The Lightest Folding Bike

In A Nutshell

• The lightest folding bike on the market is the Pocket Rocket Super Pro Red 11. These built-to-order bikes weigh less than 16 pounds (7.2 kg). It costs around $7700.
• Allen Sports Ultra X has a carbon 20-speed bike that weighs just 18.7 pounds (8.5 kg). It costs around $4000.
• The lightest folding electric bike is the GoCycle. It weighs just 35.4 pounds and costs around $4500.

The Details

Bike Friday is a boutique bike-building company based out of Oregon. Two brothers, Alan and Hanz Scholz, founded the company back in 1992 and have been building high-quality portable bikes ever since. They’ve garnered a loyal following and have pushed themselves to build lighter bikes. Their latest effort is the Pocket Rocket Super Pro Red 11, which currently holds the title of the lightest folding bike available.

The Pocket Rocket Super Pro Red 11 weighs less than 16 pounds, due in part to its titanium seat post cover. Folding bikes typically weigh between 30 and 65 lbs, so this low weight is a major feat. The seat post saves weight and offers an extremely comfortable ride, making the bike an excellent choice for distant rides as well as everyday city trips.

Bike Friday lets you custom design every part of the bike. Seat tubes are available in everything from 26 cm to 62 cm sizes. Handlebars are ergonomically designed and are outfitted with cork tape. The Pocket Rocket Super Pro Red can shift an impressive 22 gears, way over industry standard for folding bikes.

Having the lightest bike on the market will cost you. The Pocket Rocket Super Pro Red’s biggest downside is its hefty price (around $7700).

Another Option

The Allen Sports Ultra X Superlight is roughly half the price of the Pocket Rocket Super Pro Red, but weighs 3 additional pounds. This superlight folding bike has a full carbon frame, seat post, seat, crank set, stem, wheels and handlebar. It sports a 20 speed Sram X9 drive train that gives it versatility.

It has 451 MM wheels and uses a press-linkage folding design that makes folding easy and allows the bike to be rolled like a cart in the folded position for easy transport.

The Allen Sports Ultra X Superlight is available from Amazon for around $4000.