tastybento
New Member
Hi! Newbie here.
I bought a Juiced CrossCurrent Class 3 Pedelec a month or so back and have clocked up around 250 miles on it so far. I thought I'd share my experiences.
A few stats about me - 6'3" and 205lbs.
The CrossCurrent grabbed my attention for the relatively low cost, good looks and a good set of reviews. After I picked up a red XL from a bike shop in Santa Clara, CA, I've ridden it on roads as a 10-mile each way commuter. Apart from lights and a lock, the main addition I made was to install a short-throw ThudBuster seat post that made the ride 110% better. Those manhole massages and root ripples no longer bother me!
I usually ride in the Sport mode (max) and can cruise comfortably at ~25 mph with occasional surges to 30 if the road is good. Strava tells me the average speed on my 10 mile trek is between 17 and 20 mph excluding stops. All in all, I'm very pleased with the bike as it's got me out of the car and doing exercise every day. Although I'm using sport mode, I definitely feel like I'm getting a work out, but not so much that I need a shower when I get in to work (my co-workers haven't complained yet!).
Range & Ride
I have the standard (smallest) battery (7.8Ah) and it's good for a 10 mile ride on Sport Mode all the way. Further than that though, and it needs a recharge. I have done a round trip (20 miles), but had to back off to the #2 setting and take my time. If the battery does get low, the bike starts surging and the ride becomes quite choppy. In general, I have not found the lower settings to very useful when riding because they hold back normal riding and act like an engine brake. I don't know if this is specific to this bike, or ebikes in general, but it's not great. Originally, I thought that I could back off to a lower assist setting and make up for it by peddling, but lowering the setting seems to limit the speed quite considerably. Setting 3 for example, causes the bike to limit the speed to 20mph, even if I try to peddle harder. As a result, I keep it almost all the time on Speed mode.
One slight oddity is that if you do hit bumps the motor will kick in. I assume this is because the torque sensor is mistaking the sharp bump for peddling. It's not a major issue, but a bit odd.
Paint Job / Aesthetics
The bike really stands out in red and it looks great. (Buy a good lock and get insurance as a result!) To the casual observer, it looks like a Mountain Bike. However, the welding around the joints is unfinished, i.e., not smoothed down, so it has a custom-built type look to it. Not bad, but I assume it's a cost-cutter.
So far, I've found quite a few paint chips, the worst one being right on the front post where the logo is and others around the back wheel frame by the chain. I can only assume these came from stones thrown up by the tires or other cars. I'm still thinking how I should deal with these.
Gears and Brakes
No problems here. I had to do a little alignment adjustment to the rear derailleur to make the gears shift accurately, but other than that they work great. As there's no front derailleur, changing gears is simple. The brakes work well and smoothly stop this heavy bike. Commuting involves a lot of traffic lights in the US and once you get up to speed you really don't want to waste the momentum you have. The Crosscurrent freewheels well and you get used to timing the lights!
Battery, charging and the Battery Gauge
The battery fits in a fairly common Reention locked slot on the down tube. Even the 7.8Ah is a hefty lump to lug around but snaps in and pops out without any issue. The battery has a USB slot in it, but it's disconnected. I heard it's because the USB circuit was draining power or something, but it's something I actually could have a use for because my phone drains battery a lot more now that I'm using it as a bike computer! Charging takes a long time, typically > 2 hours.
Recently, the cold weather (don't laugh, I know it's not really cold here in CA), has given me the impression I'm not getting as much out of the battery as perhaps I should, so I've moved to charging it indoors instead of in the cold garage. It's just a suspicion.
One down-side on the CrossCurrent is the very simplistic Battery Gauge. It's all over the place! If the motor is active and the battery is getting low, it can drop down to 2 bars and then jump back to 4 when stopped. I've found it to be almost useless unfortunately. The surging motor tells you more!
Summary
I love the bike - it's fast and gets me to work and back without too much effort or allows me to get a workout if I want. I do feel sorry for regular cyclists who I pass, but sometimes the fastest slipstream me, so I provide a useful service! Definitely worth the money, but if you plan to ride the mean streets, get a thudbuster or some other suspension so you don't damage your tush.
I bought a Juiced CrossCurrent Class 3 Pedelec a month or so back and have clocked up around 250 miles on it so far. I thought I'd share my experiences.
A few stats about me - 6'3" and 205lbs.
The CrossCurrent grabbed my attention for the relatively low cost, good looks and a good set of reviews. After I picked up a red XL from a bike shop in Santa Clara, CA, I've ridden it on roads as a 10-mile each way commuter. Apart from lights and a lock, the main addition I made was to install a short-throw ThudBuster seat post that made the ride 110% better. Those manhole massages and root ripples no longer bother me!
I usually ride in the Sport mode (max) and can cruise comfortably at ~25 mph with occasional surges to 30 if the road is good. Strava tells me the average speed on my 10 mile trek is between 17 and 20 mph excluding stops. All in all, I'm very pleased with the bike as it's got me out of the car and doing exercise every day. Although I'm using sport mode, I definitely feel like I'm getting a work out, but not so much that I need a shower when I get in to work (my co-workers haven't complained yet!).
Range & Ride
I have the standard (smallest) battery (7.8Ah) and it's good for a 10 mile ride on Sport Mode all the way. Further than that though, and it needs a recharge. I have done a round trip (20 miles), but had to back off to the #2 setting and take my time. If the battery does get low, the bike starts surging and the ride becomes quite choppy. In general, I have not found the lower settings to very useful when riding because they hold back normal riding and act like an engine brake. I don't know if this is specific to this bike, or ebikes in general, but it's not great. Originally, I thought that I could back off to a lower assist setting and make up for it by peddling, but lowering the setting seems to limit the speed quite considerably. Setting 3 for example, causes the bike to limit the speed to 20mph, even if I try to peddle harder. As a result, I keep it almost all the time on Speed mode.
One slight oddity is that if you do hit bumps the motor will kick in. I assume this is because the torque sensor is mistaking the sharp bump for peddling. It's not a major issue, but a bit odd.
Paint Job / Aesthetics
The bike really stands out in red and it looks great. (Buy a good lock and get insurance as a result!) To the casual observer, it looks like a Mountain Bike. However, the welding around the joints is unfinished, i.e., not smoothed down, so it has a custom-built type look to it. Not bad, but I assume it's a cost-cutter.
So far, I've found quite a few paint chips, the worst one being right on the front post where the logo is and others around the back wheel frame by the chain. I can only assume these came from stones thrown up by the tires or other cars. I'm still thinking how I should deal with these.
Gears and Brakes
No problems here. I had to do a little alignment adjustment to the rear derailleur to make the gears shift accurately, but other than that they work great. As there's no front derailleur, changing gears is simple. The brakes work well and smoothly stop this heavy bike. Commuting involves a lot of traffic lights in the US and once you get up to speed you really don't want to waste the momentum you have. The Crosscurrent freewheels well and you get used to timing the lights!
Battery, charging and the Battery Gauge
The battery fits in a fairly common Reention locked slot on the down tube. Even the 7.8Ah is a hefty lump to lug around but snaps in and pops out without any issue. The battery has a USB slot in it, but it's disconnected. I heard it's because the USB circuit was draining power or something, but it's something I actually could have a use for because my phone drains battery a lot more now that I'm using it as a bike computer! Charging takes a long time, typically > 2 hours.
Recently, the cold weather (don't laugh, I know it's not really cold here in CA), has given me the impression I'm not getting as much out of the battery as perhaps I should, so I've moved to charging it indoors instead of in the cold garage. It's just a suspicion.
One down-side on the CrossCurrent is the very simplistic Battery Gauge. It's all over the place! If the motor is active and the battery is getting low, it can drop down to 2 bars and then jump back to 4 when stopped. I've found it to be almost useless unfortunately. The surging motor tells you more!
Summary
I love the bike - it's fast and gets me to work and back without too much effort or allows me to get a workout if I want. I do feel sorry for regular cyclists who I pass, but sometimes the fastest slipstream me, so I provide a useful service! Definitely worth the money, but if you plan to ride the mean streets, get a thudbuster or some other suspension so you don't damage your tush.
