I just bought a Compton Eco-Bike from CDR-King for Php 11,900.00. The good news is that they offer 0% interest for 6 months if you use a Metrobank credit card, so it’s basically Php 1,983.33 per month for 6 months.
When it comes to cuteness this one wins it all. I love the sleek, foldable design and the very fact that it doesn’t look like a scooter or motorbike. Upon purchase, CDR-King will give you “papers” and among those is the one that you’ll show to LTO personnel if they mistakenly identify yours as a motorbike, that is, if you’re being stopped during a surprise road inspection.
Now, behind the cuteness comes the heaviness. Yup, it’s compact and heavy and if my assumption is correct, the battery pack itself weighs about 40% of its entirety. You’ll know this because every time you need to recharge it, you’re going to pull the battery off from its cradle. CDR-King technician told me that initial recharge should be about 13 hours after first use and 6-8 hours going forward. The provided charger has a LED indicator, when it’s GREEN it means you’re done and RED means it’s still charging. For a fully-charged battery, I get 28 km. or so at 25 km/h speed. Of course, speed and distance varies depending on how heavy you are, the type of road and the angle of elevation.
Assisted pedaling is supported after cranking 2 complete cycles. By then, you’ll feel the motor starts to kick in which is pretty useful when you’re climbing a slope without ever using the handle grip. Not very useful though when there’s someone in front close to you or going downhill because you won’t be able to stop it for a few seconds. I suspect that the controller counts how many times you crank the pedal and it gives this much revolution to the back wheel. By the way, assisted pedaling is also a great way to save battery juice, at least that’s what the brochure says.
Almost every part of this eco-bike is adjustable from the frame, seat collar to the stem. This means storage isn’t a problem for this model. Also, CDR-King sells accessories, yey! At their SM outlet, I saw brake systems, chains, batteries, mirrors, LEDs, etc. that are being sold separately.
What I don’t like with this eco-bike is when I need to pull a tire out for a fix. There are a lot of common bolts you need to unscrew to do that. Small bolts that catch rust easily, unscrew them forcefully and you got a problem of stuck screws in front of you. With that, I need to buy a WD40 lubricant at this early.
The front brake appears clumsy and it makes a lot of noise when I use it. They tried to fix it upon purchase but apparently didn’t work out, so I guess bringing this to the bike experts will solve the issue.
The controller is a dirt-catcher and it’s unfortunate that the device that controls the entire bike system is awkwardly located behind the crankset, below the battery cradle. Pretty much every wire go here and it’s a shame it’s not even a flood-proof. Driving during heavy downpour or into a flooded road is a big no no!
