New Frey Owners

[byunbee]

Finally got it!

Congrats! Looks great!

How does it ride? Was it everything you imagined?

 

[stobin723]

Congrats! Looks great!

How does it ride? Was it everything you imagined?

Yes! I’m impressed so far. The packaging was extensive and I was pleased with the efforts that Frey went took to ensure safe transit. The bike assembled easily enough. There were two minor cosmetic scratches that I touched up but I was frankly expecting a lot worse given how long it took to get to me.

in terms of ride it feels great, I find myself using eco 3 on side roads and for casual riding and sport 5 for main roads when I want to keep up with traffic. There’s definitely more torque than my previous Juiced CCX but the max speed is similar at 33ish.

The only issue I’ve had is that the Magura brake pads have some friction spots on the caliper. I’m told there’s a bit of a breaking in period.

happy to answer any questions folks have!

 

[Paul Dugrenier]

Yes! I’m impressed so far. The packaging was extensive and I was pleased with the efforts that Frey went took to ensure safe transit. The bike assembled easily enough. There were two minor cosmetic scratches that I touched up but I was frankly expecting a lot worse given how long it took to get to me.

in terms of ride it feels great, I find myself using eco 3 on side roads and for casual riding and sport 5 for main roads when I want to keep up with traffic. There’s definitely more torque than my previous Juiced CCX but the max speed is similar at 33ish.

The only issue I’ve had is that the Magura brake pads have some friction spots on the caliper. I’m told there’s a bit of a breaking in period.u

happy to answer any questions folks have!

I’m glad your bike arrived in good shape and your enjoying the ride. I think you said the color is matte black, right?
I noticed you don’t have the Frey decals. Are you trying to stay in stealth mode? I think your bike will draw attention In any case especially when you’re zipping along at 30+ mph.

My AM and EX arrived on Wednesday but the batteries weren’t delivered until Thursday even though they left LA at the same time. There must be a regulation that prohibits bikes and batteries to be delivered together. I remember reading someone on the ES site had a similar issue.
Customs really did a number on the box the AM came in. It was sliced with a knife wide open with the bike exposed and not secured properly.
Fortunately the bike was well packed and the only blemish was a small scrape on the Rockshox decal. I was missing both clamp screws that hold the Bafang display. I notified Ivy and she immediately shipped me the missing screws.
The EX arrived in perfect shape though there was no kickstand in the box. I assumed Frey had just forgotten to pack it. I watched Simon’s EX unboxing video and saw him installing the kickstand so naturally I assumed it was standard on the bike. I also saw him remove a Frey backpack from the box which I thought was a promotional gift.
I messaged Ivy about it and she responded quickly. She said the EX is an enduro bike so the kickstand isn’t standard and Simon ordered the kickstand as an option.
I think a kickstand is a very handy accessory and I offered to purchase one and pay for expedited shipping. Ivy responded that she would send one soon and did not mention a charge for it. The free backpack offer has expired but they do throw in a really nice T.
I‘m really happy with the blue color of the EX that I chose from the YS paint catalog . Frey is probably the only company that allows you to choose your bike color from hundreds of options. If anyone is interested, my EX color is YS7634-1.
I practiced jumps with my EX using the ramps my daughter used with her bmx when she was a kid. This was a first for me. My only other mountain bike before now is a 1987 Specialized HardRock which will now be donated to the Smithsonian. I was a little guarded at first with my jumping but after a few safe landings my confidence increased. This is a very capable bike that maneuvers incredibly well. The power is amazing and and I was pleasantly surprised how quiet the motor is. I mentioned in a previous post that I built a 1 1/2 mile bike trail on the seldom used land trust attached to my property. The hills are steep and very difficult to climb with my HardRock. I was able to handle the hills easily with my EX in Eco 2. I may not need sport mode except in rare circumstances. The battery on the AM Shows 100% charge for a long time even with a lot of throttle use. The standard battery is 48 volt but I upgraded to the 52 volt. I wonder if the battery shows 100% until the charge runs below 48 volts.


I’m hoping to tackle Thunder Mountain bike park next week if they’ll allow my bike on the course. They may restrict ebikes to Class 2 which have a 20 mph top speed. On a downhill course Class 3 bikes have no advantage so I’m not sure why they would care but rules are rules. I’ll be disappointed if I can’t ride my bikes there. Thunder Mountain was designed by Gravity Logic, the same people who designed Whistler. Wish me luck.

 

[BlackHand]

Great to see everyone's bikes showing up, they look great!

 

[stobin723]

I’m glad your bike arrived in good shape and your enjoying the ride. I think you said the color is matte black, right?
I noticed you don’t have the Frey decals. Are you trying to stay in stealth mode? I think your bike will draw attention In any case especially when you’re zipping along at 30+ mph.

My AM and EX arrived on Wednesday but the batteries weren’t delivered until Thursday even though they left LA at the same time. There must be a regulation that prohibits bikes and batteries to be delivered together. I remember reading someone on the ES site had a similar issue.
Customs really did a number on the box the AM came in. It was sliced with a knife wide open with the bike exposed and not secured properly.View attachment 54532
Fortunately the bike was well packed and the only blemish was a small scrape on the Rockshox decal. I was missing both clamp screws that hold the Bafang display. I notified Ivy and she immediately shipped me the missing screws.
The EX arrived in perfect shape though there was no kickstand in the box. I assumed Frey had just forgotten to pack it. I watched Simon’s EX unboxing video and saw him installing the kickstand so naturally I assumed it was standard on the bike. I also saw him remove a Frey backpack from the box which I thought was a promotional gift.
I messaged Ivy about it and she responded quickly. She said the EX is an enduro bike so the kickstand isn’t standard and Simon ordered the kickstand as an option.
I think a kickstand is a very handy accessory and I offered to purchase one and pay for expedited shipping. Ivy responded that she would send one soon and did not mention a charge for it. The free backpack offer has expired but they do throw in a really nice T.View attachment 54529View attachment 54530View attachment 54531
I‘m really happy with the blue color of the EX that I chose from the YS paint catalog . Frey is probably the only company that allows you to choose your bike color from hundreds of options. If anyone is interested, my EX color is YS7634-1.
I practiced jumps with my EX using the ramps my daughter used with her bmx when she was a kid. This was a first for me. My only other mountain bike before now is a 1987 Specialized HardRock which will now be donated to the Smithsonian. I was a little guarded at first with my jumping but after a few safe landings my confidence increased. This is a very capable bike that maneuvers incredibly well. The power is amazing and and I was pleasantly surprised how quiet the motor is. I mentioned in a previous post that I built a 1 1/2 mile bike trail on the seldom used land trust attached to my property. The hills are steep and very difficult to climb with my HardRock. I was able to handle the hills easily with my EX in Eco 2. I may not need sport mode except in rare circumstances. The battery on the AM Shows 100% charge for a long time even with a lot of throttle use. The standard battery is 48 volt but I upgraded to the 52 volt. I wonder if the battery shows 100% until the charge runs below 48 volts.

View attachment 54542
I’m hoping to tackle Thunder Mountain bike park next week if they’ll allow my bike on the course. They may restrict ebikes to Class 2 which have a 20 mph top speed. On a downhill course Class 3 bikes have no advantage so I’m not sure why they would care but rules are rules. I’ll be disappointed if I can’t ride my bikes there. Thunder Mountain was designed by Gravity Logic, the same people who designed Whistler. Wish me luck.

I didn’t specifically request no decals but I’m happy with how it looks and I like the minimalism. To your point about the battery I’m having the same issue. Frey tried to talk me out of the 52 volt battery because, “the indicator cannot work”. So, on the battery itself there’s an LED indicator that will light up to show you how much charge is left. That does not light up on my battery. On the Bafang display, at full charge it indicates 100% even after a considerable amount of riding, then drops to 96% then 68%. I definitely think both indicators are messed up due to 52 volts but I don’t care that much and prefer the extra power. As long as I have some indication when I’m running low on battery.

 

[Paul Dugrenier]

I didn’t specifically request no decals but I’m happy with how it looks and I like the minimalism. To your point about the battery I’m having the same issue. Frey tried to talk me out of the 52 volt battery because, “the indicator cannot work”. So, on the battery itself there’s an LED indicator that will light up to show you how much charge is left. That does not light up on my battery. On the Bafang display, at full charge it indicates 100% even after a considerable amount of riding, then drops to 96% then 68%. I definitely think both indicators are messed up due to 52 volts but I don’t care that much and prefer the extra power. As long as I have some indication when I’m running low on battery.

I know Frey was pushing the 48v battery for the AM but I saw Micah’s video showing the advantages of 52v vs. 48v and Simon has had no problems with his 52v so I went for it. For my first rides I had the SOC set for percent and the display showed 100% charge for quite a few miles.
I went for a long ride today and set the SOC to voltage and the initial reading was 58.9. I rode in Eco 2 for most of the ride except on steep hills where I boosted to Eco 3-4. I traveled 31.5 miles and nearly 2000 feet elevation before the voltage dropped to 52.0. I had just started heading home when my wife texted that there was a problem with one of the Koi in my pond that she thought was dying. I rode Eco 5 as fast as I could averaging about 25 mph and watched my battery drain at a higher rate. I wanted to make it home without swapping batteries but came up 3 miles short. The battery died at 42.0 volts and 54.1 miles. I went the rest of the way home on throttle assist and hit 36 mph while spinning as fast as I could.
I expected to find my wife upset and a belly up fish when I got home. Instead the fish was fine and my wife was shopping. Now you know why I go for long rides.
I will definitely use voltage from now on to determine the battery charge. Here is a chart someone posted that you might find helpful.

My EX has a 48v battery since a 52v battery isn’t available for that model.
I’ll do a test ride for that battery along the same route to compare.

 

[stobin723]

I know Frey was pushing the 48v battery for the AM but I saw Micah’s video showing the advantages of 52v vs. 48v and Simon has had no problems with his 52v so I went for it. For my first rides I had the SOC set for percent and the display showed 100% charge for quite a few miles.
I went for a long ride today and set the SOC to voltage and the initial reading was 58.9. I rode in Eco 2 for most of the ride except on steep hills where I boosted to Eco 3-4. I traveled 31.5 miles and nearly 2000 feet elevation before the voltage dropped to 52.0. I had just started heading home when my wife texted that there was a problem with one of the Koi in my pond that she thought was dying. I rode Eco 5 as fast as I could averaging about 25 mph and watched my battery drain at a higher rate. I wanted to make it home without swapping batteries but came up 3 miles short. The battery died at 42.0 volts and 54.1 miles. I went the rest of the way home on throttle assist and hit 36 mph while spinning as fast as I could.
I expected to find my wife upset and a belly up fish when I got home. Instead the fish was fine and my wife was shopping. Now you know why I go for long rides.
I will definitely use voltage from now on to determine the battery charge. Here is a chart someone posted that you might find helpful.View attachment 54644
My EX has a 48v battery since a 52v battery isn’t available for that model.
I’ll do a test ride for that battery along the same route to compare.

This is a helpful chart! So you’re saying if I use voltage instead of percentage it gives an accurate reading the whole time instead of percentage which seems to jump around?

 

[onlineaddy]

I expected to find my wife upset and a belly up fish when I got home. Instead the fish was fine and my wife was shopping. Now you know why I go for long rides.

lol

 

[Paul Dugrenier]

This is a helpful chart! So you’re saying if I use voltage instead of percentage it gives an accurate reading the whole time instead of percentage which seems to jump around?

It does jump a bit depending on how hard the motor is working. When the battery was almost depleted it would move from say 42.8 to 44.2 briefly if I was going downhill but would go back to 42.8 when the motor reengaged. The display did not go below 42.0 before the battery died.
One thing that annoyed me was from time to time I would catch my left heel on the kickstand. Initially I thought the kickstand should have been positioned about one inch farther back but I may have mounted it incorrectly. I moved the stand to the inside of the mounting bracket and that solved the problem.

 

[TomD]

The thing I hate, at least on the CC, is the bolts they provided for the kickstand are too long and protrude in so far they interfere with wheel removal / insertion due to minimal clearance from the rotor. The bike came with a single shorter dummy bolt inserted, but only one, and there was no nut. I used it originally but left the nut off and that bolt eventually fell out.

 

[Paul Dugrenier]

The thing I hate, at least on the CC, is the bolts they provided for the kickstand are too long and protrude in so far they interfere with wheel removal / insertion due to minimal clearance from the rotor. The bike came with a single shorter dummy bolt inserted, but only one, and there was no nut. I used it originally but left the nut off and that bolt eventually fell out.

If you’re missing the right bolts, have you contacted Ivy through Alibaba messenger?
I was missing some screws that hold the Bafang display for both bikes when I assembled them on Thursday. I messaged her about it and she FedEx’d the missing screws. They cleared customs and will be delivered on Monday.
If you have any major issues with your bike, contacting Ivy will be the quickest way to get the problem fixed. I believe she’s one of the co-owners of Frey and many customers have posted their positive experience getting problems addressed. I’ve also dealt with Abby, who took over while Grace is on leave, also responds quickly on messenger.
It seems to take longer getting a response when contacting Frey by email.
I went for another long road ride yesterday. I depleted the battery on my AM after 54 miles on Saturday staying mostly in Eco 2. I did 40 miles on Sunday on a similar route and used Eco 4 much of the way. When I finished the voltage read 49.2 which equated to 52% remaining charge. I’ll be leaving my spare battery home next time since it was rattling around a bit in my backpack strapped to my rear rack.
I have way too much sag in my rear shock and I think I bottomed out a couple of times on my ride. This is my first experience with suspension after 40+ years as a road cyclist. I have no idea how to use the spacers that were sent with the bike and I soon learned you can’t add air with a tire pump. I have a shock pump being delivered tomorrow and hopefully I’ll learn what I need to know on YouTube.
If you don’t have one already, you might want to consider getting a bike repair stand. I purchased a Bikehand repair stand with 55 lbs capacity from Amazon at the end of April for $110. For some reason the price has increased to $140 but it’s still a good value. Adjusting derailleurs and brakes and trueing wheels is much easier with a work stand and this one is more than adequate for a 75 lbs bike.

 

[TomD]

I haven't contacted Frey as the bolts work ok, I just have to be careful with the rotor. I can probably find shorter bolts at the hardware store with less effort. I don't have the patience to deal with Frey unless it is something major. Every time I've contacted them it takes at least 2 rounds of communication and even then things are lost in translation and they don't follow up. I get the impression Frey is evolving into a company that just spits out bikes without much time for personalized service.

As far as stand, I got this one. Works fine, and i think it's very similar to the bikehand, but 3 legs which I think is more stable. I also ordered a $260 feedback sports stand to compare to but it hasn't arrived.

 

[Paul Dugrenier]

I haven't contacted Frey as the bolts work ok, I just have to be careful with the rotor. I can probably find shorter bolts at the hardware store with less effort. I don't have the patience to deal with Frey unless it is something major. Every time I've contacted them it takes at least 2 rounds of communication and even then things are lost in translation and they don't follow up. I get the impression Frey is evolving into a company that just spits out bikes without much time for personalized service.

As far as stand, I got this one. Works fine, and i think it's very similar to the bikehand, but 3 legs which I think is more stable. I also ordered a $260 feedback sports stand to compare to but it hasn't arrived.

That’s a really nice looking stand and it matches your bike color perfectly.
The $2000+ Parktool stand cracked me up. Just a wee bit of over engineering. By the way I really like your workspace.
I’m going to contact Ivy this evening to send me the configuration software so I can play with the torque settings on the Bafang controller. Also I ordered my AM with comfort grips and I think they sent me the standard ones.
Moving forward I think Frey will need someone more proficient in English to handle customer queries and a representative here in the U.S.
I do wish the bikes came with better assembly instructions and a manual for servicing the components.
It’s only been a few days but I’m loving my bikes and I still think they’re a great value so I can handle some minor issues. My missing screws were just delivered so just waiting on the shock pump. I measured the sag in my front and rear shocks and they’re both around 60%. They should be around 25-30%. Did your shocks come with enough air or did you have to add more?

 

[stobin723]

That’s a really nice looking stand and it matches your bike color perfectly.
The $2000+ Parktool stand cracked me up. Just a wee bit of over engineering. By the way I really like your workspace.
I’m going to contact Ivy this evening to send me the configuration software so I can play with the torque settings on the Bafang controller. Also I ordered my AM with comfort grips and I think they sent me the standard ones.
Moving forward I think Frey will need someone more proficient in English to handle customer queries and a representative here in the U.S.
I do wish the bikes came with better assembly instructions and a manual for servicing the components.
It’s only been a few days but I’m loving my bikes and I still think they’re a great value so I can handle some minor issues. My missing screws were just delivered so just waiting on the shock pump. I measured the sag in my front and rear shocks and they’re both around 60%. They should be around 25-30%. Did your shocks come with enough air or did you have to add more?

You don't need to contact Ivy to get a programming cable. The delay in communication, language barriers, and shipping time/costs would be annoying. Get one off amazon for cheap. I just used mine and it worked perfectly well.

Amazon.com

and the software can be found here...

ULTRAMaxProg.zip

drive.google.com

I would also recommend watching ebikeaholic's video that I attached with my initial post on Page 1 which details the preferable settings for tuning the motor for commuting.

 

[Paul Dugrenier]

You don't need to contact Ivy to get a programming cable. The delay in communication, language barriers, and shipping time/costs would be annoying. Get one off amazon for cheap. I just used mine and it worked perfectly well.

Amazon.com

and the software can be found here...

ULTRAMaxProg.zip

drive.google.com

I would also recommend watching ebikeaholic's video that I attached with my initial post on Page 1 which details the preferable settings for tuning the motor for commuting.

The cable was shipped with my bikes. I know of that software but I wasn’t sure if it was the same one that Frey has so I asked them to send it. I don’t really need my bikes to be set up for commuting since it’s not the kind of riding I do but I’d like to play with it to see if there are benefits.
Did you change your settings to the one posted? Do you think the new settings are an improvement over the stock settings?

 

[stobin723]

The cable was shipped with my bikes. I know of that software but I wasn’t sure if it was the same one that Frey has so I asked them to send it. I don’t really need my bikes to be set up for commuting since it’s not the kind of riding I do but I’d like to play with it to see if there are benefits.
Did you change your settings to the one posted? Do you think the new settings are an improvement over the stock settings?

Yes, I changed my settings to those recommended in ebikeaholic’s video. I definitely think it gives smoother acceleration now and the motor stays active so long as I continue pedaling rather than tapering off and give short bursts of power as it did before. I can hit and sustain top speed more quickly which is important for my purposes, commuting, but may not be as useful for your needs.

 

[Paul Dugrenier]

Yes, I changed my settings to those recommended in ebikeaholic’s video. I definitely think it gives smoother acceleration now and the motor stays active so long as I continue pedaling rather than tapering off and give short bursts of power as it did before. I can hit and sustain top speed more quickly which is important for my purposes, commuting, but may not be as useful for your needs.

I’ve been enjoying my rides with the current settings but I definitely want to try the ones you uploaded at some point. I watched the programming video again and he doesn’t show the initial settings only the changes. Did you save a screenshot of your factory settings before you changed to the new ones?

 

[stobin723]

I’ve been enjoying my rides with the current settings but I definitely want to try the ones you uploaded at some point. I watched the programming video again and he doesn’t show the initial settings only the changes. Did you save a screenshot of your factory settings before you changed to the new ones?

I took a photos on my phone, yeah. You can also set the throttle so that it can be used from a stop in the software too.I haven’t done it yet out of a concern that it might cause wear to the chain and cassette but I will at some point.

 

[tedacura1]

I haven't contacted Frey as the bolts work ok, I just have to be careful with the rotor. I can probably find shorter bolts at the hardware store with less effort. I don't have the patience to deal with Frey unless it is something major. Every time I've contacted them it takes at least 2 rounds of communication and even then things are lost in translation and they don't follow up. I get the impression Frey is evolving into a company that just spits out bikes without much time for personalized service.

As far as stand, I got this one. Works fine, and i think it's very similar to the bikehand, but 3 legs which I think is more stable. I also ordered a $260 feedback sports stand to compare to but it hasn't arrived.

I took a photos on my phone, yeah. You can also set the throttle so that it can be used from a stop in the software too.I haven’t done it yet out of a concern that it might cause wear to the chain and cassette but I will at some point.

what setting do you change and what value to set to in order to use throttle from stop.

 

[stobin723]

what setting do you change and what value to set to in order to use throttle from stop.

In the Basic tab in Assist 0 you set both Limit Current and Limit Speed to 1