Advice for electric folding?

[itmozart]

I am about to buy an electric folding, which I would use to go to my table tennis training.
I'm fit so I don't need to rest on the bike but nonetheless the assistment would be great especially when coming back from the training, when my legs are totally exhausted.

Now, all started with a Dahon Matrix, which unfortunaly hasn't been an appropriate purchase (I thought it was foldable enough to put it in a side of my room - but it wasn't the kind of folding), so seems like I have three options:

* Dahon Roo el
* 50Cycles Can-do
* Ezee Quando

Honestly, I don't have an experience to evaluate them. Does somebody has any experience/suggestion (can't find any results on the forum looking for the first two bikes).

The main use is as explained, 4/5 return travels every day, for a total of about 30/35 km every week. And I have to carry them for a floor, either on the staircase or on the lift, then bring them inside home and put them folded in a side of my room.

Mostly, I would like to understand what to evaluate in a folding electric bike; money is not so much of a concern.
For example, I see that the can-do is pretty heavy.
On the other side, the roo el is out of production: can this be a risk for the support?

Can they be safely kept (without battery for 2/3 hours) outdoor, in worst case scenario under the rain?
Are they handy enough when folded to be carried by hand without battery (the Matrix wasn't at all)?

Many thanks,
Saverio

 

[flecc]

Hello Saverio. I don't know if you are buying for the UK, but I suspect you are not.

There's not much to choose between the Can Do and the Quando on weight now, since the latest lightweight Quando battery leaves both bikes with the same weight. The Quando has an exceptionally powerful motor which means that very little pedalling is needed, just as well since it's single lowish gear means pedalling isn't practical at speed. It's comfortable to pedal at about 19 kph, but at the legal limit of 25 kph, you have to spin the pedals very fast.

The Can Do has 6 gears so you would be able to make better use of your fitness since the gear can be chosen to give reasonable pedalling rates. I suspect the Can Do is slightly less powerful than the Quando, but that will not matter since the pedal assist convenience will compensate.

The Dahoo Roo EL is definitely the quality bike of these three, and it's also the lightest and most compact, suiting both the carrying and storage you require. The fact that it's discontinued does not matter since the Dahon will always be able to be serviced and the SRAM Sparc motor is still being supplied on other bikes so spares will be available for many years to come. The downside is that it's motor type is a bit noisier than the other two and it isn't as fast and powerful as the others under power, though it's still a competent hill climber.

It's important to consider battery availability, since these are consumables which don't last for ever. The Quando uses the completely standard eZee battery so as long as the eZee bikes exist, you will be able to get batteries, and the battery type it uses, Lithium, is likely to last for around two years.

The Dahon Roo EL as standard uses an NiMh battery which is a type that can last a bit longer, depending on how much it's used though. With your short distances I think it could last for as much as four years. There's also a lithium battery available for it which increases it's performance a little, but still not quite as much as the other two, and it probably wouldn't last much more than two years. Again these batteries should be available for some years as the unit is used on other bikes, some of which are current models.

The Can Do is the odd one out as far as the battery is concerned, and availability will depend on whether the UK agents 50cycles continue to support this model and whether the manufacturer in China continues to make it. Again it's a lithium battery which can be expected to last as much as two years. The battery looks similar to that fitted on some other Chinese bikes but I've no idea whether the attachment and connections are the same.

They could all be kept outdoors with a cover over them, but that sometimes can lead to some unreliability due to corrosion in the connections, particularly if stored wet after a run, so it's better to keep them indoors.

Although I own a Quando and like it's abilities, it's very heavy to carry any distance, so my personal choice if I had to carry the bike and fold it daily as you have to would be the Dahon Roo EL.
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