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

[john peck]

I just ordered the CCX from the Thanksgiving day special. Does anybody have any issues with the spokes and battery connections with the latest release with all the fixes? Should I still Velcro the battery to the frame?

Bee

I'm pretty sure any spoke issues have been resolved since my 1st edition CCS, I've got the then available 21Ah battery which
is still going strong after nearly 7000 mi with no issues. That said, installing the battery was at first a bit tricky. Seat the
bottom of the battery at the bottom, swing the top horizontally to snap into the connector. Do not try to mash it downward
into place. If you are careful with it the first few times it becomes simple. Juiced should have made a video showing this,
but I never found one. I think some of the loose battery issues may have begun before some users got the hang of it.

 

[hurricane56]

I’ve followed the forums pretty closely since getting a bike in 2017 and spoke issues seemed to have been resolved when Juiced swapped suppliers of their spokes to Sapim.

I also haven’t seen too many recent cases of battery disconnect. The downtube where the battery seats is now as wide as the battery itself. Early battery disconnect issues were caused by out of spec battery terminals, battery housing pieces, and more narrow downtube.

 

[planetbike]

I'm pretty sure any spoke issues have been resolved since my 1st edition CCS, I've got the then available 21Ah battery which
is still going strong after nearly 7000 mi with no issues. That said, installing the battery was at first a bit tricky. Seat the
bottom of the battery at the bottom, swing the top horizontally to snap into the connector. Do not try to mash it downward
into place. If you are careful with it the first few times it becomes simple. Juiced should have made a video showing this,
but I never found one. I think some of the loose battery issues may have begun before some users got the hang of it.

I'm considering ordering a CCX. Are you saying the battery issues were due to user error with improper installation of the battery?

 

[john peck]

I'm considering ordering a CCX. Are you saying the battery issues were due to user error with improper installation of the battery?

Not necessarily, but it may be a factor in some cases. those connector pins are kinda fragile & not meant to be bashed about.
Then too, the nut the secures them to the frame can easily become loose, & should be checked from time to time. It's a good
practice to pre-flight check your bike frequently, tires, cones, spokes. brakes etc. Things will loosen up more so on an ebike.

 

[Akrotiri]

Not necessarily, but it may be a factor in some cases. those connector pins are kinda fragile & not meant to be bashed about.
Then too, the nut the secures them to the frame can easily become loose, & should be checked from time to time. It's a good
practice to pre-flight check your bike frequently, tires, cones, spokes. brakes etc. Things will loosen up more so on an ebike.

Exactly, if someone is installing their battery in the frame like a disabled ape you can expect the connector pins to get damaged. It's a good thing Juiced bikes sells the replacements on their website. I've been guilty of that as well especially in the beginning when I purchased my RCS.

 

[john peck]

Exactly, if someone is installing their battery in the frame like a disabled ape you can expect the connector pins to get damaged. It's a good thing Juiced bikes sells the replacements on their website. I've been guilty of that as well especially in the beginning when I purchased my RCS.

Haven't had to use one yet, but I got a replacement connector from some scooter parts site for around $5. I suspect Juiced charges more.
Oops, checked Juiced just now, They want $49 for the whole assembly. they don't sell just the male connector.
Important! The attachment to put your keys on a ring is very flimsy. It will break & you will lose a key. Drill a hole in the thicker part
of the key to put it on a ring. JUICED does not sell replacement keys, & blanks that will work to make a new one are virtually
non-existent. If you lose both, your only option is to buy the whole assembly from juiced, $49. I am no longer as enamored of
Juiced as I was for the first 3000 miles. I recently purchased what I believe is a much better all-round bike for less than half what
I spent for my first edition CCS. Technology has advanced considerably since then. I get more range from this 13Ah battery than I
every could with the CCS 21Ah (That has been discontinued) That battery performs as well as it did 7000 miles ago, but
still can't take me as far as the 13Ah, That has more to do with the German motor & controller program.

 

[Akrotiri]

Haven't had to use one yet, but I got a replacement connector from some scooter parts site for around $5. I suspect Juiced charges more.
Oops, checked Juiced just now, They want $49 for the whole assembly. they don't sell just the male connector.
Important! The attachment to put your keys on a ring is very flimsy. It will break & you will lose a key. Drill a hole in the thicker part
of the key to put it on a ring. JUICED does not sell replacement keys, & blanks that will work to make a new one are virtually
non-existent. If you lose both, your only option is to buy the whole assembly from juiced, $49. I am no longer as enamored of
Juiced as I was for the first 3000 miles. I recently purchased what I believe is a much better all-round bike for less than half what
I spent for my first edition CCS. Technology has advanced considerably since then. I get more range from this 13Ah battery than I
every could with the CCS 21Ah (That has been discontinued) That battery performs as well as it did 7000 miles ago, but
still can't take me as far as the 13Ah, That has more to do with the German motor & controller program.

How do you know the 52volt wide format battery has been discontinued? Juiced still produces the RCS and Hyperfat and now the Scorpion which all use the 52volt 21ah wide format. Do you have a source on that?

 

[BTfl]

Haven't had to use one yet, but I got a replacement connector from some scooter parts site for around $5. I suspect Juiced charges more.
Oops, checked Juiced just now, They want $49 for the whole assembly. they don't sell just the male connector.
Important! The attachment to put your keys on a ring is very flimsy. It will break & you will lose a key. Drill a hole in the thicker part
of the key to put it on a ring. JUICED does not sell replacement keys, & blanks that will work to make a new one are virtually
non-existent. If you lose both, your only option is to buy the whole assembly from juiced, $49. I am no longer as enamored of
Juiced as I was for the first 3000 miles. I recently purchased what I believe is a much better all-round bike for less than half what
I spent for my first edition CCS. Technology has advanced considerably since then. I get more range from this 13Ah battery than I
every could with the CCS 21Ah (That has been discontinued) That battery performs as well as it did 7000 miles ago, but
still can't take me as far as the 13Ah, That has more to do with the German motor & controller program.

What bike did you get to replace that?

 

[john peck]

An NCM moscow. Don't let the the name throw ya; all their bikes are named after cities, but it's a German company
in Hanover. Leon Cycle has 'em on sale for $1099 'til Christmas. I paid $1299 on ebay, but i'm just amazed by this
bike compared to my CCS. Doesn't come with a rack & fenders, but who cares. CCS has a bit higher top speed,
but doesn't begin to climb like the NCM. The way the modes are set up, if you're pedaling in the appropriate gear, it uses
virtually no juice. The 13Ah bat. takes me much farther than the 21Ah I got with the CCS on all surfaces, not
just black top. You needn't be as fit to ride the CCS, but I'm 70 & getting stronger on the NCM. It, (29er frame) just
rolls so well & comfortable. (also comes 27.5") It's real close to the all-rounder bike I designed in my head. You can find
specs in Court's review. He thought about putting a 32/11 cassette on one, but it's fine just the way it comes, (28/14)
Messing with the drive train voids the warranty. The controller program is dialed in for this setup. It ain't broke,
so don't fix it. At $1099 there's plenty of wriggle room to get a personal fit, but the electro-mechanical engineering, Is
well thought out German efficiency,. if a tad spartan. I changed the bar cuz of my long arms & broad shoulders.
that meant moving the throttle to the left. I've not done anything other that personal fit & accessories.

 

[john peck]

How do you know the 52volt wide format battery has been discontinued? Juiced still produces the RCS and Hyperfat and now the Scorpion which all use the 52volt 21ah wide format. Do you have a source on that?

The CCX now uses a 19Ah bat. I wasn't aware they still use the 21Ah. I haven't seen it in the battery catalog, but it's
been a while since I looked
P.S, just checked, they only sell the 19.2 Ah battery which in reality is probably the same 'hype'range battery I got as a 21Ah
Kinda like the 650w motor for the CCS that sez 500w right on it. I'm more of a bicycle person, but Tora seems to have
become a scooter guy.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

How do you know the 52volt wide format battery has been discontinued? Juiced still produces the RCS and Hyperfat and now the Scorpion which all use the 52volt 21ah wide format. Do you have a source on that?

John's talking about the old 48 volt 21 Ah battery.

That being said, they don't currently (as of 12/14/19) sell a 21 Ah battery of any voltage.

 

[Akrotiri]

John's talking about the old 48 volt 21 Ah battery.

That being said, they don't currently (as of 12/14/19) sell a 21 Ah battery of any voltage.

I meant the 52 volt 19Ah wide format. Juiced ebikes still sell that one.

 

[Explorer-1]

I meant the 52 volt 19Ah wide format. Juiced ebikes still sell that one.

I see they finally have these batteries back in stock to be purchased individually, but they charge $1300 for a battery that should not be any more than $800, so they are really gouging still on this battery.

 

[Akrotiri]

I see they finally have these batteries back in stock to be purchased individually, but they charge $1300 for a battery that should not be any more than $800, so they are really gouging still on this battery.

It's a custom battery that is semi-integrated into the frame and it's the single largest battery/range available in the e-bike market if I'm not mistaken. Considering a Juiced RCS is only 2500$ and compared with what Euro e-bike companies charge for their bikes I'd say it is quite reasonable in the grand scheme of things.

And they are a company that needs to turn a profit to stay in business, they can't give it away at cost price. Also, can you provide some source as to why or how the battery should be sold to the consumer for 800$

 

[Explorer-1]

..... can you provide some source as to why or how the battery should be sold to the consumer for 800$

You can research across several manufactures, especially those similar to Juiced bikes and calculate the $/Wh and I think you will see they are quite high. For instance my DJ Bikes that uses good quality Samsung cells were $0.72/Wh some companies using Samsung or LG cells are even less. The batteries are the main cost. You can calculate this value across suppliers you would like to compare and decide for yourself if Juiced is over priced, but that is my conclusion. I just bought 1500Wh power bank (50% more than Juiced battery) using top cells for less than a Juiced battery and that includes a high wattage solar charger, a 1000W inverter, battery and charge monitoring with display, usb and other 12V outputs, a 160W charger, and several cables, for less than the Juiced 19.2 52V battery (although regular price is $100 more, but it is also so much more than one of their batteries). I buy a lot of different batteries so I have a pretty good feel for the market price.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

There's this thing called the law of supply and demand, and usually it's applied like this: as demand goes up, so does supply to meet that demand.

But it works in other ways as well. A corollary is that high prices can discourage demand, and sometimes this is what is intended.

It's just possible that Juiced Bikes doesn't really want to be in the battery-selling business, that they think they have to have them available anyway because it's an essential component, that they price them high to discourage more orders than they care to fill, and that if someone is willing to pay the high price, at least they make a hefty profit from the sale. Could be.

Or maybe they're getting fleeced by their supplier, don't want to change suppliers for some legitimate reason, and pass the cost on to us. Could be.

Or maybe they just want to charge all the market will bear. Could be.

As much as I'd like to buy a 52 V battery without paying that kind of price, it doesn't really bother me that much.

 

[john peck]

There's this thing called the law of supply and demand, and usually it's applied like this: as demand goes up, so does supply to meet that demand.

But it works in other ways as well. A corollary is that high prices can discourage demand, and sometimes this is what is intended

As much as I'd like to buy a 52 V battery without paying that kind of price, it doesn't really bother me that much.

There are reasonable batpacs out there, but juiced is counting on your needing one that fits their mounting system which
is not unique for ebikes. but the length is juiced speciflc. Most bikes now using that mount require a longer battery. It's not
that expensive to adapt other batpacs, but it can be an engineering challenge.

 

[Ofarrell]

I was looking at the Juiced offerings and thought the CCX ticked off most of my checkpoints. After reading through this thread I dont think I bring myself to purchase one, especially mail order with all these customer service issues, negotiating to get service done and some basic implementation issues (Batter tightness). Have I got the wrong impression?

 

[john peck]

I was looking at the Juiced offerings and thought the CCX ticked off most of my checkpoints. After reading through this thread I dont think I bring myself to purchase one, especially mail order with all these customer service issues, negotiating to get service done and some basic implementation issues (Batter tightness). Have I got the wrong impression?

The CCX is a decent enough commuter, & juiced has dealt with some of the issues with the original CCS, but, that said,
I've had a lot of down time on my CCS from a variety of issues where juiced was not especially helpful. A number of
claims made of the bike were not particularly accurate, I will not be making any further purchases from juiced.

 

[Ofarrell]

The CCX is a decent enough commuter, & juiced has dealt with some of the issues with the original CCS, but, that said,
I've had a lot of down time on my CCS from a variety of issues where juiced was not especially helpful. A number of
claims made of the bike were not particularly accurate, I will not be making any further purchases from juiced.

So thanks that does help me make up mind a little. Customer service after the fact is important. Especially after spending a few grand. Its too bad but at least my list got shorter.