HyperFat 1000 - Question to Owners

[Lenny7118]

Full disclosure, I currently own a Juiced Bikes CCS so I’m not bashing the company, I just wish that they would step up the supply.

Hello, I am interested in the HyperFat and my question is to the current buyers/owners of the HyperFat.
When did you order the HyperFat and was your order from the first and what appears to be the only production of the HyperFat?
When did you receive your HF after ordering it?

The following is my observation:
It appears that the Juiced Bikes HyperFat is only being produced Once a year? Recently I learned that all the batteries are being used for All the other Juiced Bike models!
That’s a shame and disappointment to customers that want to purchase a HF and reading about the constant delays and that Juiced can’t keep batteries for other Juiced Bikes.

It’s not even known if the HyperFat’s are built and just waiting for the batteries? From what I was told last night from Juiced online chat is that it takes 5 months to build and ship to a customer any e bike from Juiced.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

Here are some educated guesses. There are others with more hard data that may have a better take on this.

1. The HyperFat showed that they could sell fat bikes. The market for the HF is restricted because it's not street-legal in most places. So they developed the Rip Current for people who want a street-legal fat bike and want the amenities like the CCS. A niche market bike like the HF might not get produced again until Juiced has got steady manufacturing and distribution for their top sellers.

2. For that matter, there's still a market for the ODK, which they haven't been concentrating on because of the OceanCurrent, CCS and RCS. If I were running Juiced, I'd prioritize the ODK over the HF.

3. Along the same line, I would also prioritize accessories over the HF, especially batteries!

4. To all intents and purposes, Juiced is still a start-up, although in ebike terms it's been in business a respectable amount of time. When you look at all the products they've introduced just in the last couple of years -- the original CC, the CC Air, the CCS, the OC, the RCS, the HF, not to mention the higher capacity batteries that are not standard products from Reention -- it's no surprise that supply doesn't keep up with demand yet.

5. My guess is that Tora considers this an acceptable drawback. He's trying to meet demand without compromising the integrity of the product. He's not just the CEO, he's the designer and the guy who goes to China to oversee production. So things can only move just so fast.

I'm willing to be corrected on any and all of that if someone has better information or better insights.

 

[Asher]

Great, insightful points, Bruce.

Just riffing here... I had heard that they lost money on the HF, or at least didn't make much. That isn't surprising for a low volume product requiring a lot of custom engineering - but it had obviously provided valuable insight for the RCS. Plus, it was a 'halo' product that may garner more attention for Juiced among enthusiasts, though I wonder if that carries over much to their other products, where they actually make money and volume.

Strategically, I'm not sure there's much value in reviving the HF any time soon for the reasons Bruce stated. You've got a bike of dubious legality at twice the price. Your volumes will be low, and the odds of people doing stupid **** much higher. Plus probably higher support costs. If I wanted to sell lots of bikes, that's not something I'd want to be associated with - unless of course it's for say, a sanctioned legal racing league or something. Especially when you can sell lots of cargo, commuter and fat bikes at great prices, which they're still struggling with supply-wise.

I don't know much about the business, but I figure a halo product is a nice way to break into a new product segment, for research and attention, but may not be worth continuing until you have the heft of a big company to sustain it, or at least the law on your side lol.

 

[hurricane56]

HF1000 owner chiming in. I followed the development and manufacturing process of the bike all of last year and it was good to see a company take a risk using a different motor on a fat bike platform. It might be safe to assume that Juiced Bike didn't make a lot of money or broke even on the project given the number of bikes produced and the issue with the frames. They spent a ton of time CNC machining a part that connected the top tube and seat post. It was later disclosed that they started over and re-manufacturered all of the frames.

With my own warranty issues aside, it doesn't seem like this product is going to be a huge revenue source for them as the RipCurrent will fulfill the majority of requirements for a street legal bike. The other issue is the motor choice of the MAC 9T and 12T motors might have been premature without more extensive testing and development with their controller and display combo. A known disclosed issue to HF1000 owners is the stuttering from standstill or at low speeds. It's likely this is caused by the hub motor hall sensors falling out of sync with the controller.

 

[Lenny7118]

Here are some educated guesses. There are others with more hard data that may have a better take on this.

1. The HyperFat showed that they could sell fat bikes. The market for the HF is restricted because it's not street-legal in most places. So they developed the Rip Current for people who want a street-legal fat bike and want the amenities like the CCS. A niche market bike like the HF might not get produced again until Juiced has got steady manufacturing and distribution for their top sellers.

2. For that matter, there's still a market for the ODK, which they haven't been concentrating on because of the OceanCurrent, CCS and RCS. If I were running Juiced, I'd prioritize the ODK over the HF.

3. Along the same line, I would also prioritize accessories over the HF, especially batteries!

4. To all intents and purposes, Juiced is still a start-up, although in ebike terms it's been in business a respectable amount of time. When you look at all the products they've introduced just in the last couple of years -- the original CC, the CC Air, the CCS, the OC, the RCS, the HF, not to mention the higher capacity batteries that are not standard products from Reention -- it's no surprise that supply doesn't keep up with demand yet.

5. My guess is that Tora considers this an acceptable drawback. He's trying to meet demand without compromising the integrity of the product. He's not just the CEO, he's the designer and the guy who goes to China to oversee production. So things can only move just so fast.

I'm willing to be corrected on any and all of that if someone has better information or better insights.

Why are you Knocking the HyperFat on most of your points.
I asked for comments from Owners of the HF. Your in titled to your opinion and that’s all it is, your opinion.
If you want to get technical the CC Air, CCS , OC, RCS are all ILLEGAL! They all go over 20 mph.
You must hate the HF saying what you did against the HF. Also saying all accessories and batteries should go towards the other bikes and leave the HF for last.

I’d like to hear from Tora Harris on this posting! He would have the hard facts.

If the there wasn’t a market for the HF it would of never sold out.

 

[hurricane56]

I might have mentioned this in other posts, but the tone of some of the HF1000 marketing and videos lends it to be a bit of a science experiment for Juiced. It’s a test of the market and also sled to develop their fatbike platform. I ordered my bike this time last year and took delivery in December 2017.

I feel that the one thing they proved correct is the USA market needs and wants slightly more powerful ebike platforms compared to the standard European driven class 1-3 designation.

This bike is so much fun to ride and commute on when it works. However the MAC motor might be completely too much power. Some DIYers have pushed up to 3000w with this motor with reasonable reliability. When riding it I thought the sweet spot was the motor outputting 850w with a 1100w peak. This would allow me to maintain a steady 30mph. The 1600w that is possible turns out to be like Tesla’s ludicrous mode.

If the RipCurrent motor output can peak at 1000w with a rated power of 750w, they’ll sell plenty of units without the low speed stuttering issues on the MAC. It’s only an assumption but I think Juiced has a lot more experience running with the more common oem hub motors like Bafang. This will reduce the number of customer support tickets. However customer support is another story.

 

[Lenny7118]

I might have mentioned this in other posts, but the tone of some of the HF1000 marketing and videos lends it to be a bit of a science experiment for Juiced. It’s a test of the market and also sled to develop their fatbike platform. I ordered my bike this time last year and took delivery in December 2017.

I feel that the one thing they proved correct is the USA market needs and wants slightly more powerful ebike platforms compared to the standard European driven class 1-3 designation.

This bike is so much fun to ride and commute on when it works. However the MAC motor might be completely too much power. Some DIYers have pushed up to 3000w with this motor with reasonable reliability. When riding it I thought the sweet spot was the motor outputting 850w with a 1100w peak. This would allow me to maintain a steady 30mph. The 1600w that is possible turns out to be like Tesla’s ludicrous mode.

If the RipCurrent motor output can peak at 1000w with a rated power of 750w, they’ll sell plenty of units without the low speed stuttering issues on the MAC. It’s only an assumption but I think Juiced has a lot more experience running with the more common oem hub motors like Bafang. This will reduce the number of customer support tickets. However customer support is another story.

Thanks for replying with your excellent point.