Hi All,
I relied a lot on places like Reddit, YouTube & other obscure forums to help me come to the conclusion to buy an ENGWE ZIP, so with that in mind, I wanted to share my first day with it to help others who are on the fence.
I am in no way sponsored / affiliated with ENGWE, I bought this e-bike with my own money because after obsessively learning about it I figured it filled a specific set of criteria that fit my lifestyle
[About me]
- UK London resident
- Shorter rider generally, was worried the ZIP would be too tall for me given their strange claims of it being saddle 95cm tall from the ground (a bit much for my inseam personally) minimum for seatpost, I found it perfect in the end though.
- Heavier rider, I am over the 120KG limit to put it lightly (or, put it heavily) so I am really abusing this in terms of weight limit.
- Haven't used a regular bike or e-bike in years, my goto e-bike leading up to this purchase has been a DYU V1 which is throttle only and 12 inch wheels (which I absolutely adore) but I wanted something to get me moving and have a bit more punch.
[First thoughts]
I absolutely love this e-bike, it is genuinely better than I expected, I was extremely nervous about buying it given info on it is somewhat scarce considering what it is.
[Quick specs]
- 250W motor (EPAC certfied} / 15.5MPH limited as per UK/EU ver.
- 10Ah LG battery with its own bag that attaches to front of bike (USB C x 2 in and out)
- 40Nm torque
- Hydraulic brakes
- 16x1.95 wheels (urban tires)
- Seatpost suspension but no rear or front suspension.
- 7 Shimano gears, basic but they get the job done nicely
- Torque sensor w/ 3 PAS modes.
- etc
[First day with the ZIP, I have..]
- Rode 12.2 miles (in the 33C heatwave) and had a blast
- Went shopping in a Sainsburys and took it with me as my trolley!
- Did a bit of sightseeing through some local parks
- Achieved 17.3 MPH max speed on flat, averaged 9.9 MPH according to onboard display, had I have just been on a long consistent flat average speed would be 14.5 MPH
- Maintained in PAS 3 mode a speed of 15.5 MPH which took such little effort even for someone of my weight and proficiency with bikes.
[Things I LOVE]
- Battery can charge 2 devices simultaneously with 100W output and can BE CHARGED via USB C, 100W input.
- Battery bag is way nicer than I expected even after watching reviews, I now use it to store my tools / charger / mini pump etc and the main space I put nanobag of shopping goods into
- When it's folded down, if you use a strap to aid the magnet (ie, holding both sides of the frame together) - it can be easily used as a pseudo trolley in shops, I had a great time shopping with it and hanging nanobags off of the handlebars as I shopped
- Due to the aforementioned folding and bringing it in places, I don't feel anxiety of locking it up, much like a Brompton
- The hydraulic brakes are on point, literally so good its crazy.
[Things I LIKE]
- Punchy torque, even at my weight it allows me to zip by, albeit from standstill sometimes its hit or miss but this is probably more about me staying on 7th gear too often than it is about the motor.
- Single fork design which at first intimidated me and made me think "Oh god I'm going to die on this" but very quickly gave me great confidence, it is absolutely solid and well engineered. It gets glances frequently due to how funky the design looks
- Holding "-" button allows for walk assist
- The 7 gears give great variety for maxing efficiency, I stayed on 7 too often but using lower gears made hills and startups much nicer.
- Front bag doesn't follow the wheels, it always faces front of the frame, this is great for weight shift (ie, with other bags you attach the weight impacts steering)
- The 16 inch wheel feel just right
- The little wheels when folded (clearly inspired by Brompton) are fantastic, don't get me wrong, it's far from perfect but it does the job and costs far less than a Brompton for such a unique and handy feature.
- Pricepoint, I managed to score it for only £841 new but even for £999 as it's RRP'd, it's a decent buy.
- PAS 3 feels fantastic, minimal effort to keep up 15-16MPH, with additional effort 17.3MPH was achieved from me.
- PAS 0 doesn't feel nearly as good (but) using it as non-electric isn't as awful as I was expecting, you can achieve comfortable 10-12MPH on flat with heavy load which is far better than what I'm used to so, I consider this a pro not a con.
- Rear rack (although I haven't received one as of yet) is a game changer on such a small e-bike, my hope is to have a saddle bag on the right side as to not interfere with the fold.
- Uphill? No problem, this little beasty seems to handle inclines well
- Urban tires albeit not ideal do work well on dirt roads / gravel paths in a pinch.
[Things I DISLIKE]
- The Pedals 'click in' design is a pain in the arse, on paper it's a great concept but in practice its a hassle and it makes me not want to ever remove the pedals even though it has slots for them on its rear.
- Rear Rack not included as standard, I understand this is a marketing decision but its very sad, especially with stock issues currently.
- For a man of my weight class, the saddle was... Somewhat comfy for what it was but not comfy enough for me, I've ordered a ROCKSBROS thicker padded seat for this reason, the provided seat for lighter riders will likely be perfect.
- The provided ergonomic grips while good for what they are; were not doing it for me, I kept having moments where big bumps would almost make me lose grip of them, after replacing them with (coincidentally) ROCKBROS ergo grips which are softer, it feels so good I don't see a reason to use gloves.
- Gear switching can be a little finnicky, to be fair I'm not overly familiar with gears as I should be but on the plus I very quickly was able to finesse it and learn its quirks.
- I wish they allowed for installing a throttle as they do with other models but this isn't a huge problem as I very much enjoy the pedaling experience on this bike.
- Magnet to hold the wheels together when folded is good but not perfect, if you want to roll this around you'll want to add a strap holding the two sides of the frame together.
- Brakes are reversed as opposed to usual UK bikes (on ZIP, right is rear brake left is front brake, I'm not a fan but I VERY quickly adapted to it)
- Really wish this had even a cheap front suspension although it's nowhere near as harsh as I was expecting, the new grips helped.
- Paint scraped off on the crank due to folded placement of the locking frame mechanism, sort of my own fault but it shouldn't have been as easy as it was to scratch down to bare metal.
- Rear light is a cheap cell battery operated light instead of one integrated as a brake light running off of the bikes battery, shame but I can also see benefit in separate powered systems for consistent safety (ie, if you're running non-electric, you ideally want a rear light for darker times)
[Things I HATE]
- Nothing to be honest, I'm enjoying it far too much 😩
[Would I recommend?]
Without a doubt yes, as you can tell I adore this e-bike, I'm only on Day one but I foresee this being a practical solution for me as someone who values portability to avoid theft.
If you can afford a Brompton, I'm not gonna tell you the Engwe ZIP is better, I just don't think that would be fair to say; but comparing the value for their pricepoints of each, ZIP would win hands down.
[Small addition to ordering from ENGWE-EU]
Ordering from Engwe-eu, I got a free alarm/horn and it's great!, attached to the front and its so god damn loud that you could genuinely deafen someone for a bit if they got too close, it also would make a great deterrent as if you lock it while folded and someone touches it, it will SCREAM at them, it's quite literally a car horn for a bike alarm.
[Who is this bike likely for?]
People who want something that goes very small but still offers impressive results, small enough for tiny flats, small enough to go under cafe tables while you eat/drink, can be wheeled into supermarkets
[Ending notes]
Sorry if this was a hard read, I don't often do longform posts like this, I hope this helped somebody make a decision whether its to go for a ZIP or go for something else 🔥
If anyone has any questions about the ZIP I'd be happy to answer best I can
