Xiaomi Himo C20 folding e-Bike – hands on review

NEWS
The new model Himo Z20 was just released. Here you can compare Himo Z20 vs Himo C20 or watch my video review:

Xiaomi Himo C20 – hands on review

After riding my Xiaomi Scooter Pro for a while I was up to getting something more secure and more comfortable. I do a 24 km commute from home to office and back everyday and for me my scooter replaced public transport. E-bikes and e-scooter are a great alternative to public transport, especially during these times. keeping social distance.

At first I took a look at the Fiido D2, which seems to be a very popular brand. But then Xiaomi Himo C20 e-bike caught my attention. It doesn’t fold as compact as Fiido, but Himo looks stylish and I don’t think I need to fold it that compact. (I almost never folded my e-scooter). Further I thought the 20″ wheels will give me more driving comfort.

Xiaomi Himo C20 – Spec Overview

Already compared to its successor Himo Z20:

Xiaomi Himo C20 – What’s in the box?

The box is pretty large and I was happy it was delivered to my door. The bike itself comes fully assembled and is folded within the box. The brakes were set a bit weak, which I adjusted, and the fenders need to me mounted – if you like. So, some standard tools for the final adjust are needed, but basically you are set out of the box, which contains:

• bike (folded)
• 2 types of fender (plastic mud guard or aluminum full wheel cover)
• charger (in my case with EU-plug)
• keys (to unlock battery from bike)
• Bike Manual, Charger/Battery Manual, Guarantee Card

Xiaomi Himo C20 – Body & Design

Frame

I was thrilled by the high built quality when I took my Xiaomi Himo C20 out of the box as I didn’t expect it to be such a great quality bike for the relatively small price. The frame is made of durable aluminum alloy and holds a max. load of 100 kg. Himo C20 is rated IPX5 waterproof (= can resist a sustained, low-pressure water jet spray) such as rain. The seat tube can be extended and fixed in different heights, the handle bar is not adjustable in height. I’m 1.83 cm in height and find the seating position very comfortable to ride – I didn’t extract the seat tube to the fullest. Also the saddle is comfortable for longer trips. A nice gimmick: within the seat tube there is an air pump integrated so you can fill your tires when on the road. I forgot to take photos as I was using my electric Xiaomi Air Pump with integrated battery.

Folding Mechanism

You can fold Xiaomi Himo C20, but it’s not a folding bike such as Fiido D2. As described I got it as I don’t need to fold my bike into a compact size for travelling or storage. Although the folding mechanism of Himo helps a bit to save space, especially when you store it in a hall way or small office corridor. Since the handle bar flips down and the pedals can be folded, the parts sticking out the most are secured. So you don’t accidentally get caught on them when passing by.

Locks for the handle bar and the screw for the seat tube look & feel sturdy and secure. Pedals can be flipped as well. All of this is done without needing any tools.

Motor & Battery

The back wheel holds the 250W brushless motor that accelerates you up to 24 km/h in full electric mode (moped mode) and should get you 80 km far in assisted mode / 50km in full electric mode (I haven’t tested that so far). The good thing compared to an e-scooter: the motor is not limiting the top speed. While an e-scooter is slowing you down before you exceed top speed, that is not the case on this bike. You can go faster when hitting the pedals or going downhill.
Integrated in the frame sits the 10 Ah battery (18650 lithium ion battery) with power port and LED indicator. Power usage is stated with 0.72 kw/h per 100km. With a key you can remove the battery to conveniently take it with you for charging. A full charge takes about 6 hours. It is stated that a battery management system offers protection against overcurrent, overcharge, short circuit, and temperature. Xiaomi Himo C20 is turned on with neither button on battery nor key, but via a button on the display.
Extra Batteries: finally extra batteries are available on Aliexpress!

Gear Shift

The e-bike features a 6-gear Shimano shifting system with 6 sprockets on the back and one gear on the front. The front sprocket is covered so your trousers don’t get ripped or dirty on your way to your office. The gear shift sits on the handle bar next to the bell, with a button to shift up and and a lever to shift down.

LEDs and Display

Xiaomi Himo C20 features a white front LED light that is connected to the battery of the bike. It is activated via the on/off button on the display (short press while turned on). The red rear light, including red reflector, is not connected to the main battery of the bike. The rear light uses two AA batteries and is turned on with a button on the bottom of the light. At first I thought it’s a disadvantage, but since I think it’s not that nice I’m happy that I can replace it with a more fancy one with extra features. It’s not connected as you can remove the seat tube with the integrated air pump and the wires would become unhandy.

The display is well readable during bright sunlight. It holds the on/off button for Himo C20 and a mode switch button. It reads current speed, mileage of the trip and battery status shown in four squares on the right. By short pressing the mode button you switch between Eco (pedal assisted), Mid and High – both full electric modes (moped mode). Long pressing the button activates Parking mode. You can ride fully manual, but this way the display (and optional light) are turned on. In this mode the trip mileage changes to total milage of the scooter.

Tires

The 20″ tires of Himo C20 are labelled “BMX Race – all season compound by CST). They are 20 x 2.125 air tube tires which require a pressure of 40 – 65 psi (thats 2.8 – 4.5 bar) as printed on them.

Brakes

Xiaomi Himco C20 features disk brakes on front and back wheel. A regenerative brake system (KERS) would have been nice to charge the battery from the generated braking energy. They were set very weak out of the box so it is recommended to adjust the steel cable before your first ride.

Xiaomi Himo C20 – Handling

Three operating modes are offered with Xiaomi Himo C20:

• human power mode – using the pedals without electric assistance [powered off]
• power assist mode – the motor supports you while pedalling [ECO]
• full electric mode – you have two motor power settings: [MID] & [HIGH]

You can’t use the motor from start, you need to give the bike a little push and reach about 3 km/h.

I wouldn’t recommend Xiaomi Himo C20 if you want to go without electric assistance frequently. The bike is simply too heavy and a lot of effort is needed. (I do recommend if you want to exercise 😉 ).
In pedal assistant mode it is quite nice to ride. Although I always go in “high”, full speed electric mode and hit the pedals for faster acceleration, higher top speed and more fun.

My driving experience so far

I was riding my Xiaomi Scooter Pro all summer long, so how do they compare? Acceleration is of course faster with the e-scooter – in electric only mode! When the traffic lights turn green I’m the fastest one, overtaking all other cyclists and scooter riders. I fully push the throttle and hit the pedals. My ride from home to work is about 12km and I used my e-scooter for the full route and didn’t combine it with public transport. Having a seat on the Xiaomi Himo C20 is definitely a big plus. And I don’t even feel lazy, as I’m frequently hitting the pedals and do some exercise. Usually I got to the office without pedalling much, so I don’t arrive sweaty; on my way home I do more exercise.

Size

In terms of space I don’t realise a difference. I almost never folded my scooter, Xiaomi Himo C20 is a bit longer. I don’t see a problem taking the e-bike on the subway. The only reason I would take my Xiaomi Scooter Pro is when combining it with a train ride so I can store it as it is not that high and fits in the luggage compartment, and can be carried over stairs much easier. Since I got Himo I almost never used my scooter again. Only for very small hops to a store close by. Most of the time it’s e-bike time: more fun and more convenient.

When considering storage space: Fiido is when folded the shortest as it folds in half while the others don’t and C20 is clearly the longest and highest. But Himo C20 is actually the narrowest, when putting it against a wall, as the handle bar folds down.

Himo C20 – folded: 147 x 28 x 71 / weight: 21.5 kg
Xiaomi Scooter Pro – folded: 113 x 43 x 49 cm / weight: 14.2 kg
Fiido D2 – folded: 75 x 35 x 65 cm / weight: 19.5 kg

Himo C20 – Price / Retailer Comparison

Since the new Himo Z20 was released and the price is not that much different, I’ll give you an overview of both bikes:

• official HIMO Website: www.himobikes.com
  This site offers both ADO & HIMO bikes and is their official store.
  Both models ADO A20 and HIMO Z20 can be found here.

• Geekbuying
  I got my Himo from Geekbuying
  check the website for coupon codes, sometimes they are cheaper than on the official site!

• Amazon
  ADO operates their own Amazon Store “A Dece Oasis-Store“
  ADO is connected to Himo bikes where you can find all their current products and having the Amazon Prime shipping benefits:

• Aliexpress
  several reseller offer Fiido, ADO and HIMO on Aliexpress
  check the different warehouse options!

Conclusion

Join the Xiaomi Himo C20 Community on Facebook: visit Facebook group

Since I just got my Xiaomi Himo C20 and only drove it a few times, I’ll wait a bit for my final and detailed conclusion and thoughts. As of now I’m super satisfied and can recommend it. Xiaomi Himo C20 surpassed my expectations in terms of quality and driving comfort.

The only big issue I discovered so far is the following: For legal reasons e-bikes in China have to beep frequently, when when in electric mode C20 beeps every 5 seconds and that is super annoying when driving. Even worse, pedestrians and other bikers think you are honking and giving you bad looks constantly. Solved: You can disconnect the wires from the speaker in the black box. See infos below in the FAQs.
I don’t wanna seem picky, but I want to share all the discovered minor issues as well if they are interesting or important for you. The pedals seem a bit weak as they yield a bit, but that’s due to the folding mechanism. The brakes are a bit difficult to fine tune. You need to pull the brake lever all the way through and if set a bit too strong they are grinding. I also would have preferred a push throttle (as found on scooters) rather than a hand throttle similar to a motor bike. The fenders are a bit tricky to mount, see the videos below for instructions.

Do you have any further questions? You can ask me in the comments below.

Quick Review of the Xiaomi Air Pump

I got the Xiaomi Air Pump as it looks stylish and I wanted to try it. I got it from Aliexpress. What I like a lot:

• it shows current tire pressure
• you can preset desired pressure
• built-in battery
• built in LED light (in case you are looking for the valve at night)
• no adapter needed to inflate Himo C20

Xiaomi Himo C20 – FAQ

Here’s some updated additional info on some items I got frequently asked.

Xiaomi Himo C20 – Where to get extra batteries?

Finally they are available on Aliexpress, currently available for around 200 USD. Be carefully to select the right one as this offer covers all Himo type batteries!

Xiaomi Himo C20 – How to stop the annoying beeping?

The black box behind the saddle pole holds the controller that is connected to the speaker. Simply disconnect the plug and strip the pins. Easily done under 5 min., only a screwdriver is needed to open the box.

Xiaomi Himo C20 – Fender installation

Since I got the feedback that the installation of the metal or plastic fenders is a bit tricky, here are 2 videos showing you how to mount them:

Xiaomi Himo C20 – Plastic Fender Installation

Xiaomi Himo C20 – Metal Fender Installation