The Best Folding eBikes [2024 Edition]

Why We Picked It:

The Rad Power RadExpand 5 is an eBike that punches way, way above its weight. All you need to do is look at the specs and wonder what type of shoehorn they used to get all the features in.

Firstly, it has a 750W rear hub motor, while most folders have 500W or less. It has a 48V 672 Wh battery that will give you up to 45 miles per charge, or more if you ride it in the lowest of the 5 PAS modes. The seat and handlebars are telescoping, so when folded, it is tight and compact, but when set up, can easily handle a rider that is 6 feet tall.

You also get mechanical disc brakes, which is important for this go-anywhere-do-anything folder. It can go off-road thanks to its 20x4 inch fat tires. You get a 7-speed Microshift derailleur. It will happily commute during the week, then happily go for a weekend away riding the trails around where you live. It comes with a cargo rack built in, so you can even do some urban exploring or the grocery run on this little guy.

The cherry on top, however, is its price: $1,649. That's what you call a good deal!

Why We Picked It:

Being honest, we generally recommend that you look at $1,000 as being a good entry point into eBikes that have all the features you might need. There are, however, some bikes that are below $1,000 that we also recommend, because they are just that good.

The Lectric XP Lite is true to its name. It is light on weight, at just 46 lbs with its 48V 374 Wh battery. It is light on the wallet, as it costs $946 MSRP, but honestly is almost permanently on sale for $800 or less. It is light on features to get it to that price, concentrating instead of giving you all you need to ride, without any fluff or frills.

The XP Lite features a 300W nominal rear hub motor that can peak at 720W for very short periods, such as climbing a hill. It has the standard 5 PAS levels. It is a single speed drive, removing the complexity of a derailleur to keep the price down. It will also get between 15 to 40 miles, depending on PAS level and throttle usage.

Of course, if you want to add fenders, a cargo rack, and the like, they are available as options, however if you just want an eBike to be just a bike and nothing more, you really can't go wrong with the Lectric XP Lite.

Why We Picked It:

Of all the ebikes here, the 2023 Surface 604 Twist is among the only that has a natural feeling from its pedal assist. Thanks to the use of a torque sensor (vs cadence sensor), the Twist is actually enjoyable to ride as a bike.

With plenty of power on tap, excellent gearing from its SXRAM X5 9-speed groupset, and hydraulic brakes, the Twist feels composed and controllable in most riding settings. Being enjoyable to ride is a major perk and somewhat of a rarity in the folding ebike segment.

The Twist is also easy to work on, meaning that you should be able to service it at home. The brand-name components are also popular choices in the upper entry-level price point, meaning that they are easy to find and replace when needed.

There are few better folding bikes at any price point, let alone coming in under $2,500.

If you want your folder to be genuinely fun to ride and to feel as natural as possible, the Twist is the right ebike for you.

Why We Picked It:

The HeyBike Tyson is one of our favorite eBikes, just to get that out of the way first and foremost. It is super easy to assemble in about 30 minutes, has a 750W rear hub motor, a 48V 720 Wh battery, has a top speed of 28 MPH as a Class 3 eBike, and oh yeah, it can carry 400 lbs of total payload.

However, while all of that made us really like the Tyson, what made us fall in love with it is the fact that all of the settings, from initial setup to how bright you want the LCD readout to be, can be done via HeyBike's very intuitive app, available for both iOS and Android. It even allows you to customize the PAS levels, telling the bike at what speed to stop the pedal assist.

On top of all that, it has an included quite wide cargo rack, full metal fenders, headlight and tail light, and it even has turn signals! The only downside, and we're being really nitpicky here, is that it is a dedicated urban eBike, a folding commuter and cargo carrier that doesn't do particularly well off road, despite having 20x4 inch fat tires.

Why We Picked It:

Let's face it, sometimes you want to dial an eBike up to PAS 5, stand on the pedals, and get the thing rocketing down the road. For those that are of the speed-demon type, the Denago Folding Model 1 is the bike for you.

It may not seem like it at first, just looking at it, but the Folding is a full Class 3 eBike capable of 28 MPH on pedal assist. That is down to the 48V 672 Wh battery supplying the 500W rear hub motor with enough juice for it to put down 90 Nm of peak torque. That much grunt in a bike that weights 62 lbs means that within a few pedal cycles, you'll have accelerated off the line like you'd been launched from a catapult.

You also get full metal fenders, an integrated cargo rack, a 7-speed derailleur, 20x3 inch half-fat tires, strong mechanical disc brakes, and a thumb throttle. It also has the fairly standard built in headlight and tail light, but what we really like about it is that it has a color LCD display. It's a small thing, sure, but it makes it feel a little more premium than it's affordable price.

Why We Picked It:

Just to get it out of the way and say it, the Aventon Sinch.2 is one of the few eBikes out there that uses a torque sensor for pedal assist, instead of a cadence sensor. This one feature gives the bike a much more natural pedal feel, and allows it to vary its power delivery to match the riders' efforts all the time.

That power is from a 500W rear hub motor powered by a 48V 672 Wh battery. Peak torque comes in at 80 Nm, and the bike is rated as Class 2, so up to 20 MPH assist. Different than many other folders, it only has 4 PAS levels, but with the torque sensor each of those levels has a much wider coverage, negating the need for more.

Because of that sensor as well, range is very decent at 40 to 60 miles, and the trip will be comfortable as the Sinch.2 also features suspension on the front fork, something a little special in the folding bike space. The LCD screen is colorful and very easy to read, and even features integration with Aventon's trip tracking app.

With 20x4 inch tires, the Sinch.2 also does very well off-road, and thanks to the grunt the motor provides, tackles hills and rough terrain without complaint. It does have a bit of a premium price, but it's still under $2,000, so we consider that a good deal!