Review: Small Rider Discovers a Giant Kingbull Folding E-Bike Is the Right Fit

A couple of months ago I finally realized my life was not complete without an e-bike. I was hunting around for a small one, because I’m a small person. Then the chance came up to test a Verve folding bike from California-based Kingbull Bikes. It is far bigger than the perfect bike I envisioned for myself, and much bigger than the largest bike I’ve ever tested for CleanTechnica, too. But, as it turns out, bigger is better in my situation.

The Situation

Selecting an e-bike used to be a simple one for me, basically because there was no selecting involved. It was simply a matter of test-riding whatever happened to come in over the CleanTechnica transom.

Up until a few years ago, practically any bike with an electric assist fit my needs. I live in a small suburban city and I had a 20 mile round-trip commute to an office in another city, which was impossible to accomplish on a pedal bike due to a series of seriously annoying hills between me and my job. Also, my house is halfway up the side of a mountain (a small mountain, but nevertheless a mountain), and it sits on the crest of a hill attached to the mountain, so no matter which way I turn the very last leg of my journey is always up a steep incline.

I tested a number of different e-bikes on that same 20-mile, city-to-city route for CleanTechnica, and all of them got the job done (check out some of my reviews here, here, and here).

Beginning in 2023 my situation changed. The regular commute was gone, and there didn’t seem to be a need for an e-bike. I gave mine away to a local non-profit and bought a small folding pedal bike that’s light enough to carry onto a commuter train and use for riding around the bike lanes of New York.

The missing link, though, was a bike to use for errands at home. I spent a couple of years with the usual triad of options (walk, pedal bike, car) until this summer, when I finally realized that an e-bike would easily take me over the hills and expand my travel options beyond the car. All I needed was a small bike. After all, who needs a honking big e-bike for such distances…

High Visibility On A Folding E-Bike

…Me, as it turns out. Upon taking the Verve out of its shipping box and assembling it, I began remembering something about that 20-mile commute. There were no bike lanes. At all. For the entire route. Zero. Zip.

I used to wear the frilliest, fussiest dresses I could find to improve my visibility for my daily commute. It must have worked, because I never did get into any brushes with vehicles or any other hazards. However, now that I’m not working in an office, the appeal of playing dress-up every weekday morning has evaporated. Am I really going to haul on a dress just to run down to the supermarket for cucumbers?

The answer is no, but there are still no bike lanes anywhere within my range of errand-running, and that’s where the Verve comes in. Kingbull sent the bright white edition to me and it stands out from the background all by itself, without any need for me to add fashion. The large, strip-style red light on the rear of the bike also helps reassure me that I can be seen.

As for the size, I’m 5’3″ and able to hop on and off the Verve without a hitch because there is no cross-bar. Actually, no hopping is needed. The angle is low enough to step in. The bike is perfectly balanced and just as easy to handle as any of the smaller bikes I’ve ridden, pedal or assisted.

When I check out a new e-bike, I always start with a few long loops around the neighborhood, where the traffic is light and the terrain is relatively flat so I can experiment with toggling between the gearshift and the power levels, check out the throttle, and feel how the bike performs without the electric assist. For such a big, heavy bike, the Verve was surprisingly easy to pedal around the neighborhood on foot power alone. Even climbing up some gentle slopes required little effort.

Everything else about the bike is what I expect from a good, reliable e-bike. The gearshift and brakes function as intended, and the battery can be charged while still on the bike or removed to charge elsewhere. The battery also pops out easily for removal, with a handle at one end for portability if needed.

I’ve tested some bikes that focus on connectivity, such as a built in gyroscope that functions as an emergency alert in case the bike and the rider go sideways. That’s fine for some lifestyles, but in this day and age I am among those seeking out simplicity and off-grid experiences. Unless I missed something, the Verve is not connected to anything. Its screen interface is bare-bones and easy to read, and there are manual buttons for the lights and the horn.

As for assembly, it’s been a few years since I put an e-bike together out of the box, so I decided to challenge my memory by using the quick assembly guide that is printed in tiny print on a tiny booklet, instead of using the online tools. After you’ve assembled a few e-bikes the process is pretty intuitive. Also, the idea of reading words and diagrams on paper seemed more appealing from an analog point of view.

The quick guide got me all the way through without a hitch. I especially appreciated the suggestion to remove the battery before assembly, which makes the bike lighter and easier to move around. Additionally, the Verve came with the handlebar assembly in place and that was a real time saver. Some e-bikes come out of the box with handlebar assembly required, which can be a struggle unless you have a shop-type setup.

Do You Really Need An E-Bike?

The larger question is whether or not you need an e-bike for local errands. In my situation, yes. As mentioned, the hills in my immediate area are annoying and difficult to manage on a pedal bike unless you dedicate much of your time to fitness. My town has no local mass transit options worth mentioning, and a simple walk to the nearest store can easily soak up 30 minutes or more, assuming that the nearest store has what I need (spoiler alert: rarely).

To reach the farther-away stores in my town, I could take a one-hour round trip walk or battle a really annoying hill on my pedal bike. The car option is always lurking in the background, but the car habit leads to all sorts of unhealthy outcomes and is best avoided if possible.

The Verve expanded my opportunities exponentially. For example, right around the time I was satisfied with the Verve’s performance on my neighborhood loops, my mail-in ballot came in the mail. They always tell you to fill out your ballot and return it ASAP before you misplace it with the recycling or whatnot. So, Ride #1 on the Verve was a quick trip straight up the hill to the post office in town, where I gave my ballot a prompt send-off. I was back home with a good 10 minutes of healthy exercise under my belt and no worries about losing my ballot around the house somewhere.

For Ride #2 I took a quick trip to the nearest public park, which would otherwise involve a one-hour round trip walk along a route that is neither interesting nor pleasant. The pedal bike is an option, except the way back home is an uphill buzzkill.

Going by car is also an option, but the Verve made that unnecessary. Before stopping off at the park, I continued along the road to the nearest supermarket because I forget to get cucumbers there on my regular weekly shopping trip, just the day before. No way would I have run down to the supermarket on the following day just for cucumbers without an e-bike. Walking would take over an hour round trip, the pedal bike would mean climbing that same annoying hill on the way back, and taking the car would just put me in a bad mood. With the Verve, I got my cucumbers plus the benefit of avoiding the crowded parking lot, and there was plenty of time for a stop-off at the park on my way home to check out the new fitness equipment on the fitness trail.

Ride #3 took me far beyond walking or pedal-biking distance, to a destination about five miles away. Five miles on a pedal bike is small potatoes, except for that thing about annoying hills, and that other thing about no bike lanes. Also, along some stretches of the route there is barely any shoulder to speak of. I would have taken the car, except now that I had the Verve I could take my bike, with the added benefit of parking right outside the front entrance instead of seeking out a faraway spot to park my car.

Any Excuse To Ride An E-Bike

For the next ride I’ll take the Verve for my annual vision checkup, which will be a 10-mile round trip featuring annoying hills that will not annoy me. Next up is a visit to a music store about four miles away. I haven’t been there in years because it’s in the opposite direction from all my other errands, but with the Verve I can pick up a slide trombone mouthpiece from there (long story) and get some exercise, to boot.

Long story short, I’ll be getting a lot more use out of the Verve than I first anticipated. I don’t know why I ever thought e-bikes were only for daily commutes. In fact, I can probably get more use out of it during the winter months, because I can get my errands done when the sun is up, and I don’t have to worry about biking back home in the dark, with no bike lanes.

Similarly, because the local rides are relatively short I can tolerate colder weather with a good pair of gloves and a warm jacket, which I could not do when I had a long commute. And yes, I found that out the hard way.

Readers, what do you think? If you want an e-bike, why do you want one? How will you use it? Do you want a big one or a small one? If you already have one, do you find yourself always making up new excuses to use it? Drop a note in the discussion thread to share.

Photo: This huge e-bike from the California-based company Kingbull Bikes has provided the author with a much-needed alternative to walking, pedal biking, or driving around an area characterized by seriously annoying hills (original photo by Tina Casey).