Help! Lightweight fold up bike

[Brightonbee99]

Hi
I need a compact fold away ebike which fits in my mini Motorhome

 

[sjpt]

There's a lot you haven't said, such as what you want to use it for, and how much you want to pay.

I'd suggest looking at https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?rambletta; decent quality bikes at good prices and good support. I'm sure you can find cheaper on ebay; the bike will probably be a lot worse, and the support probably almost non-existent.

 

[Jonah]

Depends on how mini the motor home is. The smaller it is, the more important the folded size of the bike is. If you need smallest fold, difficult to beat the Brompton. If a larger fold is acceptable, there is lots more choice. Woosh Rambletta is probably better than most.

 

[Woosh]

I am out of Rambletta until first or second week of March.

 

[Brightonbee99]

Thank you for your suggestions . My friend bought a Carbo and is very happy with it - ticks a lot of
Boxes and it is lightweight and compact . However there appears to have been a significant price hike since they appointed a UK agent - price increase from £1600 - £2000. Any views on this bike ?

 

[Deleted member 33385]

Thank you for your suggestions . My friend bought a Carbo and is very happy with it - ticks a lot of
Boxes and it is lightweight and compact . However there appears to have been a significant price hike since they appointed a UK agent - price increase from £1600 - £2000. Any views on this bike ?

Very nice! Especially their "Model S", which looks like a carbonated update to my Dahon Helios:

https://ridecarbo.com/collections/uk/products/carbo-model-s-uk?variant=33258038165567

...in fact, it's so similar to my myopic eyes (Dahon Helios P8):

https://www.world-wheels.co.uk/heliosp8.htm

...that I wonder if you'd be disappointed with it's folded dimensions? While fine for a house or flat, it seems to appear rather large in volume when folded for your "mini motorhome". Why not get an electrified Brompton? It's hard to beat the folded volume of an electrified Brompton...

With the way that I use max pedal assist at all times (because I'm very unfit, and exceedingly unwell and lazy), I guestimate that even the upgraded 10aH battery of the Carbo would only give me about 15 miles useable range on hilly terrain - although useless for me, your mileage may vary.

By the way - frame carbonation doesn't seem to have reduced weight as much as I would have hoped... If I used a similar capacity battery, my Bafanged Dahon P8 would weigh about 20.2kg vs approx 15.8kg of the Carbo Model S (with 10ah battery), which is only a 4.4kg difference between rather too many development decades for comfort. Roll on the graphene frames!

 

[vfr400]

It seems to be a bit of a contradiction. I can't see the sense in fitting a big heavy motor into a carbob fibre bike. why didn't they fit a light-weight one, like AKM85C, which is probably a better motor anyway? Their motor just looks out of place to me.

Why did they have to use a daft BB PAS? That stops you from upgrading the cranks to save weight.

Apart from that, the main point on which you should decide on a bike like this, assuming that it does what you want, is how is it going to get fixed when it goes wrong? The motor looks standard with the standard 9 pin connector, so that could easily be substituted, but what battery and controller are in it? The display looks pretty standard (maybe Bafang), but if the controller uses comms with the battery, I'd say that a bike like this is a very high risk; however, there's a fair chance that it uses all standard Chinese parts, especially as it has a throttle, so any competent ebike mechanic (still pretty rare) could fix it, or anybody that's handy with tools , knows basic electrics and has the sense to come on here and show us a few pictures.

It's a shame about the motor and the PAS, otherwise it looks like a nice bike apart from the price.

 

[Woosh]

I am out of Rambletta until first or second week of March.

I have a small number of Rambletta with rigid fork in stock at the moment if you are interested.

https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?rambletta

• Rambletta folded dimensions: 87cm (L) x 70cm (H) x 35cm (W)

If space is very tight, I would recommend converting a Brompton.
This is my folded Brompton:

 

[Deleted member 33385]

It seems to be a bit of a contradiction. I can't see the sense in fitting a big heavy motor into a carbob fibre bike. why didn't they fit a light-weight one, like AKM85C, which is probably a better motor anyway? Their motor just looks out of place to me.

Why did they have to use a daft BB PAS? That stops you from upgrading the cranks to save weight.

Apart from that, the main point on which you should decide on a bike like this, assuming that it does what you want, is how is it going to get fixed when it goes wrong? The motor looks standard with the standard 9 pin connector, so that could easily be substituted, but what battery and controller are in it? The display looks pretty standard (maybe Bafang), but if the controller uses comms with the battery, I'd say that a bike like this is a very high risk; however, there's a fair chance that it uses all standard Chinese parts, especially as it has a throttle, so any competent ebike mechanic (still pretty rare) could fix it, or anybody that's handy with tools , knows basic electrics and has the sense to come on here and show us a few pictures.

It's a shame about the motor and the PAS, otherwise it looks like a nice bike apart from the price.

AKM85C - So they could have knocked off almost another kg? It seems mad that they wouldn't have considered that over the Bafang. Are smaller motors less reliable or was it an oversight?

It's almost a grand and a half cheaper than a similarly specced Brompton, but still pricey.

One thing which really annoys me about cheap but (seemingly) good Chinese ebikes, is that they never configure them for UK legality. So frustrating! Always an EU focus! It's like the UK doesn't exist. Always with the bleedin' throttle! All they'd have to do is limit it to 6km/h.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

I have a small number of Rambletta with rigid fork in stock at the moment if you are interested.

https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?rambletta

• Rambletta folded dimensions: 87cm (L) x 70cm (H) x 35cm (W)

If space is very tight, I would recommend converting a Brompton.
This is my folded Brompton:

See what I mean OP? Woosh, that's a very neat and tidy conversion! It folds almost as small as the non E version. If you had folding pedals, what is the smallest box you could fit that lovely folded electrified Brompton into? What does it weigh? How long till frog batteries croak?

I'd get one if I wasn't so worried about even smaller skittish wheels than I already have - if the hypothetical folded Brompton storage box is small enough, I might hire an electric Brompton to see if I can bear 16 inch wheels.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

Thank you for your suggestions . My friend bought a Carbo and is very happy with it - ticks a lot of
Boxes and it is lightweight and compact . However there appears to have been a significant price hike since they appointed a UK agent - price increase from £1600 - £2000. Any views on this bike ?

Ask your mate's bike over for a pint of WD40, and see how well it fits into your mini motorhome.

Tell your mate that if he can take everything off the carbon frame and weigh it for me in isolation, I'll post him a can of Guinness.

 

[Woosh]

See what I mean OP? Woosh, that's a very neat and tidy conversion! It folds almost as small as the non E version. If you had folding pedals, what is the smallest box you could fit that lovely folded electrified Brompton into?

with folding pedals, you can fit it in standard Brompton box. The battery has a standard lock, you can chain the bike to a lamp post.

What does it weigh?

the motor weighs 1.5kgs, the 36V 13AH battery 2.2kgs with Samsung 29E cells.
The bike can be carried with one hand, that's why I did not use Samsung 35E cells.
If you need to take it in an airplane, you can use a Bosch tool battery adapter like this:

 

[vfr400]

AKM85C - So they could have knocked off almost another kg? It seems mad that they wouldn't have considered that over the Bafang. Are smaller motors less reliable or was it an oversight?

It's almost a grand and a half cheaper than a similarly specced Brompton, but still pricey.

One thing which really annoys me about cheap but (seemingly) good Chinese ebikes, is that they never configure them for UK legality. So frustrating! Always an EU focus! It's like the UK doesn't exist. Always with the bleedin' throttle! All they'd have to do is limit it to 6km/h.

I think you got it right. they put a big motor in for the US moped brigade. If I had a frame like that, I'd put an Ak85C in it, which is a more reliable motor than the Bafang, though less powerful. It would also have worked well with a Q100H (AKM100), which still would have saved over 1kg. A further kg could be saved with hollowtech cranks and lighter tyres. They've gone for comfort rather than light weight. There's probably more weight to be saved from the gears, seat and other componenrts. 13kg is a definite possibility.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

I think you got it right. they put a big motor in for the US moped brigade. If I had a frame like that, I'd put an Ak85C in it, which is a more reliable motor than the Bafang, though less powerful. It would also have worked well with a Q100H (AKM100), which still would have saved over 1kg. A further kg could be saved with hollowtech cranks and lighter tyres. They've gone for comfort rather than light weight. There's probably more weight to be saved from the gears, seat and other componenrts. 13kg is a definite possibility.

There's a lot to be said in favour of comfort, but a 13kg Carbo mod sounds like a bloody great idea! The wonderful thing about my Helios is that it almost rides as well as a real bike, and from the measurements of the Carbo, it's likely as good to ride. At 13kg (plus a much larger battery), would make something like that compelling for me personally.

 

[Nealh]

with folding pedals, you can fit it in standard Brompton box. The battery has a standard lock, you can chain the bike to a lamp post.

the motor weighs 1.5kgs, the 36V 13AH battery 2.2kgs with Samsung 29E cells.
The bike can be carried with one hand, that's why I did not use Samsung 35E cells.
If you need to take it in an airplane, you can use a Bosch tool battery adapter like this:

I'm a bit lost there Tony the 35E & 29E weigh the same though the latter is cheaper.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

I'm a bit lost there Tony the 35E & 29E weigh the same though the latter is cheaper.

It's lighter on the wallet for sure.

 

[Woosh]

I'm a bit lost there Tony the 35E & 29E weigh the same though the latter is cheaper.

sorry for the error.
the small frog 36V 13AH is made with Samsung INR18650-32E in 10S4P.