I have to confess that Klever had loaned us the Q Comfort for quite some months. It had been sitting idly at the narrow interspace between our car and the wall of our parking lot. Yes, we had other more pressing things to deal with and urgent projects to finish. But the honest reason is: we almost forgot about it because it took up so little space and hence drew so little attention. With its fork folded up, the handlebar is turned 90 degrees to align with the frame. It looks like there is not much “folding” involved, but it’s actually a clever and useful design. If I need to store some regular bike in our parking lot, I always need to remove the front wheel and turn the handlebar 90 degrees to make it flat enough for that narrow interspace. With the Q Comfort, all I need to do is fold up the fork and the pedals, and then voila: it’s out of sight (and out of mind).
This is how it’s like before the Q is folded.
It’s folded and fit snuggly with the Audax Hercules in this tiny space.
But we couldn’t keep it forever, so it’s time for the test ride. In order to do a fair comparison between B Comfort and Q Comfort, I decided to use the Q on the same two routes – the hilly route and the long coastal route.
First Impression:
In terms of size and geometry, Klever’s Q Comfort fits me more than its B Comfort. For my height (1.72m), it is easier to handle and feels nimbler. I can make sharp turns easily and stably. For taller riders or someone who prefers a more upright cycling position, the fork can be extended around 10 cm further. Like the B comfort, when the power is off, the Q works perfectly like an ordinary bike, though heavier. The travel of its suspension system is shorter than that of B comfort. Together with a set of smaller wheels, Q Comfort is shakier on uneven roads. But it doesn’t seem like a big issue for me.
Our friends at Klever told us Q Comfort is good at climbing. So I went the hilly route first – from Nangang to Ruifang along County Highway 109 and 106, then took Provincial Highway 2D for the return leg (total Distance 77km; elevation gain 1,384m; maximum elevation 490m).
The climb to the first peak, 200m in 3.5km, was done easily. The push from the BIACTRON motor was more noticeable than that of B Comfort. Although the motors on the two models are both 350W with the maximum torque of 43Nm, the smaller wheels on Q Comfort transform the torque into bigger push. And because of this, you should try to avoid holding the handlebar with just one hand when the assist level is set to M or L. The strong push had almost thrown me off-balance the other day when I was riding with one hand. Please also be extra careful with your center of gravity when setting off uphill on a steep slope. The front wheel can tilt upward with the sudden thrash.
The descent followed was stable and enjoyable in general. I could control the e-bike with confidence even on sharp turns. When the regenerative coasting kicked in at 35km/h to use some of my kinetic energy to charge the battery, I could feel the drag but I was not slowed down.
Then when my speed reached around 45km/h, and when the Q rolled over a set of rumble strips 減速標線, which were raised across the road and painted white, it was rattled momentarily but violently. The battery was disconnected and the panel showed an error sign. I resolved the problem by re-installing the battery and carried on with my ride with no further issues. A couple days later our friends at Klever mailed me a small accessory to be attached to the battery, so that it can fit more tightly into the slot. They help. Apparently this is a bug that Klever has already worked on to solve. I also think I should take it easy when pumping the tyres. I had pumped them to their maximum pressure limit the day when I took the test ride.
The next climb was a mild one. It took 13.5km to gain 240m to the peak of 290m. In fact, no serious effort was required from either me or the Q Comfort. And soon I was about to do the 3rd climb. After traveling for 5.8km and gaining 315m of altitude, I reached the peak of 488m. That was when the B Comfort had almost exhausted the first battery on my previous test ride. This time, with Q comfort, there were still 2 bars (out of 5) of energy remaining.
I descended to Ruifang and had my lunch before heading back home. The last bar of energy was blinking by then, signaling the battery was about to run out. But I made it home (about 10km’s ride) without having to swap in a fresh one.
All in all, the Klever Q Comfort travelled 75km and climbed a cumulative 1341m with just one battery. It was impressive.
Check out the elevation profile on my Strava link here.
https://www.strava.com/activities/3181040155
So, Q Comfort has done well with the hilly route. I will soon take another test ride along the long coastal line to see how it does on flat roads.