Kingbull Literider review: Powerful folding electric bike for $1,000 | Repost From palmsolo.substack.com

I’m awarding the Kingbull Literider five (5) Medals of Yavin. The bike is priced at just under $1,000 and I personally feel that is the right price level for a fat tire folding bike. These types of bike are great for those who want to get places quickly and are not going to ride a bike for extended exercise purpose. The Literider is good for putting in the back of a truck or SUV and taking it out to a job site or ride along the waterfront.

Pros

• Full featured bike with fenders, lights, mirrors, and other accessories

• Lots of available power and torque, enough to propel me up steep hills in throttle mode

• Solid and accurate advertised range

• Frame mounted battery for easy access

• Big, bright color LCD

• Brilliant front headlight and rear brake light

• UL2849 certified

• IPX4 water resistant rating on the bike

Cons

• Right at that $1,000 price point

• Heavy 71 pound bike weight

• No water bottle mounting points

Kingbull includes all of the tools you need to assemble the bike and maintain it so you don’t need any of your own tools. The company also provides some key accessories, including dual rear view handlebar mirrors, a lock, phone holder, bungee cords, and air pump. These are not the highest quality accessories, but they get the basics right and are better than nothing.

The bike folds up easily with the handlebars, center, and pedals all making it more compact for fitting into a vehicle trunk, storing in a garage, and even transporting on public transit. It is quite a big heavy bike at 71 pounds so be careful picking it up and moving it around.

The saddle is very comfortable and provides good cushion for your rear. The right side twist throttle works well and the bike was powerful enough to propel me all of the way up my steepest hills with no pedal assist, a feat not achieved by many e-bikes. The 7-speed Shimano is also nice to have for making your ride smooth and functional.

Kingbull incorporates the same LCD color display I have seen on newer Lectric bikes so that’s a good thing. It has that obvious energy bar along the top with big numbers for all of the data. The same three button controller is used for the display and mounted on the left side.

An additional two button controller is also positioned on the left side and this activates the headlight and the horn. Too often I see e-bikes with no horns so it is great to see Kingbull include an electronic horn that is powerful and easy to find for activation.

The Kingbull Literider is a powerful bike and supports throttle and assist speeds up to 20 mph out of the box. Simple directions are found in the detailed manual to help you unlock the speed to 28 mph, but understand that your battery range will be reduced with these faster speeds.

• Frame: Aluminum alloy

• Motor: 750W (1300W peak) rear hub with 80 Nm of torque

• Battery: 48V, 720 Wh, 15 Ah

• Bike weight: 71 pounds

• Bike capacity: 400 pounds

• Pedal assist: Five levels cadence sensor with half-twist throttle

• Max speed: Default is 20 mph, but easily unlockable to 28 mph.

• Range: Advertised as up to 50 miles with pedal assist 1 and 30 miles with throttle only. My experience shows a bit less since I am 55 pounds heavier than the test rider and don’t have many true flat surface to ride on.

• Transmission: Shimano 7-speed

• Brakes: Hydraulic disc brakes

• Lights: Front 48V LED and rear taillight with brake light

• Display: Color LCD

• Durability: Certified as dust proof and water proof (no specific ratings provided)

• Tires: 20 x 4 inch CST tires

• Colors: Red, White, Black, Green

This full featured folding fat tire bike has everything you could want in a bike with this form factor and Kingbull even includes a few handy accessories. It’s a powerful bike with good range and high quality build. The front suspension forks and comfortable seat mean you can enjoy the bike for hours on end and I did while I was testing it out.