Calicoskies
Active Member
Model S from the Electric Bike Company (EBC) – Ordered June 19th and not delivered on July 28th as told, arrived August 1st instead. I built our first e-bike for the wife. After hours of research chose this kit: 48V-1000W-26-Front Wheel along with a LunaCycle 48v-Pansonic-17-5ah-black-killer-whale battery. Installed both on a new cruiser bike, Phat Cycles Del Ray. I am a first-time builder but did not have any issues and think it came out very nicely. Battery is on rear rack, controller in the basket on front. Went for my first ride and have been smiling ever since. Since this is my wife’s bike I needed a second one for me so we can ride together in very hilly Raleigh, NC. Being in our 50’s we gave up biking long ago because the hills were just too much to make it enjoyable. Now with a little bit of motor power the hills have disappeared.
We wanted to go the factory-built route and see if the differences were worth the 40% premium in cost. After doing more internet searches and reading reviews on electric beach cruisers we decided on a bike from Electric Bike Company in Newport Beach, CA. After Court Rye’s (electricbikereview.com) review, mostly the 20min YouTube, placed the order. I was not able to find any reviews from owners accept for the short comments on the EBC website. This is the main reason I am writing a longer review. Order process was easy and straight forward on the website. Communications with Sean Lupton-Smith, the CEO, have been outstanding. There is a $250 shipping charge that is considerable, but involves a large heavy box with a lithium battery that requires special handling.
Bike feels very sturdy and is a joy to ride. Bike components come together to make a really sharp looking bike. All the components seem to be high quality and makes the ride smooth. I had to go through options on LCD to turn the cruise function on but that was no big deal, some people may not even know it is available. The Pedal Assist is working great, not always using the thumb accelerator is nice and seems to go on and off without jerking you around. We went with the 18ah battery so should be able to go 40 miles easily even with me being 250lbs. Power is great and able to go up to 28 mph easily and quickly if I want. Kickstand is heavy duty and I asked if I could buy a second for my other bike which they ok’d and are shipping now. The lights on front and rear work well, I added more blinking lights because you can never have too many. Compared to the front hub motor on my other bike this one is louder, was surprising on my first ride. After taking a long ride the motor’s hum/whine does not bother me, so would not say it is a negative. I would give the bike itself a 10 out of 10 for me but my wife would say 1 out of 10 since she can’t ride it as the seat to ground clearance is too high for her and bike is very heavy so she wants to be able to firmly plant feet on ground not just tiptoes. She is 5’7”. She does agree that bike looks fantastic and seems extremely well made.
Bike arrived with some damage on the rear hitch from rubbing against something during ship. In my opinion the hitch scratches were the only damage from shipping. Overall packing was done well. The basket on the front was really messed up with several large paint flakes chipped off, it looks like the paint did not adhere properly during the painting process. Also several other paint chips IMO were possibly made when the bike was assembled and not during shipping. The Suntour suspension post that site talks about as being a great addition was not even installed on bike. After calling EBC, they explained they do not include those on bikes anymore, it’s a website error. I checked other items like the brakes, tires and motor and they all seem to be as advertised. Noticed a cut-out on side of battery case for 12VDC jack but it is not there, so no 12vdc to USB adapter to power items on back as listed in reviews. This may be an option or just not available with the 18ah battery.
Bike is taller from saddle to ground compared to other bikes. My wife was not able to touch the ground flat footed with seat post lowered completely. I was able to use a different seat that is thinner to make her more comfortable but when she went to try and ride it just didn’t feel comfortable for her. She has ridden multiple beach cruisers without this issue. Looks like she will never be able to even try it so I am not happy about that. Suggest you do measurements somehow if you think this may be issue for you, wife is 5’7”. A woman need some strength as the bike is very heavy.
I wrote an email to report the issues to EBC and did not receive a reply for more than 24hrs. Also called and left 3 messages. This was a Tuesday. EBC finally replied via email that a new basket would be sent but they are on back order. No red touch-up paint available for scratches on frame which is disappointing. They said they will send the suspension seat post with no explanation of why it was not included as advertised. I did happen to have some red paint that was a similar red from one of my cars to fix paint chips. I would have appreciated a little more concern about these issues after the considerable cost of bike and ship.
I could not get the Pedal Assist to work because I did not know that you needed to hold down the bottom arrow for 5 seconds to turn on. I did find it in the manual later but was frustrated at first thinking something was not working. After other items on bike were missing I assumed the PAS was another item.
I thought the battery came completely out including the built-in BMS and charger, but that’s not the case. This will not work for me in the summer heat of NC. I need to charge in a cool house and under supervision. EBC has an external charger that can be used with the battery while removed from bike, which I have ordered. In the mean time I am carrying heavy bike up front porch steps and inside to charge.
After all my concerns I asked if we could trade the seat post for the charger which is equal value but was told no and sent invoice instead. I find it odd that during the buying process I could send an email and get an answer within one hour and now after delivery I am lucky if I hear back the next business day. With the warranty EBC provides I hope I do not have any issues I can’t take care of myself. I guess this may be a reason to buy a bike locally. All three of my adult children want to buy e-bikes but I am not sure at this point I am going to recommend this company. I say this because the bike itself great after about 50 miles but the customer service and communication is concerning.
https://www.electricbikecompany.com/features-specifications/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mRYmGTOY8A Court Rye from Electric Bike Review April 30th, 2017
https://electrek.co/2017/06/29/electric-bike-companys-beach-cruiser-is-the-perfect-1300-e-bike-for-summer/
http://www.ebikeschool.com/list-great-inexpensive-electric-bicycle-parts/ Used to select my battery and motor kit for build my own.
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Who.../1947983314.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.2HJDYe
We wanted to go the factory-built route and see if the differences were worth the 40% premium in cost. After doing more internet searches and reading reviews on electric beach cruisers we decided on a bike from Electric Bike Company in Newport Beach, CA. After Court Rye’s (electricbikereview.com) review, mostly the 20min YouTube, placed the order. I was not able to find any reviews from owners accept for the short comments on the EBC website. This is the main reason I am writing a longer review. Order process was easy and straight forward on the website. Communications with Sean Lupton-Smith, the CEO, have been outstanding. There is a $250 shipping charge that is considerable, but involves a large heavy box with a lithium battery that requires special handling.
Bike feels very sturdy and is a joy to ride. Bike components come together to make a really sharp looking bike. All the components seem to be high quality and makes the ride smooth. I had to go through options on LCD to turn the cruise function on but that was no big deal, some people may not even know it is available. The Pedal Assist is working great, not always using the thumb accelerator is nice and seems to go on and off without jerking you around. We went with the 18ah battery so should be able to go 40 miles easily even with me being 250lbs. Power is great and able to go up to 28 mph easily and quickly if I want. Kickstand is heavy duty and I asked if I could buy a second for my other bike which they ok’d and are shipping now. The lights on front and rear work well, I added more blinking lights because you can never have too many. Compared to the front hub motor on my other bike this one is louder, was surprising on my first ride. After taking a long ride the motor’s hum/whine does not bother me, so would not say it is a negative. I would give the bike itself a 10 out of 10 for me but my wife would say 1 out of 10 since she can’t ride it as the seat to ground clearance is too high for her and bike is very heavy so she wants to be able to firmly plant feet on ground not just tiptoes. She is 5’7”. She does agree that bike looks fantastic and seems extremely well made.
Bike arrived with some damage on the rear hitch from rubbing against something during ship. In my opinion the hitch scratches were the only damage from shipping. Overall packing was done well. The basket on the front was really messed up with several large paint flakes chipped off, it looks like the paint did not adhere properly during the painting process. Also several other paint chips IMO were possibly made when the bike was assembled and not during shipping. The Suntour suspension post that site talks about as being a great addition was not even installed on bike. After calling EBC, they explained they do not include those on bikes anymore, it’s a website error. I checked other items like the brakes, tires and motor and they all seem to be as advertised. Noticed a cut-out on side of battery case for 12VDC jack but it is not there, so no 12vdc to USB adapter to power items on back as listed in reviews. This may be an option or just not available with the 18ah battery.
Bike is taller from saddle to ground compared to other bikes. My wife was not able to touch the ground flat footed with seat post lowered completely. I was able to use a different seat that is thinner to make her more comfortable but when she went to try and ride it just didn’t feel comfortable for her. She has ridden multiple beach cruisers without this issue. Looks like she will never be able to even try it so I am not happy about that. Suggest you do measurements somehow if you think this may be issue for you, wife is 5’7”. A woman need some strength as the bike is very heavy.
I wrote an email to report the issues to EBC and did not receive a reply for more than 24hrs. Also called and left 3 messages. This was a Tuesday. EBC finally replied via email that a new basket would be sent but they are on back order. No red touch-up paint available for scratches on frame which is disappointing. They said they will send the suspension seat post with no explanation of why it was not included as advertised. I did happen to have some red paint that was a similar red from one of my cars to fix paint chips. I would have appreciated a little more concern about these issues after the considerable cost of bike and ship.
I could not get the Pedal Assist to work because I did not know that you needed to hold down the bottom arrow for 5 seconds to turn on. I did find it in the manual later but was frustrated at first thinking something was not working. After other items on bike were missing I assumed the PAS was another item.
I thought the battery came completely out including the built-in BMS and charger, but that’s not the case. This will not work for me in the summer heat of NC. I need to charge in a cool house and under supervision. EBC has an external charger that can be used with the battery while removed from bike, which I have ordered. In the mean time I am carrying heavy bike up front porch steps and inside to charge.
After all my concerns I asked if we could trade the seat post for the charger which is equal value but was told no and sent invoice instead. I find it odd that during the buying process I could send an email and get an answer within one hour and now after delivery I am lucky if I hear back the next business day. With the warranty EBC provides I hope I do not have any issues I can’t take care of myself. I guess this may be a reason to buy a bike locally. All three of my adult children want to buy e-bikes but I am not sure at this point I am going to recommend this company. I say this because the bike itself great after about 50 miles but the customer service and communication is concerning.
https://www.electricbikecompany.com/features-specifications/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mRYmGTOY8A Court Rye from Electric Bike Review April 30th, 2017
https://electrek.co/2017/06/29/electric-bike-companys-beach-cruiser-is-the-perfect-1300-e-bike-for-summer/
http://www.ebikeschool.com/list-great-inexpensive-electric-bicycle-parts/ Used to select my battery and motor kit for build my own.
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Who.../1947983314.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.2HJDYe
