Good luck on getting them on the phone, but don't let that dissuade you, their site tells the best way to get info out of them. The price you pay for their low prices! they are after all just ebike enthusiasts who stumbled into this business, with one thing leading to another, and now they have a tiger by the tail and while getting better all the time, they are still a mom and pop (or guy and his girlfriend) down home set up.

Taiwan is the world's largest bike builders, and they have a skilled labor pool that simply knows bikes better then anywhere else, couple that with I assume low labor costs and that's why the vast majority of bike have some connection with them. NOT to be confused with China, and it's a somewhat touchy subject with the major manufacturers, who get riled up when the two get confused, they take pains to correct those who lump in "Taiwan built", with "built in China."

You are absolutely doing the correct thing doing your homework, with your weight, having a bike, especially the fork, fail is right up there with a wing falling off. I had to re-learn the lesson from some major wrecks as a kid, that bikes can totally kick your ass! There are lot's of baby boomers, fit but in the '60's and '70's, skiers etc., getting buttkicked on their new e bikes, and I'm told they heal slower! ANYONE getting one of the new era e rides of any sort, be careful! Except that 80 mile per hour scooter, that's perfectly safe.

Taiwan and China are not to be confused. They actually are enemies. China is still angry that Taiwan managed to separate, and Taiwan want no part of rejoining China.

Some of the best CNC machine tools in the world now come out of Taiwan. I’d buy a bicycle built in Taiwan. Very doubtful that they source many if any parts from China. Other SE Asia countries, possibly.

Pinecone wrote:Taiwan and China are not to be confused. They actually are enemies. China is still angry that Taiwan managed to separate, and Taiwan want no part of rejoining China.

Some of the best CNC machine tools in the world now come out of Taiwan. I’d buy a bicycle built in Taiwan. Very doubtful that they source many if any parts from China. Other SE Asia countries, possibly.

I agree. I find stuff made in Taiwan to be of much better quality then made in China.

Hope you can get a hold of them JP and let us know what they say about the weight limits.

A1Skinner wrote:

Pinecone wrote:Taiwan and China are not to be confused. They actually are enemies. China is still angry that Taiwan managed to separate, and Taiwan want no part of rejoining China.

Some of the best CNC machine tools in the world now come out of Taiwan. I’d buy a bicycle built in Taiwan. Very doubtful that they source many if any parts from China. Other SE Asia countries, possibly.

I agree. I find stuff made in Taiwan to be of much better quality then made in China.

Hope you can get a hold of them JP and let us know what they say about the weight limits.

Same goes with Japan. Japanese products are much better quality than China and Japanese companies treat their workers way better than most Chinese companies ever will.

courierguy wrote:You are absolutely doing the correct thing doing your homework, with your weight, having a bike, especially the fork, fail is right up there with a wing falling off. I had to re-learn the lesson from some major wrecks as a kid, that bikes can totally kick your ass! There are lot's of baby boomers, fit but in the '60's and '70's, skiers etc., getting buttkicked on their new e bikes, and I'm told they heal slower! ANYONE getting one of the new era e rides of any sort, be careful! Except that 80 mile per hour scooter, that's perfectly safe.

I've ridden bikes and motorcycles (off and on) most of my life. I've always been heavier than average, even when I played varsity basketball and soccer, and during my time flying helicopters in the Army. As a result, I am acutely aware of weight-related issues when it comes to bikes and airplanes. (Had to reschedule my PPL checkride because the DPE and I together maxed out the UL of the Piper Tomahawk I was planning to use, even if there was zero fuel aboard. Had to go rent a C-172 for the re-scheduled checkride.) It's part of the reason I've weighed every airplane I've purchased – to have accurate W&B info as the starting point for loading.

I leaned the "fork flex can break necks" lesson as a kid, when I broke a fork leg on a mini-bike while carrying a passenger (younger brother) on the back. Fortunately, it was a low-speed incident, neither of us was seriously injured, and we were able to get the fork repaired. I sure would NOT want to try that again at age 65...

Maybe I need to be looking into that 80 mph scooter, after all...

Seriously, thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

The aversion to Taiwan thing because of a perceived lack of manufacturing quality is hilarious!

The highest technology manufacturing that exists on planet Earth is in Taiwan.

I guarantee that every single one of you used a device to post here that has its most complex parts manufactured in Taiwan.

I had my heart set on the Harley Davidson Serial 1, but the production bikes looked nothing like the teaser prototype concept, so I cancelled my appointment with the tattoo artist and decided to keep looking.

Aryana wrote:I had my heart set on the Harley Davidson Serial 1, but the production bikes looked nothing like the teaser prototype concept, so I cancelled my appointment with the tattoo artist and decided to keep looking.

Saved for future blackmail purposes......

Flying Dave wrote:

Aryana wrote:I had my heart set on the Harley Davidson Serial 1, but the production bikes looked nothing like the teaser prototype concept, so I cancelled my appointment with the tattoo artist and decided to keep looking.

Saved for future blackmail purposes......

Haha! Merry Christmas Dave!

Not a folder, but my mid drive Rohloff hubbed fattie with it's front ski, too bad I can't carry it in the S-7S when it's on it's skis. But I have and will carried the Montague while on the skis, which is two things most people don't see every day: a ski plane, WITH a folding e bike inside.

Aryana wrote:The aversion to Taiwan thing because of a perceived lack of manufacturing quality is hilarious!

The highest technology manufacturing that exists on planet Earth is in Taiwan.

I guarantee that every single one of you used a device to post here that has its most complex parts manufactured in Taiwan.

No aversion to Taiwan-built products here... To your point, I use a TON of stuff that is built there.

But I cannot read Chinese myself, and cannot find any "published in English" information as to the weight ratings of the bikes. It's basically the same thing as when researching various Light Sport Aircraft – I want to know I can safely "fly" with the loads I routinely carry.

With that said, even Taiwanese companies sometimes import labor-intensive components from mainland China to reduce their costs. A bike frame isn't necessarily high-tech, but it is a major part of the price component of a bicycle. If the Taiwanese company (or even the PRC company) did the engineering right, and stands behind the load-carrying capability, I'd be fine with it – regardless of where it was physically built.

But any time I see a bike that has really nice components, but with a price that is significantly lower than similar bikes from other vendors (or even other bikes from the same vendor, as in this case) I cannot help wondering "How do they make that price point work?"

Folding bike frames are more challenging to engineer properly in order to achieve higher weight ratings. That's just a fact. But this particular folding e-bike sells for less than half the cost of other bikes on the Luna store... Couple that with seeing VERY similar bike frames on "throwaway" bikes sold via AliBaba (PRC-based) and perhaps you can understand the desire for more information... (Still working on getting that from the vendor.)

I just use a regular folding bike. It's a Pacific Reach, made in Taiwan, along with a bunch of brand name "American" bikes. No motor. It saves weight and I don't have to worry about how to charge it on an extended X/C trip. I'm also not range limited (other than my own endurance). I did the STP bike ride (200 miles in 1 day) on this folder, so it's a good one. It's just 23 pounds with the street tires on it. Fatter tires adds about 3 pounds. Here is is next to my plane at the last High Sierra fly-in


Here it is on a break during a Century ride:


and here it is in a 21" suitcase for airline travel:


It does have a partially folded mode that just pivots the rear triangle forward, resulting in a bike that's half the length. I only take the front wheel off to transport it in the Maule. :

That's a nice folder, but nothing I'd take up a mountain trail. The fat tires, besides being heavier, are a lot draggier too. I bet that bike of yours is(almost) effortless to pedal. That's why I can't see carrying a 20" fattie folder in a plane. I'm always amazed how much easier my 2 non fatties are to pedal, and with an e bike that translates into better range of course.

Yes, there is no "range anxiety" with a pedal only bike, and they are lighter. Believe me I thought long and hard about that before converting my Montague, and I don't have a Maule's carrying capacity! Then again, when I'm fetching mogas, I'm glad I'm not feeding a Maule's engine so it all balances out.

courierguy wrote:That's a nice folder, but nothing I'd take up a mountain trail. The fat tires, besides being heavier, are a lot draggier too. I bet that bike of yours is(almost) effortless to pedal. That's why I can't see carrying a 20" fattie folder in a plane. I'm always amazed how much easier my 2 non fatties are to pedal, and with an e bike that translates into better range of course.

Yes, there is no "range anxiety" with a pedal only bike, and they are lighter. Believe me I thought long and hard about that before converting my Montague, and I don't have a Maule's carrying capacity! Then again, when I'm fetching mogas, I'm glad I'm not feeding a Maule's engine so it all balances out.

Thats a question I have. If the battery goes dead is it harder to pedal then a regular bike? Or does the motor just disengage?

It disengages "mostly", either hub or mid drive. There are various mechanical and electrical reasons for that, plus weight and cost issues. But it kind of sucks, as the pedaling effort is about like a pedal only bike with real low air pressure tires, noticeably more drag.

BUT, in the 5 years (maybe 6) I have been ebiking, I have found the dreaded "running out of power" issue to be a non issue. That assumes of course one has the proper display (any quality ebike will) that clearly keeps you posted on your power consumption and battery strength, and you pay attention to it. Kind of like a non flier asking you, "what happens if you run out of gas in your airplane?" We can fly dead stick, and you can pedal a dead ebike, well enough to get home anyway.

Why? Because I can, that's why!

Has anyone thought about using a Coleman Mini Bike? They have a 100CC that claims it weighs 82lbs and a 200CC that claims it weighs 121lbs. for the price I'm tempted to see if I can get one into the back of my Pacer.

I just saw a YouTube video of that little $400 folding e-bike at CostCo (teeny wheels - pavement only, for sure!), and was more than a little surprised that the reviewer actually liked it and found it more capable than I would have thought. It seems to accelerate fairly quickly to a reasonable speed, and other than looking like a clown car, it's actually kind of "cute"...

Having said that, I'm not going to trust it to haul around my larger-than-average body... LOL (Though it does look like it would fit in my plane.)

For me, weight savings is important.

I was happy with this bike at 22 lb, but I recently rebuilt it, and now it's 16lb. 11 speed. Light, fast, fun.



Following is details (cut & paste) from my social media post about it:

Introducing my #bikefridaypakit 2.0
It went through a diet from 22lb to 16.09lb (no pedals). This diet will help with all the lifting I do with it on trips into the airport security scanners, airplane overhead bins/closets and hotel vans. A lighter bike makes transport much easier.
Weight savings came from:
EBay sourced 16" carbon wheels
#circusmonkeyhubs
#3tcycling stem
Wheel build from @sugarwheelworks
EBay sourced #hylixseatpost carbon with telescoping delete
EBay sourced titanium skewers
EBay sourced BMX carbon fork <= huge weight savings!
#ciamillozerogravity titanium brake calipers
#schwalbekojak tires to achieve this weight, but switched to #schwalbemarathon for use
Custom fabricated carbon handlebar riser from @ruckuscomp
Other improvements include:
Upgrade from #sramx5 8 speed to #sramgrx 10 speed drive train (it's tough finding #shortcagederailleur )
#fsa green headset
Fabrication of cable stops and cable routing solutions, as well as powder coating from @ticycles

Any new developments in usable Ebikes that fit well in planes? I've been looking at the Lectric 2.0.

The other one I have been looking at is Sondors, but afraid to pre-order if it could be vapor
https://shop.sondors.com/pages/foldxs

I scrapped the Coleman Mini bike idea and ended up ordering a Bike Friday folding bike with the optional (and removable) E kit. I looked hard at the Lectric 2.0 and for the price they seem great...but weigh a lot. My Bike Friday Diamond Llama should come in about 36lbs with the electric motor which 9lbs of it can be removed if I choose. Granted that weight savings does drive the cost up some over the Lectric.