom provided but if using the bikes on dirt roads or trails they will keep the riders a lot cleaner.

I have been looking at the models that are designed to carry a load on the rear and have large cargo racks, like the Blix Packa Cargo bike. I like the idea of being able to put a small backpack with camera gear or to be able to transport a bag of groceries from a local store and not having to drive the RV.

Our Rad Mini’s will go around 25 miles just using the electric motor without pedaling much. It can go closer to 40 with more pedaling. Most E-bikes have several levels of pedal assist. I wouldn’t buy one that just went several miles on a charge. We got cargo racks to install on ours. There’s many different manufacturers that offer fat tire or regular tire bikes. Ours did come with fenders.