#1 Folding Electric Bike Manufacturer & Supplier
Aurora Electrico Is Your #1 Reliable Folding Electric Bike Manufacturer & Supplier In China
⚡ Premium folders are made up of brand components: Bafang or Bosch motor, Samsung or LG battery, Tektro dis break, etc.
⚡ A wide range of hybrid folding ebikes for more choice, such as fat tire folders, off-road folders and commuter folders.
⚡ Rich experience on ODM project for creating innovation folding e-bikes.
⚡ Strict quality inspection process through every step in production to ensure defective rate less than 0.3%
Everything You Want To Know About The Folding EBike Manufacturing
You will get a clear mind after reading this page to know:
- What to look for when adding a folding e-bike to your product line?
- The entire strategy of building a whole new folding e-bike.
- What folders we could offer, and what kind of ODM project we could work on together.
- Who we are and what we actually do to ensure the solid high-quality e-bikes to be shipped.
- As a leading folding e-bike manufacturer in China, what we could do to our customers?
OEM Folding E-Bike Manufacturer
Folding electric bikes are becoming more and more popular with riders who like to travel or just have limited space. They are tough, compact, and not too heavy for easy and safe storage in transit, they usually feature:
- Lightweight and durable magnesium made body
- Easier to transport
What Is The Folding E-Bike?
Storage has been a long problem trying to be solved in the e-bike world.
Likely, every e-bike manufacturer nowadays will have at least one folder in their product line.
A folding bike is an e-bike with a folding mechanism that allows users to fold it up to be compact for the purpose of either throwing it into the back of the car, carrying it up and down stairs, or fitting it into transportation.
Almost all kinds of e-bikes can be made to be folded, such as cruisers, fat-tire bikes, road e-bikes, and more.
What To Consider When Choosing (OEM) Or Building (ODM) A folding Ebike?
1, Sleek Design
Geometry
- A bike’s geometry is probably the most critical aspect of a sleek design. It affects many characteristics of the e-bike, such as ride position, rider’s center of gravity, stability, handling, wheelbase, and much more.
Handlebar style
- There are almost ten bike handlebar types to choose and the most common types are BWX style, flat style and raiser style. For more types click here
Folding mechanism
- The most common folding methods we often see are mid-folding, vertical folding, magnet folding, triangle hinge, and breakaway.
2, Power
The power of an e-bike which is measured in watts is the most baisc specification every people would look for when picking up an idea e-bike.
Smooth and quick motor engagement, in fact, needs to be pay an equal attention to its wattage spec.
3, Climbing ability
Gear range
The larger a bike’s gear range, the bigger the difference between the bottom and top gear of the drivetrain, which means it is likely to provide a more easy effort at the lowest gear going uphill.
Torque
Torque is the turning force at wheels to overcome the resistance that is given by the newton meters. Torque is probably the most critical factor determining the climbing ability of an e-bike. The more the torque, the easier and faster it is to climb hills.
Weight
The bike’s weight can also affect its climbing ability. The heavier the bike is, the more power and torque it needs to overcome the resistance of the center of gravity.
Throttle Mode
Most e-bikes would struggle or come to a stop at steep hills around 12 to 15 angles on their throttle-only model, without any human effort, while it’s not the case for a few e-bikes like Aventure.
4, Range
The range of an e-bike heavily depends on various factors. The biggest is the battery capacity, but besides that, the final range results from the countless factors, including the selected pedal-assist mode, the rider’s weight, route conditions, and more.
5, Off-road Capability
The demand for the foldable off-road electric bike has been continually growing in recent years. Many travelers like to throw their ebike and fit it into the RV thus, an eMBT that can be foldable helps a lot.
6, Safety
Brake
- A solid and effective disc brake with a relatively larger brake rotor size makes for an impressive stopping distance.
- The more aggressive wide tires with pretty good thread can increase the resistance needed for a faster stop as well.
Active and passive safety light
- A bright integrated headlight mounts in the right upper place for a longer irradiation distance and is designed with a side cutout to be aware from different angles.
- Reflective tires keep the bike being noticeable, especially riding in low light conditions.
- A taillight detects the braking process and acts as a bright brake light when braking
- Turn signals help a lot to keep the bike safe by signaling to vehicles behind you to draw attention. However, very few manufacturers have integrated it into the bike, and users can only find and add the turn signal kits from the accessories market if they want to.
A cheerful bell
Various locks to prevent from being stolen
7, Handling
Regarding to the structure, the fixed stem with a high-rise handlebar will provide more sturdier and more responsive steering, thus helping its handling characteristic than the combination of the adjustable stem with a more flat handlebar.
A low center of gravity and a solid structure is the key to influencing the handling.
8, Comfort
Rubber grips are more comfortable than the leather material-made grips, especially when your palm gets sweaty.
A soft and large but not too wide saddle, which may chaff the inner thighs when pedaling, will provide exemplary comfort
Suspension forks with longer travel will have a better performance than the rigid fork in terms of absorbing bumps.
Ergonomic design gives a comfortable, more upright riding position. People don’t have to bend their back to reach the handlebar, and a more reasonable standover height makes the rider’s feet stand on the ground without leaning on the bike.
9, Portability
- Lightweight is a big deal when riding the e-bike to roll resistance when it’s out of the battery
- A handle that is built into the frame for easy lifting when the bike is folded
- A removable battery allows users to charge on or off the bike and reduces the further cost of replacement since users don’t need to open the cycle to get it removed and installed.
10, Riding quality
- Does it feel solid and well put together for easy handling and a good riding quality?
- All the add-ons fit the bike well and don’t rattle.
- A cadence sensor is relatively standard for most e-bikes over $1200 that can provide a smoother and quick motor engagement.
- The motor and controller are correctly adjusted to offer an even power distribution and speed differently at each pedal assist level.
- The torque sensor detects how hard you press on the pedal and delivers the power accordingly, and it can actually have the power engaged so smoothly and naturally that you can not even feel it. It gives you hard power when you push hard.
11, Price
Less than $1500 is what we consider a budget level ebike in this category, and if you want to choose or build a premium folding e-bike, below factors will take a great influence to the final price.
- Branded motor and battery cell
- Carbon fiber material made frame
- 7-speed drivetrain name-brand like Shimano
- cadence and torque sensor
- hydraulic dis brake
- advanced front and rear suspension forks
- LED display insdead of LCD
- Puncture-resistant wide inch fat tires
- Included fenders and racks
- Come with extras and qualtiy components
12, Easy to use
- It’s essential to design an e-bike with an easy-to-understand folding mechanism that can be quickly folded and unfolded without reading the manual.
- And a simple display to indicate all basics in a clear and logical way.
We Are Not Only The Folding Electric Bike Manufacturer, See What Other Types Of E-Bike We Are Making
As your professional electric bike manufacturer, we have been producing a decade years wide range of bikes including fat tire ebikes, class 2 and class 3 crusiers, off-road use all terrain bikes and more…
Take these factors above into consideration will give you a huge help to choose a competitive folder.
However, the folding feature could never be an independent characteristic of an e-bike.
Today, all the electric bikes on the market are mixed.
You can’t see a pure folding e-bike, but fat tire folding e-bikes, high-powered folding e-bikes, and even all-terrain folding e-bikes are what you often see.
They spread across nearly every category of e-bike and every price point.
How does the fold feature mix with other types of electric bike to make them more competitive
Fat tire folding e-bike
City Commuter folding e-bike
High performance off-road use folding e-bike
Affordable Folding e-bike
Everything in between
So the first important thing we need to do is to figure out your specific target users
Target Specific Users
Are there daily commuters living in a limited space and want their bike small and compact when folded to be easily stored either under the desk or in a closet?
Or are their trip lovers who like to throw the bike in the back of an RV hauler while still capable of higher power or torque to overcome some resistance in trails？
European and American variations
People in Europe often want the typical folding e-bikes, which are small and compact and can fold very quickly, making carrying up and down stairs much more effortless.
Compared to Americans who prefer more extensive and heavier designs, more like the non-folding bike, which doesn’t fold quite as quickly, with this added folding mechanism feature to collapse down when needed.
In short, the easy and quick folding mechanism always comes second to the overall ride quality in American-style folders. The purpose of the European style is to build the folders to be compact and small enough for storage and transport use.
Price Point
Price point and features are interconnected, so we need to be clear whether you are going to build a budget folder but sacrifice some advanced features parts of serious riders need or you are gonna make a premium folding bike with extra and quality components for professionals?
Quality Function Deployment For ODM Folding EBikes
Having different target users in mind varies greatly in figuring out what the essential characteristics a foldable e-bike should have.
An important thing we need to do is to find a structured approach to figure out the requirements or demands of your customers and then bring them into the action of the production plan and process, which is what we call the quality function deployment. That is the foundation of creating a whole new e-bike, as customers’ voice is always a critical factor you need to consider in every step of building your brand.
To answer few questions we often ask our clients when helping them build the bike, and you will clearly define the customer needs, which are then used to set up the matrix for further analysis.
Figure out what characteristics the folding bike you are creating should have, focus on these essential features, and know how to make it come true.
Matrix To Build An Inovative Folding E-Bike
There are three matrices in this part – Importance Matrix, Benchmarking, and What-How Matrix, that need to be set up for analysis to get a clear direction for building the bike
Importance Matrix
The importance matrix will help us understand the more critical features customers would watch for when to purchase, which we should focus on.
We list all representations in rows and columns and use the numbers -1, 0, and 1 to value the importance.
If the characteristic in the row is less important for customers than the one in the columns, use -1. Otherwise, use 1. And 0 refers to when they have the same importance.
You need to ask your employees, customers, and engineers to attend the discussion on this importance matrix, and please consider the following points when you discuss.
American-style vs. European-style folders
- An American-style electric folding bike that will fit into the trunk of a car or a tight RV, it has some capabilities on light off-road.
- The European-style bike is the folder that is perfect for commuters who are short on space.
Ask yourself a few questions when starting the importance matrix discussion
- Will my e-bike satisfy the people who are short on space?
- Does a folding bike you are going to build securely lock?
- Can it easily fit into the trunk of a sedan?
- Will it have noticeable handles for easy carrying when folded?
- Does it have a good enough weight capacity for utility use?
Trade-off
- Knowing there is always a trade-off between the ride quality and the smaller shape, or long-range and lightweight.
- Foldable pedals and handlebar, which we usually see on most folding e-bikes, help the bike get small but damage its integrality to the decline of the ride quality.
- Take the foldable pedal as an example, and you are trading off the sturdier feel supported by non-folding pedals under the user’s feet to get a smaller packable size.
- Also, the bigger wheel size can provide more of that non-folding bike’s feel but can not have the compactness of that.
Here we separately take an American-style folder and a European-style one as examples to go through the whole process.
And below are examples of their importance matrixs. Please note the result of importance features to customers can vary greatly based on differnt consumers you are targeting.
We can rank the importance of these attributes based on the below table:
American-style:
Price>Brake(Safety)>>Power=Riding quality>Sleek design >Comfort=Climbing ability=Off road>Range>Handling>Easy to Use
European-style:
Price>Power>Sleek design>Range=Brake(Safety >Comfort=Portability>Climbling ability>Handling>Riding quality>Off-Road>Easy to Use
The importance matrix does a lot job of helping us focus on the critical attributes that are worth the investment of energy and money.
American-Style Folder Importance Matrix
| Sleek design | Power | Climbing ability | Range | Off-road capability | Brake | Handling | Comfort | Portability | Riding quality | Price | Easy to use | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sleek design | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Power | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Climbing ability | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 1 |
| Range | -1 | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Off-road capability | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 1 |
| Brake | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Handling | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | -1 | 1 | -2 |
| Comfort | -1 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Portability | -1 | -1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | -1 | -1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | -1 | -6 |
| Riding quality | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Price | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Easy to use | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 | -1 | -1 | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | -7 |
European-Style Folder Importance Matrix
| Sleek design | Power | Climbing ability | Range | Off-road capability | Brake | Handling | Comfort | Portability | Riding quality | Price | Easy to use | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sleek design | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Power | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Climbing ability | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 |
| Range | -1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Off-road capability | -1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | -5 |
| Brake | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Handling | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | -1 | 1 | -2 |
| Comfort | -1 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Portability | -1 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 1 |
| Riding quality | -1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0 | -1 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| Price | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Easy to use | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | 0 | -7 |
Benchmarking
Comparing the features of folders from different brands would contributes a lot to create an innovative eBike. The results of competitor analytics will help us to upgrade our existing products, making them more attractive.
We list their main attributes, finding out the best value of each characteristic.
We pick the best value of each attribute among all these brands and put them at the end of the column to create an ‘ideal folding eBike’ , which made of the best value for each row.
It’s impossible to have an eBike with features entirely better than every one listed in the ‘ideal eBike’ column, but we need to make it with at least two technical features better than that.
RadExpand5 from Rad Power is a good reference player for American-style folding e-bike while Blix Vika+ is a good example worth to study for European-style folders.
| Brand | Rad Power | Lectric | Blix | Aventon | ModBikes | Gocycle | |
| Model | RadExpand 5 | Lectric XP 2.0 | Vika+ | Aventon Sinch Step-Through | MOD City + | Gocycle G4 | |
| Picture | |||||||
| Price($) | 1599 | 999 | 1899 | 1799 | 2190 | 3999 | |
| Energy/Speed/Climbing Ability | Wattage(W) | 750 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Motor Type | Geared Rear Hub Motor | Geared hub motor | Geared Rear hub motor | Rear hub motor | Rear hub motor | Front hub motor | |
| Torque(Nm) | 80 | 60 | 50 | 50 | 42 | 20 | |
| Top Speed(kph) | 20 | 20mph, adjustable to 28mph | 20 | 20 | 28 | 20 | |
| Watt hours(Wh) | 672 (48V, 14Ah) | 460 (48V, 9.6Ah) | 614 (48V, 12.8Ah) | 672 (48V, 14Ah) | 576 (48V, 12Ah) | 291.6 (36V, 8.1Ah) | |
| Battery cell brand | Unknown | Unknown | Panasonic | LG | Samsung Powerpack | Panasonic | |
| Class | Throttle on demand Class 2 | Class 1-3 | Class 2 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 2 | |
| Design | Frame Style | Single Frame Step-through | Single Mid-Step Frame | Single Frame Step-through | Single Frame Step-through | Single Mid-Step Frame | Single Mid-Step Frame |
| Function | Folding | Folding | Folding | Folding | Folding | Folding | |
| Battery position | Removable Seat Tube-Mounted | Integrated into the frame | Removable Seat Tube-Mounted | Integrated into the downtube | Removable Seat Tube-Mounted | Inside the fore section of the frame | |
| Handle bar type | BWX Style | Riser handlebars | Riser handlebars | Flat bars | Riser handlebars | Flat bars | |
| Body position | Upright | Upright | Upright | Upright | Upright | Upright | |
| Off-road capability | Sand and Snow | Sand and Snow | Urban and Commute | Sand and Snow | Urban and Commute | Urban and Commute | |
| Range | Range in PAS1 (miles) | 45 | 35 | 45 | 54 | 45 | 40 |
| Range in PAS5 (miles) | 25 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 24 | 16 | |
| Handling | Motor position | Rear Hub | Rear Hub | Rear Hub | Rear Hub | Rear Hub | Front Hub |
| Battery position | Low and center | Downtube | Low and center | Center | Low and center | Center | |
| Weight (lb) | 62.5 | 64 | 55 | 68 | 65 | 37.7 | |
| Tire | Fat tire | Fat tire | Road tires | Fat tire | Road tires | Road tires | |
| Portability | Weight (lb) | 62.5 | 64 | 55 | 68 | 65 | 37.7 |
| Folding mechanism | |||||||
| Foldable pedal | No | YES | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Foldable handlebar/stem | No | YES | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Fold Size(L x W x H) | 41″ x 25″ x 29″ | 37” x 18” x 28” | 36” x 21” x 28.5” | 46" x 28" x 30" | 42” x 15” x 26.5” | 32.7” x 15.3” x 29.5” | |
| A handle that helps for lifting when folded | Included | No | Included | No | No | / | |
| Comfort | Front Fork | Rigid fork | Suspension fork | Rigid fork | RST Guide | Mozo suspension fork | Single-sided carbon fiber fork |
| Fork travel | Non | 40mm | Non | 45mm | 50mm | Unknown | |
| Tires Type | Fat tire 20×4” | Standard 20” x 3.0” | Semi-slick road tires 20” x 2.4” | Fat tire 20×4” | Standard 20” x 3.0” | 20×2.25” | |
| Grips | Rubber | Hard plastic/rubber compound | Rubber | Rubber | Faux leather | Rubber | |
| Handlebar | Adjustable riser bar | High rise handlebar, 630mm | Alloy riser bar | Height Adjustable stem 28.6mm | Aluminum riser bar | / | |
| Saddle | Rad Power Bikes Branded | Lectric branded cushion saddle | Selle Royal gel saddle | Aventon-branded | Selle Royal gel saddle | Velo Sport | |
| Step-through Frame | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Safety | Brakes Type | Mechanical disk brakes | Mechanical disk brakes | Mechanical disk brakes | Mechanical disk brakes | Hydraulic disk brakes | Hydraulic disk brakes |
| Brake brand | Radius | Tektro | Tektro Aries | Tektro | Tektro Auriga | Unknown | |
| Fat tires with good thread | Yes | Yes | Non | Yes | Non | Non | |
| Brake rotor size(mm) | 180 | 160 | 160 | 180 | 180 | Unknown | |
| Headlight | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | N/A | Integrated | Integrated | |
| Taillights | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | N/A | Integrated | Integrated | |
| Brake Light | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | |
| Tyre | Reflective | No | Reflective | No | Reflective | Reflective | |
| Grip Lock | Non-locking | Non-locking | Non-locking | Lock-on | Lock-on | \ | |
| Riding Quality | Frame | 6061 alloy | 6061 alloy | Aluminum | 6061 aluminum | 6061 aluminum | 6061 alloy + carbon fiber + magnesium |
| Display | Basic Simple LED display | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LED | |
| Drivetrain | 7-speed | 7-speed | 7-speed | 7-speed | 7-speed | 3-speed | |
| Drivetrain brand | Microshift 26 | Shimano Tourney | Shimano Tourney | Shimano Altus |