Advice on budget folding e-bikes and the Ezego Fold

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John_S

Über Member
Hi All,

My mother & father in-law have come to me asking for advice on buying a folding e-bike and I'll be grateful to anyone who can help me with this. They've come to me because I'm a cyclist but I've never ridden or owned and e-bike so I'll hold my hands up and say that I know nothing about them and so I don't have a clue what either is or isn't a good one.

Just as some background my parents aren't cyclists but they were away in their caravan and they got chatting to some other people who had folding e-bikes and they really liked the idea of them. They have no interest in traveling long distances and I don't envisage that they'll do much main road riding. It'll be a case of a mix of perhaps quiet country lane riding whilst on holiday, short trips popping to the local shops and maybe some very light off road trail stuff if for example they go to a country park somewhere and want to do a loop type ride with the grand children but it would be fairly well maintained hard packed gravel track type riding nothing in the realms of technical off road riding.

They have said that they definitely want a folding bike because they want to be able to easily take it away in the caravan or to be able to fold it and put it into the back of the car to take somewhere for days out. In terms of budget they don't want to spend too much with £1,000 being the maximum that they want to go to and so I appreciate that this budget in itself will severely limit the options to only a few bikes. But at around this price point I have absolutely no idea of what features they should be thinking about in terms of pros and cons when comparing bikes.

The sort of bikes that they've looked at include the folding e-bikes that are available at Halfords such as the following:-

Apollo Transport folding e-bike at £599
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/elec...port-electric-folding-bike---20in-542248.html

Carrera Crosscity folding e-bike at £899
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/electric-bikes/carrera-crosscity-electric-bike-298734.html

After visiting Halfords they also went to their local bike shop and the LBS sell e-bikes by a company called Ezego and there was a bike called the Ezego EZE fold. In particular my mother-in-law liked the LS version of this bike which is a low set over and she has bad knee joints and so she found it much easier to step over the frame and get onto this bike:-

https://ezego.bike/folding-electric-bicycle

However I've never before heard of the brand Ezego and nor can I easily find any reviews if this bike and so I wondered if anyone has ever heard of the Ezego Fold and has any thoughts about it? This bike was at the top of their budget being at the £1,000 mark.

One thing I thought is that if they do buy an e-bike from their LBS at least hopefully they'd get some support and help with it down the line if they ever needed it.

Thanks for reading this and if anyone has any tips, thoughts or ideas on advice that I could give to my parents in-law that will be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

John
 
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Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Ezego have been around for a while, but in any case the bike is a generic Chinese folder so you will see the same bike with different stickers on it elsewhere.

The Wisper 806 is exceedingly similar, if not identical.

The Ezego is about as good as you will get for a grand.

I take it the users have tried manhandling one.

All folding ebikes are unwieldy lumps when folded, but if they are OK with that all should be well.

The Apollo has a front hub motor, which is not quite so nice to ride, although that may not matter in this application.

The Carrera has a rear motor and a neat hidden battery, so all good there.

But from what you've said, the frame may not suit.

https://wisperbikes.com/shop/e-bikes/folding-ebikes/wisper-806-folding-electric-bike-2020/
 

sheddy

Legendary Member
Location
Suffolk
Can't help only to say that a (extended) test ride is essential. How agile are they - folding and unfolding won't be easy...
 
OP
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J

John_S

Über Member
Hi Pale Rider,

Thank you very much for the tips and advice as well as the alternative option and I'll let my parents-in-law know about this.

Hi Sheddy,

It will be a good idea to go for a test ride because they've not ridden an e-bike yet and I'm looking into this but I'm not yet too sure how easy it is to get test rides on a folding e-bike at the moment but we'll look into it.

Thanks,

John
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Another one to consider is the Woosh Rambletta.

It has a low step and a hidden 12ah battery - bigger than some.

Tiny bit of boing in the front end, which does no harm given the inevitably short fork.

Nicely designed bike, and it looks good value at under £900.

The first consignment sold quickly, which is hardly surprising for that money.

I don't think Woosh can get any more until the spring.

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

John_S

Über Member
Hi Pale Rider,

That Woosh Rambletta does definitely look to be a good option at this price point and I've now heard this bike mentioned a few times now and so that must be a good thing.

I think that availability might be an issue right now which might no be ideal for my parents in-law because they're very keen on getting one right now but they may have no choice but to be patient and wait for the right thing.

However I think that they might have more luck getting hold of the Ezego Fold from a LBS. It would have been good if I could have found a review of this bike but I can't find any however I appreciate that people have said that on paper the spec looks as good as you can expect at this price point.

Thanks again,

John
 

welsh dragon

Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
I would look at reviews of the whoosh bikes. I had a look on YouTube and there were quite a lot of complaints about them. It was some time ago now, so maybe they have gotten better.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
I would look at reviews of the whoosh bikes. I had a look on YouTube and there were quite a lot of complaints about them. It was some time ago now, so maybe they have gotten better.

A few years ago Woosh did suffer with a cheap Chinese crap problem.

It was my misfortune to test a couple.

Their bikes now look better in terms of components and design, and the company owner assures me things have improved - for what that assurance is worth.

I'm inclined to take it at face value, not least because they've always been honest and straightforward with me.
 
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