HF1000 after 3k miles - thoughts and opinions

[hurricane56]

It started out as a Juiced Bike HF1000 that I received in December of 2017. As of this post it has almost 3000 miles and has been going strong ever since getting rid of the stock controller.

Overall, I tried to make this the ultimate commuter bike, even though JB markets the HF1000 as a high performance off-road machine. My current commute profile takes me through about 20% suburban streets, 50% rural roads, and 30% urban stop and go. I only need to climb about 200ft of elevation, so the hub motor is a good choice.

I use this bike in conjunction with my 2016 Haibike Trekking S. With the increased power and speed of the HF1000, I'm able to cover about 16.7 miles in about 40-45 minutes travel time, compared to about 50-52 minutes with the Trekking.

As some of you might know I had some controller shutdown troubles starting around 300miles, I was sent a replacement controller from JB that I never installed. The other stock part that failed, was the suspension fork. I figured when traveling at higher speeds, I didn't trust the cheap fork that JB provides, and did an upgrade to a Bluto.

One thing that was discussed in the thread about the new HF1100 was the behavior of the controller. An ebike buddy of mine that works for a certain electric car company is convinced that the JB controller and MAC motor have a couple of issues.
1. The high power levels, over 30amps, that the controller provides to the motor is simply too much power to demand from a controller that has no airflow or way to dissipate heat.
2. The programming on the stock controller is not fully developed or was rushed out the door. A known issue that JB disclosed once the first few units shipped, was the motor would either get stuck in assist level 3 power levels, 1000w, when in Sport mode. The other issue was a weird cogging or bucking sensation that is characteristic of the controller not interpreting the Hall sensor of the motor.

The stock controller issue is what led me to go with the GrinTech unit. I must say that the saving grace of Juiced Bike is they used common connectors and the MAC motor was easy to interface with a different controller.

Overall I'm happy with all the mods and extra costs. I looked at this bike as a sort of "project bike" that I would rip apart anyways, so in the end it worked out.

Overall Pros:
- Amazing power and battery capacity, thanks JB for making a large format 21ah battery
- Smooth ride with the fat bike tires
- A beefy frame

Cons:
- Stock controller cutting out and surging
- Stock Mozo front fork seizing up
- Lack of a quick motor disconnect for flat tire changes in the field
- General commute problem - fat tires are like a magnet for roadside debris

A few other forum members have reached out to me and asked for a mod list and a few pictures. I suppose I should stop more often and take pictures as I pass through a nature preserve every morning, but here the bike is at the end of my commute.

Here's my list of mods:

Electronics:
- GrinTech PhaseRunner motor controller set and 37amps
- CycleAnalyst 3
- GrinTech 24 pole PAS sensor mounted on bottom bracket
- Supernova M99 Pro headlight
- 2x Hella 24v horns wired in series with relay switch

Handling:
- RockShox Bluto air fork
- DT Swiss BR2250 front wheel
- VeeTire Captiv8er font tire
- Origin8 SuperCell rear tire
- 203mm Shimano IceTech rotors

Touch Points:
- Ergon GP1 handlebar grips
- Ergon SFC3 saddle
- BodyFloat Suspension seat post
- Rock Brothers bell

Other Mods:
- Pletscher kick stand
- Third Eye Bar End mirror
- Ibera rear rack
- Safety Wing bike reflector
- Cygolite Hot Rod font and rear blinky lights
- Cygolite Hot Shot 150 rear light

 

[Rob02150]

Great post

 

[WalkinTarget]

Great to hear from a Hyperfat owner, as that is the bike that got me interested in ebikes a few years back. It was pretty much the ONLY ebike I wanted to buy untill they decided to no longer produce it after year one, so I set my sights on the RCS instead, calling it the Hyperfat Junior. I still would love to ride one ... just once ... to get it out of my system. Thanks for the post, Hurricane ! Always good to hear what riders are doing to keep their rides on the road.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

Great to hear from a Hyperfat owner, as that is the bike that got me interested in ebikes a few years back. It was pretty much the ONLY ebike I wanted to buy untill they decided to no longer produce it after year one, so I set my sights on the RCS instead, calling it the Hyperfat Junior. I still would love to ride one ... just once ... to get it out of my system. Thanks for the post, Hurricane ! Always good to hear what riders are doing to keep their rides on the road.

How are you liking that RCS?

 

[WalkinTarget]

How are you liking that RCS?

Dunno, I gave up waiting on one after 2 months. I wanted to buy in mid-April, and at that time they had just sold out the latest batch, so I waited ... and waited ... and waited.

Everything about the whole process turned me from one of Juiced biggest supporters to one that no longer recommends them to every person that asks me about ebiking. The fact that I really wanted a HyperFat but the 'local' dealer (a 2 hour drive) never contacted me about a demo ride. I came to find out Juiced pulled US dealer sales and sold exclusively online. No email in regards to that either. Even so, the HP1k was a one and done build, so I moved on to the RCS. I can't tell you how many people I showed this ebike to at work .... I'm sure they saw me coming and hid from me after after 2 months.

So once again, the Juiced hype machine had me salivating. We all thought it was an amazing amount of hardware for the money. And I think very highly of Tora as an innovative genius as well. But the RCS was turning out to be another 'bad timing' experience for me. After 2 months, and nearing my 50th B-day, I gave in and wiped the slate clean, asking for suggestions on what I SHOULD' be buying, rather than what I thought I wanted. Ravi clued me in to the amazing deals going on for the Haibikes, and I had ruled them out as well as Bulls, way back in December/January due to price. But after seeing how much you got for the money, and getting over my '1000w or bust' mentality, I decided on the Haibike SDuro.

What a completely different machine than what I had planned for over a year to get !! No fat tires, no burly rear hub, no hardtail .... I seriously went to a completely different style of ride .. and .. I am completely happy that I did ! It is the proper tool for the job - riding the flat rail trails that I do - and offers excellent range if I choose to work hard for it, or I can blast along at 25mph and chew up the miles at a prodigious pace.

Am I still a Juiced fan ?? I should be. They came through for a lot of buyers over the years. Did they have their 'moments' ?? They sure did, and it just so happened that those 'moments' were exactly when I wanted to buy. I am very much looking forward to a day that I can get a ride on a Juiced owners ebike just to say I can cross it off my list.

 

[hurricane56]

Dunno, I gave up waiting on one after 2 months. I wanted to buy in mid-April, and at that time they had just sold out the latest batch, so I waited ... and waited ... and waited.

Everything about the whole process turned me from one of Juiced biggest supporters to one that no longer recommends them to every person that asks me about ebiking. The fact that I really wanted a HyperFat but the 'local' dealer (a 2 hour drive) never contacted me about a demo ride. I came to find out Juiced pulled US dealer sales and sold exclusively online. No email in regards to that either. Even so, the HP1k was a one and done build, so I moved on to the RCS. I can't tell you how many people I showed this ebike to at work .... I'm sure they saw me coming and hid from me after after 2 months.

So once again, the Juiced hype machine had me salivating. We all thought it was an amazing amount of hardware for the money. And I think very highly of Tora as an innovative genius as well. But the RCS was turning out to be another 'bad timing' experience for me. After 2 months, and nearing my 50th B-day, I gave in and wiped the slate clean, asking for suggestions on what I SHOULD' be buying, rather than what I thought I wanted. Ravi clued me in to the amazing deals going on for the Haibikes, and I had ruled them out as well as Bulls, way back in December/January due to price. But after seeing how much you got for the money, and getting over my '1000w or bust' mentality, I decided on the Haibike SDuro.

What a completely different machine than what I had planned for over a year to get !! No fat tires, no burly rear hub, no hardtail .... I seriously went to a completely different style of ride .. and .. I am completely happy that I did ! It is the proper tool for the job - riding the flat rail trails that I do - and offers excellent range if I choose to work hard for it, or I can blast along at 25mph and chew up the miles at a prodigious pace.

Am I still a Juiced fan ?? I should be. They came through for a lot of buyers over the years. Did they have their 'moments' ?? They sure did, and it just so happened that those 'moments' were exactly when I wanted to buy. I am very much looking forward to a day that I can get a ride on a Juiced owners ebike just to say I can cross it off my list.

You're probably better off with the Haibike SDuro if it's your first ebike setup. The overall problem, at least with my primary use case being commuting, I need almost 100% reliability. I'm not slamming JuicedBikes, but the HF1000 in its stock form didn't work out well for me.

The one difference that a lot of potential buyers tend to overlook is how smooth the power delivery is on some "underpowered" mainstream factory ebikes. I still ride my Haibike Trekking S regularly and I'm always impressed with how well it applies power and the overall fit and finish of the whole system. Compare this to my modded HF1000, which has a CycleAnlayist3 and a bunch of controls that are made by completely different entities. I've managed to tame the mess of cables from the various connectors and sensors, but at the end of the day, it will never be as clean looking as my Haibike.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

It started out as a Juiced Bike HF1000 that I received in December of 2017. As of this post it has almost 3000 miles and has been going strong ever since getting rid of the stock controller.

Overall, I tried to make this the ultimate commuter bike, even though JB markets the HF1000 as a high performance off-road machine. My current commute profile takes me through about 20% suburban streets, 50% rural roads, and 30% urban stop and go. I only need to climb about 200ft of elevation, so the hub motor is a good choice.

I use this bike in conjunction with my 2016 Haibike Trekking S. With the increased power and speed of the HF1000, I'm able to cover about 16.7 miles in about 40-45 minutes travel time, compared to about 50-52 minutes with the Trekking.

As some of you might know I had some controller shutdown troubles starting around 300miles, I was sent a replacement controller from JB that I never installed. The other stock part that failed, was the suspension fork. I figured when traveling at higher speeds, I didn't trust the cheap fork that JB provides, and did an upgrade to a Bluto.

One thing that was discussed in the thread about the new HF1100 was the behavior of the controller. An ebike buddy of mine that works for a certain electric car company is convinced that the JB controller and MAC motor have a couple of issues.
1. The high power levels, over 30amps, that the controller provides to the motor is simply too much power to demand from a controller that has no airflow or way to dissipate heat.
2. The programming on the stock controller is not fully developed or was rushed out the door. A known issue that JB disclosed once the first few units shipped, was the motor would either get stuck in assist level 3 power levels, 1000w, when in Sport mode. The other issue was a weird cogging or bucking sensation that is characteristic of the controller not interpreting the Hall sensor of the motor.

The stock controller issue is what led me to go with the GrinTech unit. I must say that the saving grace of Juiced Bike is they used common connectors and the MAC motor was easy to interface with a different controller.

Overall I'm happy with all the mods and extra costs. I looked at this bike as a sort of "project bike" that I would rip apart anyways, so in the end it worked out.

Overall Pros:
- Amazing power and battery capacity, thanks JB for making a large format 21ah battery
- Smooth ride with the fat bike tires
- A beefy frame

Cons:
- Stock controller cutting out and surging
- Stock Mozo front fork seizing up
- Lack of a quick motor disconnect for flat tire changes in the field
- General commute problem - fat tires are like a magnet for roadside debris

A few other forum members have reached out to me and asked for a mod list and a few pictures. I suppose I should stop more often and take pictures as I pass through a nature preserve every morning, but here the bike is at the end of my commute.

Here's my list of mods:

Electronics:
- GrinTech PhaseRunner motor controller set and 37amps
- CycleAnalyst 3
- GrinTech 24 pole PAS sensor mounted on bottom bracket
- Supernova M99 Pro headlight
- 2x Hella 24v horns wired in series with relay switch

Handling:
- RockShox Bluto air fork
- DT Swiss BR2250 front wheel
- VeeTire Captiv8er font tire
- Origin8 SuperCell rear tire
- 203mm Shimano IceTech rotors

Touch Points:
- Ergon GP1 handlebar grips
- Ergon SFC3 saddle
- BodyFloat Suspension seat post
- Rock Brothers bell

Other Mods:
- Pletscher kick stand
- Third Eye Bar End mirror
- Ibera rear rack
- Safety Wing bike reflector
- Cygolite Hot Rod font and rear blinky lights
- Cygolite Hot Shot 150 rear light

Those are some amazing upgrades.
I think instead of catering to budget masses, they should have produced the HF with some of the upgrades you did like the phase runner, better wheels, quick connects, better tires etc.
Although Tora is extremely good with what he does, real world commuting feedback should be taken into account before designing a new product. Like Cross Current Air, HR were good start but they are more like protorypes or work -in-progress.

 

[Feliz]

Ditto^ I'm interested in a Juiced Bike myself, I would like to try a CCX, I've never owned one so I'm not bashing them but of the bikes I have owned the Haibike has been the best dialled in, best tuned, and highest quality bike, a delight to ride. I have a 2018 Sduro Trekking 9

 

[hurricane56]

Ditto^ I'm interested in a Juiced Bike myself, I would like to try a CCX, I've never owned one so I'm not bashing them but of the bikes I have owned the Haibike has been the best dialled in, best tuned, and highest quality bike, a delight to ride. I have a 2018 Sduro Trekking 9

I'll have some first hand input as a friend of mine is going to get a CCS X as a second ebike. I'm interested to hear his thoughts on how the CCS X is compared to his current Bosch powered Bulls Daily Grinder.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Ditto^ I'm interested in a Juiced Bike myself, I would like to try a CCX, I've never owned one so I'm not bashing them but of the bikes I have owned the Haibike has been the best dialled in, best tuned, and highest quality bike, a delight to ride. I have a 2018 Sduro Trekking 9

I wish Tora had picked a better motor for the CCX. Although the Marathon Plus tires help, a real thru-axle Bafang motor like this one would have been far better.
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

it would have raised the cost by $200 but it makes a ton of difference in the real world. Haibike Trekking S is a very nice machine. I have one from 2016 and still going strong after 5000+ miles. 2 tune ups a year and they are run like new.

 

[Asher]

I wish Tora had picked a better motor for the CCX. Although the Marathon Plus tires help, a real thru-axle Bafang motor like this one would have been far better.
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

it would have raised the cost by $200 but it makes a ton of difference in the real world. Haibike Trekking S is a very nice machine. I have one from 2016 and still going strong after 5000+ miles. 2 tune ups a year and they are run like new.

What's the advantage there besides the through axle? Also says it's only rated for 48v max though you'd know more about that.

 

[Chris Hammond]

So I'll just throw in my 2 cents. I bought a CCS in May of this year. I just passed 3200 miles on it. The only issue I have had was a failed taillight, which Juiced replaced immediately.
I am commuting daily 30 miles each way on the bike so the reliability is very important to me. I am generally cruising at ~ 30 mph on the bike. The bike still looks and rides like new. I will probably need a new rear tire by 5K miles, (I did convert to tubeless).
It does seem that Juiced was pushing the envelope a bit with the HF1000. I look at that like I would a limited production sports car; its just not going to be as reliable as the family sedan.
That said I am happy to see the CCX and HF1100. Hopefully when I start seeing parts wear out I can upgrade to a more powerful setup very easily and have the initial kinks worked out.

 

[Rob02150]

What's the advantage there besides the through axle? Also says it's only rated for 48v max though you'd know more about that.

I wish there was a page that has detailed information on the motor that's on our CCS's with all the torque ratings etc.

When I type in the model number that's on the actual motor, I get tons of different results from Google.

 

[Eglon]

It started out as a Juiced Bike HF1000 that I received in December of 2017. As of this post it has almost 3000 miles and has been going strong ever since getting rid of the stock controller.

Overall, I tried to make this the ultimate commuter bike, even though JB markets the HF1000 as a high performance off-road machine. My current commute profile takes me through about 20% suburban streets, 50% rural roads, and 30% urban stop and go. I only need to climb about 200ft of elevation, so the hub motor is a good choice.

I use this bike in conjunction with my 2016 Haibike Trekking S. With the increased power and speed of the HF1000, I'm able to cover about 16.7 miles in about 40-45 minutes travel time, compared to about 50-52 minutes with the Trekking.

As some of you might know I had some controller shutdown troubles starting around 300miles, I was sent a replacement controller from JB that I never installed. The other stock part that failed, was the suspension fork. I figured when traveling at higher speeds, I didn't trust the cheap fork that JB provides, and did an upgrade to a Bluto.

One thing that was discussed in the thread about the new HF1100 was the behavior of the controller. An ebike buddy of mine that works for a certain electric car company is convinced that the JB controller and MAC motor have a couple of issues.
1. The high power levels, over 30amps, that the controller provides to the motor is simply too much power to demand from a controller that has no airflow or way to dissipate heat.
2. The programming on the stock controller is not fully developed or was rushed out the door. A known issue that JB disclosed once the first few units shipped, was the motor would either get stuck in assist level 3 power levels, 1000w, when in Sport mode. The other issue was a weird cogging or bucking sensation that is characteristic of the controller not interpreting the Hall sensor of the motor.

The stock controller issue is what led me to go with the GrinTech unit. I must say that the saving grace of Juiced Bike is they used common connectors and the MAC motor was easy to interface with a different controller.

Overall I'm happy with all the mods and extra costs. I looked at this bike as a sort of "project bike" that I would rip apart anyways, so in the end it worked out.

Overall Pros:
- Amazing power and battery capacity, thanks JB for making a large format 21ah battery
- Smooth ride with the fat bike tires
- A beefy frame

Cons:
- Stock controller cutting out and surging
- Stock Mozo front fork seizing up
- Lack of a quick motor disconnect for flat tire changes in the field
- General commute problem - fat tires are like a magnet for roadside debris

A few other forum members have reached out to me and asked for a mod list and a few pictures. I suppose I should stop more often and take pictures as I pass through a nature preserve every morning, but here the bike is at the end of my commute.

View attachment 25354
Here's my list of mods:

Electronics:
- GrinTech PhaseRunner motor controller set and 37amps
- CycleAnalyst 3
- GrinTech 24 pole PAS sensor mounted on bottom bracket
- Supernova M99 Pro headlight
- 2x Hella 24v horns wired in series with relay switch

Handling:
- RockShox Bluto air fork
- DT Swiss BR2250 front wheel
- VeeTire Captiv8er font tire
- Origin8 SuperCell rear tire
- 203mm Shimano IceTech rotors

Touch Points:
- Ergon GP1 handlebar grips
- Ergon SFC3 saddle
- BodyFloat Suspension seat post
- Rock Brothers bell

Other Mods:
- Pletscher kick stand
- Third Eye Bar End mirror
- Ibera rear rack
- Safety Wing bike reflector
- Cygolite Hot Rod font and rear blinky lights
- Cygolite Hot Shot 150 rear light

I'm also looking to upgrade to 203mm rotors. What adapter did you get and did you keep the same brakes?

 

[hurricane56]

I'm also looking to upgrade to 203mm rotors. What adapter did you get and did you keep the same brakes?

Search for a Tektro/Trp A-7 (post mount 203mm adapter, front) and A-10 (is Mount to 203mm, rear)

I’m keeping the Tektro brakes for know until I use up the stock brake pads. Since I have Magura brakes on my other bike, I’ll be upgrading to MT5 brakes soon.

 

[Eglon]

Search for a Tektro/Trp A-7 (post mount 203mm adapter, front) and A-10 (is Mount to 203mm, rear)

I’m keeping the Tektro brakes for know until I use up the stock brake pads. Since I have Magura brakes on my other bike, I’ll be upgrading to MT5 brakes soon.

Will that same adapter work for the mechanical brakes as well? I'm thinking of upgrading to the MT5 on my front as well. Will that A-7 adapter work with the MT5?

 

[hurricane56]

Will that same adapter work for the mechanical brakes as well? I'm thinking of upgrading to the MT5 on my front as well. Will that A-7 adapter work with the MT5?

It should be compatible if the mechanical disc brakes have holes for the m6 bolts. What model are your disc brakes?

 

[jazz]

Nice write up although a fairly expensive project bike! I always liked the HyperFat, seems like a pretty solid ebike. I will agree that Mozo and Kenda tires on it are garbage. The Bluto is expensive but well worth the cost. I like the changes you have made to it.