So one night I was maybe a bit drunk and feeling generous so I gave $1000 to an IndieGoGo project to make a super light weight folding e-bike. That was around 6 months ago and last week it showed up! which is actually pretty decent turn around for an Indiegogo.. as them doing it at all is not a certainty much less delivering anywhere near a timeline.

I know I should post pics and will if there is interest: but so far I have only ridden it twice and since I had a moment (I rode it today) I thought i'd give my thoughts. realize that this is my first e-bike (but not my first folder) so I may be a novice to many of the intricacies of the breed.

Impressions:
1. The bike is light for an e-bike i know I should weigh it but its under 25lbs.. after hauling it up the BART stairs I can attest to that. body, and perhaps wheels, are magnesium. they are light as a feather. the battery, which is also the seat-post, is where a ton of the weight is-. I like the design, i got an extra post which came with a seat, so you can have it charging and just swap. its easy to do and makes sense but if you are tall like me it makes the bike very top heavy a I have it at its maximum extension.

2. related to above: its too small for me. I am 6'2" so this is no surprise. but its really made for people around 5'6"

3. It has 3 modes. Here is where I say it came with a manual that was all about how you maintain a bicycle and how it folds, but had nothing on the e-bike controls. I know how to fold and maintain a bicycle. I needed more on the ebike part that I don't know. But from what I can tell: Mode 1 is complete manual.. you control how much its helping you with the finger paddle. great. Mode 3 is full auto, it helps you depending upon your pedal speed. Great. Mode 2 is somewhere in-between and I cannot figure out what its useful for.

4. I got it because i could fold and throw in the back of a car- and use it to get places often in hilly SF where any other folding bike would be a huge struggle. For this its proven its utility. I hit some of the most serious SF hills and it was, pulling my 195lb 6'2" frame, a bit of a struggle for it. But with my help it could handle it without me ripping it apart trying to pump it up. That sai, I am not sure it was really meant for that sort of workout.. without me also pedaling i'd be afraid to burn its motor. So the end product of that is that its not actually much easier to ride up a serious grade with this bike than my normal rides.. but that is actually a point in its favor. It means this tiny little folding bike can get me up a hill as well as any of my other bikes, and I still got to work at it. good.

5. its slow. I am not a fast rider, but no surprise from a tiny folder its way slower than my road bike. the e-assist is just that, it helps a bit but you are by no means gonna beat anyone who is actually trying on a real bike. In city riding I found this very difficult as I could not accelerate as I am used to, nor get up to any speed above around 28km/h. but.. once i let go of that go fast.. its actually a relaxing and pleasant ride. Just do not expect to be able to beat any signals... just accept the yellow will turn to red long before you get there and stop.

I actually like it quite a lot - It is by no means a replacement for my conventional bikes but it was not meant to be and so far, it seems like a decent design and works quite well, even if its nothing so revolutionary. Just a decent folding e-bike.
-j