luna has a new folding electric bike. anyone hear of this brand of folding bike and if so any thoughts or opinions? looks like a reasonable price and a nice small folded package. possible commuter vehicle. looking forward to a ride review.
folding bike
- Thread starter slacker
- Start date
IdleUp
1 W
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2016
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- 64
Have not heard about Luna's fold-up bike but the Prodeco Tech Mariner 500 is sweet - while its a hub drive, here’s the things that make it work;
500 watts
Geared Drive
20 inch wheels (low ratio)
48 volt 11 amp battery
The 500 watt motor is happy thanks to the gearing and the low ratio thanks to the 20” tires. This bike comes with all the bells and whistles; front Swing Shock suspension, Velo plush suspension seat, hydraulic brakes, 9 speed gearing, all aluminum folding construction. While I was at a convention in Reston, Va I found it in a bike shop brand new for only $1300. A lot of the events i go to are spread over 2-5 acres, this thing is priceless. I also carry it around in the back off my Chevy Volt.
She has real good power on hills and it easily gets 20-25 mph top speed and 18-20 mile range. Here’s few images below - if you have any questions ask away!.
500 watts
Geared Drive
20 inch wheels (low ratio)
48 volt 11 amp battery
The 500 watt motor is happy thanks to the gearing and the low ratio thanks to the 20” tires. This bike comes with all the bells and whistles; front Swing Shock suspension, Velo plush suspension seat, hydraulic brakes, 9 speed gearing, all aluminum folding construction. While I was at a convention in Reston, Va I found it in a bike shop brand new for only $1300. A lot of the events i go to are spread over 2-5 acres, this thing is priceless. I also carry it around in the back off my Chevy Volt.
She has real good power on hills and it easily gets 20-25 mph top speed and 18-20 mile range. Here’s few images below - if you have any questions ask away!.
. You can pretty much say what it's like even without actually riding it because it uses parts that are well known.slacker said:
The motor looks like a Bafang CST or one of its clones from Mxus or Xofo. It's a cassette motor, so you get proper gearing and gears that change nicely. In a 26" wheel, it has plently of power for steep hills, so in 20" whels, I doublt that there's a hill that would defeat it, but it depends how much power the controller allows.
It has hydraulic disc brakes, which IMHO should be fitted to every electric bike. They're set and forget so will perform reliably and more than adequately for thousands of miles.
I have forks similar to those on my Dahon. They're marginally better than non-suspension forks. but don't expect them to perform like Rockshox ones.
Folding bikes like that are OK to fold occasionally to put in the trunk of your car, but they're too heavy and cumbersome to take on public transport or carry into the office. The best thing about them is that you can fold the pedals and handlebars so that if you bring it into your house/flat, you don't get stabbed every time you walk past.
The bike looks fairly well though out, but for me, there's one imporrtant omission. I can't see a LCD nor a PAS sensor. I'm not saying that it doesn't have them. Maybe they fitted a torque sensor, though I can't see any wire coming from the BB and there's no mention of one on their website. Having a proper PAS system on a bike up to 1000w makes it mauch more easy to use. If it doesn't have one, I think that's an oversight. In the last week I've had a ride on two throttle-only bikes. Although I used to have bikes myself like that before decent PAS systems existed, I found them diabolical to ride by comparison. I just built a bike with a BBSHD crank motor from Em3ev. Paul/Bafang had done an excellent job of programming the controller. Even with only three PAS levels, it was one of the easiest and most controllable bikes to ride that I'd ever tried despite its fairly significant power.
induna
100 mW
d8veh said:
Uhm, I'm pretty sure that's a bbs02 on the Luna folding bike
Alan B
100 GW
What do these bikes weigh? Some folding bikes are awful heavy.
Do they take standard bike parts? Many folders take special parts which limits what you can do with them and makes it hard to upgrade or maintain them.
Do they take standard bike parts? Many folders take special parts which limits what you can do with them and makes it hard to upgrade or maintain them.
craneplaneguy
10 kW
I'm taking an educated guess, that the weight is 44 to 48 lbs on the Luna bike. The OP asked about it BTW, not 20" folder hub drives, big difference, I have both. They both have their strong and weak points, but overall a 26" mid drive is a much more overall capable ride. The price Luna is selling these at, is a killer deal. My Montague Paratrooper Pro was $995.00 for just the bike.
I fold my Montague several times a weeks, sometimes several times a day. No issues with it all even with the BBSHD/battery installed (6 AH Mini) and the Rohloff hub. I carry it in my mid 40's mpg Toyota Yaris, a huge advantage. Out of the weather, no aero drag, no theft concerns, and no one knows I am even carrying a bike thanks to the dark tint windows. When I take my non folding fat bike on a trip I take a 20 mpg hit because I have to transport it on the rear rack of my RAV4.
I fold my Montague several times a weeks, sometimes several times a day. No issues with it all even with the BBSHD/battery installed (6 AH Mini) and the Rohloff hub. I carry it in my mid 40's mpg Toyota Yaris, a huge advantage. Out of the weather, no aero drag, no theft concerns, and no one knows I am even carrying a bike thanks to the dark tint windows. When I take my non folding fat bike on a trip I take a 20 mpg hit because I have to transport it on the rear rack of my RAV4.
induna
100 mW
d8veh said:
Oops. I misunderstood.
craneplaneguy
10 kW
And speaking of folding bikes.....once you have one, uses for it will often be unexpected!
Once a year I need to drive my crane to SLC for it's annual inspection, 3 hours away. I tow a car down, drop the crane off, and drive the car home. If the inspection goes well, I head back down in a couple days to pick the crane up. It's a huge PITA but something I am required to do. As SLC is the big airport in these parts, there is a bus shuttle service from all the little hick towns scattered throughout S Idaho, and last year they built a new terminal directly across the street from my crane yard in town. The problem is, it delivers you to the airport, 7 miles from my crane inspector. But I had a solution, the E Montague fit easily in the bus baggage compartment, and after parking across the street in my lot, and for 25 bucks I let the pro driver deal with the morning rush hour traffic in the SLC area, a big deal if you don't drive that congestion much like me. Truckers call it, "The Mormon 500," no offense meant to any Mormons.
The people standing around the airport terminal were amused to see me pull the bike out, fold it out, and ride off, BRISKLY. Oh yeah, full throttle on the BBSHD. Getting out of the area while staying off the interstate was tricky, but I got some good directions and a few minutes later I was at my destination. It was fun, mixing with fast moving urban traffic
as opposed to my usual hazards of creek crossings and the odd moose. My bear bell on the handle bar was a little incongruous I guess. Once I drove the crane back to my crane yard, it took about 30 seconds to fold the bike back up and stuff it in the rear of the Yaris hatchback. It was a nice combo of the bike, the bus, the crane, the Yaris, all working together, and a lot more fun, and cheaper, then taking a cab. Quicker probably too.
Once a year I need to drive my crane to SLC for it's annual inspection, 3 hours away. I tow a car down, drop the crane off, and drive the car home. If the inspection goes well, I head back down in a couple days to pick the crane up. It's a huge PITA but something I am required to do. As SLC is the big airport in these parts, there is a bus shuttle service from all the little hick towns scattered throughout S Idaho, and last year they built a new terminal directly across the street from my crane yard in town. The problem is, it delivers you to the airport, 7 miles from my crane inspector. But I had a solution, the E Montague fit easily in the bus baggage compartment, and after parking across the street in my lot, and for 25 bucks I let the pro driver deal with the morning rush hour traffic in the SLC area, a big deal if you don't drive that congestion much like me. Truckers call it, "The Mormon 500," no offense meant to any Mormons.
The people standing around the airport terminal were amused to see me pull the bike out, fold it out, and ride off, BRISKLY. Oh yeah, full throttle on the BBSHD. Getting out of the area while staying off the interstate was tricky, but I got some good directions and a few minutes later I was at my destination. It was fun, mixing with fast moving urban traffic
as opposed to my usual hazards of creek crossings and the odd moose. My bear bell on the handle bar was a little incongruous I guess. Once I drove the crane back to my crane yard, it took about 30 seconds to fold the bike back up and stuff it in the rear of the Yaris hatchback. It was a nice combo of the bike, the bus, the crane, the Yaris, all working together, and a lot more fun, and cheaper, then taking a cab. Quicker probably too.
