A year on my Rize RX

[Bubba zanetti]

A year ago, December 2020, the writing was on the wall. Decide on a bike, that might be delivered and, allow me to ride sooner than later. I looked and looked. Settled on the Rize RX with the narrower tires. $3120 can out the door. Free shipping ! My other eye, was on bikes nearly $1000 more.
I received the RX in 2 days!! I was shocked. I live in Trail BC, midway between Vancouver and Calgary.
unveiling the bike was easy. I tightened everything, lubed and then charged the battery. Next day was icy and wet. I tested the bike and found the shifting Notchy and imprecis. seat post was cool. Once I adjusted for my size. I’m 6’2” 215lbs. same with tires.
So … a year later.
I’ve replaced the brake pads. I changed tires to Schwalbe front and rear. Initiall, I took off the throttle. Unfortunatel, was hit head on, by a texting driver, destroying our beloved Westfali. As part of my recover, I used throttle. I’ve left it on. It’s a lovely “safety” feature when you have gone too far or might be hurt.

Ive read nasty reviews of this bike. It’s not been my experience. I’m able to keep it shifting well, mostly by taking up slack as the shift cable stretches, otherwise Park Tools video to the rescue. And, I only ride from 3rd to 8th. I’d love a 7 gear cassette! It’s a bit harsh “off idle” is abrupt till your cadence comes up. But once I hit 75 rpm, it is a lovely hill climber.

I did open the motor, clean and re lube. There was precious little grease in there. It did quiet the motor down. I bought a gasket, in case, but it was an easy hour to grease, and reinstall.
During our very hot summer, 42c. I did experience a cut out of motor. Otherwise no issues.

This is a very fast motor. Very. I have hit GPS verified 63kph. Too fast. I’ve ramped mine down to a max of 35kmh. I now have the cable to try the “softer” settings. That will be interesting.

I dropped my charger, thought I had broken it. Contacted Rize, got a new one to me in three days.

I’d buy this bike again. $3200 can. Nothing out there yet to help me regret my choice

1970 km. Should be more. But. Injuries have been a problem, along with forest fire smoke etc.

That’s my year with my Rize.

Jim

 

[Kevin8tor]

A year ago, December2019, the writing was on the wall. Decide on a bike, that might be delivered and, allow me to ride sooner than later. I looked and looked. Settled on the Rize RX with the narrower tires. $3120 can out the door. Free shipping ! My other eye, was on bikes nearly $1000 more.
I received the RX in 2 days!! I was shocked. I live in Trail BC, midway between Vancouver and Calgary.
unveiling the bike was easy. I tightened everything, lubed and then charged the battery. Next day was icy and wet. I tested the bike and found the shifting Notchy and imprecis. seat post was cool. Once I adjusted for my size. I’m 6’2” 215lbs. same with tires.
So … a year later.
I’ve replaced the brake pads. I changed tires to Schwalbe front and rear. Initiall, I took off the throttle. Unfortunatel, was hit head on, by a texting driver, destroying our beloved Westfali. As part of my recover, I used throttle. I’ve left it on. It’s a lovely “safety” feature when you have gone too far or might be hurt.

Ive read nasty reviews of this bike. It’s not been my experience. I’m able to keep it shifting well, mostly by taking up slack as the shift cable stretches, otherwise Park Tools video to the rescue. And, I only ride from 3rd to 8th. I’d love a 7 gear cassette! It’s a bit harsh “off idle” is abrupt till your cadence comes up. But once I hit 75 rpm, it is a lovely hill climber.

I did open the motor, clean and re lube. There was precious little grease in there. It did quiet the motor down. I bought a gasket, in case, but it was an easy hour to grease, and reinstall.
During our very hot summer, 42c. I did experience a cut out of motor. Otherwise no issues.

This is a very fast motor. Very. I have hit GPS verified 63kph. Too fast. I’ve ramped mine down to a max of 35kmh. I now have the cable to try the “softer” settings. That will be interesting.

I dropped my charger, thought I had broken it. Contacted Rize, got a new one to me in three days.

I’d buy this bike again. $3200 can. Nothing out there yet to help me regret my choice

1970 km. Should be more. But. Injuries have been a problem, along with forest fire smoke etc.

That’s my year with my Rize.

Jim

I've had my RX 2020 model since 10/20. In nearly 2,000 miles it's been completely trouble-free. All tuning and maintenance have been done by me, and I too give big ups to YouTube and all the bike adjustment and repair videos to be found and used online. They've made maintaining the bike a breeze. I've got the narrow tire version and I've recently gone to Schwalbe Big Bens for less rolling resistance and am very happy. I'd buy it again, as well.

 

[banshee28]

Wondering if the 2022 models have fixed any of the reported problems people have had?

 

[AHicks]

Wondering if the 2022 models have fixed any of the reported problems people have had?

As an owner of a '21, I'm left wondering what "reported problems" you are referring to? Could you be a bit more specific? Which bike(s) are you considering?

 

[banshee28]

As an owner of a '21, I'm left wondering what "reported problems" you are referring to? Could you be a bit more specific? Which bike(s) are you considering?

So only starting with the misc items from this thread, can the motor be loud at times? I really like the RX 2022 so looking into that model!

Thanks.

 

[AHicks]

A Rize RX is a seriously nice bike with a gob of power on tap (the most available anywhere). It uses the Bafang Ultra motor, and yes, they do make noise, but it's just a bit more than normal. If you are riding next to, or in traffic for instance, you won't hear it. I would describe the noise as a low pitched growl. That said, realize this is not a Rize issue. ANY bike using the Bafang Ultra motor is going to have that same noise and identical volume. It's a Bafang issue, and the result of a metal gear that was installed to allow the motor to handle loads WAY higher than what it's rated for reliably. I'd rather not have the growl, but more than willing to pay this small price for the kind of power offered.... -Al

 

[banshee28]

A Rize RX is a seriously nice bike with a gob of power on tap (the most available anywhere). It uses the Bafang Ultra motor, and yes, they do make noise, but it's just a bit more than normal. If you are riding next to, or in traffic for instance, you won't hear it. I would describe the noise as a low pitched growl. That said, realize this is not a Rize issue. ANY bike using the Bafang Ultra motor is going to have that same noise and identical volume. It's a Bafang issue, and the result of a metal gear that was installed to allow the motor to handle loads WAY higher than what it's rated for reliably. I'd rather not have the growl, but more than willing to pay this small price for the kind of power offered.... -Al

Nice, great point, thanks. I know there are options like a brass and nylon gear option but if its not offered I guess it will be a DIY. I will most likely not tackle that project! Yes I do think this checks all the boxes for me at the price point. Very interesting.

 

[banshee28]

I know this has been asked but can someone clarify how much adjustability there is with this controller/motor combo? For example, is PAS 1 adjustable as far as speed/power? I know some other Bafang motors PAS 1 is like 12 MPH and too much for PAS 1, IMO. Overall power is fine, I want the power there when needed.

 

[Kevin8tor]

I ride almost 100% of the time in ECO Pas 1. It's all the assistance I need, and I get a great workout. At 225 lbs, and more with gear on and added to my bike, I've got no problem riding 40+ miles before seeing super low battery levels, and that's in a very hilly, but not mountainous, area. It's a tough bugger that is holding up wonderfully.

 

[AHicks]

I know this has been asked but can someone clarify how much adjustability there is with this controller/motor combo? For example, is PAS 1 adjustable as far as speed/power? I know some other Bafang motors PAS 1 is like 12 MPH and too much for PAS 1, IMO. Overall power is fine, I want the power there when needed.

Before I get into this, just wanted to mention that there are NO optional gears available for the Ultra currently. An Ultra is a different motor and shares no parts with the BBSxx or any other series. If you want an Ultra, you get the steel gear and the noise it makes no extra charge. End of story, period. Clearly there is a demand for a quiet gear, just hasn't happened yet.

Regarding "adjustability". This is a BIG rabbit hole. Briefly, the Bafang Ultra and BBSxx series motors WERE built using what is known as a UART based controller that's been around long enough where a hack was available that let anyone that wanted to make as many changes as they would like. Tons of info available on the topic of tuning these motors. Unfortunately, that's no longer the case. For '22, Bafang has changed over to the CANbus technology, effectively cutting off all potential for tuning by owners (or anyone else for that manner). That said, the tech heads are busy at work trying to crack the CANbus code in a manner usable to a lot of us at the least. That software is not yet available. My bet is it will be, but there is no bet regarding when.

Again, this is NOT unique to Rize. It's all about Bafang....

That's it in a nutshell. More available if you want to search/dig for it.

 

[BlackFlash]

2022 Rx has many problems, using cheap non e-bike components with a powerful motor.

 

[AHicks]

2022 Rx has many problems, using cheap non e-bike components with a powerful motor.

That's a pretty broad claim. Please, do expand to include specifics that make you believe that? Who assembled, prepped and test rode the bike(s) you are speaking of?