Fat Tire Folding Ebikes

vja4Him

10 mW
Joined
Nov 6, 2008
Messages
24
Location
Modesto, California
I would like to get a Fat Tire Folding Ebike …. There are so many to choose from. I want to use it for riding to work, and also ebike camping. So, I would need to carry all of my camping gear, and possibly pull a trailer, like the Bob.

Does anyone use a Fat Tire Folding Ebike for camping ? What is your experience with Fat Tire Folding Ebikes ?
 
About a year ago, I purchased a 'Voltbike Mariner' from Voltbike in Canada. It's a fat tire folding bike with a bafang motor & a 48v 36ah battery. Overall it's not a bad bike for the price (<1500) but I would not purchase it again, knowing what I now know.

It has plenty of power, but some of the parts are really cheap and I can't see them holding up too long. When I first got the bike I could get 25-30 miles on a full charge, but after less than a year it was down to 20-25, now it's about 20, so I don't think the battery is going to last the 500 charges that they claim. The brakes have been problematic and my experience with Voltbike service has not been good.
As for the 'folding' part, it does fold in half, but the weight of the bike makes it difficult to lift easily (without having 2 people) and the way the bike folds creates a real possibility for damaging it.

I have about 900 miles on the bike now and am planning to sell it and buy a higher quality (more expensive obviously) trail bike.
 
This one was under $750 for me on amazon. It's pretty basic with a 3 level PAS and always on throttle, 500W motor and 36V. Top speed is about 19.5 mph per my $7 bike computer. All alloy except for steel wheels. Still close to 60 pounds. Textro disks, which means I can replace the pads someday, and they are easy to adjust.

I don't see that I would get any more utility out of having a LCD with 5 level assist, but I could upgrade to new controller/LCD for 100 bucks. The money might be better spent on a suspension fork. That's also around $100.

Impulse buy. Good value, compared to more expensive models.

Just got it, It doesn't warm my heart yet. A similar motor, LED display, and controller on my 26" Trek 800 from 1992 is a lot more fun to ride.

I expect the pedals might break, and the seat is hard, Not much money to upgrade,

 
I have a review of my Greenbike USA 500 watt (geared) 48 volt FT folder here. I think it would work ok for camping, but the weight is indeed an issue, and I'm not sure about carrying a huge amount of gear unless you are pretty light yourself. The weight limit is 250lbs. I haven't really taken it offroad yet, but I'd say the power is "adequate" but no more. The 3 power settings (on 6 assist levels) seem to change power delivery very little. I got it to take to distant bike paths and trails, and assuming I can lift it without having to remove the front wheel, I think it will work fine for that.

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=98981
 
Bought a Sonders fat folder used last week. Also have a pair of Scorpion trikes with MAC 10 T motors.

Sonders makes a great product two thumbs up. Rode it over the London Bridge and put about 20 miles on it last weekend in Lake Havasu both on and off road. Excellent all purpose machine.
 
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