Joining the iZip Dash Party

[TannerPlauche]

I am happy to say I have finally joined the e-bike world. I really appreciated people sharing their insights when I was researching bikes, so I am going to write my thoughts here on the ebikereview forum.

I am a big guy, 6'3'', 305 lbs. Though I don't look like it, I love biking and spend a lot of my time in the summer riding. I first learned about e-bikes about 3 years ago when I saw and test road a Stromer ST-1 at a local bike shop. After years of coveting I finally purchased an 2016 iZip e3 Dash yesterday.

I researched and test rode every e-bike I could find. iZip seemed to give the best bang-for-your buck. I got mine yesterday from a dealer in Salt Lake City, UT. I threw a bag on the rack, added a few lights for safety, and put on some clipless pedals.

I am a web/mobile app developer and work in a office setting. I have a 14 mile commute with a few hills, so I haven't been commuting on bike for the past 4 years. I commuted the 14 miles on bike for the first time this morning, and it was smooth sailing. I bust spokes on my road bike on a regular basis, so I appreciate the heavy duty 36 spoke wheels on the dash. I was concerned that the 350 watt motor might be a bit small for a big guy like me, but it did the job well. The real questions will be how it handles the giant hill I have to face going back home. I have about 600 feet of climbing, and it is a gut buster. I'll let you know how the bike handles. So, stay tuned.

 

[Cameron Newland]

Very nice!

How's the commute on one full battery charge? I used to do a 10 mile commute one-way on my Dash and never ran out of juice on the highest pedal-assist mode, however, my battery has degraded a lot after 2,600 miles of riding and I think it might have trouble going 10 miles at 28MPH. Since I imagine you have a new battery, you should be fine.

 

[rmasa]

Congrats
Yup I agree, best for your money
Just wish the battery was a little bigger


Good luck......looks like all uphill back
Hope the battery makes it

Note: don't rely on the last battery bar it is usually only good for PAS 1. If you go higher with a strong load it may cut out on you.

 

[TannerPlauche]

Follow up #1.

So, I did my ride home yesterday. If you look at the map that I posted, you can see that my ride home is almost all climbing, but it doesn't get steep until the end.

Since it was my first time riding home, I wanted to be conservative to make sure I had plenty of batter for the hills. I rode home in PAS level 2 and was cruising around 21 MPH. I was doing about 23-34 downhill to work in PAS level 3, so I was pleasantly surprised at the speed. When I got to the start of the climbing I still had 4 battery bars showing. I powered up to PAS level 3 and geared down a few gears. When I went from PAS 2 to PAS 3, there was a significant change and boost. This bike is amazing. I immediately fell the power kick in and cruised up the hill around at around 11MPH.

Now, to put this in perspective, I have done this hill before and I was going probably about 4-5 MPH and I was really working hard in the lowest gear. When I reached the top on my normal bike, I was completely gassed and sucking wind pretty hard. With my Dash, I was definitely working and could feel some burn, but it was nothing like before. Even with my fat, 300 pound butt, the bike did great. I was pedaling moderately hard to try to take pressure off the motor, but when I reached the top I was barely breathing hard, and my breathing returned to normal in about a minute.

I'm really pleased with the bike.

Oh yeah, later in the evening I rode the bike up another giant hill to go play basketball. I powered right up in 1/3 the time and with 1/3 the effort that I previously had done. I want to add that I am using Shimano SPD (clipless) pedals which certainly help with riding uphill. However, I still feel like I am getting a work out. I am really out of shape, and I love that I can adjust how much assist I am using.

 

[TannerPlauche]

I want to follow up and add some insights about the izip, and maybe ebikes in general.

It seems to me now that the battery does not put out the same level of power at all levels. I have become used to batteries that put out the same level of power until they die abruptly. My power tools do this. When I rode to the store after not charging my bike the night before, I noticed that there was less power at 3, almost 2, bars than there normally is at a full 4 bars.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not complaining, and I could be wrong about it. It might have just been my lazy, tired legs on a Saturday morning. I am curious though.

 

[Cameron Newland]

I want to follow up and add some insights about the izip, and maybe ebikes in general.

It seems to me now that the battery does not put out the same level of power at all levels. I have become used to batteries that put out the same level of power until they die abruptly. My power tools do this. When I rode to the store after not charging my bike the night before, I noticed that there was less power at 3, almost 2, bars than there normally is at a full 4 bars.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not complaining, and I could be wrong about it. It might have just been my lazy, tired legs on a Saturday morning. I am curious though.

Yes, that's normal behavior from an electric bike. As the battery voltage drops, so does the power.

 

[Jax]

I'm curious what folks think about the assist on the 2016 Dash. Court's review suggests it feels like it responds more to cadence and is a bit delayed. I'm a big fan of the smooth feel from torque sensors and dislike the jerky, delayed feel from cadence sensors, but am also really interested in the 2016 Dash and don't have a place to try before I buy. Any opinions? Thanks

 

[Hookwormer29]

I'm curious what folks think about the assist on the 2016 Dash. Court's review suggests it feels like it responds more to cadence and is a bit delayed. I'm a big fan of the smooth feel from torque sensors and dislike the jerky, delayed feel from cadence sensors, but am also really interested in the 2016 Dash and don't have a place to try before I buy. Any opinions? Thanks

I just got the 2016 E3 Dash and I had the exact same concern. The Currie Drive is awesome because it utilizes cadence, wheel speed, pedal power and gear to determine assist. I sort of pictured in my head spinning pedals fast with no resistance as being the way the bike works, but that's not the case at all. You will feel a delay in the highest 1-2 gears when at level 1 assist but the bike is actually pretty zippy, not only that but you also have the ability to tweak the settings of how fast the motor kicks out full power - from -20 to +20, +20 is the motor instantly kicking in full power upon assist.

With the 2016 Dash selling for $1,899 I can't think of a possible reason not to recommend this bike and you will adjust quickly to the dynamic assist. Utilizing so many different forms of input in determining assist is what makes this such a good bike, the biggest downfall is that once you get on it you are going to want to go FAST. And since this bike handles really, really well (it is really going to surprise you how nimble this bike is in terms of winding around obstacles, turning onto sidewalks and driveways to avoid traffic, etc.) you might get a desire to go fast and aggressive on terrain you really shouldn't be doing that on.

Also the tire width feels personally limiting to me but that's just because I got three sets of 29" tires id rather have in this bike. I'd prefer at least 2", the clearance isn't there.

tl;dr get one

 

[Jax]

Thanks Hookwormer. Good to get advice from a fellow public health nerd. I just checked the IZIP website, and the 2016 Dash was down to $1499 (!), so I finally went ahead with it. I'm looking forward to it!