Zero balance, poor control, sub £1k folding bike help

[Zetto]

Hello everyone,

Been thinking all summer about an electric folding bike. Female, forties, 5'2", weight, hmm, more than it should be. Have a normal mountain bike, but no carrier for the car, and a folding bike which seems very hard work to ride, it's an Issimo, £40 from eBay a good few years ago, and I struggle getting it in and out of the boot of my car. On holiday in France, we have just rented e bikes, mine is an emotion Folda, husband an emotion zoom, wow! Was thinking about the £500 folding coyote from halfords, but is it any good for me? Have dodgy knees so a step through is probably best. I have rubbish balance, get panicky when a narrow bit of the path comes or I need to pass someone, and generally have poor control of the bike overall. Really feel like a tricycle would be best (half joking!) I have already fallen off this ebike, going too fast on a very gravelly path, couldn't stop when I had to, me and bike on the floor, bleeding hand and gashed knee. My own fault. Since then have stuck to electric speed 1 or 2 (goes up to 5) and feel better.

Can buy through the ride to work scheme through work but think that it is exclusively tied up with Evans Cycles who seem pretty expensive.

Don't mind spending more than the £500 but don't want to be gutted if I fall off and scrape it..

Do all e bikes do that thing where if you just keep the pedals going round the electric motor carries on? The lady in the shop said these emotion bikes were about €1000 each.

Any ideas please? So appreciate any input. I'm on other forums about stuff I actually know about but in this matter I don't have a clue.

Thanks so much
Zetto

 

[Jason P]

Other more knowledgable souls on here may correct me... but you're describing a cadence sensor bike. As long as the pedals are turning the motor will run, up to the speed you've set. The other style of bike (torque sensing) measures the amount you're pressing on the pedals and increases the effort you put in. Most cheaper bikes are the former type.

I can only speak from experience - I own a Kudos Cycles Secret. I think it's a cracking bike for the money. Very stable to ride, adjustable, good range, 3 levels of assist. Low cuts at maybe 5mph, medium at round 10 and high at the legal limit of 15. It also has a throttle, along with 7 gears. I find it fine for a 9 mile commute in London, but equally popping out for a leisure ride is eminently do-able. I've changed brake blocks for better ones, pedals too - though the originals are fine of you're not hammering it - and you may find a more comfy saddle would benefit. The supplied saddle isn't bad, just a bit narrow.

The one thing I'd say - and this is no criticism of the Secret - is it's heavy compared to a non e-bike folder. If you have trouble getting the Issimo in the boot, any folding e-bike will be worse. I can't think of a single folding ebike that is light compared to a normal folder. The electric Bromptons may well be closest (taking the battery off helps) but you're talking many £££ more. So do see how you get on with trying to get it in the car - you may well find it an issue.

For that reason, and for the stability issue, I'd say you have to ride them. Kudos do a smaller folder, the K16, that may well suit better at around 15kg. Whoosh do a similar one in the Gallego, but it's heavier. You really need to try some beforehand...

 

[Danidl]

Hello everyone,

Been thinking all summer about an electric folding bike. Female, forties, 5'2", weight, hmm, more than it should be. Have a normal mountain bike, but no carrier for the car, and a folding bike which seems very hard work to ride, it's an Issimo, £40 from eBay a good few years ago, and I struggle getting it in and out of the boot of my car. On holiday in France, we have just rented e bikes, mine is an emotion Folda, husband an emotion zoom, wow! Was thinking about the £500 folding coyote from halfords, but is it any good for me? Have dodgy knees so a step through is probably best. I have rubbish balance, get panicky when a narrow bit of the path comes or I need to pass someone, and generally have poor control of the bike overall. Really feel like a tricycle would be best (half joking!) I have already fallen off this ebike, going too fast on a very gravelly path, couldn't stop when I had to, me and bike on the floor, bleeding hand and gashed knee. My own fault. Since then have stuck to electric speed 1 or 2 (goes up to 5) and feel better.

Can buy through the ride to work scheme through work but think that it is exclusively tied up with Evans Cycles who seem pretty expensive.

Don't mind spending more than the £500 but don't want to be gutted if I fall off and scrape it..

Do all e bikes do that thing where if you just keep the pedals going round the electric motor carries on? The lady in the shop said these emotion bikes were about €1000 each.

Any ideas please? So appreciate any input. I'm on other forums about stuff I actually know about but in this matter I don't have a clue.

Thanks so much
Zetto

Pity you are not still in France Carrefour have a very good value promo at present.. ... All electric bikes are heavy , but you will know that from your French experience. The motor adds on say 3 kgs and the battery another 2 or 3 and usually the frames are heavier and they tend to have bigger brakes.
Now the options are foldaway or regular bike shape. Think carefully here. Foldaway are always a compromise, and will rarely be as comfortable as a regular frame. .. there are design decisions which need to be made about where the join goes for instance and it will not usually be at the egonomically best location. They also have small wheels which makes the bike less stable at low speeds ... Against that you have less distance to fall and the bike stops quicker !!. They are also harder to put on the bike racks for cars.

 

[Zetto]

Thanks Jason for a great response. I will look into those. I'm not very keen on the idea of throttle, I tend to be a bit heavy handed and things go shooting forward put of my control (electric scooter, moped etc) and I liked the gentle 'taking off' feeling of a tiny pedal and the motor kicking in.

The most interesting bikes and helpful people are of course going to be at a small independent bike shop, but if I want to do the government ride to work scheme I think I'm only able to do it at Evans Cycles, who currently don't seem to have any electric folding bikes! But a 32% discount is a big chunk of change. We did have a quick chat with the guy at the bike rental shop yesterday when we returned our bikes, and he said 24v basically quite a difference against the 36v we had rented, which dims my enthusiasm for halfords £500 coyote connect a bit. But then if I don't want to go that fast would it matter? I think I have to work on getting the Issimo in and out as even with battery removed the elec will be a bit heavier, you're right. Thanks again, really appreciate your help.

 

[Zetto]

Thanks Danidl. What's the Carrefour deal? I might still be able to get it. I will check online but if you can tell me which model that would help. I don't want to get into bike racks, will always want to keep it on the back seat or boot, too many scrapes from bikes on the last car so definitely want a folder. As you say, less distance to fall and stopping quicker are very useful considerations for me!

 

[Danidl]

Thanks Danidl. What's the Carrefour deal? I might still be able to get it. I will check online but if you can tell me which model that would help. I don't want to get into bike racks, will always want to keep it on the back seat or boot, too many scrapes from bikes on the last car so definitely want a folder. As you say, less distance to fall and stopping quicker are very useful considerations for me!

There were deals two weeks ago and I think available till the end of the month linked to the school reentree . 500 to 600 euro in the shops. The one I was taken by was a standard womens or unisex with lights etc intended for urban use .. these would be available in any town supermarket but in the city hypermarket types there was a bigger range including a folder type.
What others and I were trying to say is that electric folders are hard work to put into car boots etc they are physically arkward and very heavy. . I have had one since 2008 and except for a very few occasions I think only about 5 occasions in nearly 10 years I never put it in the boot ... But you know your mind and circumstances and I don't

 

[Zetto]

I understand. My husband was lugging the 2 rentals up a set up of steps this week and even without the batteries on it was a struggle. I will look at Carrefour, thanks.