Blix Vika+ Flex Review 2021 | Electric Bike Report

To get an idea of how each bike we review performs across its various pedal assist levels, we do timed laps on a one mile loop to determine how speed and power delivery changes from level to level.

We start with a lap with the assistance turned off and turn the power up by one on each consecutive lap. This gives us the bike’s power profile, or how it performs on each PAS level.

The Blix Vika+ Flex has a very uniform power profile, with the average speed of each lap around our circuit increasing by about 1 mph each time we upped the PAS setting. As we notice on most e-bikes with five PAS settings, the Vika’s lower power levels gave very little assistance — almost so little we could hardly tell the motor was working at all.

On hills, the Blix Vika+ Flex performs nicely for a bike designed mostly with urban commuting in mind.

This is largely due to the relatively light bike being equipped with a stout 500W rear hub motor, but It’s also partially thanks to the Vika+’s 20-inch wheels. Small wheels take less force to turn and actually accelerate quicker than larger diameter wheels, so while it doesn’t increase torque the bike does gain speed quickly after steep sections.

To test the Vika’s climbing ability, we put the bike through two laps up a local steep lovingly called “Hell Hole.” It’s a one-third of a mile long climb out of the bottom of a canyon that pitches on average between 12 percent and 15 percent grade — much steeper than your average hill. We do two tests: The first on throttle only and the second on the maximum pedal assist level.

On the throttle-only test, the Vika+ Flex cleared the top of our test hill in 1:33.00 with an average speed of 11.7 mph. On maximum assist, the Vika climbed the hill in 1:29.00 with an average speed of 12.2 mph.

On average, the bike’s we’ve tested up Hell Hole typically clear the top with an average speed of 12.16 mph on throttle and 14.69 mph on PAS 5, so the Vika is a little slower of a climber than the average bike we’ve tested. But I have a hard time knocking the Vika for this, and that’s mostly because Hell Hole really is an extraordinarily steep hill. The fact the Vika — a bike purpose built for relatively flat urban environments — cleared the hill without much struggle is an impressive feat in itself. Any sense of speed I got was just a bonus.

The Blix Vika+ Flex rides like an e-bike built by a go kart designer; it’s snappy, quick and ridiculously fun.

Part of this is due to the Vika’s small 20-inch wheels (smaller wheels turn quicker) and the bike’s relatively steep 72.5 degree head angle. But despite its quick handling, the bike doesn’t feel overly quick. It’s very stable and feels planted in corners.

It’s not an e-bike I’d necessarily thow through a mountain-side chicane at 30 mph, but it feels plenty capable in tight situations where quick handling is key — situations like dodging traffic and pedestrians.

No folding bike feels exactly like a traditional bike — they’ve all got little quirky characteristics — but the Vika+ Flex does a good job of closely replicating the feel of a full-sized e-bike without sacrificing portability.

It’s a plenty comfortable ride until about the 15 mile mark, where I personally started to notice the compactness of the frame. I’m a lanky 6’1”, and while I was able to raise the seat high enough to get a full leg extension, the space between my hips and the handlebars was a little short for my liking. This was fine on your typical ride, but it was something I began to pick up on during longer stints in the saddle. Take that gripe with a grain of salt, though: Folding bikes like the Blix Vika+ Flex are really built for shorter duration rides in cities or quick jaunts to the store in lieu of public transport. In those cases, the bike rides perfectly.

It’s not a bike I’d probably reach for if I were planning a long-haul recreational ride, but for urban commutes or rides that require transporting the bike in a tight space the Vika+ will do very well.

The Blix Vika+ Flex’s 500W rear hub motor feels refreshingly spry for a folding bike. Blix doesn’t publish the motor’s torque, but I was impressed with how little it struggled on steeper hills — especially on just the throttle.

On flat land, the motor accelerated very quickly and held it’s speed easily. The only issue I had was during the throttle-only hill test when the motor made an audible straining noise on very steep sections. Add a little pedaling on top of the motor’s power, even just turning the cranks lightly, and that noise went away.

Blix outfitted the Vika+ with a 48V, 12.8Ah battery that makes for 614Wh of energy, a pretty solid amount when paired with the 500W motor.

The battery’s range is good, as we showed in the range test, and I appreciated its low-slung placement between the rear tire and seat tube. This helps keep the bike’s center of gravity low and is a relatively convenient place for charging.

The Vika+ Flex comes with the relatively standard (for an affordable e-bike) five pedal assist settings and a thumb throttle on the left-hand side.

It also has a remarkably sensitive cadence sensor, which gives the bike one of the more responsive motor engagements of any affordable e-bike I’ve personally reviewed. Cadence sensors function by using magnets to detect whether you’re pedaling, and they sometimes take a full revolution of the crank (or more) to tell if you’ve stopped or started pedaling. The Vika engages the motor in about half a pedal stroke, which is really quick.

The Blix Vika+ Flex has a fairly standard LCD display center mounted on the handlebars that pairs with a small touch pad on the left hand side. From there, you can adjust you PAS setting, turn the bike on and off and control other features.

The Vika’s display is pretty standard among affordable e-bikes — it’s large, easy to read and really gets into the important metrics like speed, battery life, distance and several other things that are nice to keep track of.

Battery indicators are something we always gripe about here at Electric Bike Report, but the Blic indicati

Blix outfitted the Vika+ Flex with a set of Tektro Aries mechanical disk brakes with 160mm rotors front and rear.

These brakes are incredibly common on the e-bikes we test, and though they can be a little tricky to set up correctly, they are super reliable and stop quickly.

To test the efficacy of the brakes we use the throttle to get the bike up to 20 mph and then jam on the brakes to see how quickly the bike will slow down. We do this test five times and then take the average stopping distance.

Across the five stops, the Blix Vika+ Flex came to a stop in a respectable 13-feet-9-inches. Those mechanical brakes grab hard, quickly causing the bike to skid and slow. I was actually pretty surprised at how good the brakes felt, especially considering that they’re not hydraulic.

Blix’s e-bikes are a little more elegant, a little nicer done than some of the other electric bikes we’ve tested at this price point. That’s really thanks to the clear care they’ve taken with their frames — particularly the paint job.

The Vika+ Flex we reviewed was painted British racing green, which felt oh-so-fitting on something so quintessentially British as a folding bike. That paint is rich, glossy and just looks a little nicer done than some other sub-$2,000 e-bikes we’ve reviewed. They also did a great job in designing the folding mechanism, a point on the bike that risks unwanted flex while riding.

Like the frame, the Vika’s steel fork was very nicely painted. It’s a pretty standard rigid fork, so there’s not much to say about it other than it gave a little over rough roads while still feeling plenty stiff in corners.

Shifting is handled by a 7-speed mixed Shimano groupset composed of a Tourney rear derailleur and a RevoShift twist-style shifter.

The Tourney rear derailleur is a pretty standard option at the sub-$2,000 level that works very nicely. What we don’t see often are twist-style shifters like the RevoShift, but it was a component I grew to really like. Unlike the typical thumb-actuated shifters we see on most e-bikes, the RevoShift changes gears by twisting a throttle-like grip back and forth. This makes for a very clean cockpit that’s pretty intuitive for new riders. The shifter also has a convenient indicator that tells you which gear you’re in.

While the cockpit may be a little more compact than some other e-bikes, the Vika+ Flex’s cockpit was comfortable and put you in a riding position well suited for commuting.

The ergonomic grips are comfortable, the adjustable handlepost feels secure and the Selle Royale HZ saddle is supportive for all but the longest of rides. This is something we notice on most compact folding bikes, but the cockpit is a bit short for taller people like myself. But this is par for the course with folding bikes — we find most feel a little cramped for taller people.

The 20” x 2.4” semi-slick tires work nicely. They’re unbranded, but they appear to be a pair of CST Operative BMX tires, which likely helps with the bike’s good overall handling thanks to stiffer sidewalls and a tread pattern built for pavement.

These tires are also wider than the previous version of the Vika, with reflective sidewalls and puncture protection to ward off thorns.

Aside from a bonus tote bag, the Blix Vika+ Flex comes with your standard rear rack, integrated lights and fenders front and rear. All these things (aside from the lights) are metal and carefully painted to match the color of the frame.

Additionally this bike (of course) folds, using a user-friendly mechanism that’s a little stiffer than some we’ve tested but is still better than your average folding mech. It feels safe, secure and, with a little practice, opens and closes very quickly.

A small package with a lot of punch, the Blix Vika+ Flex is a refreshingly usable and elegant electric folding bike.

Not only does if have go kart-like agility, the Vika+ is relatively light, easy to fold and boasts a very well done finish that, at least in the British racing green color we reviewed, feels like it belongs on a 1960’s European sports car. I’m not a cyclist who’d typically gravitate towards a folding e-bike, but I’ve found myself riding the Vika+ more and more even after its official test period with Electric Bike Report ended — it’s an exceptionally fun ride.

When Blix updated this bike earlier this year, they didn’t change a whole lot; simply giving the bike wider tires, updating the folding mechanism and better hiding the controller box. Those changes have seemingly made a good bike better by improving aesthetics and handling. It’s also refreshing to see a folding e-bike built with urban functionality in mind. At just 55 lbs and with the ability to fold down relatively small, I can actually see someone toting this bike up a flight of stairs or stashing it under their desk at work.

The Blix Vika+ Flex is sold online through the Blix website and is shipped directly to your door. Though, if you find yourself in the Santa Cruz area, you can visit the Blix Experience Center to test ride the bikes and even buy one in person.

Happy Riding, make sure to let us know if you have any questions down in our comments section or if you think we left anything out in this review of the Blix Vika+ Flex.