First impressions of my CCS 2nd production bike:

[Bruce Arnold]

View attachment 19698 Hi all. In the thread's opening post, I stated that I have removed the thumb throttle. I removed it because I don't much use a throttle and besides, I had no room for the thumb throttle on the narrow 450mm wide straight bar I prefer to use.

Admittedly, per Alistair and others and the lessons I am learning, it is important to have TAB (throttle assist boost) for starting up from a stop while in a high gear. Toward this end, the other day I fitted a push button. It has a nice clicky feel even though very tiny. All on or off...

Interesting approach!

 

[bob armani]

The warranty replacement battery pack arrived a couple hours ago. After 10 days of down time using the new CCS as a manual bike, I am ebiking again and having a great time. Thank you Luis and Juiced Bikes for the quick send! Notably, the bike, heavy though it is, glides great on a new set of reflective sidewall, highly efficient Michelin Protek Urban city tires. I've done a lot of pedaling the past 10 days. It has been fun. Also:

• added a frame lock and a front wheel gravity lock.
• a 450 mm straight bar lets the bike weave through tight spaces and is a width I prefer, same as on my single speed track frame urban bike.
• a tall riser and short stem let me sit more upright on
• a dense foam fixie bike saddle that fits my anatomy better than the supplied LookIn saddle.
• a Suntour NCX parallelogram link seatpost absorbs bumps. The soft spring option floats my 175lbs better than the standardly supplied strong spring.
• the seatpost is locked to the bike by a security clamp.
• I ditched the brake inhibitors
• and took off the thumb throttle and
• added a Foldylock Classic to the frame and
• a stealthy-mount alarm and automatic tail light/emergency brake light unit is tucked up inside the saddle.
• a Wald rear basket zip ties onto the rear rack very easy; can be removed fast for a cleaner look. But it doesn't look bad folded flat against the right side of the rack.
• a possibly awesome narrow track small cargo trailer is on the way from Amazon. If it's any good I may use it sometimes or often to go to clients' homes (am a piano tuner/technician).
• this is the best fitting inexpensive rear rack bag I've found. The bag is perfectly sized for the CCS and other new Juiced bikes' rear racks: the width is ideal and the height not excessive and it holds a lot of stuff. I've cut off the dorky external pockets with an old fashioned seam ripper. Inside are some tools, a pump and Gaadi tube, a noose chain for the frame lock, and room for personal gear.
• ball bearing derailleur jockey wheels provide super crisp shifting and are made in Holland! Use the supplied "A" spacers for your Altus.

For my first grocery store run an hour ago this bike sure beat the car that I cannot park right at the front door of the grocery store.

Am having a really great time. Will take some pictures soon!

Reid-Thanks for the accessory links. I especially like the brake/alarm for the rear saddle and the Gravity Boltz. I think Abus makes Nutfix, however are 2xs the price. There are quite a few of these on the market and are hard to choose. Looks like these have some good reviews. Never heard of the ball bearing jockey wheels. Do you feel a great difference in shift movement with this upgrade on your CCS? How do they compare to the stock jockey wheels?
Would like to see some pics of your upgrades when you have the time to post. Thanks in advance!

 

[Reid]

Hi bob,

My bike is shifting really well, I "feel" it shifts better than stock but that is so subjective, "feelings" should be disregarded.

If it really did make a big difference to use ball bearings, the makers would all be fitting ball bearings to jockey wheels of all but the cheapest derailleurs. But they don't.

Here is a whole thread worth reading all the way through. I just now found it by searching.

I'm still pleased to have and I do enjoy these Dutch made ball bearing jockey wheels. I viscerally disliked the...principle...of the plain bushing bearings because they are crudely shielded. The bushings run in a slurry of gritty oil and water. I've seen Shimano wheels wear out from neglect.

Maybe these new ball bearings are going to become badly contaminated in no time: in which case they will soon seize,because ball bearings are not tolerant of solid contaminants. I will report any failure or problem.

As it stands today I would buy them again for the feelings they provide : )

PS: my "upgrades" are customizations to please my own likes. I think the bike as delivered is almost beyond criticism in its specifications. Tora made all the right choices.

For instance, the controller's assist settings:

• ECO permits up to 5 amperes
• 1 permits up to 8 amperes
• 2 permits 10 amperes
• 3 permits 15 amperes
• "S"(should be "4" in the present scheme of steps) allows up to 20 amperes

Thereby, a rational system of stepped up assistance. I could never have thought it out any better.

We will hope that in some future production the assist steps will be labeled "0" for no assistance but speedo/odo and headlight capability, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. That would be ideal!

 

[bob armani]

Hi bob,

My bike is shifting really well, I "feel" it shifts better than stock but that is so subjective, "feelings" should be disregarded.

If it really did make a big difference to use ball bearings, the makers would all be fitting ball bearings to jockey wheels of all but the cheapest derailleurs. But they don't.

Here is a whole thread worth reading all the way through. I just now found it by searching.

I'm still pleased to have and I do enjoy these Dutch made ball bearing jockey wheels. I viscerally disliked the...principle...of the plain bushing bearings because they are crudely shielded. The bushings run in a slurry of gritty oil and water. I've seen Shimano wheels wear out from neglect.

Maybe these new ball bearings are going to become badly contaminated in no time: in which case they will soon seize,because ball bearings are not tolerant of solid contaminants. I will report any failure or problem.

As it stands today I would buy them again for the feelings they provide : )

PS: my "upgrades" are customizations to please my own likes. I think the bike as delivered is almost beyond criticism in its specifications. Tora made all the right choices.

For instance, the controller's assist settings:

• ECO permits up to 5 amperes
• 1 permits up to 8 amperes
• 2 permits 10 amperes
• 3 permits 15 amperes
• "S"(should be "4" in the present scheme of steps) allows up to 20 amperes

Thereby, a rational system of stepped up assistance. I could never have thought it out any better.

We will hope that in some future production the assist steps will be labeled "0" for no assistance but speedo/odo and headlight capability, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. That would be ideal!

Reid-Yes, I agree with most/all of your comments about how parts of the bike should be reconfigured. Tora seems quite passionate about his products and it appears he is working with a very competent ( and well researched) group of engineers to piece together his ebike line. I also see they have had some setbacks with their delivery timeline as well as the 'smoke' sale on some of the earlier CC models. I think he is finally sorting out these caveats moving forward. I am also very impressed with his Rip Current 52V S. What a beast!!

I was going to experiment a bit with new jockey wheels and see what kind of results I get. Bearings opposed to bushings are great, but time will tell. I see a lot of the wheels are made of plastic composite, (I thought perhaps metal would get better lasting wear)??

I also scrutinized your list of component upgrades and started brainstorming a bit off of them. I have both standard MTBs and ebikes, so I can begin swapping some parts out and see if I can improve my drive trains, etc. I am by no means an experienced bike mechanic, however, it will be fun to just put bikes up on the stand and take it from there. Thanks for sharing your well thought out upgrades. A wealth of information here! Have fun riding in sunny Florida (the place to be)...

Side bar: I also see BOX ONE makes a very cool looking derailleur reviewed by Seth's Bike Hack- although very pricey.