Swifty Liberte Folding Electric Bike

I was pleasantly surprised how well these bikes performed, plenty of power and the battery so far is excellent. Now firstly I bought two of these while the price was low, one of them arrived with a dent in the front mudguard, this is caused by the way they are shipped as the pedal was in contact with the mudguard. I contacted Amazon customer services and they compensated me for this as I didn’t want to return it. See Photo. Once unboxed I suggest putting the battery on charge while you check all the fasteners are secure and make any adjustments that are required. I also advise taking the battery off the bike while you do this as it will reduce the weight so you can invert the bike to adjust the gears. These bikes weight in at approx 21kg and the battery can be charged off the bike. If you find the handle bars slightly off centre there is an Allen bolt under the hinge where they fold and a 6mm key is required, just slacken and straighten the bars and retighten. See Photo. You will also need to move the position on the break levers as they are far too low to be able to reach easily unless you have large hands. See photo. Check the tightness off the seat clamp and handle bar latch as they needed tightening slightly on both our bikes. The tyres will also need inflating to correct pressure, I think it said in the owner’s manual to inflate to 25 - 35psi but I did ours to 40psi. The chain will need oiling as ours were dry but I ended up changing both our chains to KMC Z6 as the ones supplied on the bikes are absolutely terrible quality. They made an awful grating sound as they don’t have proper rollers on the links, once I fitted the new chains and adjusted the gears the bikes were transformed and quiet. See Photo. I recommend taking some tools out with you on the first ride as you will more than likely need to make some slight adjustments to the gear’s, the procedure is documented in the owner’s manual. The first ride for us was just under 12 miles from Rhyl to Pensarn and back along the coastal path route 5. I used the lowest setting (1) and found the top speed for that setting to be 10mph approx. This was plenty as the path was busy and narrow in places and to go any faster would have been dangerous to myself and others. On setting 2 I found the top speed to be 12mph approx and setting 3 around 16mph, motor cuts out when it reaches the max speed for each setting and when you pull the brakes. When we arrived home I checked the battery level and both bikes still showed a full battery which I was quite surprised at, although every time we stop pedalling or exceed the speed for the power level selected the motor cuts out so saves on battery power. One thing we will be doing is changing the seats as they are not the most comfortable and did have some aches in the bottom, will give them another try though because we hadn’t been on a bike for 20 odd years and I’m almost 60 years old. So to sum up these are brilliant little bikes once you sort out the few problems, mainly the chain as it really is very poor quality and I strongly recommend changing it as it improves the whole experience. There is plenty of power and I also like the disc brakes that so many other bikes in this class didn’t have and it was important to us as my wife has poor grip due to Arthritis so the extra power helps. One more thing to consider is putting some sort of protection on the forks where they come into contact with the frame when folded to protect the paint. I give a rating of 5 stars based on the performance and price point, the price fluctuates and we were lucky to get them when they were at the lower end. OK, so I’ve spent money on chains and no doubt will replace the seats but they are still an absolute bargain at the price we paid and can’t recommend them enough. If you can get them at £350 to £400 price point then go for it but £699 or above then I’m not sure I’d be too happy about the chain situation as this is the only thing I can see about them that lets them down.

Update: May 11th 2022 I contacted Amazon's support via chat and the agent was very helpful, processing the refund on the spot. Now we just have to wait for it to show on the credit card. In the meantime, we purchased another model from the same manufacturer. A cheaper one. Not as nice and has a 24v battery instead of 36v, which would be ideal. However, it turns out my wife is quite happy wih it. So, to sum it up, the bike is good but make sure you inspect it when it arrives since the transportation company doesn't seem to be the most careful. May 2nd 2022 The bike is a reasonable price, however they should put more effort into making sure their product got to the customer intact. We got it with the bell smashed, the paint had damage and the battery wasn't behaving as the manual says it should. While recharging the battery, no lights showed anything nor that it was charging or that it was full. So we decided to return it, the pick up was fine but, a week later , it still doesn't even show in Amazon's system that the seller has gotten ahold of the bike. Therefore, the refund remains as pending.

Edit - After just about two weeks of riding the bike I experienced an incident in which the right pedal literally snapped off during use. This caused me to fall sideways off of the bike, in the middle of the road. Had there been a car behind me driving, this incident could very well have resulted in serious injury or even death. Thankfully the road was relatively empty, but this incident has definitely shaken my confidence in the Swifty Liberte. As far as I can tell this is an isolated incident, so I will be leaving my previous review up as, apart from that, it still reflects my opinions of this bike, however, should it come to pass that this issue is more widespread I will be changing this review to one star. So lets get this out of the way first and foremost - The acessories that come with the bike might aswell be made out of pringles, both the bell and front reflector were snapped in transit, and must be replaced out of pocket. And the battery is a Coppercell battery, unlike the advertised panasonic. But the question is - Do you really care? This is a folding E-Bike for £350 (At time of purchase), it's not the lightest thing in the world at 20kg, but the steel frame gives me confidence in its durability, and riding is a dream with the front-assist motor, hills are no effort at all and on flats, well, you feel zero resistance from the pedals. The form factor of the bike is a little bit larger than, say, a Brompton, but you're also paying almost 1/10th the price, so I can definitely forgive that. All in all, it's an easy riding, relatively comfortable E bike for an absolute bargain. This is my new main commuting bike and I expect I shall hold onto it for as long as it stays together.

I am 56yrs and I take the bike to go to the gym every day. I am in love with this bike. The seat is so comfy and so easy to ride. It has a lot of power, it's like going on a motorbike. In hills, you have to make a bit of effort with the pedals, but only for the hard ones. The rack at the back is perfect for shopping. The bike arrives totally assembled. I highly recommend it. My son uses it too to go to the gym as I do. He is 1.80cm tall and 100kg. The bike rides fine with his weight. On the leaflet, it says max.120kg. It comes with an adaptor to charge to a normal switch. Price is unbeatable. High quality and nice design.