Recommendations for a foldable ebike?

Inkz · September 9, 2021

I am looking for a ebike that can fold so I can keep it in my car's trunk, (it's a sedan). I am hoping that it has more than just peddle assist and can do just throttle since I have breathing issues and have to get around a campus quickly. My budget is max around $1000 USD and I am trying to also find one that I can finance. Also as I am fairly tall I need handle bars that can rise up, and preferable be in a position I don't have to lean over too much.

I don't know that much about ebikes besides like Rad Bikes so I am open to all suggestions.

Bombastinator · September 9, 2021

39 minutes ago, Inkz said:

I am looking for a ebike that can fold so I can keep it in my car's trunk, (it's a sedan). I am hoping that it has more than just peddle assist and can do just throttle since I have breathing issues and have to get around a campus quickly. My budget is max around $1000 USD and I am trying to also find one that I can finance. Also as I am fairly tall I need handle bars that can rise up, and preferable be in a position I don't have to lean over too much.

I don't know that much about ebikes besides like Rad Bikes so I am open to all suggestions.

On the grounds that I’ve never seen a folding bike electrical or not that wasn’t more trouble than it was worth, what about a onewheel or some other motorized board option that doesn’t need to fold to fit in this trunk?

Inkz · September 9, 2021

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

On the grounds that I’ve never seen a folding bike electrical or not that wasn’t more trouble than it was worth, what about a onewheel or some other motorized board option that doesn’t need to fold to fit in this trunk?

My balance would be too bad for something like a onewheel or an electric skateboard unfortunately. Here is an example of a Rad folding bike https://www.radpowerbikes.com/collections/folding-electric-bikes/products/radmini-step-thru-electric-folding-bike now I am not as much of a fan of this design as it's more of a mini bike size and I am somewhat tall so I am looking for something a little bit bigger but still that can fold up so it can fit in my trunk.

LWM723 · September 9, 2021

Get a decent folding bike and add a add-on electric kit.

Bombastinator · September 9, 2021

1 hour ago, Inkz said:

My balance would be too bad for something like a onewheel or an electric skateboard unfortunately. Here is an example of a Rad folding bike https://www.radpowerbikes.com/collections/folding-electric-bikes/products/radmini-step-thru-electric-folding-bike now I am not as much of a fan of this design as it's more of a mini bike size and I am somewhat tall so I am looking for something a little bit bigger but still that can fold up so it can fit in my trunk.

Looks more or less like a standard folding bike with some stuff bolted to it. The problem with folding bikes generally is they have to have a single point at which is hinge is placed. Sometimes two. With the single hinge ones it’s usually a problem of weight and wheel size. Without the double triangle frame that most bikes have had for a hundred years the rigidity has to be done with metal weight. This means usually very heavy bikes with small wheels. The two point designs are usually slightly lighter, just not light enough. That thing looks heavy as hell. You can fold it to fit in your trunk but can you lift it to put it in there? Folding bikes have been attempted for almost as long as there have been bikes. Never very sucessfully. Honda actually did one for a while that was designed from the ground up to fit in the trunk of a micro car who’s trunk was designed to hold it. An idea having to do with Tokyo parking problems. It still didn’t work well and was abandoned. My expectations for this endeavor are not high based on what I have seen. Electric bikes aren’t all that different from gas powered mini bikes or unpowered stuff morphologically. Functionally perhaps, but the amount of space taken up and weight added isn’t fantastically different. The most different one I have seen recently that breaks that on or two hinge thing is an inflatable one designed for airports, but the wheels are even smaller on that one.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Bombastinator

Mihle · September 10, 2021

I would argue that foldable ebike probably works better than non electric because when biking, the extra weight is less of a problem than a non electric one.

Bombastinator · September 10, 2021

26 minutes ago, Mihle said:

I would argue that foldable ebike probably works better than non electric because when biking, the extra weight is less of a problem than a non electric one.

Might be true. There have been gas powered ones too though going way way back, that would have the same advantage but didn’t seem to work that way. It’s possible it will turn out to be wrong. People have been messing with bikes for a very long time though. Small wheels and the bike has stability problems. Heavy bikes and the thing is hard to deal with in other ways. They need to lick at least one of them to make the things useful. So far no one seems to have been able to do it. An exception could come into reality I suppose. Afaik it hasn’t yet. Folding bikes have to make a lot of compromises to fold. Materials are getting stronger and lighter. They still seem to need to go farther yet though. To make a bike one needs a structure that is insanely rigid for its weight, and thin. This can be done with the double triangle. It’s been too hard to do with anything else though. Graphite fiber is nearly strong enough but has a bending problem that also makes it not useful for car axles. To solve the OPs problem, one of transportation that fits in a car trunk and is immune to the balance problems described may require something other than a bicycle.