By Price: $1,699
Weight: 49.8 lb.
Battery life: Up to 35 miles (in real-world conditions)
The right bike for: Commuting, errand-running, drag racing cyclists who don’t have a throttle
What California bike company Blix set out to do with the Vika+ is ambitious: Build a not-too-expensive, not-too-heavy folding e-bike that enriches your life by inserting a bike into your previously non-bike transportation regime. In that regard, Blix has succeeded. The Vika+ goes, folds, and stows well, thanks to a 350-watt electric motor located in the rear hub and folding mechanisms in the down tube and stem. The 11 amp-hour battery delivers 35 miles of range in the second of four e-assist modes, and a throttle orders up on-demand blasts of oomph.
The Vika+ is designed to do all this while still being affordable, and as such, there are compromises. You don’t get disc brakes (the V-brakes aren’t bad, though) and at 49.8 pounds, it’s still a handful to fold and carry up the stairs. The folding mechanisms are simple and worked reliably, although folding the bike in half required a lot of force and the stem folding mechanism allowed more flexibility in the handlebar than I would’ve liked. The Vika+ isn’t perfect, but it’s not for the snobs among us. It did everything I asked of it during a month’s testing; it meant less spending on gas, more convenient errand-running and, best of all, more time in the saddle.
SpinTech Motor
The hub motor puts out 350 watts of e-assist power.
LCD Display
View your speed, battery life, trip distance, and more.
11 Amp-Hour Battery
The SpinTech battery locks to the frame.
Built-in LED Lights
Never forget your riding lights again.
Leather Grips
They’re equal parts comfortable and stylish.
Four E-Assist Modes and a Throttle
Blix uses a SpinTech e-assist system to power the Vika+. There’s a 350-watt motor in the rear hub, an 11 amp-hour battery behind the seat tube, and a handlebar-mounted LCD display. The display shows speed (current, average, or top), battery life, trip distance, and there’s an odometer for total distance, too. The indicated battery life goes up and down as you ride; the system adjusts to the amount of e-assist you’re using and shows you how much battery you’ll have if you maintain your current motor usage. The battery locks in place with an included set of keys and displays its charge with four indicator lights.
Rather than using a torque sensor, as you’ll find on Bosch and Shimano STePS systems, the Vika+ uses a cadence sensor to dole out the pedal assistance. Cadence sensors are cheaper and easier to maintain, says Blix founder and Vika+ designer Pontus Malmberg, and they also allow for an easier riding style. “We want to let you be relaxed when you want to,” Malmberg says. “If you want to go faster, pedal faster, not harder.” Because the sensor increases e-assist with cadence, you can get more motor help by shifting down and spinning the pedals with minimal effort.
Malmberg insists the best way to ride the Vika+ is like a normal bike, running through the gears to accelerate. Note that not every pedal assist mode will propel you to the 20 mph top speed. For safety, level two goes up to 15 mph—perfect for ambling along the boardwalk—and level three goes up to 18 mph. The motor also cuts out when you apply the brakes. The throttle is a reminder that the Vika+ is not a normal bike; it’s handy for pulling off the line or getting out of a bad situation in traffic.
The Breakdown
Collapsing the Vika+ took me about a minute; fully folded, it’s 32 inches long, 21 inches wide, and 26.5 inches tall. The main hinge, the one that breaks the frame in two, feels solid. The clamp that’s used to secure the hinge is adjustable, but the hinge itself is not; our test bike didn’t fold as easily as other folding bikes I’ve used. The handlebar hinge and mechanism are easier to operate, although there’s a considerable amount of flex in that long stem. The seat folds upward for battery access, and the outer platform on the Wellgo pedals folds vertically to minimize the bike’s footprint. A magnet attached near the fork dropouts is designed to hold the bike together once it’s folded, although the magnet mount on our bike bent the first time we folded it up. It’s probably extraneous; the resistance from the main hinge keeps the Vika+ from unfolding easily.
All the Commuting Essentials
As a day-to-day commuter, the Vika+ is generously equipped. The drivetrain is a smooth and reliable 7-speed Shimano Acera system, and although the Tektro linear pull V-brakes aren’t as powerful as most discs, they never left me wanting for stopping power. The 20-inch wheels use Kenda 1.75-inch tires that gripped well on wet roads. There’s a rear rack, a headlight and taillight that run off the battery, a kickstand, and SKS front and rear fenders. Those LED lights aren’t very bright, but they’re enough to make you visible to drivers. You also get leather handlebar grips and a wide and plush Velo saddle; all these details make the Vika+ a comfortable and convenient bike to ride between stops.
What’s most convenient about the Vika+ is buying one. The $1,649 price tag includes shipping and assembly at your local bike shop, meaning you don’t have to do anything but pick it up.
Ride Impressions
The Vika+ riding position is upright, which means you’ve got to maintain good posture to stay comfortable on it. The recommended rider height is between 4-foot-10 and 6-foot-3. At 6-foot-2, I sat higher on the bike than most riders will, and perhaps that’s why I noticed the flexion in the handlebar, which appears to come from the folding mechanism in the stem. It’s unnerving when you discover the laterial compliance standing still, but it’s tough to ride the Vika+ so aggressively that the lack of stiffness would become a hazard. To its credit, there’s no evident flex from the down tube hinge.
The 35-mile range figure is based on a route with a few modest hills, using a 180-pound rider on the second of four pedal-assist modes. I’m 180 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I got roughly 35 miles when I used the two lowest e-assist modes. On the higher modes, battery life dropped to around 20 miles. (A 17.5 amp-hour battery upgrade, for a 55-mile range, is available for an extra $300). When you increase your cadence, the pedal-assist power comes on all at once, which is a different sensation from the measured power delivery of a torque sensor-equipped system. I prefer the cadence sensor for easy urban riding: Use the gears to hit a high cadence and the Vika+ delivers pedal-assist power as you’re barely trying. When you want to try harder, lower your cadence or use a lower pedal-assist mode. When you don’t want to try at all, rip the throttle and coast along on the motor’s quiet whirr.
Despite its proportions, the Vika+ isn’t difficult to maneuver. The 20-inch wheels and 71-degree head tube angle produce fast steering at low speeds. The upright riding position yields some hilarious leaning action in high-speed corners, although the Vika+ never felt sketchy as I zipped through traffic. (The center-mounted battery probably helps in this regard.)
We have a lot of über-specialized, take-out-a-second-mortgage type of bikes in the Bicycling office, and yet the Vika+ garnered plenty of attention from passing editors. “Woah, is that a throttle? Can I ride that thing around the parking lot?” It’s amusing in the manner of a moped—a low-slung frame, small wheels that make you lean deep into turns, that throttle—and that’s why I’d keep using it for everyday errands if it were mine to keep.
A former Division 1 runner, Dan grew up riding fixies and mountain bikes and now reviews everything from performance running shoes to road and cross bikes, to the latest tech for runners and cyclists at Bicycling and Runner’s World.
