The lightweight folding electric bike with surprising power! | Hygge Virum
What’s up, Elijah? Welcome back to the channel. And if you’re new here, my name is Alish and I am an electric bike reviewer. And today I have with me the folding electric bike from Huga. This is the Verum. It is touted as a lightweight folding commuting electric bike that’s not only built for convenience, but also for style. If you’re a subscriber to the channel, then you may already recognize the name Huga, as we did do a video about the brand a few months ago. We did a deep dive into exactly the services that they offer and they really are in it for the long haul thanks to their really great service network and also being able to create a product that not only is a good price but also is safe and is one that is going to last you for years to come. Huga have been able to retain a competitive price tag but not compromise on the quality. They have gone for the best quality components that they can get whilst keeping the price low. So that essentially means that the ebike market is opened up to so many more people on varying budgets. So today I’m going to be testing the Verum to its limits. I’m going to be doing a range test, a hill test, a road test, you name it. So if that sounds good to you, then keep on watching. And if you are new here, then make sure to hit that subscribe button if you enjoy electric bike content news and reviews as well as electric car stuff as well, because we cover that, too. All right, let’s get into the spec of the Vim. The Vim is a oneizefits-all aluminium frame that weighs in at 18 kg and is foldable in three easy steps. You’ve got the handlebars, the center of the frame, and finally the pedals. This makes it amazing for storage or even multimodal commuting, so you can cycle to catch the train at peak time and store it under the luggage rack neatly. The bike even comes with a strap to hold the wheels together. Its compact sizing is helped massively by the 20-in wheels, which are puncture resistant and comes with mud guards as standard. The battery is situated underneath the seat post to give the frame its sleek look and is removable, which not only makes charging so easy, but is also a great security feature when you need to lock the bike up in public. If you take the battery and saddle with you, it’s way more unappealing for thieves. But this easily can fit under your desk. So, when you’re cycling to and from work, you can most likely just store it next to you and even juice it up. Huga claims a range of up to 37 mi on one charge, and I will be revealing my own range results a little bit later. You get five varying levels of assist, reaching a top speed of 15.5 mph with the motor, which is situated in the rear wheel. You get a boost from the back, picking up speed pretty rapidly when in the top assist. Max rider weight is an impressive 130 kg with the rear rack taking a max load of 15 kg. So you can load up to take the load off of your back. And when you approach the hills, you’ve got eight gears to choose from to perfect your preferred cadence. Brakes are hydraulic for great stopping power. Plus, you get a smart LCD display to keep informed with all the stats and info you need. Well, before we head out on a ride to see how this bike fares on the roads, let’s have a quick walk around because I just want to show you a few things. I mean, first and foremost, this red just absolutely pops in a sunny daylight today. Looks great. So, oh yeah, you can see here that there’s a nice little indicator that this has been designed in Denmark. Obviously, the name Huga, this is very much a Scandi inspired electric bike, electric brand. You can see here with the rear rack that you get with it. Obviously, very functional. You even get some straps. So, you’re able to attach some stuff on and keep it on as well, which is brilliant. Of course, you can attach your paner bags and etc, etc. I will say when I fold the bike down, this does slightly get in the way when I try and swing it round to close it together. However, I would much rather have a rack on the back to be honest because I always have too much cargo on me. The uh seat post where the battery is right here is adjustable. It can go lower, it can go higher, and it can come out completely as well. So, if you are locking your bike up in public, that is a really good deterrent for thieves. Up here, you’ve got some lovely erggo handlebars as well. You have your gears with the shifters, and you’ve got a nice display. I like how when you turn it on, gives you a little Huga brand. Love that. And it tells you all the information you need in including speed. You’ve got your battery percentage, your odometer trip, and also what you can do when you go into the menu system is you can set up a password as well, which I think is really great. Again, another great deterrent if you’re locking up in public or just stops anybody from nipping off with your bike and obviously getting the motor on. Um, adjustable here as well. That’s great. So, I like to ride with quite an upright position just to help my back. So, I put this to literally the highest it can go. It probably should go down a touch. Um, cabling obviously because this is a lower priced electric bike. I mean, they’ve just kind of got to go with how they can best put it together. Obviously, the more expensive it gets, the more that they kind of do like uh integrated wiring where you don’t even see it at all to give it that kind of clean seamless look, but instead there is obviously a lot of cabling here. So, they’ve had to just tie it together. So that’s that. I would say the welding could be a little bit better, but remember this is this is an affordable electric bike. And with that, it means you have to have maybe a little bit less of a sleek look when it comes to the welding and the wires, which is understandable. You know what’s really good about having a folded electric bike is most of the time if you ask nicely. Restaurants and public spaces, dining areas, people are usually okay with you bringing your bike in and folding it up and putting it in a corner. So if you get worried about locking your bike up in public, most of the time you can bring it in with you and say if you’re down the pub, just put under the table. People are none the wiser. This was a great fail safe for me as I’d done a silly and brought my bike lock with me, but not the key. I don’t think I could have gotten away with bringing in a bike if it didn’t fold to be honest with you. Right, let’s get back on the road. So, let’s talk about the feel of ride. And first off, I want just talk about the assist. The assist is lovely. Oh my goodness. It’s very smooth. It’s I wouldn’t say it’s instant, but after about maybe like half a turn of the pedal, it’s picking up. It’s ready to go. It’s even able to support me in busy situations like this when there’s lots of people. This is a mixed right of way. Both cyclists and pedestrians can come through. Yeah, the assist is great when you are on the flats. those standing starts at the traffic lights gives you a really lovely boost. And that’s actually the thing that I was particularly well or I was pleasantly surprised about with this bike is I don’t know about you guys but when you think of a folding electric bike generally you’re like oh well it’s a bike made for convenience made to be compact like the motors probably tiny cuz I mean generally they are smaller which means less power generally speaking there are obviously options that are not that case and this one is certainly one of those. So, I’m usually riding this bike, I would say, like level two or three out of the five assists available. Level five assist is when you really want to get off at the traffic lights and beat everybody to it. Or if you, for example, are going to be going up a steep incline and you just want that max amount of assist that is available. Like now, for example, putting it up to five. I’m barely putting anything through my legs up this incline. It absolutely ate that up. Switching it right back down cuz it’s got a good bit of boost to it down to two. And that’s what was really great about this bike is I feel like I don’t have to use it on max all the time where I generally find with a lot of um affordable electric bikes, you kind of just need to ride it in level five assist otherwise it’s kind of not worth it. But no, no, no. This motor gives. And the motor itself is actually it’s from Huga. So Huga have developed this. It’s their own. I’m pretty sure it’s kind of like based off Buffang or it is a Buffang motor, but they’ve tweaked it themselves and are able to then label it Huga. But what that means is not only will the motor be replaceable if anything goes wrong because it is a known brand, but also they’ve actually just like really tried their best to make the motor work for them and their product, which is only a bonus. And remember, this is from a brand that are trying to keep their electric bikes affordable. So, you would think there are lots of like tech and R&D stuff that they’re going to have to bypass to be able to do that, but they’ve got their own motor here and it’s great. Really smooth. It accelerates so quickly. The gearing as well, you’ve got eight gears. I would say when I’m getting to the higher speeds, why not at like 16 17 miles per hour cuz I’m able to push through. I actually would love to have a ninth 10th gear. So, I would love to see Huga maybe like with the next line include 12speed because this bike, it’s got enough power to help you where you kind of need some higher gears as well. It’s great. Brakes have been great as well. Absolutely no qualms there. And also, I just feel quite balanced on this bike. Like, I feel confident in doing maneuvers, doing turns. It’s 20-in wheels, so, you know, it’s smaller than like a kind of like a road bike. Obviously, the smaller wheel you have, generally speaking, your balance can start to go off a little bit. I’ve never had an issue with 20inch wheel, but obviously when it comes down to like 16inch wheel, that’s where I personally I’d rather stick to my 20s and up. Um, but yeah, I feel really balanced, feel really confident. The tires on this bike are nice and like chunky for what a folding electric bike could have. So that just gives you a bit of confidence to be able to actually take it onto like varying terrain. I took it on the grass like across some fields. Managed it great. There isn’t any suspension on this bike either under the seat post or at the front. So that is something that you do kind of notice obviously cuz it’s a little bit hard when you’re going over the bumps. I mean you’re probably going to ride this on what like tow paths and on the roads. If you want to go off-road more, you’re probably going to be getting like an off-road bike. It’s time for the hill test. And I’m at my usual spot where I like to test these electric bikes up uh an incline. And this one is a pretty good one. Okay, I’m actually feeling quite confident about this test because when I’ve been cycling around, it’s been pretty punchy on the inclines I’ve been on. So, I’m going to put it into level five assist. Oh, it’s turned itself off. That’s a good feature. I was here for a bit setting up equipment. That’s why it turned itself off. Okay, so gone into level five assist. Oh my god, the motor just kicks in. And let’s go. Oh my god, it’s lightweight. It’s pushing me up so easily. Just change up the gearing so I get that perfect amount of resistance through my legs. Perfect cadence. Oh my goodness, this is an absolute dream. I’m in gear six at the moment. It’s carrying me up nicely. I’m going at about 11.3 mph and that’s without me really doing anything. I’m just pedaling just to tell the motor to keep assisting me. Now, if I push through, I can get up to about 12 1/2 13 and it seems to make it even lighter as well. Oh my goodness, that is a very good result. I have to say does very well on hills which I don’t know for a folding electric bike sometimes you just think oh well it’s just made to be compact and fold up and be useful for that kind of like multimodal commuting style but it’s also very good on the hills. I’m actually going to go back down try again but just in in a slightly lower gear cuz remember if you need to save that battery want to go into those lower modes. Guess if you want to be saving your battery, maybe you’re running out of range, then those lower assists are the ones that you’re going to want to be selecting. So, I’m going to go down to like level two because again, I’ve been in like level two, even level one, and I’ve been like, this is enough for me. So, level two assist. Quite bold actually, but this is how much I believe in the bike. Go. Yeah, there’s less assist. Going to change down some gears. Keep on going. Okay, now there is a little bit more effort going through my legs here, but I’m going about 9 miles per hour. It’s still making this incline manageable. My goodness. I’ve cycled up this hill before on an analog bike, and you are just there like, “Oh my god, I hate this. This is so painful.” Now, it’s getting a bit steeper here. I would naturally go up a gear. I’m at 8.5 mph. Sorry, upper gear. I would go naturally up a level 8.5. Bit slower. So, yeah, a little bit more exercise there. But what’s really nice about that is you’re able to switch up the levels depending on how much range you need, how much power you want, also if you just want a bit of exercise because ebikes are not just for lazy people. Speaking of conserving the battery, let’s talk real world range. Temperatures, inclines, and weight on the bike all affect how much range you’re going to get. This is a summer test. that it’s been about 23° centigrade. I weigh 68 kg, but with my filming kit and lock, I’d say I’m more like 75 kg on the bike. I’ve ridden mainly flat terrain with a few inclines, and in total, I’m getting just over 25 miles on one charge. And that is riding in the mid to upper levels of assist when I need a boost. So, you can definitely get more if you’re riding in those lower assists. In a world where there is so much vilification of electric bikes in the media, there’s so much actually misinformation as well. Understandably, there are a lot of people that think of electric bikes and go, “Oh, what about the fire hazard?” Well, I’m very pleased to tell you that obviously reputable brands like Huga are completely safe. They have used regulated products. They have also gone through all the safety certifications that you need to be able to sell an electric bike. They have the UK CA and also the CE marking for these bikes. So you know whether you are in the UK, you’re in Europe and beyond. You know that you are able to use this bike safely and it’s not going to pose a risk to you and your home. But let’s also talk about the service network that Huga offer. I mean, it is so important when you buy an electric bike to be able to feel like you’re able to take it somewhere local to be able to get it checked over to keep it running smoothly and particularly if you do end up having an issue, they will work on your bike. So, Huga have gone to lengths to make sure this is possible. Like in the UK, they have a number of well-known brands like Dathlon and Fettle that will work on your ebike. If you’re in the Netherlands, then there is QuickFit. If you are in France, then you’ve got Repair and Run. So, depending what country you’re in, there are some big names out there that are happy to work on your bike. And that takes a lot of effort from a brand to be able to say, “Hey, look at our bikes. Do you approve? You do? Great.” And I think that says a lot for what these big brands think about Huga themselves. So in conclusion, if you are looking for a lowerc cost electric bike that has the backing of big brands that able to work on the bike if something goes wrong, you have that reassurance, that comfort, and the knowledge that this bike can stay on the road for longer than like a year like some cheap cheap electric bikes can do. You know, it’s that classic buy cheap buy twice. Not with Huga. Also, it’s a great functional convenient electric bike to have. Sure, there are some things that could be improved like the wiring. I mean, in terms of the look and whatnot, but overall, it’s a great bike that delivers what a lot of people need to get around and to feel they have autonomy in their world on the roads with public transport, etc., etc. But anyway, let me know what you guys think down in the comments. And if there’s any other bikes that you would like me to review, then let me know as well. Make sure to hit that like button if you did find this video at all useful because it really helps me and the algorithm pushing this video out to more people like you that need to know this knowledge. Hit subscribe if you’re new here because if you got it this because if you’ve got this far then you are definitely an electro head and I will see you for the next one. [Music] [Music]
The Hygge Virum is a lightweight 18kg folding e-bike designed for city riders, commuters, and campers who want practicality without breaking the bank. But how does it really perform?
In this video, I put the Virum through its paces with:
✅ A full specs and features walkthrough
✅ A ride test to see how it handles in real-world conditions
✅ A hill test to check its climbing ability
✅ A range test to find out how far it can really go
✅ A closer look at its folding design, storage, and build quality
Hygge has made a name for itself with affordable, functional e-bikes backed by strong service support across the UK and Europe. The Virum is one of their most compact and versatile models yet — but is it the right choice for you? Stick around to find out.
00:00 The lightweight folder from Hygge
01:25 Spec/features
03:01 walkaround
05:39 The BIGGEST bonus with this bike
06:17 Ride review
10:44 Hill test
13:34 Range test
14:10 Safety/Servicing
🚲 Hygge Virum:
🔗 https://www.hyggebikes.com/collections/virum-series/products/virum-folding-ultra-light-e-bike?ref=ELECTROHEADS
HYGGE DISCOUNT CODE: ELECTROHEADS
Lumos helmet worn by Eilis:
🇬🇧 UK: 🔗 https://ridelumos.com/ELECTROHEADS
🇺🇸 USA: 🔗 https://uk.ridelumos.com/ELECTROHEADS
LUMOS DISCOUNT CODE: ELECTROHEADS
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