Folding money: Are lightweight folding e-bikes about to become far more affordable?

The simple truth is that the majority of folding electric bikes really aren’t that light. Whenever you add a motor and battery, you unavoidably make a bike heavier and there are in fact a great many fat-tyred folders that are incredibly weighty indeed. There is certainly a market for more easily portable folding e-bikes however and it may be that we’re on the cusp of seeing an influx of them – and at far more affordable prices to boot.

Back at the start of 2023, I wrote that Brompton’s newly-launched Electric P Line was, “the best compact folder out there in electric form”. The headline stats were a total weight of 16.1kg (13.3kg with the easily removable battery dismounted) and a price of £3,775.

Fast forward to last summer and the ADO Air Carbon single-speed impressed us with its 13.5kg gross weight (less with the battery removed). Its current £1,999 price tag is equally impressive (even before the brand’s frequent discounts). However, this seems to have been something of a false dawn. Very few truly lightweight e-folders have materialised since and my recent outing on Qik’s 17kg+ carbon framed, high quality full suspension machines suggests carbon frames on their own are not a silver bullet when it comes to getting electric folders lighter.

Yet recent announcements from the likes of Dahon and Decathlon promise to herald a new age of lightweight and affordable e-folders. But in true Holywood cliffhanger style we will get to those in this article’s denouement. First, let’s take a look at what is available in the truly lightweight e-folder category at present – by which I mean sub-15kg electric folding bikes.
 

The current contenders

ADO’s Air Carbon is currently leader of the pack by some way when it comes to combining light weight and an attractive price tag. Our first look review praised it as, “a 20in wheeled folding e-bike that is impressively light, nippy and built to a very high standard.” It’s limited by a single gear, but that 13.5kg will look tempting to many – although note it’s not as compact a fold (84 x 43 x 66cm) as smaller wheeled options we delve into below.

 
In addition to the ADO Air Carbon, there are several e-folders around below the Electric P Line’s 16kg benchmark weight. First amongst them is probably the FLIT M2. The latest iteration is “around 14kg” according to FLIT and, whilst it’s not of Brompton compactness, the folded package of  around 80 x 60 x 30.5cm is notably more manageable than most 20in wheeled competitors.

There’s plenty of innovative and practical engineering here too, from weld-free frame joints to a single-sided front axle and a secure ball and socket joint to secure the fold. And unlike the Brompton, the weight is more evenly distributed thanks to the removable in-frame battery. However, like the ADO Air Carbon, steep hills won’t be its forté thanks to the single gear belt drive. At £2,499 it looks a good buy, especially given the UK-based engineering and assembly that has gone into it with home grown after sales backup to boot. 

If you are set on an ultralight machine and money is no object, a couple of e-bikes spring to mind. Firstly the Hummingbird (now known as Prodrive) starts at £4,495 but weighs “from 10.3kg”.

However, the all in one Zehus rear hub means it is not only a single speed but also a gearless motor, so it was almost inevitable I found that, even on the highest power setting, I needed to put in significant effort on steeper Pennine hills. Whilst there is a Gen 2.0 hub in use now that claims to generate more torque, note it is still a single speed and gearless design, so don’t expect a quantum leap forward in hill climbing ability.

If cycling journalism had made me extremely wealthy (it hasn’t) then the Cytronex Brompton T Line would probably be the urban commuter of my choice – especially if folding and lifting the bike was anything more than an infrequent occurrence. It combines the famously compact Brompton fold with their latest ultralight titanium frame and the impressively light and high quality Cytronex kit. (Although I’ll be in trouble with Brompton if I don’t mention that adding a kit voids their warranty.) 

At 11.65kg with battery and 10.1kg without, it is the lightest multi-geared production folder out there. The only real downside is the price. Our review was based on a four-speed T Line that costs £4,415, resulting in a total price of £5,810. However, it seems the introduction of a new ceramic coating has effectively bumped the base price of a four-speed T Line up to £5,499 (unless the ‘regular’ 4- and 12- speeds are just temporarily out of stock).

A much more sensible route to a more reasonably priced but still pretty light Brompton would be to add the Brompton-specific Swytch kit. The lightest option (Swytch Air – quoted range 10 miles, but with bigger capacity battery options available) adds less than 3kg. Although no longer available on the Swytch website (you have to join the waiting list), there are still some retailers out there selling them at £725.

So currently, you could buy a brand new three-speed A-Line for £950 and end up with a super-compact, multi-geared, high quality e-folder for £1,675 which would weigh around 14.5kg. I also spotted a second-hand two-speed Superlight Brompton (9.7kg) on eBay for £1,500 meaning a sub-13kg machine would be possible for some £2,225.  
 

The new pretenders

Whilst all the above suggests that if you want a truly lighttweight, compact, multi-geared e-folder you will have to splash a lot of cash or resort to shopping around for kits and a suitable lightweight second-hand bike, there are now some interesting e-folders emerging over the horizon.

Several announcements over the summer mean it’s clear some companies are looking to produce e-folders that boast that magic combination of lightness, compactness and affordability.

Eurobike 2025 saw the launch of the Btwin E-FL 900 e-folder (Btwin being a Decathlon brand).

This features the well-regarded Mahle X30 rear hub motor, offering up to 40Nm of torque and a pretty modestly-sized removable 171Wh capacity battery. 

Whilst the quoted weight of 15.9kg is not mega-light, the E-FL 900 combines a highly respectable performance on the weighing scales with a pretty compact 72 x 68 x 41cm fold while offering lights, comfortable looking balloon tyres and mudguards.

Other plus points for the urban commuter include the ability to charge the battery via USB-C and and an in-built stand for stability of the folded package. Online videos also show a remarkably quick folding process. It’s due out later this year with a target price of under €2,000. 

Once upon a time Dahon was a serious rival to Brompton in the UK, but it has since retreated to its main markets of Asia and the US.

However, it’s to be hoped it gains a higher profile in the UK once again if the spec sheet of its new 12kg K Feather model is anything to go by.

There’s lots to like about the bike – on paper at least. In addition to that headline-grabbing weight, there’s a small capacity 120Wh in-frame removable battery, lots of patented folded tech and a quick fold to 73 x 40x 63cm.

The only real downside, at first glance, appears to be the single gear. European launch is slated for September and the initial guide price is a relatively lowly $1,199.

Looking to capture the attention of those drawn to a futuristic look is the Lemmo Zero.

Its vital stats are 12.5kg weight (10kg if you remove the ‘electric module’ of battery, motor, and smart control unit for a totally unassisted ‘analogue’ ride) and a folded size the brand claims is, “20% smaller than typical 16-inch folding bike models” (though Lemmo seems strangely reticent to reveal the exact folded dimensions). 

Highlights include a carbon fibre frame, a front hub motor with torque-sensing power delivery, five Shimano derailleur gears, cable disc brakes, a roller wheel-cum-stabiliser stand and a removable 159Wh battery that doubles as a power bank. (Lemmo says it is flying compatible, though this requires airline approval. The limit is ordinarily 100Wh). 

The Lemmo Zero is already widely advertised for pre-order in European dealers at an early bird discounted price of  €1,850 (€2,390 full price).

Oh, and if you are wondering why it is pictured with a car in the pic above, that’s because it is being promoted alongside a Nio electric car model (Nio being a Chinese brand who built their reputation on pioneering swappable batteries for their e-cars in mainland China). 

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