frustrated rant: the more i learn the more i cant find an ebike

[Alaskan]

Unfortunately, most of us are recommending what we like as a justification for our own choices.

It would be far more helpful to make sure newbies are asking and answering the right questions as a way of providing guidance.

Here is my first stab at a list of questions I think a person should be asking and answering before choosing an ebike:

1. How experienced a rider are you?
2. Weight, Height , age?
3. Where will you be riding, roads, trails, mountains?
4. How often do you think you will be riding...daily commute, just weekends, seasonal, year round?
5. How fit are you?
6. How mechanically capable are you?
7. Do you enjoy tinkering, tuning adjusting on your own or would you rather have someone else do the greasy work?

 

[Alex M]

There are LOTS of junk motors for very low prices. We should be recommending on the basis of weight, road conditions, and grades expected to climb. More and more I'm finding MAC and eZee the most sustainable motors.

... and even a good MAC is inexpensive, if you check certain stores that I'm sure you know ...
$215 bare motor, $270 laced in a decent quality rim.
Junk hubs cost about 2 times less, under $140 with wheel.

Hub prices are not that bad, really.

 

[fnkyhd]

Alaskan, sry i just saw you questions

1. very but not much since drivers no longer pay attention to the road
2. 172, 6'3", 50's
3. multi-use path mostly asphalt
4. 25 mile commute 3x per week
5. reasonably (i am a trail unltramarathon runner)
6. fair to midland. i can true my road wheels ok & i love my hanes bike manual!
7. yes & no. i cant afford it. i dont think i would have any problem changing a rear flat on a rear hub motor bike.


following up on my new izip: my feelings are mixed after riding a few miles on it and i may have to take it back. i am still having post-operative pain from a hernia repair 8 weeks post surgery (that's the biggest reason for getting a ebike), and it gets irritated on this bike because the transx motor is very slow to catch on. if i am pedaling at a constant rate then it stays engaged but if i stop or go on a hill and need to change the assist level it makes me put a lot of torque in to get it to engage. also it is not smooth through the power range. ill be on a hill and be in 1 and it gets hard so i up it to 2 and it's a bit easier but not much but then when i go to 3 it takes off. i felt like the rad bikes i tried with the rear hub motors were a lot smoother through the power range. the frame on the izip is very big. it's the large size stepover and ive got about 1-2" left standing over. the front shock is less than useless and should be a solid fork. it's not responsive at all...even when set of full mushy it doesnt seem to respond to bumps are they are just as jarring with it full mush or "locked out" and the seat it comes with doesnt help esp in my condition. i find myself standing through bumps to avoid pain. i keep asking why do i have a motor on my bike? i enjoy riding it more without the power assist on frankly but my condition doesnt allow getting the 45 lbs up hills. maybe these things are just a matter of getting used to but i might just take it back and keep trying for a rad bike that is heavier but more comfortable to ride.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

maybe these things are just a matter of getting used to...

Doesn't sound like something you need to get used to. FWIW.

 

[dean1]

I recently purchased an izip protour (solid fork) and know what you mean by the assistance levels. But once you find/learn the optimal gears for speed and PAS things will get better. Seems like you are sometimes using a higher than optimal gear.

I installed the optional throttle button from izip ($50.00) and that helps when you find yourself stuck in too high a gear, or off the line.

The Dash is at a good price point right now....my LBS has the 2017 for 1799

Alaskan, sry i just saw you questions

1. very but not much since drivers no longer pay attention to the road
2. 172, 6'3", 50's
3. multi-use path mostly asphalt
4. 25 mile commute 3x per week
5. reasonably (i am a trail unltramarathon runner)
6. fair to midland. i can true my road wheels ok & i love my hanes bike manual!
7. yes & no. i cant afford it. i dont think i would have any problem changing a rear flat on a rear hub motor bike.


following up on my new izip: my feelings are mixed after riding a few miles on it and i may have to take it back. i am still having post-operative pain from a hernia repair 8 weeks post surgery (that's the biggest reason for getting a ebike), and it gets irritated on this bike because the transx motor is very slow to catch on. if i am pedaling at a constant rate then it stays engaged but if i stop or go on a hill and need to change the assist level it makes me put a lot of torque in to get it to engage. also it is not smooth through the power range. ill be on a hill and be in 1 and it gets hard so i up it to 2 and it's a bit easier but not much but then when i go to 3 it takes off. i felt like the rad bikes i tried with the rear hub motors were a lot smoother through the power range. the frame on the izip is very big. it's the large size stepover and ive got about 1-2" left standing over. the front shock is less than useless and should be a solid fork. it's not responsive at all...even when set of full mushy it doesnt seem to respond to bumps are they are just as jarring with it full mush or "locked out" and the seat it comes with doesnt help esp in my condition. i find myself standing through bumps to avoid pain. i keep asking why do i have a motor on my bike? i enjoy riding it more without the power assist on frankly but my condition doesnt allow getting the 45 lbs up hills. maybe these things are just a matter of getting used to but i might just take it back and keep trying for a rad bike that is heavier but more comfortable to ride.

 

[fnkyhd]

Doesn't sound like something you need to get used to. FWIW.

good point.

 

[tomjasz]

... and even a good MAC is inexpensive, if you check certain stores that I'm sure you know ...
$215 bare motor, $270 laced in a decent quality rim.
Junk hubs cost about 2 times less, under $140 with wheel.

Hub prices are not that bad, really.

You might want to review the numbers. More in the $600 range for a full kit minus battery, befor shipping. Of course that’s a built wheel and all needed bits, sans battery. Fooking Amazon kits... I hope I never am asked to assist again. Maybe after ten years of nightmares, or had I been an early learner, like. 10 or more years ago...

 

[tomjasz]

BBS01 start from $400-450, complete kit with motor and all. Everything but the battery. Components like display, connectors, sensors - are available. The actual motor parts can be a problem with older motors.

Yes, for somebody who rides 500 miles a month or more, and prepared to pay initial price and service costs - it's better to buy a good brand. Otherwise... get a generic hub - not middrive. $250 will get you a whole new motor. I bet there are places that will sell you 350-500W laced in the wheel, at this price. Gears for Bafang hubs are available too, as I can see.

4 calls this week from poor fellas trying to find gears for those great priced gear drives. And a few from burned up direct drives. BTW, not to be argumentative, but where are you finding your prices?

 

[ralph cramden]

Hmmm, can you say BIONX? That's what I've got now, unfortunately. People had the same view of that kit before the company tanked, and now if I want to keep the motor I'll have to get the battery rebuilt- maybe not if I want to forgo some functions of the console. I'll take a Bafang BBSHD if I keep my current bike or a Grin kit for the Brompton, thank you. Riding pleasure for me has been based on me being able to diagnose and fix stuff myself, especially since I live in the boonies where most LBSs don't deal with electric motors.

Actually it didn't "tank" in the usual sense of the word. BIONX had a contract with General Motors, but there emerged a dispute of some kind. GM was threatening to invoke clauses that would effectively appropriate BIONX technology. The owner, a billionaire already (he heads Magna International), pulled the plug on BIONX just to thwart GM. It's unfortunate, because they had the best technology. I wish they would go open source. What I mean is that I checked out the possibility of using generic CAN network software to control and diagnose BIONX hardware. But it turned out that they are using a proprietary technology (protocol) on the CAN bus, the same thing cars use that you plug into with OBD2. It would involve a lot of damn work to sniff out all their codes. So it's really too bad.

 

[fnkyhd]

following up again on this odyssey ...took the izip back. in the end it just wasnt comfy. got the radcity and it actually shipped in just a few days. it's def more like a motorcycle as far as fit & riding comfort. messing with the brakes & rear wheel a lot to get them to stop rubbing but i think i got it dialed in. rear spokes are pinging a lot but ill give them a chance to settle down before trueing. ride is sweet. big fat comfy saddle, adjustable stem and ive got the bars up like a cruiser even though i am tall. thropttle works great and response of the assist is a lot smoother than the mid-drive i think. hope to put many miles on this thing

 

[ralph cramden]

Weight on the radcity?
[Edit: I checked and it's about 60 lbs minimum]. The iZip is somewhat lighter, and the company probabably has better support, since they make their own hardware. iZip has many different models that have different characteristics. But as long as you enjoy what you have, that's the goal.

 

[Figs]

Congrats fndyhd! As long as you ride, doesn’t matter what you get.

 

[CodyDog]

Unfortunately, most of us are recommending what we like as a justification for our own choices.

It would be far more helpful to make sure newbies are asking and answering the right questions as a way of providing guidance.

Here is my first stab at a list of questions I think a person should be asking and answering before choosing an ebike:

1. How experienced a rider are you?
2. Weight, Height , age?
3. Where will you be riding, roads, trails, mountains?
4. How often do you think you will be riding...daily commute, just weekends, seasonal, year round?
5. How fit are you?
6. How mechanically capable are you?
7. Do you enjoy tinkering, tuning adjusting on your own or would you rather have someone else do the greasy work?

Great questions. I would like to add one more:

1) What riding position would you prefer?

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[fnkyhd]

btw this is a great forum. so much activity, thanks! moving over to rad specific section

 

[fnkyhd]

Great questions. I would like to add one more:

1) What riding position would you prefer?

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

for me, for a commuter ebike I find the middle one to be best!