The Tamesis
Utopia Carbon Fold 2 unfolded and folded forms
Xin Ben
Electric vehicles in China have been one of the hottest topics in tech over the past few years, and many of my fellow tech reviewers have ventured into the EV space. However, I am an urbanist and I believe that cities thrive when they are walkable, bikeable, and covered by public transit. So I prefer testing micromobility vehicles rather than cars.
I have tested several Utopia electric bikes before. A six-year-old startup with offices in Shenzhen and Irvine, both e-bikes are high-tech e-bikes packed with “smart features” such as eSIM support and digital voice assistants.
The company has a new e-bike that lacks the fancy smart features on the spec sheet, but in my opinion is just as technically impressive: an e-bike that folds and weighs just 38 pounds.
Carbon Fold 2 in folded form
Xin Ben
The $1,699 electric bike, called the Carbon Fold 2, has a frame made of carbon fiber, which makes the bike so light that I could carry it up two flights of stairs in an apartment without an elevator without getting out of breath.
When fully folded, the bike is as small as 27 inches tall, 32 inches long, and approximately 19 inches wide. It’s small enough to fit in the trunk of almost any car, and I can also climb my very narrow apartment stairs.
When the bike is unfolded, the seat and handlebars are height-adjustable to accommodate riders between 5’1 and 6’1. I’m 5’9″ and the frame doesn’t feel too small when I’m sitting on the bike. The maximum handlebar height is 44.5 inches, and the seat height is up to 40 inches. Yes, the bike is still smaller than a traditional adult bike, but not so small that I feel uncomfortable.
Me (5’9″) and a friend (5’6″) use the Carbon Fold 2
Xin Ben
Carbon Fold 2 has a built-in 250W motor that can output 500W peak power. This power can be used for pedal assist or using the thumb throttle. Acceleration is smooth, and if I pedal as hard as I can and turn the power to max, I can push the bike to 30 miles per hour. If I pedal casually at maximum power, the bike still easily reaches 20 miles per hour.
The Carbon Fold 2’s 248Wh battery can power the bike for approximately 28 to 40 miles, depending on the rider’s weight and power used. The fact that the bike is so light means that even without power, you can ride it like a regular bike with just a little more effort.
Nice little details include an eight-speed Shimano Altus drivetrain, a color LCD screen that displays speed and battery percentage, and a bell. The 18-inch wheels use hydraulic disc brakes to stop, and from my testing they were very responsive, stopping even when going downhill.
As mentioned before, the pedal assist is very powerful, so even if one pedals very casually and slowly, the bike can still reach speeds of 10-15 miles per hour.
Some minor quibbles – and they are quibbles – include the thumb throttle and shifter being positioned so close together that I often confused the two, and a complete lack of suspension at the wheels. The latter is understandable since this is a small city bike. But if you happen to ride on unpaved roads, you’ll feel every bump.
Obviously, the Carbon Fold 2 isn’t meant for mountain biking or long-distance commuting, but its small size and light weight make it ideal for so-called “last-mile commuting” for people who live or work far from the nearest train station or car park.
This bike is also useful for people living in bicycle cities with smaller living spaces, such as Taipei, Osaka, Paris or Barcelona.
As an urbanist, I believe these types of micro-mobility commuters are very important for urban infrastructure, because cities where every citizen drives their own car are almost always a traffic nightmare and unpleasant for pedestrians. I’m from Los Angeles – I know.
