Xiaomi QiCycle Folding E-Bike Review

After a long spell away from cycling, we’ve been lured back by the novelty of electric bikes (E-bikes) – late 2020.

We browsed Ebay to get a feel for the E-bike offerings and almost got tempted by some “Valk” branded bikes. However, we were tipped off that the seller we looked at wasn’t reputable. It also didn’t bode well that we couldn’t find any reviews for that brand – signs they weren’t mainstream enough.

Reviews abound for the QiCycle though. We’ve a modest degree of faith in the Xiaomi brand, having purchased a few of their products and were amazed yet again by their product range to find an E-bike in the mix.

E-Bikes

Having been out of touch with cycling tech for a while, we didn’t expect to find integrated motors. As it turns out there are two flavours:

• Pedelec – we still have to peddle, but the motor contributes to lessen our effort (QiCycle)
• Power Assisted – bike has throttling which means no effort from us, basically an electric motorcycle

Motorisation alone was enticing, but what tipped us over was that there are folding E-bikes. Space efficiency means we can stow the folded bike into our cars. We can take them on road trips and cover more ground exploring areas with bike tracks. Navigate hilly terrain without dreading the uphill legs.

Afterall we’re not serious cyclists, we’re in it to cruise about and take in the sights. No Lycra, no personal bests.

Online Reviews

As is our custom, we took a quick peek at some reviews to check for obvious red flags. There were none and we liked what we saw.

Positives

Quality is good. Materials and design often above expectation. Satisfactory performance.

Digital dashboard (bike computer) controls motor output, providing three levels of assistance, Table 1. Assuming normal pedalling is roughly 60 watts, then the motor contributes between 50 to 150 percent extra effort on top. Reviewers have said that it’s possible to ride the QiCycle on a warm day and not break a sweat.

The digital dashboard can also connect via Bluetooth to an android app to provide travel statistics and firmware upgrades.

Four bar battery power indicator on the battery itself, as well as digital reading on the dashboard. Easy to remove the battery for remote charging. Battery can also be charged onboard. Charge time said to be 3hrs, acceptable.

This fellow gave one hell of a detailed review. He ploughs through fast (in Spanish), but the subtitles work well. He confirms that the motor kicks in at the slightest of pedal movement and that climbing hills is effortless. A relatively simple hack (at 12:52) can add a throttle button! He discusses the gear system (at 4:09) noting that it is an enclosed planetary gear system that switches smoothly, even at a standstill. At 7:24 he points out that the battery doesn’t last as long on a cold day 0°C, from 40km down to 30km range. That’s still plenty for our needs, but useful to know.

Possible to go from default assisted max speed of 20kph to 25kph with firmware upgrade. That’s 25% gain, nothing to be sneezed at, however we suspect the battery would not last as long.

We were surprised to find that the motor is on the front wheel, our instincts suggested rear-wheel drive propulsion would be better than front wheel tractor. However, one of the reviewers suggested it balances out the weight between front and back, so that makes sense.

Negatives

Digital dashboard is in Chinese text – only. Although English speaking users were able to make do in spite of it.

The pimping video referenced a noisy bottom bracket, although the message was slightly lost in translation. We got the impression that most upgrade suggestions were extravagances, but were interested in three of them. Better saddle, for more cushioning. A set of removable pedals, makes the bike more compact when folded. Lastly, the bottom bracket – while we weren’t convinced that noise is a problem, it did make sense that the primary load transmission mechanism ought to be solid, ideally metal and not the plastic one included on the stock QiCycle.

We found a good reference for clear teardown pictures. Noting the bike does not score high on reparability due to non-standard parts.

On the subject of non-standard parts, one of our concerns is repairing tyre punctures. Or changing the front tyre that carries the hub motor. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For future reference, there were two videos showing how to take the wheels off. Rear wheel. Front wheel.

Our Review

We leapt in (with a purchase) after a cursory glance at reviews. Only to discover that there were two variants of the QiCycle that retailers don’t bother distinguishing between. The bikes are simply sold as QiCycle. Circa November 2020.

Chinese Version

This is the original version. There’s no kickstand or mudguards, these can be purchased separately. The QiCycle has mounting holes to attach them. The dashboard is in Chinese.

International Version

This is the version we received in the mail.

Compared to the Chinese version, this has slightly longer saddle post and handle post.

No Bluetooth, so no interfacing with the Xiaomi app on our phones. Fortunately the dashboard is in English! What they taketh in connectivity, they giveth in language.

Our International version also came with a kickstand, but no mudguards.

Despite there being no Bluetooth hardware, there remains a hidden way to send a “turn on Bluetooth” command. Go to the backlight menu, rapidly alternate between highlighting “Brightness” and “Time”. It will confirm with a “Bluetooth on” message. It’s just a built-in software command, since Xiaomi probably make all the dashboard circuits identically until they chose to omit the Bluetooth chip. This video (at 23:41) shows how the Bluetooth chip is missing.

We discovered the Bluetooth absence when we went to connect the bike to our phone, intending to update the firmware for a speed boost. At first we thought there was a fault, but after seeking help on the internet we confirmed that “Bluetooth not included”.

First Impression

The bike performs well. Very well. Motor really does take the effort out of the ride, not a drop of sweat even on a warm day. Not hard to fold. Easy to charge the battery.

Two negatives. Not show stoppers, but certainly difficult to ignore.

The bottom bracket is noticeably creaky. Right from the get go. Creaks and pops while we pedal. In fact, we could grab the left crank by hand, push it side to side and hear creaks. That’s next to no force compared to actual pedalling with our full weight on the pedal. We thought the YouTube review exaggerated the stock bottom bracket’s failings. They didn’t.

The second is the ride comfort. The QiCycle has absolutely no shock absorption. Rigid frame, small wheels, plus a hard unforgiving saddle. Bumps, even slight ones are noticeable. We have to stand on the pedals while passing over large bumps, tushies can’t take the punishment.

Actual Usage

A minor peeve. When the bike folds, there’s a magnet on both the front and rear wheels that lock together to hold the bike in its folded configuration. The magnets hold relatively well when the bike is positioned upright. When it’s placed on its side in a car, those magnet don’t hold up. The bike can twist further than it should under its own weight (as the handlebar twists) and the wheels wedge together, requiring a little effort to disentangle it. It happened to us twice so we’ve come up with a way to prevent this happening. All we need is a Styrofoam block, or any other spacer, wedged between the tyres.

When the bike is folded, the magnets hold the folded parts together weakly. So picking up the folded bike requires both arms rather than just one since the rear half threatens to come loose under its own weight. We fixed this using a short length of rope to bind the front and rear forks together. Can now carry the folded bike with one arm.

Range. As casual riders, the range of the bike is more than adequate. On short rides, we can set the assistance to Boost+ allowing the most leisurely experience. The battery is said to last approximately 40km – we assume under Normal assistance mode.

On the subject of maintenance there is one that stands out: dust. It gets in the bike chains, but more noticeably it gets into the saddle post sleeve and saddle post clamps. We can hear and feel the resistance of the coarse dust grains abrading between the post and sleeve as we pull the post out to fold the bike. Furthermore, the same is experienced with the saddle post clamp. Dust grains find their way into the clamp pins; we feel the resistance and hear the sound of the metal being scored each time we tighten the clamp. While we can access and clean away the dust on the saddle post and the sleeve, we might need an ultrasonic shaker to dislodge the dust particles from the saddle post clamps. Never have we considered how much of a nuisance dust can be.

The bolt that secures the saddle has come loose twice now during rides, and needed tightening (we now carry an Allen key with us).

Update: it never occurred to us that we’d ever take the QiCycle to the limits of its battery. As it turns out, if we forget to charge it and head out on 70 percent charge, we can. What happens is the assisted power cuts out abruptly. No audible warning indicator or perceptible visual cues on the dashboard. Without power the QiCycle is a heavy beast to move. In order to run the battery flat, it would have to be a long ride; at which point we’d be tired and accustomed to the assisted pedalling resistance. So when the power is cut, it’s unmistakably taxing. Need to keep that battery charged!

An alternative would be to keep a spare battery on hand. However, it’s AUD$270.

Update (2022 Feb): a MAJOR PEEVE that plagued us for a while is power failure. It’s a problem that surfaced a few months in after we completed all our upgrades and began cycling in earnest. When pedalling hard (or even just moderately hard), requiring more assistance from the motor, the power would abruptly cut out. The display completely off and unresponsive. Worst of all: power button does not start it up. The battery would need to be removed and reconnected before the power button would work again. Needless to say, having to hop off the bike, remove the saddle post, pull the battery out and put it back in, then re-insert the saddle post was getting on our nerves. Not only that, it ruined the riding experience and we garaged the bike for a long while on account of this.

Long story short, we think we’ve found the answer to our specific problem. It’s the manufacturing accuracy of the battery seated against the control unit. The control unit has prongs that slot into the battery. However, in our bike, the control unit is mounted too deep within the tube such that the prongs don’t reach far enough for good contact with the battery terminals. We had to study the teardown reference to dismantle and investigate. Then we had to figure out a way to remount the control unit. We’ve since done so (in the least elegant fashion) and need to put the bike through its paces to see whether we’ve finally resolved this one. Stand by for another update.

Upgrading the QiCycle

Saddle

From the pimping video, we can see that the seat can be switched out. The brakes. The bottom bracket (need to buy tools though). The pedals. The original QiCycle pedals fold, but removable pedals would be better for stowing the bike on its side in the car.

We were inspired to purchase the exact saddle in the video, but it didn’t appear to be mainstream with no availability. So we went Googling for “best bike saddle”. From the list of recommended saddles we chose the ISM brand. They’re expensive, but as we age, we need to take better care of our nether regions – hell, even if we’re young we should prevent damage to that area.

ISM saddles are “nose-less and designed to remove pressure from soft tissue, ensuring maximum blood flow, no genital numbness, and a healthier, more enjoyable ride.” We went with it on faith, choosing the most padded option, but our test showed it was firmer than we’d like – coupled with the QiCycle’s stiff frame. We had to consciously steer around small bumps and stand on the pedals as we passed over larger bumps.

Thus, the hunt is on for another saddle. Preferably one with springs or other types of shock dampening. So much of the cycling experience is degraded by saddle discomfort.

Update (2022 Feb): this is a long overdue update. We found our cushioned saddle a while back, but forgot to mention it. It’s the Selle Royal Unisex Respiro Relaxed (large) saddle. It’s a large saddle, but very padded with sufficient ride comfort for this stiff bike. The saddle does not look sleek mounted on the bike, then again we’re reminded that this bike isn’t winning any awards for aesthetics.

Bottom Bracket

The QiCycle uses a square taper bottom bracket with dimensions 68×118. The key reason to upgrade: replacing the plastic stock bottom bracket with a fully metal bottom bracket. As for terminology, we’ve seen the threaded ends of the bottom bracket referred to as “cups” which attach to the bike frame’s “bottom bracket shell”.

Our stock QiCycle bottom bracket is an FP-B908. Googling indicated the manufacturer appears to be Feimin. Never heard of them, but their bottom bracket is noisy in our QiCycle.

This fellow did a good comparison of Shimano bottom brackets. We don’t like when there’s an infinitely wide range of similar products with inconsistent pricing, since it’s hard to tell which is better. There’s the BB-UN300, BB-UN100, BB-UN55. For instance, the UN55 costs more than the UN300, but it’s an older product no longer in production. But it is steel and more solid. Here is an endorsement of the UN55.

We ordered a UN55, but it had delayed delivery so we installed a Shimano BB-UN300 68×118 instead. Hard to find good pictures of the Shimano bottom brackets, but here are some. While the stock bracket had a mixture of cups (metal on the right, plastic on the left), the Shimano bracket had two metal cups. Incidentally, it was the plastic cup on the stock bracket that accounted for the creaks and pops. Confirmed by placing a finger on the bracket while tugging on the crank.

During our browsing, we’ve kept our focus strictly on bottom brackets that suit our QiCycle, but were staggered by the sheer number of bottom bracket standards – one truly deep rabbit hole.

We include this for interest’s sake: bottom bracket tapping. A kind of inconvenience made necessary by accidentally stripping threads or having them deteriorate from corrosion.

Bottom Bracket Tools

We had to purchase the bottom bracket installation/removal tool and the crank puller/extractor. Fortunately, we already have a socket wrench and torque wrench. What we didn’t count on was different driver sizes. Both the bottom bracket tool and crank extractor needed adaptors to suit our half inch drivers.

The Park Tool brand and Shimano seem to make good bottom bracket removers and crank pullers/extractors.

It was recommended in videos that bottom brackets are installed with anti-seize on the threads. We ordered one and met with some buyer’s remorse. Contains substances that cause cancer. Typical of anti-corrosion materials. Need to wear the PPE.

Bottom Bracket Installation

Unfortunately, we learnt on-the-job that our torque wrench only works in one direction. So we couldn’t tighten it to the 40N.m we required on the right crank side.

We also learnt we were very forgetful about the reverse thread on the right side, finding ourselves mistakenly tightening when we intended to loosen. We hope we didn’t damage the threads.

Anti seize. During our reading, it was noted that anti seize reduces thread friction so optimal clamping pressure is reached at lower torque. Thus, applying regular torque on greased threads could apply unnecessarily high clamping pressure and damage the threads. We were aware of this, but over torqued anyway, since we didn’t realise our torque wrench was direction impaired. Live and learn – and try not to forget.

A few hiccups aside, the transplant was successful and the creaks and pops have gone away. Now the cranks feel very solid under our pedalling.

Pedals

In the pimping video, they replaced the stock folding pedals (Wellgo brand) with removable pedals (Wellgo also). We liked that idea, especially since we lay the QiCycle flat on its side in the car trunk. Having lived with the stock pedals for several weeks, it’s clear that they are obtrusive. So we looked for some Wellgo removable pedals on Ebay and Amazon (our preferred online outlets) but didn’t find any. There were some on AliExpress, however we’ve yet to try these alternative outlets (including others like Banggood and Kogan).

Instead we Googled “best removable bike pedals” for some reputable brands, settling on MKS – a Japanese brand. They have two lines of removable pedals: Ezy and Ezy Superior. We thought we’d go with the Ezy Superior, unfortunately the seller is based in Japan and COVID has all but crippled air freight. Postage by sea would take two months – entirely unacceptable. That meant we limited our search to local options and settled upon a set of MKS Ezy pedals.

The problem with MKS Ezy pedals was that they needed a low thickness profile pedal wrench to tighten them onto the cranks. MKS sells a wrench at a hefty price, we balked at that and decided to take a chance on a budget wrench. Sadly chance wasn’t on our side and the delivered wrench was thick. Just as we started cursing the lack of online options we had to choose from, we stumbled across an old furniture tool (that came with a desk, mount or bit of Ikea furniture) that fit the bill. It was much thinner than the pedal wrench and did a fine job of tightening on the pedals. Fortuitous!

We certainly won’t let the pedal wrench go to waste though. It’s got a date with either a mill or a grinder. Sooner or later, that sucker will be the thickness we need it to be.

Brakes

The pimping video introduced a larger more powerful rear brake option, while the companion video showcased larger front brake skates. Over time, we may explore these.

Cost

Messing about with a new E-bike comes at a price. Here’s an indication of what it looks like.

The irony of upgrading the bottom bracket is that the item itself cost less than the tools and greases needed to install it.

Overall

The stock QiCycle (International variant) is a great bike, just on the strength of its features. We’re very happy with it.

We’re even happier with the QiCycle in its upgraded form. At minimum, a better bottom bracket and saddle are necessary. At an absolute minimum: cushioned saddle.

Longevity is always one of our considerations and we’ll provide updates over time. The primary concern is the electronic system, we’re wary of: battery failure, failure of the power button on the dashboard, failure of the motor. Anything that turns our E-bike into a mere bike.

Maintenance wise, dust is the biggest nuisance. Particularly in the saddle post sleeve and clamps. We’re still figuring out an elegant solution.

As our first ever E-bike, we’re happy to say the QiCycle has sold us on this breed of machine. The cycling experience is effortless and the technology is easy to use.

Update (2022 February): the power failure issue mentioned earlier (under “Actual Usage” heading) was unforgivable. We shelved the bike for 10 months before we solved the problem. It was not an elegant fix, requiring dismantling and some fracturing of plastic brackets. That’s why, having met with such misery from the repeated power failures, we were no longer precious about it and happy to break a few things in order to get it working reliably.

By the way, we also don’t care about the dust anymore. When the power doesn’t work, the dust is the least of our worries.