Known Issues & Problems with Juiced Bikes Products + Help, Solutions & Fixes

[john peck]

I concur on the Marathon Plus being squirrely on wet surfaces. I had Specialized Nimbus before and they did much better on wet roads but a hard ride. I keep my tires at 5 psi below max because of my weight. Working on that too.

The Marathons I have are green guard not plus. I like 'em better the than plus. I have a pair of 26" x 1.75 pluses with less than 2 mi on
'em. Absolutely un-ridable, terrifying wet or dry! I wouldn't sell 'em to my worst enemy....well maybe. The green guard are just fine on
a road bike, but not ideal for my CCS. They'll do, but I'm going back to the stock kendas once I get some wear outa them. I leave Mon,
for some touring in Oregon. I can put the batpac & charger in my large panniers & hang the bike on the bus rack. The Oregon Coast has
a great 7 day deal on a bus pass. Then I'll head inland to the high desert. Did much the same last spring with my Univega.

 

[JeffMD]

I know this will piss some people off but you asked, what your doing wrong is, you bought a juiced bike but don't feel too bad, I did too.

Lol, so is this indeed just a symptom of construction? Im not putting any load except my fat ass so no noise yet, but just incase I hear I should just chalk it up to unsolvable without a different motor?

So I got my bike at the beginning of the week, got most of my additional accessories (much thanks to the other threads here!) but none of my clothing yet so no long rides. So far everything has been great. The one and only difficult task was the replacement and adjusting the new derailer when it first came (lol at no instructions). Luckily I am with someone who has been biking for decades. I also just did a night run and found the headlight to be more than bright enough, although its position low on the post means half of it is blocked by the tire.

I was disappointed that the handle bar does not raise so I may end up getting a new bar that brings the handles closer to me. A new seat may be in the works but I will wait until I get my padded shorts and suspension seatpost arrive before passing it off.

I did get the marathon plus tire upgrade when I bought the bike and not only did they install them but they still included the default tires which was a nice plus, I figured they would have pocketed them. ^^ Saddly I have no good bike experience so I have nothing to compare the tires too. If they are a little sketchy in water I am not too worried, it does not rain much in this part of florida. As it is I am slowly getting my bike legs back. You may never forget how to ride a bike, but you do forget how to ride a bike well.

 

[john peck]

Well said Jeff. Riding 'well' may require a refresher course, but it comes back pretty quick after you lay it down a couple times.
I'd attribute the motor noise I've heard to tight gears still breaking in under load. Mechanical function has not been
a problem; in fact it has improved. I just hit 1000 mi. today.

 

[mal robot]

I'm at 2.2k miles now on my CCS (thank you round trip 28mi commute) and I've had to do a fair amount of maintenance. The initial brake pads just gave out, I had to relace the wheel with new spokes (I went through ~4 of the default ones which started breaking at around 500 miles), and various tunings/fixings to keep my brakes not rubbing and/or check out engine noise. My motor still has some weird noises occasionally but nothing I can reproduce consistently. Not sure what's going on there. Still riding on the stock Kenda tires though, haven't noticed any problems with them yet (still holding pressure, braking / turning seem fine).

 

[Asher]

I'm at 2.2k miles now on my CCS (thank you round trip 28mi commute) and I've had to do a fair amount of maintenance. The initial brake pads just gave out, I had to relace the wheel with new spokes (I went through ~4 of the default ones which started breaking at around 500 miles), and various tunings/fixings to keep my brakes not rubbing and/or check out engine noise. My motor still has some weird noises occasionally but nothing I can reproduce consistently. Not sure what's going on there. Still riding on the stock Kenda tires though, haven't noticed any problems with them yet (still holding pressure, braking / turning seem fine).

When did you order your CCS? just wondering if you got the earlier one with weaker spokes.

I had to get my brakes adjusted on both at 300 miles. I figured the bike could use a tune-up anyway, as bike shops do for New bikes. So I did that. Hoping it's not a regular thing though.

If our experience is any guide, the bike needs less finicky brakes. Brake pads are probably just a wear item though, and also influenced by riding style (eg lots of stops and starts vs lots of coasting).

No flats on the kendas?

 

[mal robot]

I ordered 8/5/17. Yes, I have one with the weaker spokes & Juiced's customer service response has been mediocre (I've paid a significant amount of money out of pocket to fix what should be warranty issues).

My route has pretty smooth terrain / road surface (beach bike path in LA + some local roads in MDR/Venice) so I'm not engaging the brake a ton except for one steep descent per day I have to do. I would think that electric bikes should come with sturdier brake pads than standard MTBs but apparently no such luck.

No flats on the Kendas.

 

[Chris Hammond]

Brake pad wear is considered normal wear and tear and not covered as a general rule. 2200 miles seems about right to me, considering the weight and speed of ebikes. I've replaced 3 sets of clincher pads on my road bike, I'd guess I have about 15,000 miles on it. Bike weighs about a third of the CCS and average speed is obviously lower. Tire wear is very impressive for your Kendas. I'm on my sixth set of tires.
The spoke failures are obviously not expected. fortunately they have since been upgraded.
I kinda wish I'd kept of list of all the maintenance and repairs I've had to do commuting on my road bike. Your much more complex ebike would fare better.
Hopefully, I'll be as fortunate if I ever get my CCS

 

[JeffMD]

Got my Suntour suspension seatpost and its amazing. Did 12 miles last night and not once did I feel I needed to stand when going over rough road. I did need to play with the height and angle a bit more to reduce stress on my forearms, I think after tonight I figured it all out. Actually if anything I think I need to play with accessories a little to better weigh distribution. My 2 heaviest accessories, my lock and tool kit, are all over my back wheel. Handling wise that is fine but as one who loves prevention I think I should save that little guy wear and tear where I can.

I don't have things for like chain maintenance. Anyone have products online they order? My local shops are nothing but rentals / beach cruisers/ basic accessories, nothing performance.

 

[Jeffrios]

Got my Suntour suspension seatpost and its amazing. Did 12 miles last night and not once did I feel I needed to stand when going over rough road.

I have a 24 mile commute coming up when I get my bike and may end up getting one of these if my route is rough. I haven't ridden it yet as my bike is still in shipment.

 

[Fran Fabrizio]

I almost bought one last night. I probably will eventually buy one, I definitely notice the bumps a lot more at the higher speeds.

 

[Reid]

I almost bought one last night. I probably will eventually buy one, I definitely notice the bumps a lot more at the higher speeds.

Consider getting the optional, weaker spring for your seatpost? I am 170lbs and found the stock spring MUCH too strong. It would not allow much float of my weight, even though I sit fairly upright, most of my weight is on the saddle.

I bought the weaker spring and find it offers a perfect range of adjustment. I can float on that spring. So can a lighter rider it was intended for.

Dunno why Suntour supplies such a strong spring standardly. Maybe they should include both springs with the purchase.

 

[JeffMD]

Dunno why Suntour supplies such a strong spring standardly. Maybe they should include both springs with the purchase.

Made by and FOR 'Mericans!

Didn't take long (although first week I was riding without bike shorts) but I am experiencing the groin numbness issues so looks like I will be picking up a crotchless saddle. Havn't done a lick of research on them yet so any brand suggestions will help.

 

[Barry S]

Made by and FOR 'Mericans!

Didn't take long (although first week I was riding without bike shorts) but I am experiencing the groin numbness issues so looks like I will be picking up a crotchless saddle. Havn't done a lick of research on them yet so any brand suggestions will help.

You don't necessarily need to go with a crotchless saddle, just look for one with a decent "love channel." This is the one I have on my commuter bike and I have zero numbness.

 

[Chuck E. Cheese]

I bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Animaris-Bicycle-Suspension-Seatpost-different/dp/B0727N4YQ9

Best $50 I've spent in a long, long time. I haven't used the Suntour, but mine beats the hell out of any of the tube-within-a-tube posts I've used in the past. At 225 lbs., I have to tighten the preload spring about 75% of the way, so I would suspect it would work equally well for a lot of people lighter than me. I'm using it on an old Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail until my RCS shows up (Brushed Aluminum, 19.2Ah, thank you very much). I'll post a review of the seat post once I have it on the new bike. I wasn't able to find any reviews of the Animaris on line, but for the money it was worth the gamble, and it payed off.

 

[JeffMD]

Chuck, I'm 220 and the suntour is working well for me. Someone was commenting that it comes with a tight spring to begin with so it's set for heavies out of the box.

 

[Rooster]

Chuck, I'm 220 and the suntour is working well for me. Someone was commenting that it comes with a tight spring to begin with so it's set for heavies out of the box.

I am 220 and have a cheap post suspension and the bell recline 800 seat and believe me I went thru a bunch of seats and the bell recline 800 is like butter and reasonably priced.

 

[Tabo]

So I just got my crosscurrent air 1.1 and I am having a great time, however I I just realized after a couple days of use that my bike is perpetually in sport mode. I have been using eco mode and was very impressed by how fast I was getting, but then I realized that my motor output was reading at 800 to 1000w sometimes. I figured that couldn't be right, so I'm contacting technical support to see what could cause this and I'm reaching out to all of you to see what could cause this as well. While I like the sport mode to get to work, I have some longer distance treks that I will be making soon. Any ideas?

 

[JeffMD]

So on my Ccs I've been getting it low enough to a point where I don't think it will last another run before charging it. It is on its third charge now and I am getting a strange inconsistency between the battery lights and the computer LCD. The battery is showing 2 out of 4 lights but this is what the lcd is reporting...

This is the 48v battery of course. I figure that since the default low voltage cut off is 42, it should be reporting plenty of juice.

 

[Rooster]

So on my Ccs I've been getting it low enough to a point where I don't think it will last another run before charging it. It is on its third charge now and I am getting a strange inconsistency between the battery lights and the computer LCD. The battery is showing 2 out of 4 lights but this is what the lcd is reporting...

This is the 48v battery of course. I figure that since the default low voltage cut off is 42, it should be reporting plenty of juice.

I honestly don't think they want you to know exactly what the battery is doing and don't everybody get excited because that's just my opinion and the last time I checked you are intitled to that . As for the battery lights, don't put know faith in them cause accurate their not but they still put em on $2000 bikes and $1000 batteries, not all companies do that. Definitely not the good companies and like I said, just my opinion.

 

[JeffMD]

You say they don't but then they turn around and implement indepth power meters and let you do thing like set your own voltage cut offs. Seems like juiced wants to give as advanced power control to the user as possible. Also this would be ideal in a remote customer service sense because a simple walkthrough could trouble shoot a battery, where as a locked out battery could not be troubleshooted and have to be sent back creating a pr problem.