Looking For Advice On Buying Folding Mountain Bikes

[Candide]

Hello,

This is my first post and I'm hoping someone can help me. I need to buy a new bike but, because of the car I drive, I cannot have a bike rack on the boot nor do I want to carry a bike on the roof. So, the only option is a folding mountain e-bike which fits into the boot.

From my initial research, I'm already seeing loads of folding, mountain e-bikes from China, many of which are very reasonably priced, but are they any good, in terms of quality? I know that "you gets what you pays for" but it's such a minefield out there. In terms of budget, I would be happy to go to £1000 for the right bike but I'd prefer to keep it under that. Currently there are some on eBay right now from Bulgaria which, at £720, look ideal, fairly well made with a decent spec. What I'd rather not have happen is to buy something that is really poorly made and of low quality.

If anyone has any experience of these types of bike I would be very grateful to hear your story, or if anyone can point me to where I can find out more information I'd also be very grateful. I'm still discovering this forum so the answer to my question may well be hidden somewhere and I just haven't found it yet but in the meantime it would be great to get some advice.

Thank you.

 

[harryS]

Post a couple of links. I assume you're looking at www.ebay.co.uk and my browser locks in a US location so I only see the sellers that will ship to the USA. You might do better with a UK forum if that's where you are.
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/forums/which-e-bike-should-i-buy.40/

A inexpensive 26" folding mountain ebike is just a bike that has mountain bike styling and a folding frame. The suspension is only useable on pavement. It will be heavy. Here in the USA, I can buy an Ancheer or similar style for about $500-800 USD. Price varies and I still wonder how come the 25% tariffs haven't shown up in pricing yet. It will be a basic bike that might run 30 km/hour and do OK on most hills that you can pedal now. Probably a 10% chance of a bad connector ruining your buying experience. If something goes wrong, you might get the supplier to ship you a new component, but it will be up to you to get it installed. A 20" folder would be better for packing in a car. I couldn't fit a 26" Ancheer easily in my VW wagon, and wou;dn't try.

These bikes will be of lower expectations, especially in the electrical assist. You'll get a 3-level PAS with cadence sensor that will irritate owners of expensive bikes, but it's perfectly adequate if you've never owned an ebike. Battery will be smaller and probably good for 20 miles, more if you use light assist. People who get along best with these bikes are folks that understand how to maintain a regular bike and have some electrical skills to debug minor connector issues.

The thing with low priced bikes online is first to ignore the obvious scams. Then find a seller in your country. I assume you're not in Bulgaria. Check your local forums.

 

[tomjasz]

The majority of MTB folders have poor mechanisms. A good base MTB folder w/o electrics is near 1000USD.

 

[Candide]

Thanks very much for your replies and HarryS, I didn't realise this was a US site! I will head to the forum you posted so that I'm sure everything is related to the rules and regulations over here, in the UK. Here's the link for that bike I was talking about:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39225360...99&_trkparms=gh1g=I392253602657.N36.S1.R3.TR4

Thanks for your time!

 

[harryS]

A similar looking bike was sold here in the USA by several online dealers. I considered buying one in 2015 for around $700USD. Almost clicked the "buy" button, but I ended up buying a kit motor and converting my existing Trek.

Here's a thread on it from 2015! recall one of the posters got a bit nervous when a bike shop said the suspension on her bike was loose, but don't recall if that was the way it really worked or not.

https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/cemoto-electric-folding-mountain-bike.2012/

So the frame has been around for years, and maybe the electronics have been upgraded.

 

[tomjasz]

This is a proper folding MTB frame. Many are just not solid performers.
https://www.montaguebikes.com/product/paratrooper-pro/

 

[rich c]

You must ride different single tracks than I do. No way do I want a folding frame shooting over rocks and roots. One little clamp would not provide a lot of confidence for me.

 

[tomjasz]

You must ride different single tracks than I do. No way do I want a folding frame shooting over rocks and roots. One little clamp would provide a lot of confidence for me.

Montaguebikes have a solid reputation for their mechanism. They also produced bikes for military use based on the same mechanism. BUT, I defer to experience. All I have is anecdotal forum information. 10 minutes on any MTB trail would permanently rattle my body.