Frey Savannah Ultra - Cross Country (CC)

[Tom@WashDC]

Sorry for any redundancy. Posting this to the Frey Forum after I posted the unboxing to the General Discussion Forum.

Received a tracking number from "Kathy" at Frey Bike 3-4 business days after submitting my order. Tracking number gave an estimate of 10 days for delivery. Bike shipped out of SFO airport to IAD near my home. Arrived by truck from Dulles airport in excellent condition. Box was opened with everything neat, sat, and well packaged. No damage, all necessary parts and custom orders (brake light & shift sensor) were present. I wanted the mountain bike tires, but Kathy said they didn't have them in U.S. stock, so i got the Schwalbe Super Motos.

Easy assembly of the front wheel, handlebars, fenders, and seat. After assembly I registered the bike with Frey using a QR code and they emailed me a password for the display. In the meantime the battery was charging, took about an hour for a full charge, and we were off to the races.

Installed
Installed the Velo seat from my wife's current Aventon Level as this bike will be for her.
Installed SQLabs Grips
Aluminum phone mount

Fit and finish are flawless.
Candy Apple Paint is beautiful.
Communication protocol is UART.
The Bike performed flawlessly as expected. Similar drive train as my Luna Z1 Ultra Mag Enduro, felt very similar.
Ultra Mag motor is noisy compared to my Bafang BBSHD. It sounds identical to my Bafang Ultra Mag on my Luna Z1 which I first rode back in June. I opened my Luna Z1 motor back in July and installed Corn Head grease. The motor runs near silent now. I'll do the same with this motor shortly.
I'll report back with any update that may be relevant.
FYI, Kathy at Frey Bikes could not have been nicer or more accomodating.

 

[m@Robertson]

Communication protocol is UART.

Thats kind of a big deal right there. Surprising to see it so long after the introduction of the CAN motors. Not surprising I guess because Bafang is known to be willing to do anything if the order is big enough.

 

[keithj69]

I have been eyeing the CC for some time now. I contacted Frey the other night to inquire if I could get the CC fat (21Ah battery) but with the wheel set from the CC. I was told yes. And about UART (also yes). I am currently trying to sell a kidney and turning in all my beer cans for change. Please keep us updated on the bike.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

I have been eyeing the CC for some time now. I contacted Frey the other night to inquire if I could get the CC fat (21Ah battery) but with the wheel set from the CC. I was told yes. And about UART (also yes). I am currently trying to sell a kidney and turning in all my beer cans for change. Please keep us updated on the bike.

I didn't sell a kidney, but I did sell one Aventon Level to help justify the purchase.

 

[keithj69]

I didn't sell a kidney, but I did sell one Aventon Level to help justify the purchase.

I'll sell my Himiway cruiser with 3 batteries and all the other things I did to it once I have the CC. Should help some. Going to keep my Surface604 Werk. It has a place in my bikeosystem. 50 mile range on the flat is a compelling reason to keep it.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Nice! Good luck!
I realize it's not its intended purpose... but how does it feel with no motor power? Possible or does it feel like a tank?

 

[Deacon Blues]

I'm very interested in this bike for my wife. I've pretty well given up on Pushkar bringing his Helios to market, so the Frey might be the next best, or even best choice.
[email protected], how smooth is the throttle? My wife likes to use to throttle a lot, so this is important. The throttle response on my two WW bikes is less than stellar ( I realize Frey motors don't have the high performance controller, but for my wife that would be fine).

 

[Tom@WashDC]

I'm very interested in this bike for my wife. I've pretty well given up on Pushkar bringing his Helios to market, so the Frey might be the next best, or even best choice.
[email protected], how smooth is the throttle? My wife likes to use to throttle a lot, so this is important. The throttle response on my two WW bikes is less than stellar ( I realize Frey motors don't have the high performance controller, but for my wife that would be fine).

The throttle seems to be very smooth. I am going to take the bike out for a long run on Sunday. The bike has two modes, Eco and Sport. Eco mode is slower and has a smooth throttle response. This bike has more performance than your wife will ever need, IMHO. I am going to hook up the programing cable this weekend and dive into the settings. My assumption is that the stock amp setting of the controller is set at less than 30 amps, which is the max available on the Bafang controller. I'll report back.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

Frey sent an email out today announcing the official establishment of their U.S. Warehouse.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

This ebike is beautiful @Tom@WashDC. Just in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival yes?
I received the same email, I inquire about CC fat with their chat bot. Not ready to pull trigger yet hopefully for Christmas.
Rear suspension is unique too it looks like it's jeweled, I think I counted 5 pivot points. That's one smooth ride, I'm kinda jelly.

Yeah, I gotta say the suspension is really nice. I was toying with it yesterday for my wife, and it really feels so cush, smooth as butter.

Rome, Kathy - [email protected] - was really helpful if you want to talk to somebody at Frey. She is up on the inventory and she was on top of everything for me.

Cherry Blossom Festival! The Cherry Blossoms are in "peak bloom" this weekend, which rarely lasts but a few days, then they are destroyed by spring rains. Tomorrow, Sunday, is supposed be Sunny all day in mid 60's-70. My wife and I plan to take the Metro Rail to the Arlington Cemetery station, then ride across the Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, to start our tour of the blossoms along the Tidal Basin and Haines Point. Going to arrive around 7:30 a.m. to avoid the crowds. Gonna be super crowded by noon. Should be some good pics.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Tom@WashDC, as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm interested in this bike for my wife, but I'm not sure if the bike would be too big for her.
She's 5' 4". How tall is your wife?

 

[Gionnirocket]

Tom@WashDC, as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm interested in this bike for my wife, but I'm not sure if the bike would be too big for her.
She's 5' 4". How tall is your wife?

I'm considering the CC for myself and I'm starting to feel likea real B*atch
That said... maybe you guys should post some pics of your wives so I can better assess

 

[Tom@WashDC]

Tom@WashDC, as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm interested in this bike for my wife, but I'm not sure if the bike would be too big for her.
She's 5' 4". How tall is your wife?

She's about 5'4". I did have to cut off about 2" from the seat post for her. Fits her just fine.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

I'm considering the CC for myself and I'm starting to feel likea real B*atch
That said... maybe you guys should post some pics of your wives so I can better assess

Took my wife to the National Mall to ride around the Cherry Trees today. Perfect weather. I have not seen this many people except during the 4th of July celebrations. Here she is standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with her Frey Savannah CC with the Mall and Washington Monument in the background. She loves her new Savannah. Due to the crowds, we ended up riding on the grass around and under the Cherry Trees and she loved the way it handled "off-road".

 

[Gionnirocket]

Coolio
I was joking about posting a photo... but it fits her well and it was an awesome day to be riding.
Thanks...if I do decide to pull the trigger, I'll go black to man it up a bit

 

[JRA]

Frey will do well with stocking some bikes here. They should probably get on the UL bandwagon ASAP however as that axe is about to fall nationwide I feel?

If you have split the case on a new M620 and seen the anemic amount of some sort of white lithium grease in there and installed CornHead then you know what is up. So many folks try to use different types of grease but CH works so well why bother?

Looks like a perfect fit for the wife and I'm sure she will enjoy it!

 

[Tom@WashDC]

Frey will do well with stocking some bikes here. They should probably get on the UL bandwagon ASAP however as that axe is about to fall nationwide I feel?

If you have split the case on a new M620 and seen the anemic amount of some sort of white lithium grease in there and installed CornHead then you know what is up. So many folks try to use different types of grease but CH works so well why bother?

Looks like a perfect fit for the wife and I'm sure she will enjoy it!

Yeah Corn Head grease in going in this week.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

I gotta say, I'm a bit jealous of her suspension. It's a bit nicer than my Z1. Super smooth.

 

[keithj69]

Ordered mine last night. Getting the dropper post option for free with the current promotion they have that ends today. The sad thing is there are no CC's in the us warehouse with dropper posts, so I get to play the waiting game.

 

[Taylor57]

Just curious. I bought a Frey CC a couple of years ago and have since sold it. Is the CC the same as the Savanah CC? It was a great bike, just a tad heavy. The other issue was Frey was supposed to make sure the throttle was on demand and instead it had a delay. I did have the programming cable-just never used it. I will say, the bike from top to bottom was solid and I never had a problem with it...