2025 HeyBike Horizon Review – webBikeWorld

The final ebike I reviewed was a HeyBike – the 1,000-watt Ranger S folder. By comparability, the Horizon is sort of comparable whereas additionally being very totally different. Rocking a 750-watt hub motor however with a full suspension body and 24” x 4” wheels, the Horizon is the slower, heavier, greater brother.

Should you’re on the lookout for a full-suspension folding ebike and are contemplating the Horizon, these are the 5 most vital issues to remove from this overview

• You need to make liberal use of pedal help and throttle with the Horizon – Its cadence-sensing pedal help is fairly commonplace when it comes to responsiveness and really feel, however its entry-level groupset and middle-of-the-road driving place imply that you just’ll be counting on the motor so much.

• The Horizon has a real-world vary of about 28 miles / 45 kilometers – HeyBike claims a most vary of 55 miles / 88 km, however I doubt that’s achievable in any setting apart from flat, paved floor with a 120 lb rider. 

• It’s too large to suit into your trunk – I attempted with my 2017 Ford Fusion and couldn’t get it in comfortably. 24” wheels aren’t large, however contemplating most folders include 20” wheels, the additional 20% is fairly apparent once you’re attempting to hold, retailer, or transport the Horizon when it’s folded,

• It weighs almost 80 lbs however solely has a 14.4 Ah battery – Annnnd right here is the value of the complete suspension body and “outsized” wheels. Whereas many ebikes are on this weight vary, these which might be sometimes include 18 Ah or 20 Ah batteries.

• The match and end is simply okay – The core elements of the bike are fairly stable, however the equipment are the place they saved cash. Welds are okay, however a number of washers got here pre-rusted, one of many bolts for the show was lacking, and different odds and ends betray its reasonably priced standing.

The underside line is that it is a folding ebike made for individuals who aren’t involved about whether or not or not it’s compact. Best for RVers, folks with giant properties, or somebody who’s tight on storage however nonetheless desires a full suspension/fats tire/folding mixture. Individuals involved about micromobility or with small storage areas might be higher served by different folders with smaller wheels.

Phrases & Images: Cameron Martel 

HeyBike provided the Horizon at no cost. We would not have a monetary relationship with HeyBike. All critiques are topic to our review policies. Merchandise are scored primarily based on our hands-on experiences with it. I’m an avid biking fanatic (each “acoustic” and electrical) and have hands-on reviewed more than 30 ebikes thus far.

2025 HeyBike Horizon Specs

• MSRP: $1,999 USD / $2,299 CAD (on sale for $1,400 USD as of March 9, 2025)
• The place to Purchase: HeyBike website (Canada)
• Guarantee: 30-day free trial, 2-year guarantee
• Prime Velocity: 32 mph / 55 kph (28 mph / 45 kph in Canada)
• eBike Class: Class 3 out of the field, lockable to class 2
• Vary: Claimed 55 miles / 88 km (wBW estimated 25 miles / 45 km)
• Bike Weight: 79 .4lbs / 36 kg (together with battery)
• Weight capability: 330 lbs (149.7 kg)
• Motor: Generic 750-watt hub motor 
• Torque: 80 Nm
• PAS: Cadence, 5 -levels (app adjustable)
• Brakes: RSX hydraulic brakes w/ 180 mm rotors
• Gearing: Shimano Tourney 7-speed
• Battery: 48V 14.4 Ah (692 Wh), UL licensed
• Wheels & Tires: 24” x 4” wheels with Chao Yang tires
• Different: Headlight, powered taillight, flip sign, electrical horn, entrance and rear fenders, rear rack

HeyBike Horizon Unboxing & Meeting

The Horizon is easy to place collectively, however I recommend reviewing the meeting video vs. counting on the data from the handbook. Whereas the handbook isn’t incorrect, it doesn’t present among the nuance tied to constructing the bike (such because the order of washers on the axle, the downtube bearing, and so forth.

Meeting is easy:

• Unpackage the bike
• Connect the entrance wheel
• Connect the handlebars
• Connect the rear rack
• Connect the pedals
• Connect the entrance fender and headlight
• Screw on the pedals (be aware the stickers that let you know which route to show them)
• Tighten the whole lot up, and also you’re accomplished!

Meeting Walkthrough Video

Notes

• The second bolt for the show was lacking (this was additionally the case once I unboxed the Ranger S). 
• Verify the whole lot earlier than you assemble it in case you want spare components from HeyBike.
• If it’s your first time assembling a bike-in-a-box, plan for about an hour.

2025 HeyBike Horizon Aesthetics & Design

I’ll simply come out and say it: folding e-bikes look the worst of all. Their step-thru frames, diminutive handlebars, and upright posture don’t precisely make for clear strains.

Contemplating that, the Horizon isn’t all that bad-looking. The rear suspension setup and large tires give the body some visible heft, and so it doesn’t look as fragile as most different folders, however it’s nonetheless a folding ebike on the finish of the day.

I’ve bought the black and blue colorway right here, however you may also get the Horizon in Cyan/Peal or All Gray/Black gradient. The Horizon additionally got here in a limited-run “Sundown” scheme, however these are lengthy offered out now.

Picture: HeyBike web site buyer overview

Of the three colours obtainable, the Cyan/Peal is my favourite. It’s the most fashionable and crowd pleasing, and it makes use of the clear break of the hinge in its model. Nonetheless, the black/blue mixture isn’t any slouch both.

Hope You’re Not Thirsty

With the rear horst-link suspension and the detachable battery from the highest of the downtube, there’s nowhere handy on the body to mount equipment, akin to a water bottle holder. Certain, you possibly can get a handlebar-mounted model, however contemplating that the bars fold, this additionally turns into inconvenient for storage.

It’s a small – and odd – miss, contemplating that folding ebikes are supposed to be sensible and cozy at the start.

What’s the 2025 HeyBike Horizon Prefer to Trip?

Whereas HeyBike has fitted the Horizon with a 750-watt rear hub motor, its “paltry” 80 Nm of torque pales compared to the different HeyBike in my storage. In comparison with the Ranger S’s 1,000 watts and 100+ Nm of torque, and contemplating the larger wheels and fatter tires, the Horizon crawls the place the Ranger flies.

The above 7 mile / 11 km loop isn’t the longest route, however it has a couple of good sections to check the Horizon’s chops on hills, flat singletracks, gravel, and a few good (chilly) riverfront to experience beside. Nevertheless, within the Canadian prairies in late February/early March, it’s additionally chilly experience at 32 f / 0 c.

On throttle alone, the Horizon has repeatedly hauled me up an extended and gradual 1-mile hill (highlighted in yellow above), although it isn’t shifting too quick by the point you attain the highest. Nonetheless, it’s shifting quick sufficient that I’ve no issues conserving the wheels straight. Contemplating its heft and hub, I’m stunned to see it conquer these hills.

Additionally stunning is how rapidly the Horizon accelerates to its throttle-only restricted velocity of 30 mph (42 kph). It’s not a rocket, however it has no issues hitting and staying at its prime velocity.

Gentle off-road efficiency is okay. The coil fork will hold tempo with informal driving, however aggressive riders will rapidly discover their intentions past the bike’s capacity. Then once more, should you’re an aggressive biker, this isn’t the appropriate bike for you anyway. 

The place the Horizon has room to enhance is its brake really feel. The mushiness within the levers fails to encourage confidence, and when rolling alongside at 30 mph / 42 kph, it’s good to belief these brakes! I had no failures, however I did expertise brake fade after aggressive braking. I count on a future improve to brand-name brakes would dramatically enhance total feeling.

Strengths

• The complete suspension body and fats tires make for a very snug experience. Set the tires at 10 psi for sand/snow driving and 16 – 20 psi for normal–objective driving.
• Its headlight is sort of shiny.
• The rear hub motor will get my 210 lb / 95 kg self up a hill with out fuss, albeit at a strolling tempo on longer/steeper inclines.
• The body is surprisingly inflexible for a folder (which doesn’t imply inflexible in comparison with your downhill bike).
• Because the HeyBike app permits you to customise PAS ranges, you possibly can dial within the actual efficiency you need from every setting (I set PAS 1 to five mph / 8 kph, for instance).
• The suspension can deal with some off-road driving, so be at liberty to go off the crushed path (inside cause)!

Alternatives for enchancment

• Give the Horizon a cassette that may deal with hills higher; positive, you’ve bought the motor, however having an even bigger cassette will even enhance low-speed driving in snow or sand.
• The kickstand doesn’t go away a lot floor clearance and hits twigs, shrubs, and so forth,. throughout my rides
• The hydraulic brakes have an excessive amount of play within the levers to encourage confidence throughout a critical flogging
• You eat by way of your 14.4 Ah battery fairly rapidly

HeyBike Horizon Construct High quality & Parts

As you’d count on at this worth level, the Horizon consists of brand-name and generic elements of combined high quality. Mainly, the whole lot different than the groupset is generic/OEM components, which retains prices down but in addition introduces issues concerning long-term reliability and the supply of substitute components.

I inspected each grommet, bolt, nut, and joint on the bike, and nearly the whole lot required some tightening or adjusting, so you should definitely plan for an additional 10-Quarter-hour earlier than your first experience and provides the bike a as soon as over: mine wanted it, and yours in all probability will too!

Brakes

The Horizon is supplied with RSX-branded hydraulic brakes paired with 180 mm rotors. It is a frequent configuration, however I’d have most well-liked to see brand-name hydraulic brakes or not less than 200 mm rotors. 80 lbs is a variety of mass to maneuver, and extra stopping energy is rarely dangerous.

Brake really feel isn’t nice, although I’m not anxious about precise stopping energy. Braking confidence is worsened as a result of there’s a variety of journey in each brake levers earlier than you get a stable chunk. I count on that I might modify this with a brake service, however I shouldn’t have to try this for a brand-new bike out of the field.

Fortunately, after quite a few 30 mph to 0 brake pulls, the Horizon solely reveals a nominal quantity of fade.

I’ve ridden with RSX calipers on a number of events now – together with most of the HeyBikes I’ve reviewed beforehand, such because the Brawn, Tyson, and Ranger S. The softness I really feel within the Horizon’s brakes is the primary time I’ve felt that from an RSX setup. Nevertheless, each RSX setup I’ve ridden with has felt and carried out worse than the also-common Tektro Auriga or Dorado fashions.

It’s additionally price noting that there have been a couple of kilometers the place the pads rubbed barely throughout movement. After a couple of brake stomps, the pads wore in, and the rubbing sound disappeared. This isn’t unusual when driving your brand-new bike-in-a-box for the primary time, however it’s price mentioning should you haven’t encountered it earlier than.

Curiously, I’m not the one reviewer who isn’t in love with the brake really feel on the Horizon. The blokes over at eBike Escape reviewed the Horizon final 12 months and had a rear brake failure that required bleeding the brakes and changing the rear pads (although they someway nonetheless scored the bike an 8/10?).

Drivetrain & Groupset

Like each different sub-$1,500 ebike, the Horizon is supplied with the ever-present Shimano Tourney 7-speed groupset and a cassette for metropolis driving. With out the motor, any hill or path with elevation selection is difficult. Take an 80 lb ebike, pair it with a sub-optimal driving place, and end it off with a city-slicker cassette, and it’s important to surprise what the rear suspension is supposed for…

Nonetheless, the above criticism is basically irrelevant as soon as the motor kicks in, and assuming you’ve saved your battery charged, you’ll be capable to deal with straightforward trails and singletracks simply tremendous. 

On the subject of driving trails, due to the cadence pedal help, I opted to change the PAS velocity settings by way of the HeyBike app in order that PAS 1 and PAS 2 have been strolling tempo and quick strolling tempo, respectively. This retains the bike from lurching ahead when maneuvering on tight trails or round corners, which is a cadence curse that the inventory PAS settings additionally subscribe to.

Suspension

The HeyBike Horizon has a hydraulic-coil fork with 80 mm of journey (together with preload and lockout) and rear horst-link suspension. This setup on a folding bike is rare, to say the least, and paired with the 24” x 4” tires, the Horizon is essentially the most snug folding ebike I’ve ridden.

The coil fork isn’t dangerous, however it’s additionally not a devoted off-road fork, so don’t let HeyBike’s aggressive off-road advertising and marketing idiot you: the Horizon can deal with gentle singletracks, however it can’t deal with downhill trails, technical driving, and even actually gnarly terrain.

However the suspension and fats tire mixture will completely dominate grasslands, gravel trails, easy singletracks, and something paved. 

Sure, the “large” wheels and full suspension body take away a variety of the compactness that sometimes attracts patrons to a folding ebike, however that trade-off means that you’ve a folding ebike that can be utilized in some fascinating locations. This unconventional selection makes it simpler for the Horizon to experience in additional locations.

Wheels & Tires

24” x 4” tires on a folding ebike are a rarity. In some methods, these “outsized” fats tires are counterintuitive to the primary cause folks purchase folding ebikes: they aren’t compact or light-weight.

However… what you lose in compactness, you acquire in consolation. And, frankly, it’s a ache within the butt to shove 80 lb in your trunk anyway, so the tradeoff is greater than price it, given the development in experience high quality in contrast with different folders.

Chao Yang isn’t a premium tire model. In actual fact, the one different occasions I’ve ridden with them have been on the opposite HeyBikes I’ve reviewed. They’re okay, however I’ll be glad to exchange them with studded tires when the time comes since this bike is begging to be ridden within the snow.

It’s price noting that this tire measurement mixture is considerably unusual, so replacements aren’t as worth aggressive as you’d count on and see in additional “regular” measurement configurations. Nonetheless, you possibly can change these tires for round $40/tire, which isn’t horrible.

Highway noise on paved surfaces isn’t dangerous, and grip on grass and gravel is fairly good. The tires are knobby however not aggressive, in order that they carry out higher on grime and gravel than they might on snow and sand. 

I attempted to check them within the snow, however Alberta determined that we’d get blistering chilly for a couple of weeks and that there could be virtually no snow in any respect this winter, in order that check didn’t occur. Nevertheless, the tires aren’t set as much as be studded, in order that they aren’t a critical contender for winter driving anyway.

Show & Settings

Like the opposite HeyBikes I’ve reviewed, the colour show is fairly good however has restricted performance with out connecting the bike to the HeyBike app. Through the app you possibly can:

• Change between miles and kilometers
• Modify PAS settings (0-5, 1-5, and so forth.) and PAS velocity limits for every stage (it is a nice characteristic that each ebike ought to have)
• Monitor rides by way of the built-in GPS
• Flip the bike on/off (if linked by way of Bluetooth)
• See the battery cost stage (although generally the app and the show disagree with one another)
• Rename the bike
• Modify the show backlight
• Allow/disable the throttle PAS-sync velocity limiter (the throttle could be restricted to the velocity restrict of the present PAS stage, or set to limitless)

Total, the Horizon is fairly customizable. Nevertheless, if the app ever stops working, otherwise you overlook to convey your telephone with you, the show turns into considerably limiting when it comes to customization. Importantly, on this state of affairs, you’d nonetheless be capable to activate and experience the bike (you simply wouldn’t be capable to dial within the above settings).

Hinge Mechanisms

After I reviewed the KBO Compact, I decidedly bear in mind considering there was a non-zero probability of the central hinge loosening throughout aggressive driving. Regardless of having the thought, the truth didn’t happen (fortunately), however the wimpy hinge was by no means one thing I felt superior about.

The Horizon has a beefy metallic hinge that securely snaps into place. With the security lock enabled, you possibly can shake the shih tzu out of the bike and it’ll keep safe. The body has a variety of wobble – as does each folding ebike body – however it by no means looks like a legal responsibility.

The folding handlebar stem is identical. It locks into place with a tactile and satisfying click on. 

Contemplating the Horizon’s capacity to deal with some grime and singletrack driving, I used to be curious to see how sturdy these two hinge mechanisms could be. All informed, whereas not as muscular because the hinge on the Surface 604 Twist I reviewed a few years in the past, the Horizon’s hinges are hefty sufficient for me.

Equipment

The powered entrance and back lights are HeyBike branded and fairly seen in low gentle. The HeyBike branding is backlit (after all), and the headlight is sort of purposeful at evening.

The lights are operated by way of a swap on the left handlebars. One factor I discover annoying is that the lights will keep on if the swap is activated, even when the bike is turned off. I can 100% see myself unintentionally leaving the headlight on for a couple of hours and returning to a useless bike.

I’m much less enthused by the fenders, which seem like the garden-variety plastic bits that the majority bike-in-a-box manufacturers embody. Nevertheless, seems could be deceiving: the plastic on these fenders may be very light-weight, and the QC isn’t wonderful. The rear fender was arrange off-center, and the entrance fender was a ache to regulate due to how flimsy it’s.

The rear fender, which got here pre-installed below the rack, additionally got here pre-scratched! Whereas actually not an enormous deal, I can respect that some folks gained’t be thrilled to see their brand-new-out-of-the-box ebike with some scratches and scuffs on it. You too can see within the picture above that there’s a small gap within the weld of the highest crossbar. Once more, it’s minor however notable (and never the one QC difficulty on the rack or bike).

One other petty grievance I’ve is the kickstand, which refuses to lift sufficient to really get out of the way in which. Get any critical lean, and the kickstand rubs on the bottom or hits trailside particles. The above picture reveals the stand absolutely retracted, so you possibly can respect how in the way in which it may possibly get.

An Unconventional and Imperfect eBike Excellent for the Proper Sort of Rider

After driving the Horizon and getting a way of how I felt about it, I got here to the conclusion that it isn’t made for the condo dweller who wants last-mile transport they’ll comfortably tuck right into a closet; the Horizon is made for the retiree with an RV, the household seashore home, or your cabin within the mountains.

It’s made to be as out of the way in which as doable when saved however assist you take pleasure in as a lot of the terrain as doable when driving.

The Horizon is attempting to strike a fragile stability between purposeful/compact/transportable and off-road/snow/year-round succesful. A single bike can’t do all of it, and the gaps in its efficiency are most obvious when the Horizon is attempting to punch above its weight.

It has compromises inherent in each folding ebike: its folding body means it’ll by no means be a critical off-road rider, its parts-bin part listing means it’ll by no means be a critical performer, and its portly poundage means it’ll by no means be a long-distance superhero, both. 

Nevertheless it additionally has a potent 750-watt motor and a decent-sized battery. Tie these issues with a full-suspension body and large fats tires, and you’ve got a surprisingly succesful folder that may deal with some grime, gravel, sand, and snow means higher than its skinny-tire, rigid-rear, underpowered friends merely can’t.

If the above use case resonates with you, the Horizon’s bought your quantity.