Tesco Folding Hopper 20" e-Bike

funkylyn

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 22, 2011
3,172
27
South Shields, Tyne & Wear
WOW.....thank god for that LOL

I do hope it lives up to all our expectations after all that angst :)

But as a bargain 'expert' LOL ......I reckon it cant be bad at that price.......and if you hurry and spend your club points you can get double the value........champagne perhaps to christen the bike with ? :D

Anyway, looking forward to hearing all about it .

Lynda :)
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
At that net price it's impossible to lose. As long as it lasts the standard warranty period of a year it will have been a fantastic bargain, and with luck it will last much longer. The mechanical advantage of small wheels means these generic e-folders are good climbers anyway, the only limitation usually being the rather low pedal gearing meaning it's sometimes difficult to keep up with the motor at full speed.
 

funkylyn

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 22, 2011
3,172
27
South Shields, Tyne & Wear
The more I think about it.....the more I wish I hadnt spent my (very few...not a tesco fan ) club points on Rose wine :D

When I think of all the money I usually spend in Waitrose......could have had me one of these bikes for nowt LOL

Lynda :)
 

funkylyn

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 22, 2011
3,172
27
South Shields, Tyne & Wear
And you's have been sober when you rode it! ;)
Well...lets hope we dont find out that you have to be drunk to enjoy riding it :D

Lynda :)
 

jc74

Pedelecer
Jul 8, 2011
25
1
At that net price it's impossible to lose. As long as it lasts the standard warranty period of a year it will have been a fantastic bargain, and with luck it will last much longer. The mechanical advantage of small wheels means these generic e-folders are good climbers anyway, the only limitation usually being the rather low pedal gearing meaning it's sometimes difficult to keep up with the motor at full speed.
The angle I'm looking at things from:-
- Travel to Station via car = ~£1000 per year parking + (cost of an additional car, tax & insurance or hassle of timing usage of only car)
- Additional Cost of Full Train+Underground ticket vs Just Train Ticket = ~£450 per year.

Since I'm currently cycling (non-folding) to the station anyway with my existing bike. Having a folding bike will enable me to cycle at the other end too, thus saving me £450 a year.

Presumably if it doesn't last the warranty period of a year, then I can take it back and either get it repaired or a refund(!)
So the bike is guaranteed to pay for itself!! :)

The journey in to the station is downhill and although it'd be nice to be able to go a bit faster (bigger wheels, better gearing), It's not much of an issue since I can freewheel some of it :)

The smaller wheels making for better uphill climbing was something I didn't really think about, but will be very ideal for the return uphill journey (which is the only reason I really want an e-Bike anyway!)
 
Last edited:

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Sounds ideal jc74. In my experience these low cost bargains are usually more than acceptable, the price resulting from a bulk purchase deal more than from any specification reduction. I'm quite sure it will more than pay for itself and give plenty of pleasure.
 

Scimitar

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 31, 2010
1,772
40
Ireland
I'm just put off by the weight of the bike and the thoughts of carrying any bike at all during rush hour on a train since it must be very annoying for other passengers!
Nothing compared to the annoyance caused by screaming weans in pushchairs, so don't worry about that. :)

I've never even known of a man with a store card.
I did, once. Never, ever again. Spawn of the Devil, that was.
 
Last edited:

daniel.weck

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2009
1,224
1
Not too late! - Exchanged my vouchers and have ordered one! - Provided it works well, it'll be a super bargain!...
Cost around £280 after deducting £120 Tesco exchange vouchers, and will get £20 from 5% Quidco cash back, plus 560 club points... Just shame I missed out on the £10 off £75 spend offer last week LOL.

When it arrives I'll let you all know whether it was a waste of time and money :eek:
I hope you enjoy it! :) It looks like good value for money.

In addition to my wonderfully-portable Brompton (16" wheels), I also have a cheaper "fold in half"-type e-bicycle (20" wheels, see my signature for details). My experience is that the extra weight and the awkward folded package (bulky, loose and untidy) make these kinds of bikes a real pain to use for commuting. However they are great to load in the back of the car, the ride is somehow more comfortable and they feel "safer" at high speed compared to my tiny Brompton (potholes, etc.).

Horses for courses, really.

Let us know how it goes!! :)
Dan
 

jc74

Pedelecer
Jul 8, 2011
25
1
Well.... predicted delivery date of 29th May has come and gone, and the bike still looks "in Stock" on the Tesco website so I gave them a call.
It turns out my order is "partially past the point of no return". Which basically means they don't know where it is. After chasing a bit it seems that the actual suppliers are Avocet Sports.
They then found out that in fact the bike is out of stock and that it's not due in stock until at least 21st June.

I've now requested a refund, so it doesn't look like I'll be reporting back on how good this bike is after all!!
 

funkylyn

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 22, 2011
3,172
27
South Shields, Tyne & Wear
Well....what can I say......how blooming disappointing.......

I was really looking forward to your report on this bike.

Still....look on the bright side, you still have all your clubcard points still to spend....what will you buy now ?

AND theres still that new Ezee folder to consider..........mind you, I doubt John will accept tesco vouchers :D :D

Lynda :)
 

jc74

Pedelecer
Jul 8, 2011
25
1
Well....what can I say......how blooming disappointing.......

I was really looking forward to your report on this bike.

Still....look on the bright side, you still have all your clubcard points still to spend....what will you buy now ?

AND theres still that new Ezee folder to consider..........mind you, I doubt John will accept tesco vouchers :D :D

Lynda :)
Unfortunately I've browsed the whole Tesco website and there's nothing I want instead (to spend the 120 of vouchers on), so I've decided to get the points re-credited back onto my account and will wait until Christmas when they will hopefully do another double up!

As for the bike, well I've decided to stick with my existing electric bike for now. What I have noticed though on a couple of occasions is that people tend to leave their e-bikes locked up with the battery still in, so I'm tempted to leave the battery with the bike maybe in the future and then save on having to carry even that about!

As for the folding bike journeys, given my short distance, I'm getting slowly braver towards just using my existing folding Dahon Speed 7 (non-electric)...!!
 

hopper_rider

Pedelecer
Aug 22, 2012
194
0
I have recently bought a Tesco Hopper and so far I am impressed.

I have personal experience of Tesco Direct failing to live up to its promises and messing up direct orders.

However in ordering this bike, delivery was extremely speedy even though I received it during the Olympic period and was initially warned that the Olympics could cause delivery delays.

So to the bike.
In my opinion it is extremely responsive. I have health issues so only really have wanted to start by getting around. I tend to leave the bike in first gear but very little pressure applied to the peddles is enough to activate the motor even in the low power setting.
I dont know enough about its performance levels to be able to compare it to other models.
There are some points that users may wish to know about. It has a rear suspension. I didnt realise at first how this worked or what it meant in accessory terms. It means that a rack option is limited to a seat post rack at most if you raise the seat a little. Or no rack. Because the suspension raises and lowers and to have a fixed point rack would not work with this facility.
The battery is 8.5mh 24V for those that understand those things. It has a motor in the front hub and a disc brake on the rear.
The motor unit on the handlebars is badged 980 with 3 power levels. It does fold but in my opinion it is too heavy and unwieldy to carry any distance so I think it is ideal to fold for storage or for taking in and out of a car but maybe not for lugging onto trains. It does depend on your strength levels though.

I use it with a backpack that I bought from Lidl. They have a lot of cycling offers at the moment. But for those wanting more it might be a possibilty to tow some sort of trailer or have a handlebar rack. I have seen a variety of trailers some of which are supposed to be ok with suspension bikes but all the ones I have seen are quite pricey.

The bike was shipped from Manchester and the dealer also sells the Viking e2go which to me looks like the same bike in a different colour and with a different name badge for several hundreds of pounds more.

Support could be an issue in my opinion. If a component fails it might be difficult to get repairs done by a dealer. I haven't enquired. But when looking at the cost of even self assembly electric kits and then the cost of a new bike on top I judged that the price paid was worth a gamble.
If it lasts for a couple of years I will have had payback.

If you have Tesco points or money off codes they can be applied which can reduce the £399 price even more. There may also be the option of buying via Quidco or similar cashback sites to reduce the cost still further. You will have to pay delivery as an extra. Minimum charge was £3.

If you would like to get into the world of electric bikes, this, in my opinion, is a reasonable place to start.
 

morphix

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 24, 2010
2,163
119
Worcestershire
www.cyclecharge.org.uk
Following on from a different thread...

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/11345-hawkcycles.html


Tesco now have a Hopper Folding e-Bike on their website and it is in stock.

Buy Hopper 20" folding E bike from our Electric Bikes range - Tesco.com

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of this bike, seen it or bought it? - It seems very interesting as an e-Bike which can be taken on the train (and thus allow cycling at each end of the commute).

Any feedback would be most welcome.

Thanks
E-bikes have definitely come of age if Tesco is selling them!! I wondered how long it would take them to enter the market. That's a very competitive price too, especially now SportsHQ have put the price of their folding cyclamatic up from £399 to £599. The Tesco bike looks ok but the step thru frame is going to limit the market I think.... not many blokes are going to want to ride that! It would have made more sense to have just a lower downtube design if they wanted a unisex bike.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Tesco were early into this market around three years ago with their Meerkat Metro e-bike, which was actually an Izip with the Currie Electrodrive motor. With steel frame and SLA batteries, it retailed at £349.
 

hopper_rider

Pedelecer
Aug 22, 2012
194
0
Ref the earlier post query about removing the battery without removing the seat........

Yes you can remove the battery without removing the seat. But it may be advisable to consider also removing the seat if you are leaving it as the seat is quick release.

The bike is Chinese with the Manchester dealer acting as an importer in my opinion. But I think a lot of electric bike components actually come from China anyway these days so with Google and the internet as your friend it 'should' be possible to get any problems fixed. It may just be a lot more straightforward if there is a return to base option. But I guess thats factored in with the lower initial outlay.

If anyone wants to know more, post a question and I will answer as best as I can.
 

jackhandy

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 20, 2012
1,820
323
the Cornish Alps
The Tesco bike looks ok but the step thru frame is going to limit the market I think.... not many blokes are going to want to ride that!

In a few years' time, though.....
Getting me leg over the saddle on the MTB is OK, but.... Getting it back over when I've done a few miles is a bit hit-and-miss :p
 

morphix

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 24, 2010
2,163
119
Worcestershire
www.cyclecharge.org.uk
Just spotted this on Amazon for £480, looks similar to the Tesco offering, and it's only 15kg (boxed weight?!)



Viking E-Go Electric Folding Bike - (Black, Frame 15.5 Inch, Wheel 20 Inch): Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors

EDIT: Ah, seems to be the same Chinese import bike that KirstinS posted a link for to Winstanley's on first page of thread...but on Amazon it's mysteriously shed 8kg in weight (unless someone is telling porkies on Amazon) and it's £45 cheaper...(plus 5% cashback if you you're an associate member)..
 
Last edited: