Rattan Folding Electric Bike Review

The Rattan Folding Electric Bike caught our attention with its reasonable price and positive consumer reviews. We tested it against a diverse selection of moderately priced folding e-bikes and were impressed by its ease of assembly, distance range, comfort, and power.

Performance Comparison

Ride

The Rattan Folding offers a comfortable ride with 20-inch wheels and a short turning radius, but it falls behind some of the competition with some small but noticeable drawbacks. Our riders noticed more twitchy handling than other high-scoring models and the rattling battery on rough surfaces. Still, it felt stable at higher speeds, helped by its wide tires and front suspension fork. It lands comfortably in the middle of the pack, well above lower-priced models, but paling against bikes of its price and higher.

The Rattan Folding isn't the most stable or steady model. The somewhat narrow handlebar makes the handling feel somewhat twitchy, comparatively speaking. It comes with a suspension fork that helps smooth the ride over rough terrain, and the girthy 3-inch wide knobby tires also provide a bit of damping over cracks and bumps while expanding the bike's versatility on a range of surfaces. While testing, we rode it on everything from paved roads and bike paths to smooth dirt roads and trails.

The Rattan has a very low step-thru frame, making mounting and dismounting the bike incredibly easy. Rattan also makes a step-over version that has a slightly higher standover height. The handlebar is relatively tall, and the bike's reach is pretty short, so it has a relaxed, upright seated position. There is a large range of seat and handlebar height adjustments, so most riders should be able to find a comfortable fit. Rattan specifies a 300 lbs total weight capacity and a suggested user height range of 5'4" to 6'4", and our six-foot-tall lead tester had no problem dialing this bike into his comfort preferences. The large padded seat is comfortable, and the rubber grips are fine but unremarkable.

The Rattan Folding comes with a wealth of useful features. It has front and rear fenders to help protect the rider and the bike from splashes of mud and water. The front and rear lights run off the bike's battery, and the rear light also works as a brake light that gets brighter when the brakes are applied. The bike comes with a kickstand, and Rattan includes a simple bell attached to the handlebar so you can clear your path. It also has a welded rear rack that can support up to 55 pounds. The rack comes with a padded cushion installed, and the bike includes two small foot platforms that can be attached to the chainstays should you choose to use them. Rattan states that the rack is “suitable for all children safety seats of Yepp brand.”

Range

“We were quite surprised and impressed by the Rattan in our range test; this thing is more fun than a jungle safari,” remarked tester Kat Elliot.

During our throttle-only range test, we rode the Rattan for 29.7 miles with 1,564 feet of elevation gain/loss at an average speed of 15.4 mph. This was impressive, especially because it has a 624Wh battery, 48Wh less than a few other bikes we tested. We were also pleasantly surprised by its average speed of 15.4 mph. While this isn't the highest average speed among our test bikes, it's still solid and demonstrates the motor's power that didn't bog down too much on the gently rolling hills of our test course.

Power

With a 500W rear hub motor and 20-inch wheels, the Rattan Folding is a powerful folding e-bike. This Class 3 model has five levels of pedal assist to provide a great range of support for your pedaling efforts, and it has no problem getting up to its top assisted speed of 25 mph. Using the throttle, it's quick off the line and can easily propel you along up to 20mph on flat ground.

The Rattan Folding is zippy whether you're using the throttle or pedal assist. The five levels of pedal assist provide a nice spread of support and corresponding bike speed. The bike operates with a cadence sensor, and the assistance takes roughly a half-pedal stroke to kick in. Once the cranks are turning, the motor delivers power consistently regardless of how much effort the rider is putting into the pedals. Shifts between output levels weren't entirely seamless, however, and there were a couple of seconds of lag between pressing the button and the motor changing levels. A top pedal-assisted speed of 25 mph makes the Rattan a Class 3 bike, and the speed limit can be adjusted through the display to drop it down to Class 2 if need be.

A throttle twist in assist level 5 and the Rattan Folding springs to life. The 500W motor makes this bike quick to accelerate, and you can even peel out on dirt or gravel. The throttle can whisk you along at up to 20 mph on flat ground, and the power corresponds to the selected assist level. You can plod along at a lower speed in assist level 1, or cruise along at 20 mph in level 5. We like that you can choose how powerful you want the throttle to be. While range testing, the Rattan's motor holds speed well, even up the gradual hills of our test course. This power was evidenced by the bike's average speed of 15.4 mph throughout our 29.7-mile test ride.

Portability

The Rattan Folding model lands in the middle of the pack regarding its portability. Weighing in at 58 pounds and folding to dimensions of 38.6 x 18 x 28 inches, it can be tucked into a corner of an apartment or garage fine, but you won't want to carry it far. E-bikes with this kind of range are classically heavier than the lighter models in this category, but most folks looking to cover larger distances won't care that much. The effort of folding/unfolding this bike is minimal.

The folding mechanism on this model is smack in the middle of the frame and at the base of the handlebar, with quick-release clamps on the upper handlebar extension and seat post that make breaking down and deploying this bike quick and easy. It's awkward to carry in its compact form, but the Rattan isn't alone in this among its relative competition. No surprises here.

Interface

The Rattan Folding has a good user interface that consists of a handlebar-mounted control unit, twist throttle, and a digital display. The controls are intuitive and easy to use, and the display is relatively easy to read. Charging is a standard procedure, and the removable battery can be charged on or off the bike.

To turn the Rattan Folding on, the key must be inserted in the battery and turned to the On position. Next, you press the power button on the controls to turn on the power to the display. The controls have + and - buttons that are used to shift up and down through the motor's 5 output levels. Pressing and holding the - button also engages the bike's walk mode when you are off the bike. These buttons are also used to make adjustments to the bike's settings, like measurement units or speed limit, and detailed display instructions can be found on the Rattan website. On the side of the control unit, there are two additional buttons, one of which turns on the bike's lights, and the other scrolls through the options on the data field at the bottom of the screen.

A twist throttle is integrated into the right grip. Twisting it engages the throttle to propel you and the bike forward without the need to pedal. The bike's throttle power correlates to the assist setting of the bike, with more power in the higher settings and vice versa. The rider can also modulate the power depending on how far they twist the throttle. The Rattan Folding also has a slick cruise control feature engaged by twisting and holding the throttle for five seconds. Once cruise control is engaged, it delivers power consistently until the brakes are applied.

The LCD is centered in the middle of the handlebar in an easy-to-see location. It measures 2.5" long x 1.5" wide and has a dark background with bright numbers and letters that are readable in a range of light conditions. The screen also has a backlight feature that turns on/off with the bike's lights. The screen shows a variety of information, including remaining battery life, current speed, pedal-assist setting, and mileage. Battery charge is displayed graphically at the top of the screen as a small battery with 5 bars that turn off sequentially as the battery is depleted. Just below that, the current speed is shown in large numbers. Interestingly, when compared with our GPS cycling computer, we found the speed readings to be off, consistently telling us we were going 26 mph when we hit the top throttle speed of 20 mph. Below the speed reading, the pedal assist level is shown as a number 1-5. At the bottom of the screen is a data field that can be switched between the odometer, trip distance, max speed, and average speed.

The Rattan Folding has a removable battery that slots into a cradle behind the seat tube. The battery is locked in place with a key and can easily be removed by pulling it up by the handle when it is unlocked. The battery can be charged on or off the bike, and Rattan claims a charging time of 6 hours for a fully depleted battery. One of our biggest complaints about this bike is that the battery rattles when riding over rough surfaces.

Assembly

The Rattan comes almost completely assembled, and it only requires the user to insert the seatpost and handlebar and unfold and lock it in its riding position to complete the process. Once removed from its packaging, it takes only a couple of minutes to dial it in and get it ready to ride. The manner in which this bike is packaged, however, makes removing it from its protective packing materials a chore. Our test bike also had a slight issue that left spray foam residue on our frame and cranks.

The Rattan comes in a bike box in its collapsed, folded position. Because the bike weighs 58 lbs, this box is still quite heavy, and removing the bike from it is easiest with two people. To protect the bike from shipping damage, Rattan takes an innovative approach by encasing the bike in a stiff spray foam within the box. To do this, they place the folded bike in a large plastic bag with a second plastic bag around it. The bike is then placed in the box, and the hardening foam is sprayed between the outer and inner bags. When the foam hardens, it creates a great protective barrier for the bike and prevents it from moving around within the box. Unfortunately, our bike tore a small hole in the inner bag, and a small amount of the spray foam leaked inside and stuck to part of the frame and the cranks. While removing the hardened foam from the bike is easy enough, it leaves an ugly residue that is nearly impossible to get off. So, our bike wasn't damaged from shipping, but it ended up with a less-than-perfect appearance from its protective packaging. We assume this isn't common, but it is notable nonetheless.

Should You Buy the Rattan Folding?

The Rattan Folding is a convenient folding e-bike with a great distance range. This reasonably priced bike has a wealth of user-friendly features, and it conveniently folds down to a compact size for storage or transport. This Class 3 model easily zips along at 25 mph using pedal assist and can be configured as Class 2, depending on your preferences. If you're looking for an affordable folding electric bike with a solid range, this option is worthy of consideration.

What Other Folding Electric Bikes Should You Consider?

The Rattan Folding is a pretty good value viewed on its own, but for an even more affordable folding e-bike, we really like the Lectric XP Step-Thru 3.0. Its range isn't as good as the Rattan, but overall,l we feel it is a better bike. The Lectric has a better ride, power, and interface and is the bike we would choose ahead of the Rattan.