Urtopia Fold improvements

[Dewey]

NBD today and I asked the shop to fit Schwalbe big apple tires with a reflective sidewall stripe. In the process I got to watch them remove the rear wheel of the Urtopia Fold and thought It might be helpful for owners to know you need to not only unclip the power wire, and remove the the left axle nut, but you also need to remove the kick stand which means also unbolting the magnet that holds the bike together when folded, there is a very small nut behind the bolt on the inside of the frame that would be easy to drop down and lose if unaware.

 

[Dewey]

Rear light is located at the base of the seatpost where it gets blocked by anything on the rack. I fitted a Busch and Muller taillight bracket to mount on the back of the rack a PDW Gravity battery taillight.

I asked the shop to swap out the stock Kenda BMX tires with Schwalbe Motion big apple tires with a reflective sidewall stripe. The big apple tires are wider when inflated and a larger size at 50-355 vs 47-355 for the stock Kenda tires. The mechanic needed to bend the rear fender stay to stop it rubbing against the wider tire, but it does fit.

 

[harryS]

The Big Apple in a 20" comes in 2.0" and 2.25" widths. We put thousands of miles on them, 2" on my folder and 2.25" on my wife's bike. Low rolling resistance and a great ride. Good Schwalbe puncture protection too.

 

[Dewey]

The Big Apple in a 20" comes in 2.0" and 2.25" widths. We put thousands of miles on them, 2" on my folder and 2.25" on my wife's bike. Low rolling resistance and a great ride. Good Schwalbe puncture protection too.

It’s reassuring to read you’ve had a good experience with the big apple. These Motion big apple tires are new for 2025 and replace both the big apple and big ben tires. The mechanic recommended I inflate to 60psi. The wheels on the Urtopia Fold are 18” and the Motion big apple are one of a few tire options with a sidewall stripe. I’m hoping the 2” wide tires will help give a little cush given the lack of suspension on the bike, and I’ll be commuting downtown so I hope the race-guard puncture protection works.

 

[Dewey]

First commute this morning, and at half the weight of my previous ebike it’s much easier to move the Fold around a train carriage. The magnet holding the bike together is weak and it came apart twice while pushing, so I’ll go back to using the Velcro strap from the RadExpand.

 

[Dewey]

After a week of folding and unfolding it’s apparent the handlebar post hinge is too tight. Undoing the Allen bolts at the base of the post does not loosen the hinge so I have applied a little poly grease.

 

[Dewey]

Urtopia are launching a second folding model, the Carbon Fold Step-Thru. The Fold ST shares several components with the Carbon Fold 1 model including the motor, battery, Torque sensor, and hydraulic disk brakes. The differences between the Fold ST and Fold 1 models include a lower stand over height, the optional addition of a Class 2 throttle, and larger 20” wheels that probably account for the 2lb increased weight over the 18” wheels on the Fold 1. The Fold ST has some cheaper components than the Fold 1 such as an entry level 7-speed Shimano Tourney 14-28t cassette vs the 8-speed Altus 11-32t cassette, and a height-adjustable aluminum handlebar post vs the carbon fiber handlebar post on the Fold 1.

 

[Dewey]

Swapped out the foam rubber grips for Ergon GP1 grips. Also began wrapping a Velcro strap in front of the frame hinge to hold the latch closed, it has been springing open sometimes when riding over large bumps. Between that and the need to use the strap to keep the bike folded due to the weak magnets, the bike should really come with a Velcro strap.

 

[Old-tool-guy]

The bike starts to fold while you are riding it? That doesn't sound like a good design.

 

[Dewey]

I agree, I checked I closed the latch at the start of my rides. I presume the problem is due to a poor quality latch, plus the carbon fiber frame flexing over bumps. I read Urtopia are helping design new models for Pedego. I think Urtopia should adopt on their Folding models two features from the existing Pedego Latch folder: the frame latch, and the ball & socket that hold the wheels together when folded, both features work well on the Pedego Latch & are simply better designed & higher quality than the cheap latch & useless magnets on the Urtopia fold.

 

[Dewey]

Front fender is too short and a lot of crud gets thrown up onto bike + rider. Might need to look into adding a leather flap to extend coverage.

 

[Old-tool-guy]

View attachment 202709Front fender is too short and a lot of crud gets thrown up onto bike + rider. Might need to look into adding a leather flap to extend coverage.

Or a piece of old inner tube. Shouldn’t be hard to pop rivet to the fender.

 

[Dewey]

I bought a RAW mud flap kit from the UK in prismatic red. The holes in the flap needed drilling out with a 7/32” bit so I could use them with the fender hardware. I fitted just the front flap and hopefully it will stop most of the crud being thrown up onto the bottom bracket when riding in the rain. It reflects light well in the dark.

 

[Dewey]

500 mile update.

What I like about the Urtopia Carbon Fold 1:
- The Aikema motor is great. Quiet, strong enough (42nm) to haul me up hill, and capable of propelling the bike at 20mph on flat land.
- The torque sensor is well set up, delivering power within the first quarter turn of the cranks, and ramping up gently - no sudden jerky take-off.
- The Tektro hydraulic disk brakes are very good, even stopping power, no squealing.
- The overall weight of the bike at around 36lb is lightweight for an ebike, making it easy for me to manouveur the bike around a train and lift into the trunk of car.

What I dislike about the bike:
I'm having a growing problem with the folding carbon frame flexing under stress. I weigh a few pounds above the 220lb rider weight limit Urtopia recommend for the Carbon Fold 1 and this may be the underlying reason causing two problems: 1) the frame latch popping open I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been able to stop this by wrapping a velcro strap around the frame latch; and 2) my commute takes me over uneven, broken, paved surfaces, sometimes riding over and through city work zones, with broken road surfaces, pot-holes, raised metal plates, and construction debris. Collectively the poor conditions create enough vibration over time (after about 30 minutes) the seatpost containing the battery works itself loose in one of two ways - either the allen bolt holding the clamp together unloosens, causing the seatpost to slip down, or the seatpost clamp works itself off the carbon frame collar, causing the seatpost & saddle to spin freely. Both problems occur unexpectedly, generally after riding over a particularly large bump or rough surface, and have caused a number of uncomfortable situations where I nearly lose control. While these are temporarily fixed with an Allen key, I find the non-carbon folding-bike components (frame latch, and seatpost collar) don't bind well enough to the carbon fiber frame to take the weight of a heavier rider. Reluctantly I'm going to be searching for a different folding ebike this summer.