Howdy folks. I bought a Crosscurrent Air last summer. I was in the early August 2017 delivery batch, right after they slightly upgraded the battery. This was also the last batch where the throttle was a paid option rather than included. I did opt for the throttle, along with the torque sensor option. If I recall correctly the total cost was around $1340. I had the bike sent to a local shop for set-up and tuning. It went together fine, although the technician did note that the included plastic or rubber handlebar gasket (I’m not exactly sure what you call this part) wasn’t the correct size. Wasn’t a big deal though. The shop used one of their own at no extra charge.
I’m not a “serious” bike rider, and I’ve only put 600 miles on this bike since I bought it. So, please take that into consideration. Frankly, I still don’t know enough about ebikes to nit-pick too much. Although that might not be a bad thing, because in that regard I probably represent the average consumer.
So for the review, the TL : DR version is: I still very much love this bike! I haven’t had any problems with it so far, although again keep in mind I am not a hard-core rider. Most of my mileage has involved commuting back and forth to work when the weather is nice. My office is only 4 miles away so it’s a pretty short commute. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, if I leave for work after 8:30AM, it takes about the same amount of time to drive or bike. If I have to be at work earlier it’s actually faster to ride a bike (due to traffic). In addition to my work commute I do some occasional weekend or evening joy riding around the neighborhood. My longest ride to-date has been a 30-mile loop trail. I didn’t run out of battery on that trail, but I was also using the Eco setting for most of it and there weren’t any significant hills. On almost all of my other rides I use the Sport mode. I know some people have been concerned with the battery size on these bikes, and that’s a legit concern if your trips are longer than mine tend to be. For my riding however I haven’t had any “battery anxiety” issues nor have I ever run out of juice. I would have upgraded the battery if I needed to, but I knew that since 95%+ of my rides would be under 10 miles there wasn’t any need to do so.
As far as the frame and tires go, I haven’t had any issues. But one more time, I’m only at 600 miles on this bike. I would hope I didn’t have any issues in that amount of riding! I didn’t think I’d need a suspension on my bike, but honestly I now kind of wish the bike had it. I did buy a Thudbuster ST suspension post seat and I can’t say it provided much improvement. I had wanted the LT model but since my bike was already bordering on being too large for me I opted for the ST. If I had to do it over again I definitely would have gone with the LT model. I hear it provides more cushion for your cushion.
The brakes still work fine, although here too I kind of wish I had hydraulic brakes. I haven’t had any issues with these standard brakes, but given the speed this bike is capable of one does get the sense that hydraulic brakes would make a lot more sense.
Speaking of speed and power, I remain impressed. When Juiced announced they were upgrading the motor (just a few months after I bought the bike, of course), I was initially bummed that I had missed out on the larger motor. But that said, my CC Air has never felt particularly underpowered. On the contrary I remain surprised that I can conquer pretty decent hills with much, much less effort than I would need to exert on a regular bike. And on flat ground I can cruise along at 24-25mph with minimal effort. The bike will go faster but beyond about 25mph you need to work for it.
I hadn’t ridden all winter and just got my bike back out two weeks ago during our first warm day. After not having ridden this bike since November, riding after this four-month hiatus brought back the joy of that first ride. My first thought was, “Oh yeah, I had forgotten how much I like this bike!”
So, that’s it. Take it for what it’s worth. I guess the ultimate question is, “Would you buy this bike again?” Well, yes and no. Knowing what I now know, I think I might have spent a little more money for the extra features on the CC S model; particularly its suspension and hydraulic brakes. That said, I don’t at all have buyer’s remorse. At the time I was more concerned with price point, and I do still think I got good value for the money. I know some people have had a few problems with their Gen 1 CC Airs, and if I had those same problems I might feel different myself. But I haven’t had those problems, so…I’m happy. I think Juiced generally makes a good bike at a very competitive price point. And after riding my CC Air for 600 miles it would be really hard for me to plop down $2,500+ for another ebike. For my use case, any additional utility likely wouldn’t be worth the extra money. YMMV.
Funny thing though…even though I’m very happy with this bike, I still find myself “window shopping” on occasion. There’s always that allure of “more this, better that”. I have to remind myself that sometimes it’s OK to just be grateful for and enjoy what you already have, rather than always wanting the “better” thing. That can become a trap because “better” often doesn’t have an end point!
Thanks for reading. Cheers.
Edit: Obligatory picture below. This was pre-Thudbuster install.
I’m not a “serious” bike rider, and I’ve only put 600 miles on this bike since I bought it. So, please take that into consideration. Frankly, I still don’t know enough about ebikes to nit-pick too much. Although that might not be a bad thing, because in that regard I probably represent the average consumer.
So for the review, the TL : DR version is: I still very much love this bike! I haven’t had any problems with it so far, although again keep in mind I am not a hard-core rider. Most of my mileage has involved commuting back and forth to work when the weather is nice. My office is only 4 miles away so it’s a pretty short commute. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, if I leave for work after 8:30AM, it takes about the same amount of time to drive or bike. If I have to be at work earlier it’s actually faster to ride a bike (due to traffic). In addition to my work commute I do some occasional weekend or evening joy riding around the neighborhood. My longest ride to-date has been a 30-mile loop trail. I didn’t run out of battery on that trail, but I was also using the Eco setting for most of it and there weren’t any significant hills. On almost all of my other rides I use the Sport mode. I know some people have been concerned with the battery size on these bikes, and that’s a legit concern if your trips are longer than mine tend to be. For my riding however I haven’t had any “battery anxiety” issues nor have I ever run out of juice. I would have upgraded the battery if I needed to, but I knew that since 95%+ of my rides would be under 10 miles there wasn’t any need to do so.
As far as the frame and tires go, I haven’t had any issues. But one more time, I’m only at 600 miles on this bike. I would hope I didn’t have any issues in that amount of riding! I didn’t think I’d need a suspension on my bike, but honestly I now kind of wish the bike had it. I did buy a Thudbuster ST suspension post seat and I can’t say it provided much improvement. I had wanted the LT model but since my bike was already bordering on being too large for me I opted for the ST. If I had to do it over again I definitely would have gone with the LT model. I hear it provides more cushion for your cushion.
The brakes still work fine, although here too I kind of wish I had hydraulic brakes. I haven’t had any issues with these standard brakes, but given the speed this bike is capable of one does get the sense that hydraulic brakes would make a lot more sense.
Speaking of speed and power, I remain impressed. When Juiced announced they were upgrading the motor (just a few months after I bought the bike, of course), I was initially bummed that I had missed out on the larger motor. But that said, my CC Air has never felt particularly underpowered. On the contrary I remain surprised that I can conquer pretty decent hills with much, much less effort than I would need to exert on a regular bike. And on flat ground I can cruise along at 24-25mph with minimal effort. The bike will go faster but beyond about 25mph you need to work for it.
I hadn’t ridden all winter and just got my bike back out two weeks ago during our first warm day. After not having ridden this bike since November, riding after this four-month hiatus brought back the joy of that first ride. My first thought was, “Oh yeah, I had forgotten how much I like this bike!”
So, that’s it. Take it for what it’s worth. I guess the ultimate question is, “Would you buy this bike again?” Well, yes and no. Knowing what I now know, I think I might have spent a little more money for the extra features on the CC S model; particularly its suspension and hydraulic brakes. That said, I don’t at all have buyer’s remorse. At the time I was more concerned with price point, and I do still think I got good value for the money. I know some people have had a few problems with their Gen 1 CC Airs, and if I had those same problems I might feel different myself. But I haven’t had those problems, so…I’m happy. I think Juiced generally makes a good bike at a very competitive price point. And after riding my CC Air for 600 miles it would be really hard for me to plop down $2,500+ for another ebike. For my use case, any additional utility likely wouldn’t be worth the extra money. YMMV.
Funny thing though…even though I’m very happy with this bike, I still find myself “window shopping” on occasion. There’s always that allure of “more this, better that”. I have to remind myself that sometimes it’s OK to just be grateful for and enjoy what you already have, rather than always wanting the “better” thing. That can become a trap because “better” often doesn’t have an end point!
Thanks for reading. Cheers.
Edit: Obligatory picture below. This was pre-Thudbuster install.
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