My partner and I have been reading A LOT of reviews lately. We recently retired and purchased the motorhome of our dreams – a 2023 Thor Windsport. It’s 36ft. long, packed with features, and we got a great deal on it. The only thing it doesn’t have is a ton of space for all our everyday items. We’ve been downsizing, consolidating, and generally getting ready for spending months on end in a much smaller space than we are used to. This has required us to buy a lot of new products and small appliances so we’ve been doing our research.
One of the main activities we like to do is go for hikes and explore new areas. Our new “home away from home” will allow us to do this much more than we’ve been used to and we want to take advantage of visiting so many new cities and parks by going on as many little adventures as possible. To help make this a little easier, we knew we wanted a matching pair of electric bikes that are small enough to stow in the under compartment of the RV, but large enough that they are sturdy and comfortable to ride for extended periods of time. This led us to reading plenty of reviews on foldable e-bikes.
Honestly, most of the foldable e-bikes are either way too small or look like they were made for a teenager. That is, until we found the KBO bikes. They offer the KBO Flip (I assume it is named this because you flip it open) and the KBO K1s/K2s. The Flip was a little cheaper than the K1s, but we think the K1 looks a little sleeker and comes in better colors. My partner actually wanted to order 2 Flips, but I convinced him that the battery located inside the frame was worth the extra money as we may need to park them outside from time to time. He agreed and we received our 2 KBO bikes last week. We originally wanted matching colors, but couldn’t agree on the same color so he got a black one and I got a white one. At least now we will be able to tell them apart.
With all the reviews I’ve read lately on everything from coolers to comforters, I wanted to write a review of my own.
Shipping was decently quick and setup was easy since it was mostly assembled right out of the box. We haven’t yet taken them on any long road trips because we’ve been waiting until my daughter graduates this Spring, but we’ve rode them around our little hometown and up and down all the streets near us to get a feel for them.
The bike doesn’t feel cheaply made at all, which was one of my partner’s concerns at the price we paid. They are just heavy enough to feel stable on the road, but light enough to easily fold up and move around the garage. The throttle and motor are very zippy and I have to remember to pedal sometimes otherwise I feel like I am on a tiny motorcycle.
There is a small LCD screen that shows the speed, odometer, pedal-assist level, and battery life remaining. It can be kind of difficult to read when the sun hits it just right, but overall I appreciate its simplicity. I also like how low the step-over frame is, because it makes mounting and dismounting much easier. The smaller frame also makes it easy to do tight turns and avoid potholes.
There’s no taillight which I would have appreciated for extra safety and the seat is god awful on my rear but thankfully we will be upgrading those as soon as we can. All in all, these bikes are a lot of fun and exactly what we wanted. The price was so good we didn’t mind paying a little bit more for the upgraded K Series to get the integrated battery. Highly recommend to anyone in a similar situation as us with limited storage space but a desire to see the world!
OFF-V-GO!
