2014 Currie IZIP E3 DASH

Ralph

Ralph

Active Member
I pulled the trigger on a bike this morning after a month of driving many hours to dealers in Northern Florida to figure out the skinny on bikes.

I wanted to deal local. My local dealer here on Amelia Island, Florida who is a Currie dealer. He stocks Izip bikes but the 2013 bikes didn't fit me. I contacted the president of Currie and between him and the dealer was able to meet with the Currie territory salesman at the store this morning. He had a van full of bikes. I had to wait a few weeks until he was in the area, but it was well worth the wait.

By the time I arrived, Monte, the rep, had a Path+, Eflow Nitro, E3 Dash and E3 Peak for me to ride. I am 5'7'. I could get on and ride the Path but the rack is the issue making it a challenge just like the Pedego City Commuter, but it is a really nice bike.

I ordered the new 2014 iZip Dash. Surprisingly, I could ride the L and was comfortable, but I ordered the M as it will no doubt be safer and easier to handle. This bike is so so smooth and absolutely silent. You cannot hear the motor. It is a 500W direct drive gearless hub with 48v battery on the downtube. I have ridden a lot of of Pedego and Currie bikes. The iZip Dash and Peak are a different breed of bike. They are high tech, solid, and fast. The Dash will go 28+ in Pedal mode with no trouble and is very stable. The Izip Peak is like the Bosch system and more of a mountain bike. I liked the Dash better as a city bike. I think the combination of the direct drive gearless hub and torque sensing pedal system is perfect. It is so seamless and quiet. At speed you feel like you really are pedaling that fast on your own. Funny.

These bikes are a quantum leap from everything else I have ridden. I surprised myself with what I decided to buy but in the end it was a no brainer. You can get a city kit for it, but I forgot to ask about it. Might do though. The bike seems well priced at $2600. They will start shipping in less than a month. I just looked at Court's video review of the bike. He nailed it when he kept saying how smooth and quiet it is.
 
Congratulations on Ralph..!
Great choice on the bike and it is one of the best offerings by Currie for the year 2014.

PS: Is it possible to move this thread under Currie brand?
May be Court can do this?
 
Ralph,
Let us all know your thoughts once you get it. I am very interested in the Dash as well.

My top three are:
The E3 DASH-It just seems to have everything I am looking for!
Motiv Shadow-I really like it, but the frame is a bit small for me and MOTIV---Give it a throtle as well as the pedal assist!
Neo Cross or Carbon(If i can get a great deal on one!)

I am impressed with the great service you got from Currie? Are you some kind of VIP?? How did you get a hold of the Currie president? I reached out to them on their facebook page about the Dash and they just told me to watch the website for further updates. I hope dealers around me will get it soon so that I can test it out. It sounds great. Best of luck and congratulations!!
 
Thanks Vern. I looked at what I could find out on the Motiv. the only dealer within hundreds of miles said he had no inventory on this blog. Aside from mot having a throttle, I am now hooked on the powerful GEARLESS DIRECT DRIVE HUB on the Dash. It makes no noise while the geared hubs, depending on the actual bike and setup, can be very annoying..

I thought all ebikes make noise and you just have to find one you can deal with. But I found out today that the gearless ones apparently don't make noise or maybe not as much. Court may be able to address that. As far as I know no dealers have the new bikes yet and not many people have ridden them. To be frank, nothing they can tell you can prepare you for the smoothness of this bike. My guess is the dealers that have ordered it will have them and the rest of the line by early March. It is worth the wait to ride these bikes. I am glad I was patient. It is a big investment.

If you have a Currie dealer near you. Ask them when the Currie rep will be in the area and arrange to meet him at the store. That is the best way to do it or just wait a bit longer. I never even considered the Dash until I rode it. I came close on the eflow Neo, but liked this better and this was $900 less.

One other thing. I rode the Large and as short as I am it felt good. Getting on and off was not the best, but ok. I ordered the Medium but the dealer was quick to tell me he could change the seats and the handle bars if need be.
I doubt I will have any issues, but buying it online would be another story altogether. It is something to think about if you have the option.
 
Hey Ravi, great thought... thread moved and some links added for people who might not know what each ebike is!

Hey Vern, you may already know this but Motiv will add a throttle to the Shadow if you want it and it only costs a bit extra (the bike is designed for it, they have just been testing different configurations according to the founders). The Motiv guys are actually on here quite a bit so you can reach out to them for clarification, maybe start a thread in their section. Great call on the Cross and Carbon, two of my favorite bikes and I perfer the look of the battery integration on those vs. the Dash. As for Currie, the president, Larry Pizzi, is on the forums sometimes and he just commented on a thread today for a guy who wanted to buy the E3 Dash and lived in Vegas. He said they will be shipping the bikes out next month on the 17th so they should be in stores by mid February 2014!

Hey Ralph, indeed the Dash is super smooth. Not all gearless ebikes are that smooth for some reason (like the older A2B Metro, it seemed loud to me). It makes sense that just having magnets in there vs. plastic planetary gears rubbing together would be a lot quieter. I think it just depends on how it's setup but it seems like IZIP did it right with the Dash!
 
Court,

Thanks for your thoughts. I think the channel in which I am reaching out to these manufactures is not the most effective. I have reached out to both Motiv and Currie on their Facebook sites. I was impressed that both of them responded quickly, but neither really gave me the kind of personal response that I was hoping for; nothing like what was done for Ralph. Motiv was very quick to respond, like minutes, but they said, at this point, that they could only replace the pedal assist with the throttle off of a Spark. I couldn't have both. I was disappointed because I am leaning a bit toward the Shadow. I really like the bike and the company seems very trustworthy. I especially like that they are extremely local to me in case of any problems. I also worry that the Dash and Neo seem more advanced and perhaps more prone to have mechanic problems. Just a thought??

I think that I can be patient enough to wait for the Dash to come out in late February. I really need to try it. Ralph seemed VERY impressed. Perhaps that will give me more time to convince the wife that this is a good buying decision. She thinks I am crazy!! She also worries about me commuting to work:(. Perhaps someone on this forum can develop a slick cost benefit analysis PowerPoint to share with our worried wives. I'm sure that I am not the only one with this problem. I currently commute about once a week on my mountain bike with road tires. I love doing it, but the ride home takes me forever and at this time of year it is getting dark so early. I just bought a new and more powerful light on Amazon to replace my 15 year old Cateye. I hope that it works well!!
 
Vern, I think you are right to try and buy local. I was trying to buy online and get the info I needed to make the decision. I like the Shadow from what I see. The setup on the handlebars is very much like the Dash: Dash has separate control plus cruise control but no bell. Gear control is nearly the same. Straight bars and adjustable computer on both bikes look the same.

I was impressed that Court was able to get going quickly with the pedal system on his Motiv video. I don't ride a road bike and certainly not at 20mph, but when I rode the Dash at that speed during my two test drives, the throttle wasn't necessary. Where I am going with this is that you should take a few rides on the Motiv seeing that you have a nearby dealer and see if it floats your boat. It may be that the bike is so strong and responsive that you can live without the throttle and save a few bucks. Like Court says....does it put a smile on your face. The Dash did just that for me. I can tell you that I rode close to ten bikes and the Dash was a standout. The Shadow looks similar but I wasn't willing to gamble on an online purchase this big and difficult to deal with if there were problems.
 
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Great points Ralph, thanks for chiming in on this and sharing your experience with the Dash but also pointing out the benefits of the local buy and the Shadow.

Vern, I'm sorry to hear that you haven't gotten the kind of feedback you were looking for. The Motiv guys really impressed me during the visit to their headquarters and I enjoyed all of their bikes. If you can, I think it would be worth test riding the Shadow and if you need help getting in touch with them directly just contact me through the form on the main EBR site and I'll do my best to help out.

Regarding your wife's concerns. They are valid feelings and it's important to recognize that she cares for your safety and may see this as an activity that is dangerous or not mainstream. There are so many factors that can go into a person's perspective and maybe it goes as deep as her not being comfortable with balance or maybe she had a bike accident or has just heard bad things. Listening to her feedback could go a long way to helping her feel better and ultimately consider your perspective in response.

This is my personal perspective: Depending on where you live and how you plan to use a bicycle they can be an amazing source of exercise, cost savings, connection with nature and the community. Electric bikes remove some of the barriers to regular cycling including knee pain, struggling with hills or weather and they empower you to go further without getting sweaty. If you practice your balance and ride safely I believe that a bicycle can be as safe or possibly safer than an automobile because there are often paths and parks with no cars in them and ultimately congestion and changes in speed are what cause accidents of any kind. Regardless, I am personally willing to take the risk of a bicycle accident (my fault or otherwise) to the guarantee of pollution, traffic frustration and sedentary travel that cars present. I believe that riding a bicycle is one way to "vote with your feet" and make a difference when it comes to environmental sustainability, geopolitical conflict and personal well being and I accept the trade offs. With great lights, reflective gear and a helmet the bicycle can be a reliable, safe and fun source of transportation.
 
Court said:
Great points Ralph, thanks for chiming in on this and sharing your experience with the Dash but also pointing out the benefits of the local buy and the Shadow.

Vern, I'm sorry to hear that you haven't gotten the kind of feedback you were looking for. The Motiv guys really impressed me during the visit to their headquarters and I enjoyed all of their bikes. If you can, I think it would be worth test riding the Shadow and if you need help getting in touch with them directly just contact me through the form on the main EBR site and I'll do my best to help out.

Regarding your wife's concerns. They are valid feelings and it's important to recognize that she cares for your safety and may see this as an activity that is dangerous or not mainstream. There are so many factors that can go into a person's perspective and maybe it goes as deep as her not being comfortable with balance or maybe she had a bike accident or has just heard bad things. Listening to her feedback could go a long way to helping her feel better and ultimately consider your perspective in response.

This is my personal perspective: Depending on where you live and how you plan to use a bicycle they can be an amazing source of exercise, cost savings, connection with nature and the community. Electric bikes remove some of the barriers to regular cycling including knee pain, struggling with hills or weather and they empower you to go further without getting sweaty. If you practice your balance and ride safely I believe that a bicycle can be as safe or possibly safer than an automobile because there are often paths and parks with no cars in them and ultimately congestion and changes in speed are what cause accidents of any kind. Regardless, I am personally willing to take the risk of a bicycle accident (my fault or otherwise) to the guarantee of pollution, traffic frustration and sedentary travel that cars present. I believe that riding a bicycle is one way to "vote with your feet" and make a difference when it comes to environmental sustainability, geopolitical conflict and personal well being and I accept the trade offs. With great lights, reflective gear and a helmet the bicycle can be a reliable, safe and fun source of transportation.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the awesome response, like always!! I share your environmental concerns and values. I also share your feelings about the benefits of commuting by bike/ebike. I always try to convince my wife that it is the wave of the future. She jokingly says that bikes were great for commuting, but then they invented the car!! I feel, FAR more people should be commuting by bike. When I commute on my regular bike, it takes me just shy of an hour and I see only 2 to 3 other peoples doing the same. I also see thousands of cars!!

Living in Southern California it seems the to be the perfect place to bike commute. The weather is perfect for it. It never rains, and it usually is neither very cold nor very hot. Cycling is hugh here, but so are cars and congestion. My wife's number one concern is a car not seeing me and me getting hit. In the past month there were two stories in the news around here of exactly that happening. Now I have two headlights, and two blinking taillights, but I must admit I usually wear a gray wind breaker jacket that probably blends right in with the morning fog. I have discovered new routes and honestly I encounter very few cars on my journey in the morning. The way home, however, is much more congested with cars and in the winter I am racing the sun.
I have a specific questions that is probably hard to give a specific answer. If/when I get an e-bike, will it reduce my commuting time?? I really don't mind getting the exercise and I am in OK shape. I love my commute to work, but I really don't love my commute home. On the way home, I am tired, there are more cars, it is getting dark, I want to see my family, AND my journey home is more of a gently climb. Currently on my way to work I average aout 13.8 mph and on the way home that drops to around 11-12. Can I realistically average closer to 20mph both ways on my Dash/Shadow??
BTW I will post about Motiv on the Motiv page that I started!!
 
Thanks for the great explanation Vern, I can see where your wife is coming from but I'm glad you still enjoy riding and are finding solutions with electric bikes. Regardless of traffic, headlights and the color of your jacket you will be much safer if you're alert and not struggling with energy. This sounds like an area of opportunity that your Dash/Shadow will address perfectly.

Yes, I absolutely believe you'll be going 15 to 20 miles per hour all the way home (depending on stops, lights etc.) and it will feel great. I've also struggled with those diminishing daylight hours we face in the winter months and in many cases have just given in and stayed at work until way past dark and rush our (7pm to 9pm). I'd eat dinner at work and then get a head start for the next day and then the commute was easy and even though it was dark, it almost seemed easier to see things because it wasn't that half light/half dark evening timeframe.

Pedal assist can be so much fun because it lets you experience the control and adrenaline of speed without exhausting yourself. It's a rush that keeps you alert and enables you to ride at that higher speed for longer periods in a sort of positive feedback loop. If you average 13.8 mph on a regular bike right now (going to work) then I'm sure you'll hit at least that speed with an ebike in both directions. I would actually caution you to not go too fast as the power of the motor is easy to take for granted and could put you in a vulnerable position when trying to stop or avoiding other commuters (slower bikers and walkers especially). I think you'll be very happy with whichever bike you choose and it will make riding even more fun and accessible than it already is :)

When do you plan to meetup with the Motiv guys or try out their bikes? Do you need help getting in touch with them?
 
I have ridden the Shadow a couple of times. There is a Dealer in 5 minutes from where I work. I really like it, but the riding position is a bit cramped for me and I would really like the ability to add a throttle. You have mentioned that you heard it was possible, but they have told me that it is not. I think that they don't want to commit to it on a public forum like this or Facebook where I have reached out to them The guy who works at the Motiv dealer by me seemed to think that it could be done, but he didn't know for sure.

At this point I am waiting for the Dash to come out so that I can compare the two bikes. In many ways I would rather have the Shadow. I like that they are a smaller/local company and that the bike seems simple. For the most part I want a good/fun commuter bike. On the other hand, the Dash has more features and comes in different sizes. I was also thinking that I could change out the tires and possible use it as a mountain bike in the summer when I am off of work. There are tons of awesome mountain biking trails around here. I think you went to the the BH headquarters in Foothill Ranch. I live minutes from there, and there are many trails that go off into the hills in that area alone. I used to go all the time, but with wife, kids, work, getting old....kinda stopped that. Is it ok to use an ebike on these trails? Will the battery come flying off when I am going downhill? Will I encounter some aggressive biker getting pissed? Not that there are any arrogant aggressive bikers in the world. HaHa
 
Cool, I think you're on the right track Vern and I'm sorry that connecting to Motiv and getting a custom setup has been difficult. You're probably correct about the public statements but they are here on this forum, you could privately message them if you'd like.

I was at the BH headquarters in Foothill Ranch and would have loved to check out the trails. I believe it is okay in most places to use an ebike off road as long as you ride responsibly. Some bikes can handle it and others might struggle or be jarring for the rider. Definitely the Easy Motion off road bikes could do it. The battery will not come flying off, they're designed to be rugged. I think this is the same with the IZIP E3 Peak and the Dash is very similar, just has a hub motor instead of mid drive so it would probably be fine for light off road settings.

I think the way people perceive ebikes is going to depend on the rider more than the technology. I meet some aggressive road bikers and some non aggressive, I don't blame the bike... though it is easy to generalize if most of the people you meet out there are aggressive and just happen to be wearing yellow spandex and riding road bikes :)
 
Hey Vern, I see Larry Pizzi is on the thread offering his help. He is President of Currie and has been super responsive in helping me get to ride his products and choose the right bike for me. As you would imagine, his knowledge of his product is extensive. I encourage you to email him about the Dash or any of his other bikes. He may be able to arrange some test rides for you as he did for me through my local dealer. I think it's great that he monitors and participates in EBR.
 
I contacted Larry by email this morning and this was his prompt, detailed, helpful, and informative response.

Good morning Vern.

You should definitely try the Dash, or any bike for that matter, before you make the purchase decision. The first shipments to our dealers will commence on the week of the 24th of this month and there are a number of dealers that will be receiving them by the end of the month. If you want to ride one sooner, you are welcome to come up to Currie Tech in Simi Valley or if its more convenient, I could send a pre-production bike down to The IZIP Store, in Santa Monica. The reason Ralph was able to ride one was our tech rep in his area had one and the timing just happened to work out. I could also try to coordinate with our west coast tech rep and find out when he could be at a dealer closer to you. Let me know your thoughts and we would be happy to attempt to coordinate.

Regarding replacements for the Dash and any of our bikes; Currie has been around for more then 15 years. There were times in the early days when we did not do such a good job in the area however, now many of our dealers tell us that we are the best. The drive system and electronic parts that we are using on the Dash are some of the best you will find in this price range and I promise, replacements will continue to be redly available when and if they are needed and we will be here to help you out. I'm not sure you know this but we are an Accell Group company and we have the resources to endure this rapidly emerging market, where most don not. http://www.accell-group.com

Another major consideration when buying any bike today; some refer to this when describing a "smart electric bike" and its about the ride-ability of the bike in pedal assist mode. Actually its much more then this. It involves a communications protocol that was invented by Bosch in the '80's for use in the automotive industry that enables a microprocessor embedded in the vehicle system to talk to all the components of the system. This not only enables the most natural ride feel using your rider input including pedal torque, rational speed and wheel speed as inputs to accuate the motor, it also enables ease of diagnostics through a usb port on the display.

Many bikes in our range of products have this functionality, including the Dash but most bikes on the market in the US do not. The reason is that it adds significant cost. This will change over time as it will become impossible to compete without it.

Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have other questions. Also, if you want to post this on the thread, feel free to do so. Thanks!

Best regards,
Larry
Click to expand...
 
I have a feeling that the e3 dash is going to make waves once it's released, it really is a great price point for the package that you get.
 
Slime the Dash??

So far as I know, the E3 Dash tires are not Slimed. When I get the bike should I have the dealer install SlimePro tubes in the tires or have him Slime the tubes in the tires? Does it impact performance? I know very little about this subject, but have noticed that lots of bikes come with Slimed tires. I know the last thing I want to do is try to fix a flat on and electric bike. Maybe Larry or Court can advise on this question. Thanks.
 
Good stuff, always nice to hear from the expert as the source! Thanks for chiming in Larry, and for re-posting his response Vern. I learned something new today about the whole Bosch patent and multiple sensor inputs. It's neat that the Dash has this and that it is still so reasonably priced :)

Ralph, I saw your similar post asking about Sliming the tires of the E3 Dash and responded with some different tube options and thoughts on the other thread here. Hope this helps!
 
Ralph said:
Slime the Dash??

So far as I know, the E3 Dash tires are not Slimed. When I get the bike should I have the dealer install SlimePro tubes in the tires or have him Slime the tubes in the tires? Does it impact performance? I know very little about this subject, but have noticed that lots of bikes come with Slimed tires. I know the last thing I want to do is try to fix a flat on and electric bike. Maybe Larry or Court can advise on this question. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hi Ralph - No slime tubes on the Dash. Generally, we only use Slime when we have bolt-on, nutted hub motors that are difficult to remove for flat repair. Slime works well for small punctures but makes a real mess with something larger. We have had lots of complaints about the use of sealers. The good news is that the Dash (and also the new Path+ which uses the same motor) has a standard quick release rear wheel and an easy connect power connector which makes removing the rear wheel almost as easy as on a normal bike, so its pretty simple to replace the tube if you do get a puncture.

The tires are also very tough if they are kept properly inflated. This is something that many riders neglect to check on a regular basis. I'd suggest getting a good floor pump with a gauge and top off your tires once a week before you ride. Follow this and carry a spare tube, tire levers and a CO2 inflation cartridge when you ride and you will be amazed at how infrequent flats become.

Hope that is helpful!
Larry
 
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