Total Weight:
51 lbs (23.13 kg)
Battery Weight:
6.6 lbs (2.99 kg)
Frame Material:
Aluminum Alloy
Frame Sizes:
15.5 in (39.37 cm)Geometry Measurements:
15.5" Seat Tube Length, 16" Stand Over Height, 23" Reach, 64" Length, 36" x 28" x 19" Folded Dimensions
Frame Types:
Folding
Frame Colors:
British Racing Green, Black, Cream
Frame Fork Details:
Rigid, Aluminum Alloy, 10 mm Skewer
Frame Rear Details:
10 mm Skewer
Attachment Points:
Fender Bosses, Rear Rack Bosses
Gearing Details:
7
Speed 1x7 Shimano Acera, 14-28T CassetteShifter Details:
Shimano Triggers on Right Bar
Cranks:
Prowheel, 52T Chainring
Pedals:
Wellgo, Folding Aluminum Alloy Platform
Stem:
Zoom, Folding, Telescoping Length with Quick Release
Handlebar:
Zoom, Low Rise, Aluminum Alloy
Brake Details:
Tektro Mechanical Linear Pull Brake, Tektro Levers with Integrated Motor Inhibitor and Rubberized Edge
Grips:
Velo, Artificial Leather, Ergonomic
Saddle:
Velo, Artificial Leather, Coil Spring
Seat Post:
Folding Saddle Clamp for Easy Battery Removal
Seat Post Length:
400 mm
Seat Post Diameter:
27.2 mm
Rims:
Alexrims, Double Wall, Aluminum Alloy
Spokes:
Stainless Steel, 13 Gauge
Tire Brand:
Kenda, 20" x 1.75"
Wheel Sizes:
20 in (50.8cm)Tire Details:
Reflective Sidewall Stripe, Anti-Puncture
Tube Details:
Schrader Valve
Accessories:
Single Side Adjustable Kickstand, Integrated LED Lights (Front Lineo by Spanninga, Rear Kendo by Spanninga with Reflector), SKS Plastic Fenders with Mud Flaps, Bolt-On Rear Rack with Spring Latch (25 kg Max Weight), Prowheel Plastic Chain Guide and Pant Protector, Optional Carrying Bag $69, Additional Charger $89, Additional Batteries: 11 Amp Hour $439, 14.5 Amp Hour $539, 17.4 Amp Hour $639
Other:
Locking Removable Battery Pack, 1.3 lb 3 Amp Charger
Don Hall
8 years agoI bought this bike in mid-June 2016 to help with my commute in Seattle. At the end of my work day I have a long uphill ride back home that used to take me 20 minutes and really wear me out. Now I make it home in less than 10 minutes and I’m full of energy for the evening! Worth it just for that but now I’m even riding on the weekends and exploring the city.
This is more bike than I need for my 10-mile total daily commute. I usually only use 1 bar or 20% of the battery but I still recharge nightly. I hit the 17 mph motor cut-off at pedal assist level 3 and 7th gear on flat ground. Level 2 and 3 pedal assist are the fun gears where I feel the boost from pedal assist. The ride is a little bumpy but not bad at all. My top priority is making it up long hills with ease and this ebike delivers!
A couple of refinements I would like to see:
I love this bike and like sharing how fun it is with my friends and family. It really makes getting around fun again and I’m 52. Folding takes less than 2 minutes and it fits easily in the trunk of my Nissan Sentra. Court’s great review really helped and I got this great ebike at Seattle E-Bikes next door to CenturyLink stadium. Very nice people there!
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoWhat a wonderful writeup Don! Thank you so much for taking the time to drop by and share. Your suggestions to the company were great, I’d welcome you to share how you reset the trip meter etc. and anything else that comes up in the future. Have a blast out there and ride safe :)
ReplyDon Hall
8 years agoResetting the trip meter from the Blix team: Resetting the trip meter is an easy process, we’ll add this to our website shortly as we’ve seen some user manuals missing this piece of information.
Follow the steps below and it should take care of it:
Please let us know if there’s anything else we can assist with! Sincerely, The Blix Team
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoThis is great information, thanks for posting it Don!
ReplyDon Hall
8 years agoBlix Vika+ 90-Day Review. I have put 500 miles on this bike since mid-June and about to bring it in for its first tune-up. I have a 10-mile total daily commute to work and the bike is perfect for what I need. I love this bike. That said, here were my initial problems with the bike:
The motor is supposed to cut off around 17 mph but that is a very loose speed level. Sometimes the motor cuts off around 15 mph. The bike is most comfortable to ride (no stop and surge) between 15mph and 17mph. It’s a much more pleasant ride when I don’t try to push the bike too hard. So I’m often passed by regular bikes on flat ground, but only super strong riders pass me on any significant hills. This bike is still perfect for what I need – a boost uphill to my home at the end of the work day. I have much more energy for my evenings with this eBike.
In the meantime I have tried several other eBikes including the Kalkoff Sahel Compact, RadMini and RadWagon, Kalkoff Agattu 7, Easy Motion Xenion, and Cube Hybrid Touring 400. All very nice eBikes but I still prefer my Blix Vika+ for what I need. As I get in better shape and go for longer and longer rides beyond commuting I would definitely go to a mid-drive motor and 26″ to 29″ wheels.
I hope the tune-up sets the Blix Vika+ up for a long stretch of reliable service. The good folks at Seattle E-Bikes have done their best to fix my initial problems with the bike and I really appreciate their customer care. The quality of the shop adds so much value to your eBike experience. I’ll follow up with another review at the 1 year mark. Again, I love this Blix Vika+!
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoI enjoyed your overview Don, very fair but detailed about what feels right and what needs extra attention. I look forward to your next update :)
ReplyDon Hall
8 years agoBlix Vika+ 6-month review. I have 1500 miles on the bike now and it is performing well and reliably. I know that rim brakes aren’t the best in wet weather but that liability is amplified by the 50 lbs. of this bike (and not my 190 lbs. :)) October featured a record 10 inches of rain in Seattle so I was pretty much riding the brakes all month and easily wore the original brake pads out. I upgraded my brakes to Avid SD-7s ($80 for the pair) and they are much better but not as good as disc brakes in the rain. It would be great if Blix could go to disc brakes on future models or come up with a way to get them on my bike.
Speaking of upgrades, I also changed the grips to Ergon GP1s ($30) and the saddle to a black leather Brooks Flyer ($135). These make the bike even more comfortable and cooler than it was. Most of my bike service and all of my upgrades were through my regular bike shop, Alpine Hut, three blocks from my office. Any motor issues need to go to Seattle eBike, but so far so good.
I was in Portland over Thanksgiving and tried a Brompton folding bike at Clever Cycles. Great store and a great bike but it is so hard to go slow again once you get used to an eBike. I think this Blix Vika+ is going to suit me for several years. Of course in two years eBike technology will probably change dramatically. Even Brompton is coming out with their eBike in 2017.
For my current 10-mile daily commute and hilly terrain, the Blix Vika+ continues to deliver more than I need. I never come close to draining the battery. The Blix Vika+ is a beautiful bike in my opinion. Every week I see more and more eBikes on the ferry during my commute home. Last week three eBikes passed me on the way home and we all laughed since the regular bikes were still humping up the hill. We’re usually the first ones home with no sweat.
I don’t fold the bike up very often since I’m able to park it in a secure bike storage room in our company’s garage. However, it was certainly handy on our Thanksgiving trip to Portland fitting easily folded up in the trunk of our car. For such expensive bikes, I think the best security is to fold it and keep it close by.
On a final note, I’ve fallen off the bike three times through stupid decisions (like trying to cross wet trolley tracks). Luckily no injuries to speak of but the bike is solid and absorbed the mini-crashes with no problem. I’m trying to be more careful.
These six months on the Blix Vika+ flew by and I’m still learning how to get the most out of this great bike. I’ll try to post one last update next June at the one year mark. Safe riding all!
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoGreat update Don! Enjoyed hearing about some of your upgrades and the shops you visited (and added some links to them). Definitely watch those train tracks… wet or otherwise, I’ve been nearly tipped myself crossing with ebikes on several occasions ;)
ReplyEric S
8 years agoThanks for the original review and 6-month update. By now you’ve had yours for nearly a whole year, and I hope it’s still going strong.
As someone who prefers not to drive to the point he doesn’t have a license, I’ve been looking forward to getting an e-bike of my own for the last coupe months since I found out they existed when trying to figure out a reliable way to get to work and stores in my public transportation-less neighborhood without mooching a ride off someone else.
I’d used this site and a couple others (wish I remembered their names right now, I’d like to recommend other sites too with e-bike reviewing sites being so few and far between) and after all my research, I’d decided the Magnum Premium was the bike for me- throttle, pedal assist, good range, folding, and aluminum frame in case of rain. Couldn’t find it though, no matter where I looked, so I never got to ride one.
I did, however, get to ride a Vika and a Magnum Mi5 at an e-bike shop in a nearby town, and decided if I couldn’t have a Magnum for one reason or another, I’d keep the Vika in mind.
Come this morning, I get a call from another bike shop I’d been waiting on to get a shipment of Magnums. Something about quality issues and dropping the brand, but recommended “Blix Plus or Traveler.”
Whaddaya know, those are both Vikas, and I know a place with several of those.
“Tomorrow, we ride!”
Looking forward to it. Gonna look into those upgraded batteries though- this’ll be my primary mode of transportation. (The folding is needed if I’m going to take it to a bus or train station.)
ReplyDon Hall
8 years agoHi Eric,
When I got the Blix Vika+ I did like the fact that it folded. But over the course of a year I have only folded it 3-4 times. In fact, tomorrow I’m upgrading the folding pedals to something more substantial that doesn’t fold – Shimano Saint mountain bike platform pedals.
It is a great bike for my currently short commute to work (with a ferry ride in between). It has plenty of zip and battery capacity for my 10-mile daily ride. So if you’re going to use multiple means of transportation (trains and buses) a folding bike is the way to go.
Knowing what I know now about my riding habits, I would go for the Rad Power City bike instead. At $1500, it’s $200 less than what I paid for the Blix and is a full-sized bike with disc brakes and a more powerful motor. Disc brakes very useful here in the Seattle rainy season and full sized tires just roll so much smoother than my bumpy little Blix with its 20-inch wheels.
I still love the Blix and it definitely thrills everyone who tries it out. The 2017 Vika+ models now have a magnet that keeps the wheels together when folded and the high-range battery that gives you up to a 60-mile range is pretty cool. Good luck with your purchase and I hope you enjoy this bike as much as I do.
Don
Don Hall
8 years agoOne Year Review: May 2017
I’ve put just over 3,000 miles on my Blix Vika+ since last June and the bike has required several repairs including a recent controller and display replacement but is working fine now. I’m bringing it it for an annual tune-up this Friday for a complete service including chain replacement, cable replacement, and whatever else it needs to make it as good as new.
The battery still has plenty of charge left in it after a year and I have been topping it off every night even only after a 10-mile daily ride. I used to take the battery off the bike each night to charge it but it is so much more convenient to charge the battery on the bike so I’ve been doing that for the last month.
I have tried several different saddles on the bike including a Brooks leather saddle and guess what? The original Velo plush saddle is by far the most comfortable for me on this bike. I put mountain bike platform pedals (Shimano Saint) on the bike and that really made pedaling more solid versus the original aluminum folding pedals. The bike still folds well despite not having the folding pedals.
So I love this bike but after a year of riding it I’m switching to a regular bike (Specialized Sirrus hybrid) for commuting. Why? I’m a kidney transplant recipient with limited energy and when I started commuting on a regular bike before the Blix I was suffering on the ride home at the end of the day. After a year and 3,000 miles on the Blix my fitness is now strong enough to move to the next level on a regular bike. The Blix has been a bridge to getting my strength and stamina back and now I want to continue building on that.
The Blix will now move to a back-up role for days when my regular bike is out of commission and as an extra bike for visitors. This bike has easily paid for itself in terms of commuting cost, and more importantly, time saved not having to take public transportation. It was also a great way for me to get back into cycling after 35 years.
I had the pleasure of meeting Pontus Malmberg, head of Blix US at the Seattle Bike show in March and told him I appreciated how responsive the company was to my various minor issues with the bike. I am a big fan of both my bike and the company behind it.
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoHi Don, I enjoyed reading about your experience with the Blix Vika+ and congratulations on building up your health and transitioning back to a traditional pedal-power bicycle. I love how light regular bikes feel after being on an ebike for a while. The Specialized Sirrus Hybrid is one of my favorite models, I used to own one for commuting to work. Anyway, ride safe and thanks again!
ReplyDon Hall
7 years agoHi Court,
Well after two weeks of commuting on my new Specialized Sirrus hybrid bike guess what? I’m back on the Blix!!
I was certainly getting more exercise but it turned my commute into work instead of fun. I will just have to exercise in the mornings and weekends with my regular bike.
Best regards,
Don
Jim
5 years agoI like my Blix Vika+. Been riding around 16 months … 4,ooo miles. Problems with the stem keeps coming loose every 1-2 miles. Hit big bumps seat moves back, must stop and fix. Range is barely 9-10 miles, which is a huge disappointment … !!! Even with pedal assist level 2, range is only 11-12 miles.
ReplyCourt
5 years agoOh man, thanks for the real-world feedback about range, Jim. Do you mind sharing a bit about the terrain, your weight, what levels of assist or throttle you use so people can better relate.
Reply