This page links to a wide variety of articles, first published in A to B magazine, and now available free on our web pages. There are many other links to free articles. See also the A to B Blog, Electric Bike, Electric Motorcycle and Folding Bike zones, plus the Back Numbers page.
Full marks to Nissan. Not for producing the Leaf, good though it may be, but for actually providing one for test – the first ‘plug-in’ electric car we’ve been let loose with. There’s a good reason for this long-standing reluctance of manufacturers to let journalists do their worst with electric cars: battery range.When electric cars limped into the modern era in the 1970s they typically had a range of 40 miles or so… That’s improved in the intervening 40 years, but considering the advances in motor, controller and battery technology, not by very much.
As Professor Pivot revealed in the last issue, US government boffins have concluded that the Nissan Leaf has a range of 73 miles in mixed driving, and (rather surprisingly) a little more in urban conditions. The New European Driving Cycle puts the range at 109 miles, which sounds decidedly optimistic. Using our long experience of electric bike and trike testing, we decided to find how realistic these figures were, and whether a vehicle with such limited daily range (charging takes around eight hours) could really be useful.
If you’re expecting something akin to a milk float, the Leaf is very much a proper car, looking and feeling pretty much like any other medium-sized hatchback. It has five seats, a relatively big boot (two Bromptons fit with ease) and it weighs 1,500kg (about 11/2 tons), which is on the heavy side for a car of this size, but not outrageously so. The battery and control module only weigh 300kg, and with those chunky bits under the middle of the floor, weight seems to be quite evenly distributed, so there are no serious compromises.
Equipment includes everything you might expect on a car these days, plus a bit more, from excellent automatic LED headlights to sat-nav and even air conditioning. Air-con is a notoriously power-hungry accessory, particularly so in this case, because heat comes from an electric heater supplied by the main battery, rather than the engine cooling system, as would be the case with a conventional petrol or diesel car. Quite why Nissan needed to fit a full air-conditioning unit on a car with such limited fuel capacity isn’t immediately obvious, but the key market seems to be the US, where such things are expected. Heavy use of the air conditioning can reduce the range by up to 25%, visit hughesairco.com for air conditioning services and tips.
…Heavy use of the air-conditioning can reduce the range by 25%…
Nissan has two clever tricks to reduce this power demand: heated seats (it takes a lot less energy to warm your bum than the whole car), and a heating system that can be commanded by mobile phone to get the interior nice and toasty before the Leaf has been disconnected from its charger in the morning. That’s useful if the charge is complete, but of little benefit if power is simply being diverted from the battery to the heater.
There are several other thirsty accessories which under the circumstances, should be labelled with a range warning (‘turn this on and you may not get home’). That they aren’t is all part of the crafty reinforcement of the message that this is a conventional modern car. Well, it is, but it’s a car that will take eight hours to refuel, should you make even a minor miscalculation. Unfortunately, the need for such things as lights and screen heating is unavoidable – being designed for forced ventilation, the windscreen on the Leaf has a tendency to mist up, and clearing it means using air-con.
On an electric bike, a flat battery is little more than a minor irritant. On a car weighing 11/2 tons, it’s potentially quite a serious issue. For mysterious technical reasons, even towing the Leaf is ruled out, unless you can get the front wheels off the ground, so a flat battery could be very expensive.
On the Road
Oddly, the gear knob has to be shifted right and forward for Reverse, and right and rearwards for Drive. The parking brake below is a simple on/off switch
Electric cars are dead easy to operate. In fact, with no engine noise, and none of that familiar ‘starting’ procedure, they’re a bit TOO easy to operate, so Nissan has added a few safety systems to prevent an unexpected departure through your neighbour’s wall when you thought you were turning the radio on. These head-scratchers held us up for twenty minutes until Grandad hit on the solution. The procedure, for anyone interested, is to hold your foot on the brake before pressing the ‘ignition’ button for the first – not the second – time. It becomes second nature once you know how, and you’re then ready to select a gear: Reverse (complete with camera), Drive, or Eco.
Once you’re in a gear, don’t be misled by the near silence, because there’s a lot of horsepower under your right foot. Ease the accelerator down and the car wafts gently away. At walking pace such things as heater fans and indicators can sound deafeningly loud, but as you go faster, the rumble from the fat 205mm tyres would be loud enough on rough surfaces to mask the sound of a petrol engine, so the lack of engine noise is less obvious.
…don’t be misled by the silence… there’s a lot of horsepower under your right foot…
It’s all very uncanny though. From the outside, the Leaf is as quiet as the quietest car you’ve ever seen waft past. On the inside, with the air-con fans off, radio off and passengers hectored into silent mode, it makes a tiny and rather racy whine, rather like an electric train, but quieter. If you’ve driven a big luxury car with automatic transmission, that’s the sort of feeling, but without the tiny steps between gears you’d expect from an auto box. Drive and Eco appear to do much the same thing, but with the emphasis on acceleration in Drive, and engine braking in Eco. This can make the engine feel a bit sluggish at small throttle openings (a bit of a misnomer in this case), but push a bit harder and the 80 kilowatt motor – 110 horsepower in old-speak – really stomps away, up to a claimed 90mph. We didn’t exceed 60mph, but we did surge quickly and quietly past a Number 10 bus on a steep hill, and the Number 10 is no slouch. We also – embarrassingly – managed to pick up a speeding ticket: 38mph in a 30mph zone. Acceleration is smooth, and apparently relentless, without any of the surges and revvy noises you’d expect from one of those vulgar petrol cars. And that, M’lud, is the case for the defence.
It wouldn’t do to get too excited though. After ten seconds of this sort of thing, you can actually see the range meter ticking off those precious miles, which does tend to focus the mind. It’s also programmed to lose ten miles the moment you turn the air-con on, which will make you turn it straight off again, unless you’re freezing, in which case you won’t care.
The Leaf displays a lot of information. Above, from left to right, ‘ECO indicator’, speedometer, time and outside temperature. Below, battery temperature, mileometer, power/regeneration display, and the all important fuel gauge and range meter.With a full battery, suggested range is 101 miles… it never was in reality.
There are several economy aids on the dashboard, including a nice graphic bar chart, showing how much energy you’re using (or regenerating), and a rather silly little Christmas tree that does much the same thing, apparently reporting your ‘tree saver’ score back to Nissan, with a little prize for the winner… Big Brother is alive and well. More useful is the range meter next to the fuel gauge, and the very visible speedometer (yes, we should have tried looking at it). Studying the gauges, turning off unnecessary extras, and shouting at passengers when they needlessly motor down a window is called ‘range anxiety’ and if electric cars catch on, it will become the phobia of choice for the chattering classes.
Another useful way of putting a few kilowatts in the battery is to make effective use of the regenerative braking. For those who don’t study such things in A to B and elsewhere, regen is the ability to recycle power into the battery by temporarily running the motor as a dynamo. On the Leaf, it kicks in whenever you release the accelerator, feeling rather like a normal car on over-run, and rather more strongly when you press the brake.
This electric braking has some useful side-effects, such as reduced brake wear and maintenance, and it will increase the battery range, but not by very much.When the battery is full, regen is limited, because you obviously can’t top up a full battery. Under these circumstances, the conventional brakes do all the work, turning your lovely speed into useless heat. They do much of the work if you brake hard too, so the technique is to brake early and gently, which is a great economy technique anyway, although not the sort of thing Jeremy Clarkson would be keen on.We’ll give you another tip for nothing: if you live at the top of a hill and own an electric car with an electric heater, don’t turn the heater on when you get in.Wait until you’re descending that long hill, because this will make good use of heat that would otherwise be thrown away in the brakes.
With all the techniques in the world, don’t expect regen to turn the car into a perpetual motion machine, as numerous dippy journalists have already suggested. For a number of tedious electrical, mechanical and chemical reasons, you can’t recycle very much of the energy put into forward motion, so if you see 20% back, you’ll be doing well. Still, it’s better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick, and those few extra miles might just get you home.
…a fraction of the consumption of a petrol car, but a black hole by electric bike standards…
By way of comparison with the sort of electric bicycles we usually test, we rode – sorry drove – the Leaf around our hilly test circuit, but not to the point of emptying the ‘tank’ – we may be daft, but we’re not that daft. Our potter around this basic circuit of upsy-downy country lanes took 36 minutes at a modest average speed of 221/2mph, partly because of enforced stops on single track sections to pass other cars, which doesn’t usually happen with a bicycle. A run-of-the-mill electric bike will do this circuit in 50 minutes, and a very fast one in 40 minutes, so average speed is not wildly different by electric car.
Fuel consumption is though. Electric bikes rarely consume more than 15Wh/mile, and the best use 10Wh or even less. With a lone driver on board, the Nissan Leaf consumed 365Wh/mile – much less than the typical 1,000Wh/mile of a petrol car, but a vast energy guzzling black hole by electric bike standards. Why so much? The principal issue is weight 1,600kg laden against 100kg or so for the bike. The bike is slower too, which helps, and of course the motor is only putting in half the effort. There are no pedals in a Nissan Leaf.
Overall (see chart), we drove 1421/2 miles in three days, which would equate to about 17,000 miles a year – quite heavy use for an electric car – and we used 49.4kWh at a cost of £7.41. Fuel consumption varied from 397Wh/mile, fully laden at night, to a more frugal 276Wh/mile for a longer, flatter 20-mile cross-country trip. That suggests a theoretical range of 60 to 87 miles, and a practical range of 45 to 70 miles, according to conditions. That fits well with other figures we’ve seen, but falls way short of the 100-mile claims. Maybe we’ve been leaden footed? No. Driving style was decidedly muted, accessories were turned off whenever possible, the heater used sparingly at the meanest 16.5?C setting, and care was taken at every opportunity to minimise energy consumption. If we’d driven in the breakneck style most people adopt on a trip to the shops, range could easily have dropped below 40 miles. Our test car was a year old, and had racked up a decent 6,000 miles, but in motoring terms that should be little more than a gentle running in. Thanks to the great big tyres, heavy construction and power-guzzling bits and pieces, the Leaf is nowhere near as efficient as it could be.
If that all sounds a bit depressing, our brief trial of the Leaf was a very pleasant experience. Range anxiety aside, the ambience of this car is like no other. On open roads or congested urban streets alike, the gentle progress of this car leaves you calm and relaxed. Even in a traffic jam, the lack of noise, fuss and fumes keeps the lid on your frustration. Presumably, if the range issue is ever cracked, electric cars will be a real cure for road rage. In a car as calm and quiet as a reading library, you find yourself increasingly leaving the radio off, and using the heater fan sparingly. Those 1421/2 miles were universally pleasant ones.
Leaf Log-Book
Date
Mileage
Consumption
Day Charge
Night Charge
Tuesday PM 13th March
17.9 miles
est 370 Wh/mile
6.66 kWh
19.04 kWh
Wednesday AM 14th March
13.5 miles
365 Wh/mile
4.93 kWh
—
Wednesday PM 14th March
33.7 miles
397 Wh/mile
—
13.39 kWh
Thursday AM 15th March
19.4 miles
276 Wh/mile
5.36 kWh
—
Thursday PM 15th March
58.0 miles
est 300 Wh/mile
—
—
TOTALS
142.5 miles
347k Wh/mile
49.4kWh
NOTE: Power consumption figures include charger losses. Battery capacity is claimed to be 24kW
…plug the charger into the mains, open a hatch, stick the nozzle in… and wait…
Charging
There are three charging options. If you can find a high-output top-up point, the battery can be fast-charged to 80% capacity in a claimed 30 minutes. Brilliant, except that there are currently only 40 or so of these 50 kilowatt charge points in the UK, and the nearest one to us is in Bournemouth, some 30 miles away. Not much use if you’ve got a flat battery. Fortunately, the Leaf can also be charged from a conventional three-pin socket, either on a 20-hour trickle, or a nine-hour fast charge, but there are a few provisos. Nissan insist that you must not use an extension cable to do this, because there will be a lot of power passing down the line. Well, in an emergency you can, provided it’s a good quality 13-amp cable, and it’s fully unwound from the drum. If it isn’t, the wire will get hot, and it really could start a fire in the middle of the night.The same is true for your domestic wiring – if anything isn’t up to scratch, the Leaf charger will find it, so be very cautious.
The charger plugs in through a little hatch in front of the bonnet, which doesn’t need to be open.The socket on the left will accept an industrial-scale fast charger, if you can find one in the middle of the night. The same is true for your domestic wiring – if anything isn’t up to scratch, the Leaf charger will find it, so be very cautious.
To charge, you simply plug the charger into the mains, open a hatch in the front of the Leaf, stick the charge nozzle in, then wait and wait… It’s a measure of how much power these machines consume that charging takes pretty well everything the socket can provide (2,500 watts – about the same as an electric kettle) and it keeps taking it for anything up to ten hours. No big problem overnight, and theoretically possible while you’re at work, but it’s a lot of plug-in time. For example, the power used on our 36-minute, 131/2-mile test circuit took two hours to replenish, so you really do need to count the miles and calculate your charge times with care, or you will sooner or later get stuck. Unlike an electric bike, which can be pedalled, pushed or stuck in a car boot, there’s no plan B for getting home.
It may be time-consuming, but charging really does cost peanuts. Being good citizens, we pay about 15p per kilowatt/hour for 100% green energy (if you’re less fussy, your power will cost less), and a full ‘tank’ would cost us £3.60. Not bad, but of course it only gets you 60 miles. By way of comparison, a small diesel car would cost about £6.50 to drive the same distance. Fill the tank with diesel, of course, and it would go for another 400 miles without refuelling, should you be so inclined.
It’s worth pointing out that we have solar panels on the roof capable of giving an output very close to the demands of the Leaf charger, so if we plugged the car in at dawn on a very sunny day in June, it would be brim-full of free solar energy by evening. Great in theory, but in our March trial solar energy was a bit thin on the ground, and for practical reasons, most of our charging was done at night.
…according to the internet soothsayers, a battery pack might cost £20,000…
Another interesting futuristic option is to equip your house with plenty of solar panels and a wind turbine or two, and go entirely off-grid, using the car as a reservoir for shortterm energy storage. This is entirely practical, but only possible if the car can be plugged in most of the time, and with the heaviest household energy demand in the evening, the car is liable to have a flat battery in the morning. A slight variation is to keep the grid connection and use the car as a buffer to help the energy supply company absorb peaks and troughs of production and demand, the car communicating with the generating station and vice-versa. The storage capacity of hundreds of thousands of electric cars would reduce the need for new generating capacity, and fit very well with a greener generation portfolio, peaks and troughs in sun, wind and rain being notoriously hard to forecast.
This so-called Vehicle to Grid (V2G) option would save the electricity utilities so much by reducing peak demand, there are serious suggestions that they would subsidise electric car owners to do it… an unexpected bonus.
The Leaf is quite a big car – a full five seater, with plenty of room for two Bromptons in the boot
Conclusion
Take our word for it, the electric car has arrived. This one is plush, quiet, powerful and rather classy in a bulbous sort of way. Unfortunately, battery technology still lags some years behind the motor and control software. If you think lithium-ion batteries for electric bikes are expensive, spare a thought for electric car owners. The good news is that Nissan guarantees the battery to maintain 80% capacity for up to five years or 62,500 miles (100,000km), which is quite a leap of faith, but not quite on a par with the eight year/100,000-mile warranty in the USA, where the car is also some 30% cheaper.Why?
The usual motley crowd of internet soothsayers are claiming that a battery pack might cost £20,000, after Nissan UK boss Andy Palmer admitted that the 48 individual battery modules might cost as much as £400 each. Nissan has responded by saying that it assumes (we’ve heard this before somewhere) the modules won’t fail together, and that – market forces being what they are – the cost is bound to tumble. Having watched Li-ion battery prices since they first arrived, we’re not so sure.What if one module fails before the five years is up, and the other 47 fail just afterwards? It really could happen. And Nissan might not pay out at all. The battery warranty will be invalidated if the battery is left discharged for more than 14 days, unnecessarily charged on a daily basis, subject to extremes of temperature, or immersed in ‘water or fluids’. Drive through one flood in those five years and you’re on your own. Big Brother knows exactly what you’re up to.
It’s difficult to predict, but we’d be very surprised if battery depreciation didn’t amount to £2,000 a year, or somewhere in the region of 20p per mile for a 10,000-mile a year user.As battery depreciation goes, that’s quite good going, but it’s four times the cost of the electricity.
Suddenly that diesel hatchback looks very cheap to run. It might well have a better resale value too. The uncertainty over battery life and replacement cost is bound to have a negative impact on the value of a five-year-old Leaf.
The cost of batteries and other specialised technology has bumped up the purchase price of the Leaf to a staggering £30,990, although the Government will chip in £5,000 (why don’t they subsidise bicycles and scooters too?), leaving the proud new owner just under £26,000 out of pocket. That’s a lot of money, and it’s quite hard to picture these
The 48 lithium-ion battery modules live under the floor – unobtrusive, but the boot is a bit short and the rear legroom limited.The modules can be replaced individually potential consumers.This is a car that can be driven more or less cross-county rather than cross-country, once a day. From Dorchester we could just about motor down to Lyme Regis, up to Sturminster Newton or across to Poole. Alternatively, we could beetle about on local errands, but we couldn’t do both in the same day.
…the clan Henshaw looks like Nissan’s prototypical family…
On paper, the clan Henshaw looks like Nissan’s prototypical green-tinged nuclear family, but for us the figures just don’t add up. Poole is quicker and much cheaper by train, even for a family of four, and in the other direction, Lyme can be reached very cheaply, but rather slowly, by Number 31 bus. For travelling north into the desolate interior, an electric car does sound like a practical option, but when we can hire one of those penny-pinching diesels for £30 a day, or buy one outright for a few thousand pounds, the Leaf starts to look pretty expensive especially if you take into account tax for digital nomads and so on.
We predict running costs at a hefty 85.5p per mile. That assumes mileage of 10,000 a year, full vehicle depreciation over ten years, battery life of five years (and a relatively optimistic replacement cost of £300 per module), the cheapest insurance quote we could find (some companies are really ripping off electric car owners) and capital and servicing costs based on AA figures for similarly sized (but cheaper) petrol cars. Incidentally, electricity comes out at only 3.9p per mile, less than 5% of the total.
A straw poll of friends, relatives and passersby revealed a great deal of interest (‘It’s a proper car! I thought it would be a box!’), but considerable scepticism once the costs and weaknesses were revealed: the potential customers either drove a lot and wouldn’t dream of going electric, or they did short eco-journeys, and already cycled or electric biked locally, keeping a car for the sort of long trips the Leaf couldn’t begin to shake a stick at. Most people were pleasantly surprised that it could be recharged through a normaldomestic plug, but profoundly disappointed that a quick plug-in at home wouldn’t have it hurtling down the motorway at 70mph. All quoted long trips (Coventry, Cornwall, London) that would make it impractical to own.
As elsewhere, the stylists have given the underbonnet layout a familiar look to keep nervous purchasers onside. Note the conventional lead-acid battery for powering 12-volt ancillaries
So who does Nissan think will buy them? Early evidence from America suggests that the typical Leaf buyer is a Yuppy: a college graduate, tech-savvy home-owner in their 40s, earning $125,000 a year. It seems a significant number of these eco-cool baby-boomers drive some 25 miles to work, and in the US at least, enough of them figure that a $30,000 Leaf is the way to go.
Both here and in the States, the green movement is getting quite hot under the collar about perceived anti-electric media bias. We’re as pro-electric as anyone, but the figures just don’t seem to add up.We’d much rather see a battery leasing option, more or less halving the car’s purchase cost to £15,000, plus a leasing charge of, say, £2,000 a year on the batteries. This would do wonders for the resale value, and help owners make better sense of running costs. More importantly, with lithium battery technology improving by the month, it would leave the way open to fit a new upgraded pack as and when the technology is available.
Specification
Nissan Leaf £30,990 (less £5,000 UK government grant) Weight Car 1,220kg Battery 300kg Total 1,520kg (11/2 tons) Battery Li-ion Claimed Capacity 24,000 watt/hours Replacement Cost Unknown Max Range 66-87 miles Full Charge <10hrs Power Consumption 328Wh/mile Running Costs 86.5p per mile UK Distributor Nissan UK www.nissan.co.uk tel 0800 0270075 email evuk@nissan-services.eu
This page used to list all non-electric folding bikes. Keeping the list up-to-date became increasingly difficult, as brands exploded, and prices fluctuated wildly, both on and off the web. In May 2017, we decided reluctantly to drop the ‘Under £500’ table altogether and replace it with a ‘wish list’ to help you make your own judgement.
Price
A higher price is a very poor guide to quality, so look for the best spec at the cheap end before reluctantly opting to pay more. It is still feasible to get a decent bike for less than £200
Weight
Obviously go for the lightest bike you can find, but treat all manufacturers figures with caution. Very few distributors bother checking such things, so the quoted figure will usually be something jotted down on the back of an envelope by the Chinese manufacturer. Tipping point for weight is 12kg – anything genuinely under this weight is OK in this price range, while anything over will be hard for most people to carry far. Alloy frames are usually lighter than steel, but not always! A well designed steel bike will weigh less than a poorly designed alloy one.
Wheel Size
With the better quality, pricier bikes, 16-inch wheels are quite acceptable, but at this cheap end, go for 20-inch. Cheap smaller wheelers with slow tyres, poor geometry and excess weight need all the help they can get, and all things being equal, 20-inch tyres will roll better than 16-inch
Gears
The vast majority of these bikes are fitted with very cheap derailleur gears. These have a limited life, and cannot usually be repaired. As a rough guide, the more gears, the better the quality, so 6 is poor and 9 is good (with a front shifter, 18 gears is poor and 27 is good), but there are exceptions.
If you can’t afford a hub gear, a single speed can be very good for shorter journeys, and there’s less weight and nothing to go wrong. For more serious use, go for hub gears if you can find them.
Hub gears are a little heavier than derailleurs, but they last forever, need virtually no maintenance, and can be regeared to suit your personal preference. A 3-speed hub is much better than a cheap 6-speed derailleur, and if you can find a 5- or 7-speed hub in this price range (unlikely), you are in folder nirvana
Suspension
Really, seriously, don’t think about it with a cheap bike. Cheap suspension won’t work well, and it will add a great deal of weight that you will have to lug around. You’ll regret it forever
Equipment
All equipment adds weight, but makes the machine much more practical. A rear rack is a must, as are mudguards. Lights are lovely, but very rare on cheaper bikes
Branding
In the internet age, branding has ceased to have much meaning. At this cheaper end of the market, most bikes come from Vietnam or China, where countless brands are churned out in the same factory using the same crummy components. It makes sense to go with a High Street brand if you can, because you’ll get some back-up when it goes wrong, but don’t seriously expect the hip young dudes at Halfords to know any more about folding bikes than the kindly till-assistant at Tescos, so the actual brand doesn’t really matter
Recent deletions: Mezzo (all models), Bike Friday (all models)
Folding Bike Manufacturers or UK dealers/distributors
The comments relate to our own experience of users in the aqua paradise ca, with manufacturers or local UK distributors where one exists. As a general rule, a company that supplies a good product will be open and helpful with the press, and give good service and back-up. The others are something of an unknown quantity, but if you think we’ve been unfair, do let us know…
Airnimal Completely uncommunicative
Airnimal Designs Ltd, 61 Mulberry Close, CAMBRIDGE CB4 2AS (difficult to discover this!)
01954 782020
e-mail not given
Ammaco Has never contacted us
01268 762616 (unable to verify this) global.star@btinternet.com (unable to verify this)
Argos Never responds to emails
Larger Argos stores
AS Bikes Only contacted us once, when they were starting out
Coppice Close, Leamington Road, Ryton on Dunsmore, COVENTRY CV8 3FL
024 7630 3228 contact@asbikes.co.uk
Bicycles4U Has now been in touch
Kaitek Trading Ltd, c/o Sterling Power Products, Unit 8 Wassage Way, Hampton Lovett Industrial Estate, DROITWICH WR9 0NX
01905 778751 info@bicycles4u.com
Birdy, Frog Always friendly and helpful
Riese und Müller GmbH, Haasstraße 6, 64293 DARMSTADT, Germany
+49 6151 366860 team@r-m.de
Brompton Dramatic growth has removed all the human contact… inevitable
Brompton Bicycle Ltd, Kew Bridge DC, Lionel Road South, BRENTFORD, Middlesex TW8 9QR
020 8232 8484 info@brompton.co.uk
Buy Buy CLOSED DOWN
Classic/Kentex Helpful, but rather grudgingly so
Moore Large & Co Ltd, Grampian Buildings, Sinfin Lane, DERBY, DE24 9GL
01332 274200 sales@moorelarge.co.uk
Claude Butler No online sales facility
Claude Butler Ltd, Bridge Street, BRIGG, North Lincs DN20 8PB
01652 656000
Crosshead New British folding bikes and very helpful indeed Unit 12-14 (AMC unit), Minters Industrial Estate, Southwall Road, DEAL, Kent CT14 9PZ
01304 366033 info@crosshead.co.uk
Dahon – see Raleigh, below
Dahon (Spares & Advice) Direct sales division of Cyclemotion, run by the ever-charming Mark Bickerton
World Wheels is licensed by Dahon Global through Cyclemotion as the official UK and EU Internet Reseller.
E-commerce and pre-delivery inspection for World Wheels are handled by: CH White & Son, (Dept WW), 51 High Street, Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN16 9AG, United Kingdom
01233 731234 sales@world-wheels.co.uk
Decathlon New to folding bikes, but interesting machines
Canada Water Retail Park, Surrey Quays Road, London SE16
020 7394 2000
Di Blasi Helpful, but rather grudgingly so
Concept Edge Power Ltd, 12 Field Heath Road, HILLINGDON, Middlesex UB8 3NF
01895 850455 info@conceptedge.co.uk
Fisher
Fisher Outdoor Leisure, 8 Brick Knoll Park, Ashley Road, ST ALBANS AL1 5UG
tel: Fill in webform and ask to be telephoned back
email: Webform
Folding Bikes 4U Appeared like a mushroom overnight, and seems to have gone just as rapidly
Giant Much too big and faceless to be helpful
Giant UK Ltd, Charnwood Edge, Syston Road, COSSINGTON, Leics, LE7 4UZ
tel: 0844 245 9030 info@giant-bicycles.co.uk
Moulton Cool, but efficient; their website is one of the most uninformative encountered
Alex Moulton Bicycles, Holt Road, BRADFORD-ON-AVON, Wiltshire BA15 1AH
01225 865895 office@alexmoulton.co.uk
Pacific Seems to have exclusive UK distribution
Fudges, 564-566 Harrow Road, Paddington, LONDON W9 3QH
0208 969 5991
Pashley Moulton TSR Totally uncommunicative in our experience
Pashley Cycles, Masons Road, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6NL
01789 292263 hello@pashley.co.uk
Raleigh Probably doesn’t know A to B exists – Also an agent for Dahon
Raleigh UK Ltd, Church Street, Eastwood, NOTTINGHAM NG16 3HT
01773 532600
Sinclair A-Bike Gone quiet since we tested the A-bike
Mayhem UK Ltd, The Perfume Factory, 140 Wales Farm Road, LONDON W3 6UG
0870 766 8498 sales@a-bike.co.uk
Strida Bike Republic has taken on the excellent Velorution store Bike Republic, 91-93 Great Portland Street, Marylebone, London W1W 7NX
0207 148 5572 velorution@bikerepublic.com
Tern New breakaway Dahon brand
F W Evans Cycles Ltd, Camino Park, James Watt Way, CRAWLEY, West Sussex RH10 9TZ
01580 755633 mark.bickerton@ternbicycles.com (shows as such on website)
This page ranks folding bikes available in the UK based on our reviews in A to B magazine, and each folding bike is judged by a star system. This can only provide a rough guide, particularly where one rating covers a range of different bikes. You’ll find the best folding bikes at the top of the page and the worst below. At the very bottom is our ‘Dead & Buried’ section, covering bikes formally in the list that have been withdrawn. We hasten to add that many of these are fine machines that just didn’t make it commercially. The list is not comprehensive, but we’ll keep adding to it.
Generally, the arrival of the internet has been positive, pushing folding bike prices down, but it’s also destroyed the rich diversity that was available only a decade or so ago. Specialist machines find it very hard to survive where prices are under such constant pressure, and the result has been a distinct reduction in folding bike variety. Very sad, but inevitable.
Full reviews of most of the folding bikes featured below are available from our back numbers page, but new subscribers can receive all digital issues back to issue 55 (August 2006) for just £2, so it will usually be cheaper to take out a than order several recent back numbers.
Brompton
Price: From £840 Production: 1981 on Rating: 5/5
Verdict: “Still the best compact folder on the market”
After a production run of over a quarter of a century, the Brompton remains the definitive folding bike. Revamped several times, the model range was completely reconstructed in 2005, with two new families – the sporty S-type and touring P-type. With the new bikes came a whole range of new accessories and options, from ball-bearing rollers for the rear rack to lightweight titanium frame parts. Folding the Brompton takes less than 15 seconds to a volume of 85 litres (3 cu ft) and it locks together, so it’s easy to carry. Unique to the Brompton is a range of pricey but effective luggage secured over the front wheel by a quick-release system. Rear suspension deals with the bumps and the small 16-inch wheels make the Brompton very maneuverable through traffic, its natural habitat. It weighs from about 10kg and is currently available with a 3-speed hub; 3-speed hub plus Brompton’s own 2-speed derailleur, producing an effective 6-speed; 2-speed derailleur, or single speed. Primarily a commuter machine, the Brompton can actually be ridden considerable distances thanks to its rear suspension and high-pressure tyres.
Some Brompton models have a rack and dynamo lights, but our tip is to opt for the cheaper, lighter ‘L’ type, plus the front luggage and optional battery lighting set. If you can afford it, the L-X option is lighter still.
Although designed and produced in England, the Brompton has also been built under licence by Neobike in Taiwan for sale in the Pacific rim countries, but this agreement has long been terminated and production wound up. Strangely, if you see a Brompton carrying a Union Jack flag, it will either be one of these early pattern machines, or a more recent pirated copy. It will almost certainly be made in Taiwan or China! Other manufacturers – notably Oyama and Merc – have tried to copy the Brompton, but the results are usually a bit laughable and Brompton has taken legal action to have them destroyed. Recently, reviews elsewhere have questioned the Brompton’s place at the top of the pile, and it’s true that in the last few years the Brompton’s meticulous engineering evolution seems to have been replaced by lifestyle accessories and PR guff, but the bike remains fundamentally in a different league to everything else. The spec of the titanium bikes has recently been downgraded, which is a real shame, and several recent engineering projects have come to nothing, but titanium bits and bobs are now being produced by a Brompton offshoot in Sheffield, and the electric project is back on track and due for release in early 2018 (we have an exclusive road-test in A to B 117). It’s fundamentally such a superb product, we can see no viable challengers for the foreseeable future. More recently, the ‘H’ type bars were introduced for taller people for whom the bike could feel a bit tiddly.
Beware of imitations – see Merc in the ‘Dead & Buried’ section below!
We have numerous road-tests of Brompton models and technical articles. The best way to see all of these is to choose our entire digital back-number archive or subscribe to the Exact Editions digital subscription, which is cheaper, but only gives short-term access to the digitised back-numbers.
Airnimal
Price: From £1,499 Production: 2002 on Rating: 4/5
Verdict: “Superb performance machine”
The Airnimal is designed in the UK, but the frame is made somewhere cheaper, so this attractive, low-volume performance folding bike is less expensive than you might think. Like the Bike Friday range, the Airnimal can be quick-folded for the train, or dismantled for long-distance hard-case transport. Airnimal’s special selling points are suspension on some models, and larger (507mm or 520mm) wheels. These are sometimes described as 20-inch, but are actually 24-inch. Tyres are a bit rare in these sizes, but the extra diameter will give a slight performance edge and a bigger bike feel without undue compromise on folding.
Hummingbird
Price: From £3,495 Production: 2017 on Rating: 4/5
Verdict: “Superb performance machine”
This bike might have squeezed into the 5-star zone if it had been cheaper. The company was hoping to sell it for a pricey but manageable £1,500, but it’s ended up rather more than double that.. Never mind. So it’s expensive, it folds rather badly, and it’s only one- or four-speed. What’s the USP? In a word, weight. The development target was 6.5kg, and they’re claiming 6.9kg (presumably single-speed), but it’s still pretty good… almost unequalled in fact. Being light, and quick and easy to fold – albeit into a rather cumbersome package – it makes a perfect hop-on-and-off city bike for the seriously well-heeled.
Tern
Price: From £499 Production: 2011 on Rating: 4/5
Verdict: “The best of Dahon, repackaged”
When Joshua Hon broke away from his father’s company Dahon in 2011, to set up a younger, slicker outfit, we expected all sorts of exciting things, but the reality has been a very similar range, with the only real difference being in the, er, younger, slicker marketing. At least the range is simpler and easier to understand, with just five frame styles and 22 variants in all, from the 20-inch Verge to the 26-inch Joe. Prices were all over the place while former Dahon dealers were selling off their very similar stock, and in early 2014, there was a great deal of confusion, with 2012, 2013 and 2014 models being sold side-by-side. This was not helped by Tern’s decision to sell the bikes through Evans in the UK, whereas Hon Senior had landed with Raleigh, but Dahon is now with Evans, and Tern is distributed by Moore Large, hopefully to a wider range of local shops.
Dahon
Price: From £485 Production: 1982 on Rating: 4/5
Verdict: “Looking stronger in 2017, with better UK distribution”
Designed in America, but built in Taiwan, and more recently China and Macau, Dahon produces a range of neat folders, from economical 16-inch (305mm, rather than the bigger 349mm tyre) models to full-size MTBs and 700c road bikes.
In early 2010, a confident Dahon claimed to be the biggest folding bike manufacturer in the world, and it certainly offered the widest range. But within a year, the empire had split apart, with young Joshua Hon leaving to set up Tern, taking the youngest and most able designers and marketeers with him, while his father David stayed at the helm of Dahon. For while it looked as though Dahon wouldn’t survive, but David is made of tough stuff, and he’s been in the business a long time. Dahon signed a UK distribution deal with Raleigh in 2011, giving Dahon access to Raleigh’s huge dealer network, but it seems Dr Hon couldn’t resist the ‘pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap’ ethos at Evans Cycles, and this is now the primary outlet for Daghon in the UK.
Dahons have also been marketed under a variety of brand names in different countries, and this process of ‘Badge Engineering’ continues apace. In the UK, badges include Dawes, Ridgeback and Rudge. Dahon also licenses its technology to affiliated companies such as Yeah bicycles, so very similar looking machines may turn up under different brand names, sold through marine chandlers and other outlets. Dahon’s bikes have also been copied by Neobike.
Ignore the basic 16-inch Dahons, which have smaller (305mm versus 347mm) tyres than the Brompton, Tikit and Mezzo, and no suspension, so rolling resistance is horrible, and they trip up in every pothole. The specification and performance of the larger wheeled Dahons has improved out of all recognition, and they currently produce some of the lightest bikes on the market too. Dahon is best known for its 20-inch (406mm) machines, and there are plenty (some would say too many) to choose from. At the budget end, we’d recommend the Vitesse or Speed, and the elegant Mu SL, which weighs less than 9kg. There are also a number of 26-inch and 700c full-size machines available, including mountain bikes of varying sophistication.
We have numerous road-tests of Dahon models.
A to B tip:You don’t need to buy a Dahon to get a Dahon, because the machines are so widely ‘Badge Engineered’. There are also lots of old stock bargains to be had, and bikes from a year or two ago are often very similar to the latest models. Shop with caution.
Moulton TSR
Price: From £995 Rating: 4/5
Verdict: “Cheaper Moulton variants built under licence”
Some years ago, Pashley began producing mass-produced version of the Moulton bicycle, with front and rear suspension, 20-inch wheels and a steel space-frame. This APB (All Purpose Bicycle) was comfortable and rode well, even off-road with the right equipment. But at 13 to 14+kg, it was heavy, and had a solid, frumpy feel that left many owners dissatisfied. It was replaced with the TSR, a lighter, neater and rather upmarket machine, with prices starting at £1,200.
The process has now reached what was perhaps a logical conclusion, with the Pashley badges being removed and the TSRs sold as Moultons through the Moulton distribution network… all possible because Pashley now owns Moulton. Like the ‘proper’ Moultons, the TSR doesn’t fold, although most split in two, which takes a few minutes. These machines are not suitable for regular folding, so don’t expect to undertake daily commuting. Incidentally, the rumour is that the TSR is named after the British jet strike aircraft of the 1960s that promised to outfly the Americans and Russian designs, but was tragically cancelled and scrapped, along with our space project and almost everything else that looked new and exciting. Hope the bicycle doesn’t go the same way. Joking apart, these are lovely bicycles, and cheaper than you might think, but they are knocked down the list by their poor folding abilities.
We have two reviews of the Moulton APB and one of the Land Rover, but none of the TSR.
Strida Mark 3
Price: From £480 Production: 1987-1992 and 1998 on Rating: 4/5
Verdict: “Lots of style, and now a surprisingly good performer too”
After six years, the unique Strida returned to the market in 1998 as the Mark 2, but production later moved from Suffolk to Taiwan and the bike was revamped to produce the Mark 3. In China the number four is considered unlucky, so Strida produced the Mini instead, then moved on to the Mark 5. Although rare in Britain, the bikes have been a huge hit in the Far East and it is this success that has funded a gradual process of development of this unique folding bike.
For many years the bike was a single-speed, but you can now buy a two-speed with a Schlumpf crank-mounted gear set, and even a 3-speed – almost certainly the first three-speed, kick-change crank-mounted gear set ever.
Ironically, considering its UK origins, the Strida is hard to find in the UK, but it has developed into a great little bike. Constructed from aluminium and plastic, and weighing less than 10kg, the Strida has drum brakes and an oil-free toothed rubber drive belt for easy maintenance. Folding in ten seconds or even less, this is the ultimate ‘stick’ folder. A much prized fashion accessory for the cyclist with everything, and now re-engineered to perform much better. No, honestly, we rode 10 miles without the slightest problem – it’s now a perfectly practical bike. Folded size has improved too. The maximum dimension is still 113cm, but folding handlebars have cut the folded volume in half, to 130 litres (4.6 cu ft).
We have three road-tests of the Strida.
Giant Halfway
Price: From £529 Production: 2001 – 2016? Rating: 3/5
Verdict: “Stylish and practical, but undergeared and heavy.”
The Halfway is based on a Mike Burrows design, but built in Taiwan by Giant. Despite – or perhaps because of – the monoblade forks, the handling is very safe and secure. Twenty-inch wheels and a rigid alloy frame inspire confidence, particularly for those unfamiliar with small wheels. On the downside, it’s a bit heavy and the gearing is on the low side, but something of a modern classic all the same. The Halfway was joined by the Subway in 2011, a cheaper, more conventional 16-incher of dubious origins, kept hidden firmly under the counter by wise Giant dealers. This nasty little bike was supposed to retail for much the same price as the Halfway, but thankfully was dropped in 2012. The Halfway has been looking a bit old and tired, and production appears to have stopped in 2016, but do correct us if you know otherwise. Well worth buying if you can find one discounted in a dusty corner of your local Giant dealer.
We have one road-test of the Giant Halfway Multispeed.
Birdy
Price: From £1,170 Production: 1995 on Rating: 3/5
Verdict: “Unique all-purpose machine, but less attractive than it was”
The German designed/Taiwanese built Birdy epitomises a new breed of high tech, forward-looking folding bikes. The frame is made of sturdy aluminium and has both front and rear suspension, offering a smooth ride, anti-dive braking and excellent handling. Unfortunately, the UK price is now a little high, thanks to exchange rate thingies. The Birdy was starting to look a bit dated, but has been revitalised with a new monocoque frame on most models. Manufacturer Riese & Muller seems to have given up on the cheap end, and the re are now far fewer bikes, top of the range being the Rohloff, with 3-speed Sturmey transmission… no only joking, 14-speed Rohloff hub transmission. You’ll need a mortgage for that one. The Birdy weighs from 10kg, so it’s reasonably light, but rather overtaken by recent Dahon and Brompton models. Folding takes from about 15 seconds and produces a 190 litre (6.6cu ft) package, but not everyone finds the technique easy. Tyres are 18×1 3/8″ (actually barely larger than 16×1 3/8″) and the available range of tyres are mostly of quite poor quality, although things have improved. There is no specific off-road version of the Birdy, but optional knobbly tyres produce a machine that performs well on tracks and trails. The Birdy sounds a powerful contender on paper, but it’s too finicky for daily commuting and much too expensive.
We have numerous road-tests of Birdy models and two technical articles.
Moulton New Series
Price: Mentioning the price would be vulgar Rating: 3/5
Verdict: “At 16mph all you can hear is the ticking of your knee joints”
The Rolls-Royce or Morgan of cycling, depending on who you believe. Still hand-built in Wiltshire, England, Dr Alex Moulton’s radical space-frame design has stood the test of time in its latest incarnation – the New Series. Front and rear suspension, high-grade components; a bike for the connoisseur. Superbly engineered, the Moulton doesn’t fold, but splits in two like the APB. Moulton produced the first small wheelers, and his latest machines are rightly considered amongst the best in the world. On the other hand, they cost an arm and a leg, and they don’t fold.
Price: From £489 Rating: 2/5 Production: 2003 on
Verdict: “Heavy and expensive, but rides surprisingly well”
The Mobiky Genius is a rather elegant French ‘concertina’ folding bike design. Although it uses small 12.25-inch wheels and a double reduction gear to get reasonable gear ratios, the bike actually rides much better than you might expect, thanks to free-running tyres and sensible 3-speed hub gears. So you’ll look dead sexy swishing down the boulevard on your Mobiky, but rather less chic when you fold it. The bike makes a heavy (14.1kg) and rather bulky package. As is so often the case with these compact machines, we’d give it quite an enthusiastic thumbs up if you couldn’t get a Brompton for the same sort of price, but you can.
Price: £699 Rating: 1/5 Verdict: “Fabulous folder, but almost unrideable, now power-assisted”
The original A-bike Plus was replaced by the more expensive, and slightly more conventional A-bike City, with improved saddle and slightly larger 8-inch wheels, but dynamically it was not so very different. Our single star is for the fold, which is very neat, and the light weight. The bad news was that the City cost £300, and was almost unrideable – something of a flaw on a bike. We rode ten miles largely on the flat, and taking great care to avoid pot-holes. Others have ridden up the road and back. Some blogger somewhere claims that his wife has ridden a nonchalant 30 miles, which is almost beyond belief, but people do odd things. The company decided to make it more rideable by putting an electric motor in it, which added £400 to the price and made it a lot heavier, but didn’t actually make it much easier to ride. And after a week or two ours shot ball-bearings all over the road and expired. Still, Sir Clive is a smashing bloke, and we look forward to his next invention with trepidation.
Some folding bikes survive for decades, while others are extinguished overnight like shooting stars. This is usually because they are poor folders, poor riders or over-priced, but some manufacturers have been unlucky, and a few bikes have made triumphant returns. As records tend to disappear rather fast in this digital age, we’ve decided to keep this interesting and varied selection of folding failures in this black museum of curiosities. Dates soon get forgotten too, so we’re adding introduction and expiry dates where we can:
Bike Friday
Price: No UK outlets at present Production: 2007-2017
Rating: 4/5 Verdict: “Probably the best high-performance folding bike”
A high performance 20-inch (406mm) wheel folding bike from Oregon, USA that has competed and toured all over the world. Most models are made to measure, and the best known is the touring/commuting New World Tourist. Over the years Bike Friday has produced a bewildering range, from out-and-out sportsters, through off-road bikes, machines designed primarily for easy transport by air, and even tandems and recumbents. Perhaps wisely, the company has now retracted to its core range. The 16-inch Tikit is an interesting machine, taking the company into Brompton-style commuter territory. It’s a lovely bike to ride, but less practical than the Brompton in terms of folding and luggage carrying and has faded away in the UK, but is still in production.
Lightweight (from 7.3kg upwards), with quality components, most Fridays fold in 15 seconds to a package of 170 – 340 litres (6 – 8 cu ft), and can also be dismantled and packed in a hard case in about 30 minutes. The Tikit is suitable for train/bus commuting, but the other folded packages don’t lock together so are really only suitable for occasional air travellers. Unfortunately, the brand has been completely eclipsed by Airnimal in the UK, so they’re hard to find.
We have a number of road-tests of Bike Friday models and one technical article.
Breezer
Price: From £450 Production: ?? Rating: 1/5
Verdict: “Itzy and i3 were poor, but the i7 was worth considering”
When big companies put their badge on a folding bike, it’s vital that they choose well from the available machines. US company Breezer made one good decision (the i7) and two rather dubious ones (the itzy and i3). The bikes were actually made by Oyama: The little Itzy had a super-short wheelbase and was not really suitable for carrying a typical North American. The larger i3 was a rather half-hearted Brompton clone, sold in the UK as the Space Genie. OK, but against the Brompton it was completely outclassed. The i7 was a much better machine, with a decent alloy frame, 7-speed Nexus hub and some proper components. However, at $699, it was up against the cracklingly good Dahon Speed Pro and the base level Bike Friday Metro. All the same, the i7 would probably get three or even four stars on its own, but it was dragged down by it’s smaller cousins.
We have one road-test of the Breezer i3 (Oyamao Space Genie).
Kansi
Price: From £500 Production: 2011-2015 Rating: 3/5 Verdict: “Appeared overnight”
Kansi was an entirely artificial creation of Fisher Outdoor Leisure, one time UK Dahon distributor. When Fisher fell out with Dahon it got revenge by introducing its own folder brand, produced by U-bike of Taiwan. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, and good luck to ’em, but Dahon got the last laugh when the Kansi bikes were all recalled in July 2011 following a couple of frame failures. They were neatly styled machines, with some nice straightforward gear options, but completely lacking in such things as mudguards and lights, and much too expensive for what they were.
Jango Flik
Price: From £499 Production: 2011 – ? Rating: 3/5
An interesting development, but doomed to a short and cheerful commercial life. The Jango folded very quickly – you dropped the saddle stem and the wheels move towards each other, but sadly never actually met. And that’s the basic problem. It was an attractive bike, and nice to ride, if a bit low geared, but a rather disappointing folder. The saving grace was a width of only 27cm with both pedals folded, but the near one metre length and height would count against it on the train, and cause some serious issues on a bus or coach journey. The more expensive ‘V’ models were fitted with Bickerton style ‘V’ shaped handlebars that allow the stem to drop further in the quick ‘Shuttle’ fold, which is supposed to make the machine easier to manoeuvre in airports and railway stations, but the overall folded size was no smaller.
Last Price: From £130 Rating: 1/5 Verdict: “Long established fold-in-half”
The Skoda of folding bikes – the Universal was the cheapest folder available right into the new Millenium, but the Chinese challenge eventually proved overwhelming. Made in Poland, the bike looked like a 1960s-vintage ‘shopper’, which is exactly what it was. It was heavy, it didn’t fold very well or clip together, and the ride and handling were poor. Well equipped, with luggage rack, propstand and bell, the Universal was available in single speed or Sturmey Archer 3-speed variants.
We have one road-test of a Universal. (See back issues)
Merc
Last Price: £400 Rating: 1/5 Verdict: “Dysfunctional pirate copy”
The Merc was an attractive Chinese pirated clone of the Brompton, correct in most respects, and apparently upgraded from the classic British bike, thanks to a light alloy frame. The reality was a bike that weighed 13.2kg (heavier than the steel Brompton), on which almost nothing worked properly – the saddle slipped down, the brakes barely functioned, the front carrier block was a bit dodgy, and the cables got in a tangle when you folded it up. Yet it was offered for sale at the ludicrous price of £499.
The Merc briefly attracting a vociferous following who got extremely grumpy about our negative reviews:
‘It’s just as good as a Brompton…’
‘a Brompton rider stopped and offered me money for it…’, etc, etc.
We can only say that these dynamic qualities were not immediately obvious in the bike we tested, and the enthusiasts seem to have gone quiet. No doubt their bikes have fallen to bits. Brompton responded through the courts and ultimately managed to get European stocks destroyed, but they may still pop up worldwide. Certainly worth buying for its novelty value.
Mezzo
Last Price: £900-ish Production: 2004-? Rating: 4/5
Verdict: “Good idea, early detail problems, but later bikes much improved“
When the Mezzo was first shown at the 2004 Cycle show, its sporty good looks and neat engineering promised great things. But the reality with the Nexus hub-geared i4 was a little different, thanks to poor tyres, a poor hub and unambitious gearing. The d9, with a similarly under-geared version of Shimano’s normally delightful 9-speed Capreo derailleur, also proved a bit disappointing, but the bikes was later extensively revised. From July 2010, the rather square original design was joined by a Curve variant in 9-speed spec, and more recently the flagship 10-speed d10 revamped with yet another frame design and improved spec all round. It became a good folding bike, and lookied quite good value against the Brompton too, but was eventually squeezed out of existence by the Brompton’s overwhelming market dominance. A shame, because it’s basically fine.
Price: Appears to have gone to that great scrapyard in the sky. Rating: 1/5 Verdict: “Guaranteed to break the ice at parties”
A horrible short wheelbase small-wheeled folding bike that folded by, er, telescoping the mainframe. An interesting idea, but it was less stable than a more ‘conventional’ folder, heavier than most, and it folded into a ginormous package. Hence the name, one assumes. Next please!
Gekko
Last Price: From £150 Rating: 1/5 Verdict: “Absolutely no redeeming features”
We’re too kind – one star is extremely generous. A good idea, but poorly executed in China, resulting in a cumbersome, heavy, over-priced folding bike with tiny wheels, and the rolling resistance of damp putty. We wouldn’t ride this machine if it was the last bike on earth. Seriously, we would walk instead. It seems to be out of production now, but we leave it as an awful warning.
We have one road-test of the Gekko. (See back issues)
Di Blasi
Price: From £439 Rating: 1/5 Verdict: “Heavy, undergeared and overpriced”
A 16-inch Italian folding bike, the Di Blasi R24 is now out of production, but may still pop up new or second hand. Don’t buy it. It folds very quickly (about 12 seconds), but it’s a heavy machine and a horrible lump to ride. It has been replaced by the more practical R22 with 20-inch wheels, but this is still a big, heavy machine compared to the 20-inch Dahons and other more conventional designs, and at £740, it’s much to expensive. The R32 folding trike is an astonishing machine, but even heavier and more expensive. For some reason, the Di Blasi remains popular with the yachting fraternity.
We have one road-test of a Di Blasi trike. (See back numbers)
General advice on TANDEMS and Recumbents
Price: From £1,595 or $1,195 Verdict: “One day, all tandems will be built this way”
Want a tandem, but don’t have room to store it? There is now a range of folding tandems available. The Green Gear (Bike Friday) Family Tandem provides excellent value and can be set up to fit children as well as adults in the stoker position. Unfortunately, the bike is not currently available in the UK.
The Family has small wheels and splits in two, but conventional tandems, such as the Co-motion Co-pilot and the Swallow, can be fitted with S&S stainless steel couplings, allowing the frame to be split into 6 or 8 pieces. Folding is a time-consuming process, but the most compact machines can be carried by train or air in relatively small hard or soft cases. Bike Friday also produce the Two’sDay – a clever, but rather complex small wheeler, and Montague and Redlof produce economical full-size folding machines.
We have two road-tests of folding tandems. (See back issues)
Recumbents
The Toxy Flite Folding Recumbent
Tandems are pretty cumbersome, but recumbents are even worse. Partial folding or separable recumbents have been around for some time, and there are now a few innovative folding machines such as the HP Velotechnik Grasshopper, Toxy Flite, and ICE B1 & B2. There are also several folding recumbent trikes available such as the ICE Sprint 3 and Greenspeed ‘s GT3. Unfortunately the Brompton recumbent kit is no longer in production.
Was the Socovel of 1930s the world’s first electric motorcycle? Probably not, but it was referred to (in faintly dismissive terms) by ‘Nitor’ the pseudonymed columnist of The Motor Cycle in December 1959.
Built in Belgium, the Socovel consisted of a conventional lightweight frame, with three 12-volt batteries (presumably lead-acid) mounted crossways. A 48-volt motor, rated at 2.6hp, was bolted on behind, with power controlled by a twistgrip. It was evidently a success in a small way, with over 1000 made.
The Socovel Road Test
Eager to find out what this was all about, The Motor Cycle imported a Socovel in 1936, and found that it weighed 441lb, nearly half of which was accounted for by the batteries. Performance was less than scintillating, with a cruising speed of 16-20mph. The range proved to be 27.5 miles, though by the end speed had dropped to 10mph or less. As you can imagine, petrolheads at The Motor Cycle weren’t bowled over by any of this, though they were impressed by the Socovel’s hill climbing abilities – it would restart on a 1 in 7 with some wheelspin…
Twenty-odd years later, ‘Nitor,’ writing at a time when men liked nothing more than tinkering with their tappets on a Sunday morning, wasn’t convinced either: ‘It will be a long time yet,’ he opined, ‘before we are robbed of all the fun provided by poppet valves, sparking plugs and chains – and reduced to whiling away maintenance time merely by topping-up some very clever but dull and uninteresting looking fuel cell.’ Ah, how right he was.
To find bike carriage restrictions on individual railways and routes see our Bikes on Trains page covering UK bike restrictionson trains, preserved rail, rail-link ferries & buses.
This travel guide gives some general guidance. Before you do anything else, make a note of the BR Rail Fares site. Never buy tickets from a train operator or via a journey planner without shopping around first. Operators cannot be trusted to show all the available tickets, and there are some bargains out there. Look up the fares and conditions here first and check the bike rules on our Bike Restrictions page.
Bikes on Trains – can you insist on carrying your bike on the train?
No. Bicycles are banned on some specific services. According to the ‘National Conditions of Carriage’ by which all train operating companies are bound, the operator can also refuse an item of luggage if:
it may cause injury, inconvenience or a nuisance or it may cause damage to property;
there is not enough room for it;
the loading or unloading may cause delay to trains; or
it is not carried or packaged in a suitable manner. It might cause injury or inconvenience or damage to property.
In other words, the operating companies have a number of options to prevent you from taking a bicycle. Rail-replacement buses can cause extra problems. Even if the train company actively welcomes bikes, and you have pre-booked a space on the train, the bus driver is not obliged to carry it. In these circumstances it’s essential to be as conciliatory as you can. In practise, most drivers will help you to stow the bike in the luggage hold if there’s space, but you may need to remove various bits and pieces, and possibly cover the chain. If the bike is refused and it’s too far to cycle, you will be entitled to a ticket refund if the ticket agent had not specifically warned you that a rail-replacement bus would be involved on your journey.
Folding bikes
UK train passengers are permitted to carry three items of luggage free of charge. This can include two large items (such as a folding bike) measuring up to 90cm x 70cm x 30cm and one small item, such as a briefcase or handbag ‘capable of being carried in your lap if required’. As the weight limit for each package is a chunky 50kg, each passenger can carry a compact folding bike, and a substantial pile of luggage for free.
But watch out if traveling with a larger folding bike. In the past, folding bicycles traveled by rail as hand luggage under archaic rules that permitted a package of up to one metre cubed with no dimension exceeding one metre. But this is no longer the case, so folding bikes that exceed the size limit above, may – at the discretion of the operator – be charged for at a fare not exceeding the half fare for the journey. So technically, a larger folding bike may be liable to a penalty when folded, even where it could travel free and without restriction if unfolded! It’s an odd anomaly, and unlikely to be enforced on quieter lines, but watch out at busy times. And watch that 30cm width restriction – if strictly interpreted, it could include such compacts as the Mezzo, and even the Brompton comes very close.
In 2014 National Rail added a restriction on bikes with wheels bigger than 20-inches in diameter. This matters particularly to the relatively small number of owners of Dahons, Bike Fridays and Airnimals with 24-inch wheels. But it might also be a problem for bikes with 20-inch wheels if interpreted to mean the overall diameter, ie of the wheel and tyre.
Interestingly, this is only mentioned in the ‘Bikes on Trains’ leaflet, and the National Conditions of Carriage have not (yet) been updated accordingly. If your big-wheeled folder fits into that crucial 90cm x 70cm x 30cm envelope, you are technically carrying hand luggage, whatever the cycling leaflet says. If a guard’s van is available (very rare these days), the ‘one metre cubed’ rule is extended to 150cm x 150cm x 100cm, but again the luggage may technically be subject to a half fare.
Until the 1990s, folding bicycles were required to be carried in a ‘container or case’. But following the break up of the rail network and the arrival of new compact bikes, this regulation has generally lapsed. Even where it remains in force, the cyclist is now unlikely to be challenged. The only regulation applying across the network is that folding bikes should be completely folded down. However, a bag or cover is still essential when carrying a folding bike on Underground trains (particularly in the central London area) and on buses.
The rules for the carriage of folding bikes on buses (including rail-replacement buses) are slightly different to those for trains. Bus companies leave the bus driver or conductor a great deal of discretion. If a bicycle, or any other large item of luggage, looks likely to inconvenience other passengers, the bus driver will probably refuse to carry it. But drivers tend to be more generous when buses are used in place of trains during engineering works.
Folding bike rules obviously vary a great deal elsewhere in the world. From the feedback we receive, it seems you can safely transport a folding bike just about anywhere by train. But if conventional bikes are banned locally it’s best to be cautious. Once a railway official has made a decision not to allow you aboard, it’s usually an irreversible decision. If in doubt, always fold and cover the bike before entering the station.
Conventional bikes
Not quite so easy. For a brief period in the 1980s, bicycles were welcomed free of charge on most train services. But in the lead-up to rail privatisation, bikes were virtually banned. Fortunately, most of the privatised train companies have shown a more enlightened attitude. All operators are bound by the UK Conditions of Carriage, but cycle policy is left to the individual company. With more than 20 different companies, there are now more than 20 separate rule books covering different parts of the country. Generally, the situation is improving, as the train companies try to attract new business, but the latest generation of trains offer very little space for bikes and as older vehicles are withdrawn, there will be increased pressure on bike spaces.
The good news is that the rules have been liberalised. Since changes in the summer of 2006, the only remaining blanket ban covers scooters, mopeds and motorcycles. This means tandems, trailers and tricycles may well be carried, subject to local conditions. In practise, few train companies are prepared to advertise that they carry tandems or tricycles. But most do, on quiet trains at least.
Electrically-assisted bikes are a fascinating grey area. Our view is that they are very definitely allowed on trains. In the eyes of the law, they are bicycles, and they are not specifically banned on a national basis. (They are not mentioned in the Conditions of Carriage at all). But train operators can instigate local bans. And a guard who has taken a dislike to your machine may rule that it counts as a motorcycle, moped or motor scooter, and ask you to leave the train. If in doubt, be discrete, and take the battery off, thus deactivating the machine.
Some companies require a compulsory bicycle reservation. This is usually free. But if you intend to buy your tickets on the internet, book with one of the (currently five) operators that takes online bicycle bookings: C2c, Hull Trains, Great Western, South Western Railway and Trans-Pennine Express. If you book elsewhere, it may be difficult to match a cycle reservation with a seat reservation at a later date. After many ‘teething problems’, the computerised railway booking system can still be unreliable. In any event, a booking and bike ticket do not guarantee you a space on a given train.
A Code of Practice
Cycle groups have introduced a code of practice for UK rail operators. In brief, the code suggests that Train Operating Companies:
Provide customer information in advance of traveling
Improve bicycle access to stations
Provide parking for bicycles
Offer ‘sufficient’ storage space on trains for bicycles
Provide at-station information and facilities for cyclists
Operators meeting these objectives are awarded a Cycle Mark, which can be renewed on an annual basis. All cyclists are invited to help provide feedback to the scheme. You can pick up a ‘Passenger Feedback Form’ from: Cycle Mark, 35 King Street, Bristol BS1 4DZ
Our Bike/Bus page lists UK bike restrictions on UK bus, coach & tram services. Folding bikes travel free and without restriction on all coach and tram services unless stated.
If you have any official or unofficial information on cycle carriage, please
share it with us by e-mail.
We are grateful to local authorities, individual cycle users and the Cyclists Touring Club for information on cycle carriage.
Please note
For cycling routes near stations, visit Sustrans. Enter the station POST CODE in the blue box then click FIND. The resulting MAP shows routes close to the station.
Barry Doe‘s excellent rail map gives a clear picture of all UK operators and routes.
Routes: Carlisle – Borders – Berwick Folding bikes: At driver’s discretion Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Bicycles are not permitted. Covered folding bikes and other luggage are carried at the driver’s discretion.
Routes: National coach operator Folding bikes: No restrictions, but we would always recommend keeping the bike well covered and treating as normal luggage Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Bicycles must be packed flat and wrapped up.
Routes: London-Oxford Folding bikes: No restrictions but we would always recommend keeping the bike well covered and treating as normal luggage Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Most buses carry up to three bikes in the luggage hold.
Routes:Reading and Woking – Heathrow Airport,Luton Airport Station – Luton Airport Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Bicycles and tricycles are not permitted.
Covered folding bikes and other luggage are carried at the driver’s discretion. Luton Airport is only a short ride from the new dedicated railway station. For Heathrow, we suggest taking a local Great Western train to Hayes & Harlington (from Reading), or a South West Trains service to Feltham (from Woking or Reading) – see individual entries above for restrictions. Feltham is a short distance from Terminal 4. Hayes & Harlington is convenient for Terminals 1, 2 & 3 via the cycle tunnel.
Routes: Croydon – Elmers End, Beckenham Junction, New Addington Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
A vital interchange with other public transport operators in south London. Bicycles are not carried, but folding bikes are unrestricted.
Routes: Manchester – Altrincham,Bury, Eccles, Manchester Airport & Rochdale Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: No
Bicycles are not permitted, but compact folding bikes may be carried without restriction if ‘fully-folded’ and ‘fully encased’. A victory for common sense.
Routes: Birmingham Snow Hill – Wednesbury- Wolverhampton Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: No
Bicycles are not permitted. Following a number of test-cases, Centro has confirmed that ‘fully-folded’ folding bikes will be accepted without restriction.
Routes: Nottingham cross-city tram services Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Not permitted
Although NET’s publicity leaflets and website make no mention of bikes, there are areas to lock bikes at most tram-stops (lockers at Hucknall Railway Station, nearby at Trinity Square, nearby at Fletcher Gate and at Nottingham Railway Station), but bikes are not allowed on the trams themselves. Folding bikes are welcomed though, and there is plenty of space to store the bikes, even in rush hour.
Routes: Local services around Sheffield Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Bicycles are not permitted. Folding bikes and other luggage are carried at the driver’s discretion. Technically folders should be covered, but you can expect to get on with an uncovered Brompton or similar micro-folder.
Routes: Nationwide coach operator Folding bikes: No restrictions and some interurban services have interior luggage space for two folded Bromptons, but we would always recommend keeping the bike well covered and treating as normal luggage Tandems and tricycles: No, but bicycles are carried in the boot if there is room, so a tandem could be carried in theory.
Routes: Local services around Newcastle Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Bicycles are not permitted. Approved folding bikes travel without restriction on all services.
This page lists restrictions on bike carriage aboard UK ferry services. There are many regulations, but folding bikes travel free and without restriction on all ferry services, although you may have to cover the bike and carry it on, which could mean carrying the bike for some distance.
See Bike/Rail Travel Guide. If you have any official or unofficial information on cycle carriage, please share it with us by e-mail.
We are grateful to local authorities, individual cycle users and the Cyclists Touring Club for information on cycle carriage.
Please note
For cycling routes near stations, visit Sustrans. Enter the station POST CODE in the blue box then click FIND. The resulting MAP shows routes close to the station.
Routes: Plymouth – Roscoff, Poole/Portsmouth – Cherbourg, Portsmouth – Le Havre, St Malo/Caen Plymouth/Portsmouth – Santander, Portsmouth – Bilbao Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Brittany Ferries introduced peak-time cycle fares on all routes several years ago, but these were later applied all year round. Like DFDS, the company has now changed a flexible system, so there is no set fee for a bicycle, the actual fare being determined on the basis of demand at the time of booking. The supplement seems to vary from £5 to £10. Reservations: 0871 244 0744
Routes: Numerous routes between the Scottish mainland and islands Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: No restrictions
Refreshingly, bicycles still travel free on all routes, but there are no facilities for pre-booking, so there is always a slight chance that your chosen ferry may not have space. Very unlikely outside of the peak holiday season. Reservations: 0800 066 5000
Routes:Poole – Channel Islands & St Malo Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Bicycles now travel free, but they should be pre-booked when you buy your tickets, and space is not guaranteed. There is a click box on the booking form labelled ‘Bicycle, wheeled on’. Folding bicycles travel free, but are subject to a 15kg personal luggage allowance. Reservations: 0845 609 1026
Routes: Newcastle – Ijmuiden (Amsterdam), Newhaven – Dieppe, Dover – Dunkirk or Calais Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
This is not as easy as it used to be! The old idea of charging a set supplement for bicycles has gone out of the window, because in most cases there is no ‘walk-on’ fare, indeed, no fixed fare at all, although there are minimums (bike and rider) of £20 single from Dover, £28 single from Newhaven, and £5 (plus cabin) from Newcastle to Ijmuiden.
Rather bizarrely, the DFDS booking engine can only see a ‘vehicle’, so it treats a group as though they were passengers in the same machine! If you want to book a group of cyclists, you will need to book each one individually, in order to obtain tickets covering the same number of bicycles. Surely, then, it’s possible to book – for example – one touring bike at £29, plus four ‘passengers’, each carrying their own folding bikes. If you do this, the first will pay nothing, and the others just £5 each? If you’ve tested this theory, do let us know. Reservations: 0871 574 7223
Routes:Portsmouth – Ryde, Isle of Wight Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: No
Bicycles used to be banned outright, but they are now carried free of charge in the hovercraft’s ‘pannier’, whatever that might be, subject to space being available, and as there is normally only space for two bicycles, cyclists are advised to book in advance. Report to a member of staff on arrival for assistance with loading. Covered folding bikes travel as hand luggage without restriction, up to a total luggage weight limit of 30kg.
Routes: Holyhead – Dublin & Pembroke – Rosslare Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Irish Ferries says bicycles are welcome on all its services, but subject to a fare of £9 per single journey. Pre-booking is not obligatory, but might be advisable in the peak season. Reservations: 0818 300 400
Routes: Heysham/Liverpool – Douglas, Isle of Man Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Bicycles are carried free when accompanied by a fare-paying passenger. Tel: 01624 661661
Routes: Penzance – Isles of Scilly Folding bikes: Treated as conventional bikes Tandems and tricycles: No
Bicycles, including folders, are carried, but must be pre-booked, with a fee of £13 each way. As far as we know, this makes this makes the Isles of Scilly the only route (and we’re including some very tiny ferries) where you have to pay for and pre-book a folding bike. The good news is that the company is thinking of liberalising the regime from 2017. Tel: 01736 334220 Email:sales@islesofscilly-travel.co.uk
Routes: Portsmouth-Le Havre, Saint-Nazaire – Gijon Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
The bicycles supplement varies according to the route. Saint-Nazaire to Gijon the bicycle effectively travels free (foot passengers are not carried), and Portsmouth to Le Havre, the supplement is £3. In all cases, bicycles must be booked in advance when you buy your tickets. Tel: 0844 576 8836
Routes:Aberdeen- Kirkwall (Orkney), Aberdeen-Lerwick (Shetland) & Scrabster (Thurso) – Stromness (Orkney) Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Not permitted
A small, friendly company, very keen to find ways to help cyclists move around the Highlands and Islands. Bicycles are welcome and carried free on all services, the Aberdeen ferry being a useful way of avoiding bicycle restrictions on the Highland rail network when returning from the Orkney Islands. Note though, that the online booking system can only deal with one bicycle per booking, so groups should make their bookings by phone to the contact centre. Reservations: 0845 6000 449 Email:customer.services@poferries.com
Routes: Southampton – Cowes & Lymington – Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Bicycles are carried free on the vehicle ferry services to and from Yarmouth and East Cowes, but the high speed Red Jet Catamaran from Southampton to West Cowes carries only covered folding bikes as hand luggage. The new Red Jet 6, entering service in 2016 will carry bicycles on this route. Tel: 0844 844 9988
Route:Harwich – Esbjerg Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
The advance information may yet prove optimistic, but Danish company Regina claims it will start operations in March 2016, and that it will carry bicycles free on its three weekly sailings, with no need to book. Definitely the ferry for Denmark and northwest Europe.
Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Routes: Fishguard – Rosslare, Holyhead – Dublin, Liverpool or Cairnryan – Belfast
Stena now welcomes bicycles on all these UK (and France)-Ireland ferry routes, subject to a fee of £10 per single journey, bookable via the website where you’ll find a tick-box for ‘bicycle’, but you can also pay before you board. Harwich – Hoek van Holland
Stena now welcomes bicycles on all ferries on the Harwich-Hoek van Holland route, subject to a fee of £4 per single journey, bookable via the website where you’ll find a tick-box for ‘bicycle’. Other Routes:
Unless you can tell us otherwise, we know of no charge for bicycles and no booking requirements. Tel: 01233 647047 Reservations: 0990 455455
All other operators
Routes: UK – Republic of Ireland Folding bikes: No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Unless you can tell us otherwise, we know of no charge for bicycles and no booking requirements on ferries to the Republic of Ireland.
Professor Pivot answers your electric bike technical questions…
What is VOLTAGE and which Voltage is best?
Voltage can be thought of as the pressure or strength of electric power. All things being equal (see AMPS below), the higher the voltage the better, because high voltages pass more efficiently through wires and motors. Very high voltages (100+ volts) can give you a nasty shock because they also travel through people rather well, but the sort of voltages found on electric bikes (12 – 36 volts) are quite safe. In the early days,12-volt systems were used for low-powered machines, but today the industry norm is 36 volts, with a trend towards 48 volts, especially for more powerful machines. Electric mopeds and motorcycles tend to use 48 or 60 volts.
What are AMPS?
Amps can be thought of as the volume or quantity of electric power. To aid this analogy, the flow of amps is called the current, as in the flow of a river. Unlike a river, though, the speed of the current is fixed – only the volume varies.
The maximum flow of amps in a bike drive system can vary from 10 to 60 or more. A current of 60 amps requires thick wiring and quite substantial switchgear.
What are WATTS?
Once we know the voltage (or pressure) and current (or volume), we can calculate the power, or wattage by multiplying the two figures together. The number of watts in a system is the most important figure of all, because it defines the power output. A few examples of electric bikes:
The Zap motor draws 20 Amps x 12 Volts = 240 Watts
The Giant Twist Lite draws 15 Amps x 24 Volts = 360 Watts
The Powabyke draws 20 Amps x 36 Volts = 720 Watts
The Curry Drive draws 40 Amps x 24 Volts = 960 Watts
Despite having a fairly low voltage, the Curry is the most powerful motor, followed by the Powabyke and the Twist, with the Zap coming in last. It’s impossible to calculate the power without knowing both the number of amps and volts. Large machines, like cars, trains and trucks have their power measured in the same way – usually as kilowatts, or units of 1,000 watts. The old-fashioned ‘horsepower’ unit is the equivalent of about 750 watts.
I thought the legal limit for electric bikes was 250 Watts in the UK?
Well, yes and no. The legal limit refers to the continuous power output, whereas the figures above are for absolute maximum power. Most motors can give maximum output for a minute or two, but they’d melt if asked to do it all day – just like a cyclist. Obviously, maximum power is more useful than continuous power as a guide to the way a bike will climb a hill. Look at the spec of bikes on sale and you may see 200 watts, 250 watts or (illegally) 400 watts. These figures are only a rough guide to the true maximum power output.
How many watts do I need?
As a general rule, a cyclist can produce several hundred watts briefly, and one hundred watts for a reasonable length of time. To be really useful, a motor needs to produce another 100 Watts on a continuous basis, with peak power of at least 400 watts. Just to confuse things, our measurements are of power consumption – losses in the motor and drive system mean that the power output to the wheel can be much lower.
If you expect the motor to do most of the work, especially in a hilly area, you’ll want a peak consumption of 600 watts or more. On the other hand, if you prefer gentle assistance, a peak of 200 watts may be enough. For a moped, power will be measured in thousands of watts (kilowatts or kW) rather than watts. A continuous rating of one kilowatt will just about keep up with city traffic, but two or three are more useful, and motorcycles will obviously need a lot more to keep up with traffic out of town.
How big a battery do I need?
The capacity of the battery is usually measured as the amount of current it can supply over time (defined as amp/hours). However, this is useless on its own, because you’ll need to know the voltage too. By multiplying the two figures together, we get watt/hours – a measure of the energy content of the battery. Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple… but you didn’t think it would be, did you? In practice, you’re unlikely to get results that match the stated capacity of a battery, because battery capacity varies according to the temperature, battery condition, and the rate that current is taken from it.
Lead/acid batteries are tested at the ’20-Hour’ rate. This is the number of amps that can be continuously drawn from the battery over a period of 20 hours. However, an electric bike will usually exhaust its battery in an hour or two, and at this higher load, the battery will be much less efficient. So the figures for lead/acid batteries tend to look optimistic.
On the other hand, Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) batteries are rated at a 1-Hour discharge rate, so although the stated capacity of a NiCd battery might only be half that of a lead/acid battery, performance on an electric bike will be much the same. Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries (NiMH) are measured at the 5-Hour rate, so their performance tends to be somewhere between the two.
The default capcity for an electric bike battery in 2015 is 360Wh (36 volts x 10 amp/hours), but capacities are gradually increasing. In the past they have varied widely, from Powabyke’s 504 watt/hour giant (36 volts x 14 amp/hours) to the tiny 84 watt/hour pack on the early SRAM Sparc kit.
It’s best to choose a package that will provide twice your normal daily mileage. It’s difficult to guess the mileage from the watt/hour capacity, because actual performance depends on the bike and motor efficiency, battery type, road conditions, and your weight and level of fitness.
How can I measure the efficiency of an electric bike?
We measure overall efficiency by dividing the watt/hours used by the battery charger by the mileage achieved, giving a figure of watt/hours per mile. This varies according to the terrain, the weight and riding style of the rider and the type of battery and charger, but our figures are measured in exactly the same way for each test, so they should be comparable, bike against bike. The best we’ve seen is 8 watt/hours per mile, and the worst is 32… Typically, an electric bike will consume 10 – 20 watt/hours per mile. So a big battery like the Powabyke’s will give a range of between 15 miles (doing all the work in quite hilly terrain) and 50 miles (a joint effort in flat terrain). This is fine for most uses, although it’s a big, heavy battery. A typical 360Wh Li-ion battery should give a range of about 25 miles.
Do electric bikes recharge when you coast downhill?
With the exception of the Canadian BionX, the answer is generally NO. Taking into account wind-resistance, road friction and so on, there’s surprisingly little energy left over for recharging the battery, even before generator and battery losses are taken into account. In most systems the motor coasts when you ride downhill, but those that don’t (mainly electric scooters) are capable of putting back only 15% of the power absorbed climbing the hill. Regenerative systems do have their advantages though – mainly in reducing brake wear and over-heating.
Which battery type is best?
Lead-acid batteries are cheap and easily recycled, but they are sensitive to maltreatment and have a limited life. They are rare on modern bikes.
Weight for weight, nickel-cadmium (NiCd) gives more capacity, but it’s expensive and the cadmium is a nasty pollutant and difficult to recycle when the battery fails. The life is greater, which tends to compensate, but disposal problems mean that nickel-cadmium has been phased out. Nickel-metal hydride (NiMh) is theoretically more efficient still, but these batteries are more expensive, and because the capacity is measured at the more generous 5-Hour rate, the advantage is not what it appears to be. Our experience is that NiMH offers little, if any, improvement in range over NiCd. They are, however, easier and safer to dispose of when they eventually fail, and the good ones will last for a considerable time.
But NiMH is now rare, because 95% of modern electric bikes come with Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. These are more weight-efficient than the other types, and are very sensitive to abuse, and have a much shorter life even if looked after with great care. Charging and discharging must be carefully controlled to prevent the cells going into terminal meltdown, so either the charger, the battery or both will be packed with electronics. Fires are now rare(!), but initial hopes that costs would tumble proved unfounded, and these batteries are still expensive. Cheaper brands abound, but their life can be very limited. Despite these problems, the Li-ion has become the default battery. Lithium-ion Polymer (usually called Li-pol) doesn’t really offer any performance advantage in terms of weight or range of Li-ion, but it’s safer and can be moulded into interesting shapes. The life of Li-ion batteries is gradually improving, but you’re still doing well to see four years.
Which charger is best?
Swings and roundabouts here. Batteries do not take kindly to fast charging, although NiCd and NiMH are more tolerant than lead-acid, which can start very fast, but prefers a long tapering charge thereafter. A fast (sub four hour) charger makes a great difference to the flexibility of an electric machine. You can, for instance, travel for the full range in the morning, recharge while visiting a friend, and run home in the afternoon. No lead-acid charger can do this, although the best NiCd or NiMH chargers will. Newer Li-ion batteries with the control circuitry on board usually have a very simple charger, but the charge rate with this type will be relatively slow for safety reasons. An advantage is that most 36-volt designs now come with a standard 3-pin battery plug, so the chargers are often interchangeable. For basic commuting, an overnight charger is safest and kindest to the battery, but if you expect to push a high daily mileage, you’ll need something faster.
Should I choose a brushless motor?
Broadly speaking, there are three types of electric motor –
Direct Current motors – simple but comparatively heavy and slightly less efficient, and Brushless DC (BLDC) motors – smaller, lighter and more efficient over a broader speed range, but with complicated wiring Sensorless, brushless DC (Sensorless BLDC) motors – even smaller, lighter and more efficient, with simpler wiring, but slightly tricky to start
Direct Current motors have brushes to transfer power into the rotating bit. They are simple and reasonably reliable, but now very rare, fitted to abut 5% of bikes. The vast majority (around 80%) of electric bikes now use brushless DC motors. These are a bit more efficient, because they use electronics and sensors in the motor to do the bit the mechanical brushes do, but the sensors are linked to the control box by tiny wires, so they’re vulnerable to mechanical damage. A more recent development is the brushless, sensorless DC motor, fitted to about 15% of bikes, but the number is gradually increasing. This uses clever electronics to eliminate both the brushes and the sensors, so everything is simpler except the electronics, which are fiendish. Sensorless BLDC will probably take over from BLDC, but don’t rule out Direct Curent brushed motors! They may have mechanical brushes, but they’re mercifully short of complex electronics.
What should I look for in an electric bike?
We’ve put together an electric bike specification wish-list below. At the present time, there are no machines that win in every category, but the closer yours gets the better. If the salesman is unable to provide all the answers, or starts blustering or attempting to blind you with science, we’d recommend looking elsewhere. A good shop should be able to provide most of the figures in a straightforward and honest manner, but some are quite incompetent:
Weight: Less than 30kg (66lb)
Price: Obviously as little as possible, but realistically, expect to pay £1,000+
Maximum assisted speed: Not less than 15mph (legal maximum), and preferably 18mph
Peak power: More than 300 watts
Power consumption: Less than 10 watt/hours per mile
Range**: More than 25-30 miles
Battery type: NiMH or Li-ion (nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion)
Replacement battery price: As little as possible, but realistically, you’ll have to pay £300-£400 for a decent one. Whatever the price, INSIST on a two year guarantee
** You’ll need to verify this for yourself – manufacturers figures are universally dubious
A few other pointers: If you are expecting to tackle very steep hills (in excess of 17%, or 1 in 6), we’d recommend a Crank Drive motor. This type puts power through the rear gear system and can be fine-tuned to suit almost any environment. It’s the best system if you can afford it. The more common Hub Motor effectively has only one gear, and although some are very powerful, it will prove less efficient in a really hilly area. For most other purposes a hub motor is fine, but avoid Friction Drive unless you intend to make light use of the bike. The roller and/or the tyre tend to wear out in a few hundred miles.
Czech-based company with Chinese made hub motor machines, selling in central and western Europe. Bikes are based on well-known Bafang motor systems. AGOGS also act as resellers of Protanium bikes.
A range of city, touring and trekking bikes fitted with high-quality Heinzmann hub motors and also ‘specials’ such as the unique Smike with detachable sidecar.
Another range featuring Bosch and Kalkhoff Impulse technology. Like Kalkhoff and Raleigh, Rixe are part of the giant Derby cycle group, and all have similar offerings.
German Panasonic drive machines with a peculiarly British marketing slant and a practical looking spec including rack with child seat mount. LOOK TO BE DISCONTINUED
FIRST PUBLISHED February 2012 Gocycle, Ultramotor, Brompton
This humble organ would never stoop so low as to spread gossip and innuendo about respectable manufacturers. That said, strange things are happening to Gocycle and others, and one feels duty bound to report them, under the much abused journalistic principle that exposure might be in the public interest. Or put another way, if the public are interested, they will continue to purchase this scurrilous rag.
Gocycle issues
First for dissection is GoCycle, an interesting British demountable electric bike introduced by Richard Thorpe’s Karbon Kinetics (KKL) in early 2009. Despite a zillion hours of bench-top fatigue testing and the attention of multi-gender, multi-ethnic focus groups, the GoCycle seems to have suffered from a few issues whilst in production, but nothing terminal, and the Mole for one rather enjoyed its jaunty ride and useful take-apart foldability.
In early 2011, stocks of the optimistically named G1 had been depleted, and the expectation was that an altogether whizzier G2 version, complete with Li-ion battery and other novelties, would follow after a decent interval.
After rather a long gestation, the G2 was finally launched in September 2011, but no bikes followed, and the company went quiet, before announcing in November that Singaporean company Flextronics would be its manufacturing partner.
Judging by the press release, there is clear synergy between KKL and Flextronics. If nothing else, they both speak the same impenetrable gobbledygook: KKL announced that the deal would enable it, ‘…to capitalize on growing international demand for the Gocycle product portfolio by leveraging Flextronics’ advanced manufacturing solutions and global supply chain logistics capabilities’. Nice and clear. Flextronics responded that Gocycle would be, ‘an exciting addition to our diverse Clean Tech solutions portfolio.’ We hope they’ll be very happy together.
Flextronics is one of these companies you can’t easily get a handle on, if only because it’s hard to understand what they’re on about. In the old days, a manufacturing company manufactured things with spanners and wrenches, but Flextronics’ literature speaks disappointingly about ‘solutions’ rather than products: High Reliability Solutions, High Velocity Solutions, Integrated Network Solutions, and those all important Clean Tech Solutions.
Judging by similar tie-ups (Flextronics seems to manufacture electric motorcycles for US company Brammo), Flextronics takes care of all the manufacturing hassles, leaving the innovators to innovate.
This brings us no nearer to actually getting to grips with where GoCycle stands, and where it might be going. KKL has been strangely quiet since the merger/take-over/partnering solution. A few 3,000 Euro ‘limited edition’ G2R models were apparently let loose in Europe back in November 2011, but those pre-production bikes seem to have disappeared without trace. Meanwhile, the word is that the G2 will appear in March 2012, a full 13 months after the last G1 was sold. At this rate it will be selling to a completely new generation of cyclists.
Talking of solutions, a common solution to manufacturing woes these days is to be taken over by an Indian company, the subcontinent apparently being flush with takeover cash, despite receiving a reported £1.4 billion in UK aid each year, much to the fury of the Daily Mail.
Ultramotor joins Hero
This was the jolly fate of Ultra Motor, the electric bike manufacturer which shed its much bigger Taiwanese subsidiary, before going wheels up in November last year. Within a few weeks, the parent company had been bought for an undisclosed sum by Hero Eco, a newly formed division of an Indian company that started making bicycles in the 1950s and now has an annual turnover of more than a billion pounds.
To Hero, Ultra Motor cost peanuts, and will be used to fuel its relentless global expansion. The intention is to sever links with China and Taiwan, once existing contracts have been worked out, and transfer production to India. Hero Eco is expected to achieve turnover of £200 million within five years, and somehow you just know it’ll hit the target.
Brompton – where’s the Beef?
Back in dear old blighted Blighty, Brompton continues to do well, with buoyant sales and healthy finances, despite or perhaps because of – swingeing price increases of nearly 8% on some models.
All jolly good, but what seems to be missing from Brompton these days is the engineering innovation.You know the sort of thing: gears, tyres, wheels – the spinning bits that turn a bicycle from a static display piece into something useful.
Between 2005 and 2009, Brompton introduced three new variants, a singlespeed hub, lightweight titanium options, a wide-ratio geared hub and new tyres. In the following three years, the company introduced, er, a cosmetic pedal, an alloy seat pillar (later quietly withdrawn), a jacket, a ‘unique’ T-shirt, some limited edition graphics and one solitary engineering advance, the taller ‘H’ type handlebars.
The power-assisted Brompton variant was expected to put the stamp of authority on the abilities of the new management team, but the project seems to have gone on the backburner. According to Brompton’s own website, ‘The pursuit of improvements is the lifeblood of any innovative and ground-breaking manufacturer’. As our colourful U.S. cousins might respond, ‘Where’s the beef?’
Whether you believe the catastrophic predictions being made by some scientists, or prefer the lower key approach of others, there’s no doubt the world is heading for uncertain times, thanks to our misuse of resources, primarily over-consumption of ‘fossil’ fuels. But we can ALL do something about it.
Reducing or eliminating car use
Motor vehicles are a very real problem. More than a quarter of all CO2 put into the atmosphere in the UK comes from transport, and nearly all of that from the road transport sector. A typical two-car household will consume 77 kW of energy per DAY just running the cars. That’s more than the energy consumption of a typical home. Just think about that for a minute – we are using more energy travelling around than we are cooking, bathing, keeping our houses light and warm, watching TV and every other power-consuming activity. There are many ways to reduce your reliance on the car. We use bicycles for short journeys, and the train for long journeys. In between, we use electric bicycles and folding bikes that can be carried by train or bus. By these means, we have more or less eliminated our transport energy consumption.
A folding bicycle enables you to integrate your life with often irregular and poorly integrated public transport. For more information, we suggest starting with the page Why Choose a Folding Bike? More recently, electric-assist bicycles have begun to make a real impact. Many people have now swapped a second car for an electric-assist cycle. For more information, we suggest starting with the page Why Choose an Electric Bike?
Reducing energy use in the home
By a number of measures we reduced the energy consumption of our home (plus the A to B office and all electric bicycle charging) from the national average of about 70 kW to 22.5 kW per day. More information can be found in A to B 53 – see Back Numbers for more information.
Generate your own power
Not as easy as it sounds, but in July 2006 we moved house and our new home had an unshaded south-facing roof, making it ideal for Solar Photovoltaic panels that generate electric power from the sun. Once again, full details in A to B 56, see Back Numbers for more information.
Obviously moving house caused a great deal of disruption (and extra CO2!), but things soon settled down. We fitted cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and double glazing, and in mid-October 2006 our Solar PV roof came on stream with the roofersdublin.net dublin services. There were still many problems – our wood-burner was not yet fitted and we were cooking electric while the gas supply was sorted out (this would run on for months), but the table below indicates our daily energy usage when the PV was first fitted. Total electricity consumption is something of an estimate, because our digital house to grid meter is unable to run backwards, so we have to estimate how much power is being exporting to other nearby houses. We’ve assumed that about 3kWh of our daytime power generation is actually being used in the house, with the remainder being exported. On this basis (reasonably accurate) we have done quite well, actually crossing the barrier into carbon neutrality in the first week of April 2007. Since then, we have regularly crossed that magic barrier in June, July and August.
Our Average Daily Power Consumption
Average Daily Power Consumption
Month / Year
Notes
Gas(kWh)
Grid Electricity(kWh)
Solar Electricity(kWh)
Solar Hot Water(kWh)
Total Per Day(kWh)
% from Renewables
Running Annual Average
October 2006
We had inherited an inefficient gas central heating system, which accounts for almost all of that 29 kW a day, despite sparing use. The good news is that our wood burner was finally installed on 4th November, and the central heating was finally turned off. October is a bad time for Solar PV, but the last week was very good, and for the three weeks the solar PV was in operation, we generated 30% of our electric power this way. How will the woodburner get on? How much sunshine will we see? Find out next month!
29.0
7.6
3.0
–
39.6
8%
–
November 2006
Wow! What a difference a month makes! The woodburner has proved up to the task of heating the whole house, and runs well on recycled timber of various kinds. This has more or less eliminated our gas useage (we only turn the boiler on for baths). It’s also been a good month for PV. The result is 16% (plus the wood, of course) from renewable sources.
8
10.1
3.7
–
21.8
17%
–
December 2006
A miserable month. Very little sun and increasing electricity consumption. The only good news is that the gas boiler has barely been used at all.
1.5
10.9
1.6
–
14
11%
–
January 2007
Continuing nasty weather, but it’s a amazing how a few bright mornings can generate a lot of PV power, keeping the percentage up despite growing demand. Over one weekend, we produce more than 10 kW. Our overall electricity consumption is up however – partly space-heating in a child’s bedroom, but also our new dishwasher! Can we bring consumption back down?
2.3
14.1
2.3
–
18.7
12%
–
February 2007
Some scientists think the recent pattern of hot summers and cold, wet, stormy winters will become the norm. If so, our power generation will be very seasonal! Despite some terrible weather, there were a handful of clear, bright days in February, some producing in excess of 10 kW. The mean of 4.3 is a big advance, and with slightly lower demand, helped to push the solar contribution up to 25%.
2.5
9.3
4.3
–
16.1
27%
–
March 2007
Interesting to see solar energy double in February and double again in March. Despite rather high consumption, that’s enough to get us very close to 50% from solar. Incidentally, if the energy useage seems high, it covers our business, home and all electric bike transport, so pretty low considering. We’re working hard to cut household and office consumption.
1.8
2.3
8.6
–
12.7
68%
–
April 2007
Super-fine weather in early April resulted in a week or so when we were net exporters of energy, but across the month as a whole, we narrowly failed to beat that 100% target. All the same, 98% from renewable sources overall is quite good going for the time of year.
1.24
-1
10.6
–
10.8
98%
–
May 2007
A mixed bag of weather in May drops our home generation total. But towards the end of the month we install three Schott solar water panels to back up the PV and replace our aging gas boiler with a new condensing boiler designed to accept solar pre-heated water . This should reduce our energy consumption further, but will we simply use more of this wonderful new source of hot water?
1.7
-0.5
9.6
–
10.8
89%
–
June 2007
New boiler and new pre-heating panels have meant a bit more luxury, and a near halving of our gas consumption. Disappointingly, two weeks of terrible weather knocked back our solar power from what should have been the best month of the year.
0.99
-0.7
8.7
–
9
97%
–
July 2007
These figures are a little difficult to interpret: SOLAR ELECTRICITY: It was one of the wettest (and darkest) Julys on record – solar electricity generation was lower than it might have been! GRID ELECTRICITY: With builders working in the house almost every day, baking for a family party and other odds and ends, we used more grid electricity than we might have expected, but overall consumption is down because part of the load for the dishwasher, washing machine and shower is now provided by gas GAS: The new pre-heating boiler works well, and has reduced electricity demand, but we’re using more gas! Some fine-tuning might be useful : On hot days, hot water is supposed to flow from the solar tank direct to the taps, leaving the boiler off. It does, but the boiler often cuts in unnecessarily. Something to look into when the last bits of plumbing arrive SOLAR HOT WATER: Overall energy consumption appears to be up, because we’ve recorded the amount of solar hot water produced, which has little to with the amount used. The process of getting energy from the roof to the bath is rather inefficient, but it’s free energy, and even if we only manage to use a quarter of it, we’re still cutting our fossil fuel consumption. By managing the solar supply better, we should be able to improve on these figures!
1.4
-1.6
9.3
4 est
13.1
102%
–
August 2007
Our best ever result, thanks to two weeks of more or less unbroken sun. All the same, the days are getting shorter, so we have to expect lower power figures from now on.
0.8
-1.9
9
3.9
11.8
109%
–
September 2007
Oh dear! Not a good month for various reasons. Builders still using a lot of power, which explains our relatively high electricity consumption, but the gas is a bit of a mystery. One possibility is that we’re simply using the solar system to have more hot baths!
2.9
1.8
7.9
3.4 est
16
71%
–
October 2007
This is more the sort of thing we were hoping to achieve. Producing 50% of your energy from renewable sources in October really is not bad in the UK. Gas consumption is still higher than we hoped, but it’s good to see the solar water still coming on stream almost every day, pre-heating the cold feed water.
3.4
3.5
4.8
2.1
13.8
50%
62.6%
November 2007
The lack of pre-heat to the water tank (zero on many damp, dark days) shows in the higher gas consumption. And it’s been a bad month for solar electricity too. All things considered, we’re lucky to have produced 25% of our energy.
5.1
7.4
2.9
1.3
16.7
25%
63.3%
December 2007
Several changes – a new more efficient washing machine, and a new gas/electric cooker, instead of the electric only model. And a pretty miserable month.
6.3
8.2
1.6
0.7
16.7
14%
63.5%
January 2008
A new baby has added a lot of extra energy consumption in the short-term. For two or three nights, we kept the central heating on, and of course, there’s a lot more washing! The other change, just noticeable in the figures, is a new gas/electric hybrid cooking stove. As we were previously all-electric, this has increased gas consumption a little and reduced electricity use by about the same amount.
7
7.8
2.8
1.2
18.8
21%
64.3%
February 2008
Not a warm and pleasant month, but plenty of sharp, cold frosty mornings. These are good for us, because the solar water and PV panels work extremely well, even with temperatures near or below freezing.
4.8
5.0
5.2
2.2
17.2
43%
65.6%
March 2008
Disappointingly high gas and electricity consumption this month. Hard to explain, but a baby means a lot of washing, and we used the central heating on two days – it’s a bit scary how fast the gas consumption can rise with just a few hours of central heating
6.2
4.4
6.8
2.9
20.3
63%
65.2%
April 2008
That’s a bit more like it, but we will have to get used to the idea of our consumption being higher now there are four of us.
3.5
-1.1
9.4
4.0 est
15.8
85%
64%
May 2008
Slightly down due to grotty weather.
3.4
-0.9
9.0
3.8
15.3
84%
63.7%
June 2008
Excellent weather and our best solar month yet.
2.4
-4.3
11.8
5.0
14.9
113%
65%
July 2008
Weather going downhill again. Gas consumption is stubbornly high – bit of a mystery, because the new cooker uses gas only for the rings, and the boiler should be pretty efficient. Electricity use is low, despite all the washing and cooking.
2.5
-1.0
9.4
4.0 est
14.9
90%
65%
August 2008
An appalling month – cloudiest August for 40 years, hence the very poor results. Add on considerable extra energy consumption for various reasons and it’s by far the worst result we’ve ever seen in August, and broadly similar to March.
4.5
3.1
7.4
3.2
18.2
58%
64%
September 2008
Better weather, but too late in the summer to make much of it. Our consumption remains stubbornly high, but that’s the impact of having a baby in the house, and a bigger busier office.
3.0
2.4
7.0
3.0 est
15.4
65%
65%
October 2008
Better weather, but too late in the summer to make much of it. Our consumption remains stubbornly high, but that’s the impact of having a baby in the house, and a bigger busier office.
4.6
4.7
4.6
2.0
15.9
42%
59%
2008 Nov
A miserable month.
5.9
8.9
2.3
1.0
18.1
18%
59%
December 2008
A relatively good month for solar power production, especially the PV panels which like the very cold weather we’ve been having, but the cold weather has meant several boosts from the gas-powered central heating, and entertaining at Christmas has added extra dishwasher use, and extra electricity consumption from other sources too. All things considered, we’ve done well to produce 14% of our power.
7.3
9.9
2.0
0.9
20.1
14%
58%
Jan, Feb, Mar 2009
Everything thrown at us, from snow to a big freeze, but some lovely sunny days too, so quite a good result.
Once upon a time, any 17-year-old could ride any powered two-wheeler of unlimited size and performance – now it’s a little more complicated. The law applying to your electric motorbike depends on the maximum speed of the machine, see below for details.
If an electric motorbike is restricted to 15mph, has a motor of 250 watts output or less, and has pedals, it is legally an electric bicycle and can be ridden by anyone aged 14 or over. They require no registration documents, number plates, tax disc or MOT. The rider does not need to be in possession of a licence. These bikes are not listed on this page.
And the excellent news in 2015 is that the UK government has finally agreed to bring electric motorcycles and scooters in line with electric cars, by offering grants. A total of ‘up to’ £7.5 million will be available to give 20% off the purchase price of electric bikes, capped at £1,500 per machine.
30mph Electric Motorbikes
If an electric motorbike is restricted to 30mph, the law treats it as a 30mph 50cc petrol scooter. They cannot be ridden on motorways. Riders must wear a helmet and the motorbike needs a registration document, number plate and (once it’s three years old) an MOT. Electric motorbikes must carry a tax disc, but as with all electric vehicles, road tax is free.
If you don’t have a car licence:
Can be ridden by anyone aged at least 16 with a Provisional moped licence and a CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) certificate. These riders have to wear L-plates and cannot carry a pillion. To ride without L-plates, they must take a further practical and theory test. CBT costs £70-£100, and includes both off-road and on-road riding and training. The pass certificate is valid for two years, or if you pass the car test in the meantime, lasts forever.
If you do have a car licence:
If your Full car licence was obtained before 1st Dec 2001, you can ride a 30mph electric motorbike without L-plates or a CBT certificate. If it was obtained after 1st Dec 2001, you must have a CBT certificate first.
30mph+ Electric Motorbikes
These are treated as small motorcycles. Full car licence holders can no longer ride any of them without a valid CBT certificate. But with CBT, they can ride for the life of the CBT (two years), with L-plates – no passengers or motorway riding allowed. There is also a power limit of 11Kw/14.6bhp.
All the 30mph+ motorbikes and motorbikes listed on our Electric Motorbike Price Guide come into this category, apart from the Vectrix VX-1 and Zero ranges, plus the Quantya Track (which is off-road only), which exceed the power limit. To ride a Vectrix or Zero, car licence holders (and anyone else) will have to take the motorcycle theory and practical tests.
From our magazine reviews we’ve seen folding bikes come a long way since the early days and you can now expect a bike that has virtually the same performance characteristics as a full-sized bike. From folding mountain bikes to super-compact bikes, there’s practically a folding bike to fit every need.
Advantages of Owning a Folding Bike
Folding bikes used to be heavy, crude, hard to ride, slow to fold, and once in a while they collapsed in a heap. But in the early ’90s that all changed as rail operators and airlines began to tighten restrictions on conventional bike carriage. Fortunately, bikes that could be treated as hand luggage continued to travel free, and so the concept of a super-compact foldable bike caught on.
Today there are more than 150 folding bikes, and thanks to developments in small tyre technology and frame materials, the weight, ride quality and performance of the best is similar to that of their rigid cousins. Foldable bikes offer five primary advantages over conventional machines:
Free and unrestricted carriage on public transport
Relatively thief proof
Space-saving at home and elsewhere
urban multi-modal travel (such as rail/folding bike) is usually cheaper than using a car
High resale value
Not all foldable bikes fit in a suitcase, or fold in seconds, but they can be made significantly smaller when you’re not in the saddle. And they generally travel free and without booking restrictions on rail, bus, underground, ferry or air services. It’s that freedom to travel anywhere with your bike that gives folding bikes a magic quality. A folding bike can open up entirely new ways of travelling.
Choosing a Folding Bike
The more you pay, the lighter the machine. Expect to pay £500 or less for a 14kg clunker, £450 for a mid-range 12kg machine, or £1,000+ for something close to the exotic 10kg mark. That might sound expensive, but folding bikes keep their value. A second-hand Brompton, Birdy or Bike Friday will cost almost as much as a new machine, so it’s generally better to buy new if you can afford it.
Folded size is important too. If you are just carrying a couple of bikes into the country at the weekend by car or train, almost anything will fit the bill. But if you expect to commute by air, rail, bus, or metro, you’ll need a really compact machine that folds quickly. And to keep ahead of bike thieves it needs to be light, compact and quick to fold, or you’ll soon give up and put it back in the garage.
Small wheels usually give lighter steering and a harder ride, but forget all the stories about wobbly handling, hard work and unusably low gears. Folding bikes tend to be more manoeuverable than traditional bikes; they’re lighter; and most offer a low step-thru frame. They also tend to come in one size suitable for all the family, with a few quick adjustments.
Folding Bikes with Full-sized Wheels
If you really can’t live with small wheels, there are now a few folding bikes with conventional wheels, mainly from Dahon and Montague. These ‘full size’ folding bikes start at about £200. Other good full-size bikes include the Montague, and the Redlof range. Not currently available in the UK, the Redlof is widely distributed in the USA as the CariBike.
If you insist on a ‘conventional’ machine, why not make your own bike separable? It’s not as difficult (or as dangerous) as it sounds. US engineering company S&S Machine produces a range of frame couplings that are claimed to be stronger than the original tubes.
Grand Tourer Folding Bikes: 20-inch wheels and above
The real ‘compact’ folding bikes have wheels measuring 20-inches or less in diameter. As a general rule, bikes with 20-inch wheels perform well, but fold slowly, and produce a large (if lightweight) package. The best-known 20-inch bike is the Bike Friday, made by Green Gear in Oregon, USA. The company build custom-made MTBs, tourers, racers, triathlon machines and a new recumbent, with prices starting in the region of £1,000 or US$1,000..
There are much cheaper 20-inch machines, such as the Raleigh Boardwalk. It’s heavier than the Bike Friday and it doesn’t fold or ride with the same finesse, but it costs only £270, which gives some compensation.
It’s also worth mentioning the Moulton APB range. These machines aren’t really foldable bikes (they actually unbolt into two halves), but they will fit into a car boot, and have wonderful suspension, suitable for use off-road. Don’t buy one if you intend to commute regularly on the train, though. Most experienced APB owners split their bikes only in an emergency – it takes several minutes.
Super-compact Folding Bikes: 16 or 18-inch wheels
Bikes with 16 or 18-inch wheels have a more limited range, but with the right tyres and components, the best are capable of 50-100 mile rides. Generally, these are amongst the most compact and fast-folding machines, zipping down to suitcase dimensions in 20 seconds or much less.
Small wheels can give a harsh ride, so suspension is a must if you are riding any distance. These bikes are sufficiently compact to be wheeled around the supermarket, carried nonchalantly onto a bus, or even kept under your desk.
The British-made Brompton is king of the 16-inch bikes. It gives an excellent ride (thanks in part to rear suspension), it’s sturdy, and it folds very quickly to a smaller package than any other bike on the market. They cost from £600 and can be fitted with a neat range of quick-release luggage. Any downside? It’s a bit heavy at 11.2kg plus – if you want a lighter bike with a better ride the ‘Superlight’ Bromptons start at £1,125. The 18-inch German/Taiwanese Birdy has a light aluminium frame and full suspension, at the expense of a larger folded package but a price tag of £1,200 to £2,200. You can even specify off-road tyres, turning this road bike into a great little performer on tracks and trails.
Very Small Wheeled Folding Bikes: sub 16-inch
Below the 16-inch bikes are machines with 16×1.75 or 16×1.5 tyres. Confusingly, these measure 305mm across the rim, and little more than 15 inches overall. They are generally less sprightly on the road than the true 16-inch tyres. These bikes rarely offer suspension, and tend to get by with soft squidgy tyres that can make pedalling hard work. Strangely, most of them produce a larger folded package than the Brompton, despite their smaller wheels.
The best known 16×1.75 manufacturer is Dahon, and its 2011 offshoot Tern. Although Dahon bikes start at around £500, the company also ‘badge-engineers’ folding bikes for other manufacturers, and these can be much cheaper. We should also mentuion the unique Strida – a revamped version of the ‘stick’ folder from the 1980s. It has only one gear, but it’s light and relatively cheap.
At the bottom of the heap are a whole range of good, bad or indifferent, mostly Far-Eastern folding bikes. These tend to be heavy, with dodgy folding mechanisms, but they can be very cheap – from £100.
Choose the right folding bike and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without one!
Judith and Neil Forsyth are pensioners living in a small town in Southern Germany. They have written a number of cycle touring guide books in English, set mainly in SW Germany. They took up writing guide books both as an attempt to ward off Alzheimer’s Disease and because they realised that at that time there were only guides in German about cycling in Germany. The publishing industry showed no interest in the books and so the Forsyths published a few books themselves. Later they adapted these books as e-books which can be ordered from Amazon and Smashwords. Cicerone has published one of their books: “Cycle Touring in Switzerland”. They are occasional contributors to “A to B” and similar arcane publications.
They have a website bicycletouringeurope.eu and write two blogs: http://europeancycling.blogspot.de/ – about life and cycling in Germany, and http://hiking-rambling-walking.blogspot.de/ – reports on their rambles.
Travelling Europe
Although many of us have a dream of cycle touring where we set off from home for six months to reach Gibraltar via Tromso, Helsinki and Athens or to visit the Black Sea coast via Hook of Holland, Heidelberg and Vienna, most of us have limited time to go on holiday. Even we pensioners cannot leave our modest little home for too long, because the lawn needs mowing or the flower beds need weeding. The first question when planning a spot of bicycle touring is, how do we get there? When travelling to Western Europe the answer to this question is often the plane, with the train being used for the last few miles. Railways in continental Europe are fortunately more cyclist-friendly than those in Britain. However railway operators sometimes make travel difficult for folks with bicycles, not to mention tricycles! The poor cyclist has to deal with a number of national organisations with different regulations in each country. We hope to find a way through the forest of tickets, websites and regulations to help the cyclist travel economically and trouble free through Europe.
A very useful starting guide to railways, both European and worldwide is the www.seat61.com website. We also enjoy the eclectic and interesting “Hidden Europe” magazine and its associated website and newsletter which offer very useful hints from time to time.
RailEurope Booking Form
How do I book a bicycle space? – Bicycle spaces need to be booked at the same time as you book your seat. To make your booking, phone the Rail Europe call centre or visit their London Travel Centre as bike spaces can’t be booked online.
You have three options if you and your bike are travelling to the Continent via the tunnel:
Fold it – Fold or dismantle your bike. Place it in a bike bag (90 x 120cm) with the saddle, handlebars and wheels removed, or in the case of a genuine folding bike, just neatly folded up. Carry it on board yourself as part of your luggage allowance.
Reserve a place for your bike on your train – On the London to Paris and Brussels routes, you can reserve a place for a bicycle on your train. To make a reservation or find out more call Eurostar on 0844 822 5822 or visit the EuroDespatch Centre in person at St Pancras International. Charges are £30 one way and you’ll need to quote your Eurostar reference or show your ticket.
Use the registered baggage service – A registered baggage service operates between London and Paris, Brussels and Lille. It does not guarantee that your bike will travel on the same train as you. However, delivery to your Eurostar destination station within 24 hours after registration. is guaranteed. You can book this service on the day of travel or send your bike before your journey, so it will be ready to collect when you arrive. Charges are £22 and you’ll need to show your Eurostar ticket or booking reference when you register. The charge is non-refundable but it may be exchangeable if space allows before your departure date. Unfortunately, tandems are verboten due to their length, unless you can dismantle them so that they are the same length as an average bike. More information about the registered baggage service can be obtained by calling 0844 822 5822.
Eurostar rail services and the Channel Tunnel Shuttle are very different things. The first takes you to destinations in France and Belgium (plus The Netherland and Germany soon), while the latter takes you from Folkestone to Calais. Unlike motorists, you are not allowed to ride your bike onto the Shuttle trains (yes, a big disappointment), but instead you get picked up at your local hotel, with the bike travelling in a trailer, while you and your luggage ride in a minibus. At the other end, you will be taken to a convenient local hotel, or presumably dropped wherever you like. Up to six bikes can be carried this way, and you have to give 48 hours notice. Reviews seem quite positive: www.eurotunnel.com/uk/traveller-info/vehicles/bicycles/
Over – Ferries
For many Britons, the trip across the Channel by ship is a major part of the holiday. It may be easier to reach a Channel or East Coast North Sea port than to go to London or Kent to catch Eurostar trains. Crossings may well be cheaper. The prices shown in the Cost column are the cheapest single fare for a cyclist with a bicycle about 1 June 2016. Some of the overnight ferries demand that passengers book a Pullman (reclining) seat or a cabin. This is reflected in the price. We would always recommend a cabin, unless you are one of those lucky souls who can sleep anywhere. Overnight trips offer dinner and breakfast. These are not included in the fares shown, but booking these in advance reduces the price. In our experience using the shipping line’s website often yields the cheapest fares. Generally the earlier you book the cheaper the ticket.
Ca £100 for a passenger and bicycle, Pullman seat £10, 2-berth cabin £85
Check out Stena Line’s Dutchflyer rail & sail tickets to travel by train from any Greater Anglia station to any Dutch station for between £42 and £79, but beware rush hour restrictions in GB and NL for non-folding bicycles. Dutch Railways bike day ticket costs €6.10.
In theory a car can average a high speed, but in practise speed often falls below 10mph in cities. The problem is congestion – motorcycles get around this to some extent, but they’re still confined to the road network. An electric bike can maintain a higher average speed than a bicycle, yet take advantage of the full network of cycle facilities, giving access to routes that cars and motorcycles cannot reach. The result is often a faster door-to-door journey time than any other mode. And by nipping along the relatively uncongested cycle network, but eliminating hills and headwinds, electric bikes tend to be the most consistent mode of travel.
No Sweat!
Sweat may not be a serious issue when you’re out for a leisure ride, but it’s more important if you’re cycling to work, and arriving at work sticky puts a lot of people off cycling. Although some employers are rather grudgingly providing showers and other facilities for cyclists, the vast majority have no intention of doing so. An electric bike eliminates the problem at source. Oddly enough, you won’t sweat on an electric bike, even if you put in the same amount of effort as you do on an ordinary bike. This is a matter of physics as well as exertion – higher road speed and greater air flow mean instant sweat evaporation. In hot weather, it’s possible to maintain a normal schedule by transferring a bit more load to the electric motor. In colder weather – or if you feel in need of exercise – just throttle back, or turn the motor off.
Safety
It sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? But the mathematics is compelling. Think of a steep and busy road, with cars climbing at 30mph. If you previously slogged up the hill at 6mph, but can tackle the same gradient at 12mph with an electric bike, you will see 33% fewer cars, and they will pass you at 18mph rather than 24mph. Or at least, we think that’s correct. Whatever the figures, there’s no doubt that an electric bike helps to keep you out of danger. The same general principle applies to road junctions and roundabouts – the faster your acceleration, the sooner you can get out of trouble. And with no need to rush the hills, you won’t be tempted to ride downhill at breakneck speed… another useful safety feature..
Hill Climbing
That may sound obvious, but it’s the primary advantage. A good electric bike effectively flattens hills, increasing your average speed and eliminating the ‘groan’ factor when a gradient comes into view. Provided you supply a reasonable amount of effort, you can expect to climb hills of 1:10 (10%) on an electric bike with ease, and clear a maximum gradient of 1:7 (14%), or even 1:4 (25%) with the right bike. In hilly country, the effect is nothing short of miraculous.
Electric Bike Running Costs
Purchase cost is a little more than a conventional bike, mechanical wear and tear is about the same, and electricity is so cheap as to be largely irrelevant, but there is an extra expense in terms of battery depreciation. Consequently, an electric bike costs more to run – typically 8 – 12 pence per mile against 3 – 7 pence per mile for a non-assisted bike. [1]. However, electric bike running costs should really be compared with those of a moped, car, or public transport, typically 20-40p per mile by bus, 20-60p by train and 30-150p for a small car.
Motorised, but no Red Tape!
Electric bikes are bicycles in the eyes of the law, so they require no tax, insurance, MoT or licence. You can ride one while disqualified, or after a couple of pints… at your own risk, of course. You CAN get into trouble, but nothing you do will affect your driving licence providing the bike is within the law. You are of course free to insure the machine if you wish, but there’s no compulsion to do anything but enjoy yourself!
Personal Fitness
Surely a conventional bike will keep you fitter? That, of course, depends how much – if at all – you use it. Research [2] has found that 46% of conventional bikes are used only once or twice a week, with a further 30% being used once a fortnight or even less. By contrast, a 2001 survey of electric bike owners reveals that a third ride their bike at least once a day and 81% use the bike at least once a week [3]. The figures confirm our experience that an electric bike typically gets used at least twice as often as a conventional machine. Because riding an electric bike is a great deal more enjoyable in hilly country, into strong winds, or when carrying heavy loads, users tend to make better use of them. The motor provides up to half the effort, but more regular use means more exercise for the rider.
Electric Bike Fuel Consumption
Electric bikes are the most fuel efficient mode of transport in everyday use. Typical fuel consumption is 8-16 watt-hours per mile, or something like a tenth as much as a small motorcycle. In old money, that’s the equivalent of 800-2,000mpg.
Sustainable
This is a bit weird, but the evidence is very compelling. Ride a normal bicycle and you will have to top up with extra calories at Tescos. Producing and transporting that food takes a lot of energy, and it’s typically more than the electric bike battery needs to do the same amount of work. Depending on the source of the electricity and the air-miles of the food, an electric bike is responsible for 5.8-13.7g/CO2 per mile, and a normal bike 10.5-18.5/CO2 per mile [4]. Incredible!
High Resale Value
At £400-£2,000, an electric bike costs more to buy than a conventional machine, but they tend to hold their value, so you get more of your money back when you move on.
References
[1] A to B test data. Both figures assume depreciation over ten years, and annual mileage of 2,500 (electric) and 2,000 (conventional).
[2] Transport Research Laboratory report: ‘New Cycle Owners: expectations and experiences’ (Davies and Hartley 1998)
[3] Leeds University report: ‘The New Generation of Private Vehicles in the UK. Should their use be encouraged and can they attract drivers of conventional cars?’ (Neil Guthrie 2001)
[4] ‘Electric Bicycles’ 2010, Richard Peace and David Henshaw
This page used to list all non-electric folding bikes. Keeping the list up-to-date became increasingly difficult, as brands exploded, and prices fluctuated wildly, both on and off the web. In May 2017, we decided reluctantly to drop the ‘Under £500’ table altogether and replace it with a ‘wish list’ to help you make your own judgement.
After a production run of over a quarter of a century, the Brompton remains the definitive folding bike. Revamped several times, the model range was completely reconstructed in 2005, with two new families – the sporty S-type and touring P-type. With the new bikes came a whole range of new accessories and options, from ball-bearing rollers for the rear rack to lightweight titanium frame parts. Folding the Brompton takes less than 15 seconds to a volume of 85 litres (3 cu ft) and it locks together, so it’s easy to carry. Unique to the Brompton is a range of pricey but effective luggage secured over the front wheel by a quick-release system. Rear suspension deals with the bumps and the small 16-inch wheels make the Brompton very maneuverable through traffic, its natural habitat. It weighs from about 10kg and is currently available with a 3-speed hub; 3-speed hub plus Brompton’s own 2-speed derailleur, producing an effective 6-speed; 2-speed derailleur, or single speed. Primarily a commuter machine, the Brompton can actually be ridden considerable distances thanks to its rear suspension and high-pressure tyres.
To find bike carriage restrictions on individual railways and routes see our Bikes on Trains page covering 
Our Bike/Bus page lists UK bike restrictions on UK bus, coach & tram services. Folding bikes travel free and without restriction on all coach and tram services unless stated.
At driver’s discretion Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
Reading and 
Plymouth – Roscoff, 
No restrictions Tandems and tricycles: Unknown
This was the jolly fate of Ultra Motor, the electric bike manufacturer which shed its much bigger Taiwanese subsidiary, before going wheels up in November last year. Within a few weeks, the parent company had been bought for an undisclosed sum by Hero Eco, a newly formed division of an Indian company that started making bicycles in the 1950s and now has an annual turnover of more than a billion pounds.
Whether you believe the catastrophic predictions being made by some scientists, or prefer the lower key approach of others, there’s no doubt the world is heading for uncertain times, thanks to our misuse of resources, primarily over-consumption of ‘fossil’ fuels. But we can ALL do something about it.
