Blog
Cycrown’s CycFree Folding Bike Gives You A Lot For Less
Jul
Just a few weeks in the past, Cycrown despatched me a folding bike to evaluate. It’s not solely bought the options you’d anticipate in a folding fat-tire e-bike, nevertheless it delivers them at a worth that may’t be beat. On this article, I’ll share some key info concerning the bike and canopy my using impressions!
Fundamental Data & Specs
I may regurgitate the complete specs from the producer, however I don’t need to waste my time or yours doing that when you can find all of that information here. As an alternative, I’m going to cowl a very powerful issues actual fast.
Crucial factor: it’s a folding electrical bike with 20×4″ fats tires. It’s powered by a 500W motor, which feeds from a 960 Wh battery pack. So, you might peg the throttle for nearly two hours earlier than it goes lifeless! Which means the estimated vary of 48 miles (with out pedaling) might be correct, however I didn’t have time to take a 50-mile trip.
They put that a lot energy on a small bike by placing the battery behind the step-through body and forward of the rear wheel. This implies you want a flip-up seat to take away the battery, which is one thing I’ll get to extra in a minute.
The folding mechanism makes for a motorcycle that may fold sufficiently small to slot in many vehicles, however simply pulling the seat and folding the handlebar put up down alone makes for lots of area financial savings. The folder mechanism appears sturdy sufficient to be protected. However, regardless of with the ability to fold up, it nonetheless has a rear cargo rack, fenders (mud guards), and each a entrance fork suspension and seat suspension, which makes for a snug trip.
Total weight is 82 kilos, however the battery is a giant contributor to the load, so it’s simpler to load it right into a automobile or onto a motorcycle rack in the event you take away the almost-kilowatt-hour battery and cargo it individually. It’s additionally bought disc brakes, so you may cease all of that weight when you want to.
Value is often $1149, however as of this writing, they’re promoting it for $1049, which is a fairly whole lot contemplating the elements high quality. I’ve seen bikes within the $1500–2000 vary which have comparable shifter, derailleur, and different parts. So, it’s an honest worth that doesn’t come on the expense of high quality.
What I Love About The Bike
Regardless of being a folding bike that must be fairly small, it rides rather a lot like a giant bike. A part of this clearly comes from spinning chunky 20″ fats tires, which stabilize the trip fairly a bit. The overall heft of the bike itself additionally helps maintain it feeling planted. The seat raises fairly excessive, as does the adjustable handlebar put up, which I carry on a decrease setting.
Regardless of the load, it’s a fairly straightforward bike to trip even with out electrical energy. You’re most likely not Lance Armstrong, and also you gained’t go 20 MPH like that, however I used to be capable of comfortably pedal the factor for miles below my very own muscle energy. I’m not in nice form and have bronchial asthma, in order that’s fairly spectacular, all issues thought of. So, in the event you do find yourself out of battery, you gained’t essentially really feel stranded for the a lot more durable trip house.
I additionally actually preferred the step-through body. With the seat extending a superb bit above the body (to maintain the bike comparatively small when folded), it could be more durable to flip a foot over it to sit down. However, the underside of the body is pretty low, making it straightforward to step over and get on.
One other attention-grabbing function is the impartial horn and headlight management. As an alternative of needing to concurrently maintain two buttons on the controller to show the lights on, there’s only a easy click-in, click-out headlight button. Which means that even in the event you’re out of juice and might’t get some pedal energy, the headlight will most likely nonetheless work. It even works with the motor controller turned fully off. The identical is true for the horn, which makes a considerably irksome low beep, not not like what you’d discover in a police automobile.
Between all of those options, it’s positively a superb bike for the value, and the trade appears to be trending down on that entrance.
Issues That Might Have Been Higher
That is the second bike I’ve reviewed that has a battery behind the seat, between the seatpost and the rear wheel. Whereas this sort of design is nice for squeezing in additional battery capability than frame-integrated and water bottle batteries, the draw back is that you want to get the seat out of the way in which to take away the battery and take it inside.
The simplest approach to do that is to have a flip-up seat mechanism, which isn’t a foul concept in any respect. You possibly can connect different seats to this mechanism, so that you’re not caught with the inventory seat, and it’s straightforward to flip the seat up and out of the way in which.
The issues appear to lie within the suppliers e-bike producers are turning to. The one flip-up seats that I’ve seen up to now have a built-in shock absorber, which could be cool, however doesn’t allow you to decrease the seat very far. This results in a seat that may’t alter down very effectively to the wants of shorter individuals, together with average-height girls. I’m taller than common, and it barely works for me. I may simply placed on one other seatpost to let the seat be decrease, however then I’d should take away the seat each time I take away the battery.
What e-bike producers really want to do is give you a seatpost with the flip-up mechanism however with out the built-in suspension.
One small nag I’ve is that the important thing can’t be faraway from the bike whereas using. Like a automobile, it is smart to maintain the important thing captive within the “on” place, however in the event you had been to crash this bike good, it would break the important thing off within the ignition, resulting in needing a locksmith or a brand new battery. Evidently an increasing number of e-bikes are doing this today, so possibly I’m simply being choosy.
Total, It’s Good For The Value
In the event you can afford a nicer e-bike, I wouldn’t suggest shopping for this one to avoid wasting the cash. However, understand that I’m speaking a couple of bike that’s truly nicer. This bike hits above its weight, and is as good as many bikes within the $1500 vary. So, in the event you’re procuring in that worth vary and have set, you should definitely give this one a glance.
All photographs by Jennifer Sensiba.
I do not like paywalls. You do not like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Right here at CleanTechnica, we carried out a restricted paywall for some time, nevertheless it all the time felt incorrect — and it was all the time powerful to determine what we should always put behind there. In concept, your most unique and finest content material goes behind a paywall. However then fewer individuals learn it! We simply don’t love paywalls, and so we have determined to ditch ours.
Sadly, the media enterprise continues to be a troublesome, cut-throat enterprise with tiny margins. It is a endless Olympic problem to remain above water and even maybe — gasp — develop. So …
