New Zen Samurai:)

[Markus77]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to share my experience purchasing a Zen E-bike in case anyone here is looking to potentially do the same. This is my first E-bike, so you can take what follows with a grain of salt First off, I decided to go for an E-bike after a work colleague was commuting with one. I really enjoy riding my mountain bike in the trails and have a road bike as well, but never really considered commuting due to needing to carry stuff, run errands on the way home from work, and the number one reason: not wanting to arrive at work sweaty and uncomfortable. After researching a bit, I think the E-bike can address all of these to some degree.

I went down the wormhole of research, and of course the bikes I really liked were priced too high I knew I wanted a quality bike with quality components, but wasn’t able to spend what the dealerships were asking. Was almost going to give up and wait another year when I came across the Zen Samurai. It checked off plenty of boxes: mid-drive, internal gear hub, belt drive, quality components, and a warranty with Bosch that I could get serviced locally if need be. I sent off an email to Zen with a few questions I had, and within a few minutes Ravi the co-founder of the company phoned me back to talk about the bike and answer all my questions! He was patient with my texts over the following few days and I felt like this was a great company and I really like what they are trying to do - plus they are making this happen out of Canada which I think is amazing.

I placed my order and they began building my bike, and sent me some pics of the process which of course added to my excitement. My only nit pick came with shipping where the tracking number I was provided with from UPS didn’t really provide much information and of course I was trying to be able to organize being home when it would be delivered. Eventually this got sorted out, but it was probably more complicated than it needed to be. The bike was packed neatly and safely, and was easy to assemble. You can tell it is a quality product and everything felt precise and well put together. This was one of the aspects I was a little worried about - ordering a bike through the mail and not being able to go into a shop and try it out, and if anything is wrong what then? Anyway, just wanted to put it out there that my experience with this was great. Actually, much easier than the purchase I made for my wife last year at out local bike shop where I had to take the bike back 3 times to get the front brakes working properly.

I haven’t gotten a chance to ride the bike that much - I think I‘ve put just over 50km on it so far. But it feels great. Super smooth and comfortable, and the mid drive has plenty of power so that there will be no need for me to work up a sweat on the way to work I added a front rack so I can carry some items from the store etc. on the way home, I got a pannier and trunk bag so plenty of room for everything I need to cart back and forth to work. Really pleased with the bike and Zen as a company. If you’re considering their bikes I would highly recommend them. I think I they offer amazing value compared to what else is out there and they seem like really good people. Happy to answer any questions you may have and I’ll post a couple pics For reference I’m 6’1” 170lbs and went with the size large - fits great

 

[ericcow]

Hi Markus,

What brand of front rack did you add? I'm getting a Samurai soon and this is the type of rack that I'm looking for. Cheers

 

[Markus77]

It’s a riese and muller rack. Expensive but it fits and is functional

 

[ericcow]

Thanks for the info. That's what it looked like but I couldn't find any specs on that particular rack. Thanks again.

 

[Markus77]

No prob - hope you enjoy the bike!

 

[Brett L]

Looks great. Thanks for posting. I've ordered a Zen Samurai and was wondering if the Riese and Muller front rack would fit on the head tube mounts

 

[Markus77]

If you get the front rack, I'd recommend the Topeak modula bottle cages. Initially I wasn't sure how they would work out, but they have been great. You can attach them using the front rack bolts by drilling a couple holes in the topeak holder frame. Simple. I use one for my coffee or water bottle, and the other a jbl flip speaker that fits in nice and securely. No issues with handlebar or leg clearance. So you have your coffee and news/music heading into work just like being in the car

 

[Brett L]

Thanks. I was checking those out in the photos. I like the design.

 

[Markus77]

After commuting with the Zen Samurai a while now, I can say I’m truly happy with all aspects of the bike except one area: the rear rack I believe it’s rated to 50lbs (and the rack itself may indeed be) but the way the rack is attached to the Zen Samurai is not very secure. As a result, with my pannier bag and trunk bag attached, I’m having to try and re-tighten the bolts to both the frame and plastic fender to stop the rack from moving slightly and creating an irritating sound. The bolt that attaches the rack to the rear fender seems to be having too much load on it, because there is only one bolt attached to either side of the bike frame allowing movement once they loosen. 2 bolts should have been used in either side of the bike frame and I’m sure this loosening would not be an issue. Anyway, if anyone finds a solution to this I’d be eager to hear it. It’s not a major issue, but I imagine in time it will only get worse

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

After commuting with the Zen Samurai a while now, I can say I’m truly happy with all aspects of the bike except one area: the rear rack I believe it’s rated to 50lbs (and the rack itself may indeed be) but the way the rack is attached to the Zen Samurai is not very secure. As a result, with my pannier bag and trunk bag attached, I’m having to try and re-tighten the bolts to both the frame and plastic fender to stop the rack from moving slightly and creating an irritating sound. The bolt that attaches the rack to the rear fender seems to be having too much load on it, because there is only one bolt attached to either side of the bike frame allowing movement once they loosen. 2 bolts should have been used in either side of the bike frame and I’m sure this loosening would not be an issue. Anyway, if anyone finds a solution to this I’d be eager to hear it. It’s not a major issue, but I imagine in time it will only get worse

Thanks for the feedback. This is precisely why we started building integrated rear racks on all our Photon models.
One way to enhance the rear rack's load-bearing capacity is to use a slightly longer bolt with a washer that locks on the other end.

 

[edthesped]

What is your commute like and what kind of range are you seeing? My commute would be 32 mile r/t with ~1000' elevation gain over around 2.5 miles on the return trip, it's why I'm considering an e-bike. Looking at your pictures I'm assuming you have a single battery. I'm more interested in this than the Photon as I'm kind of fixating on a Rohloff. I do have to say I find the rack issue to be a bit bothersome. In my mind a down and dirty thing to try would be aluminum or steel fenders to make the upper mount more rigid but some sort of rack stays or double lower mounting points would be an ideal solution but of course that will require a frame revision.

 

[Markus77]

Thanks for the feedback. This is precisely why we started building integrated rear racks on all our Photon models.
One way to enhance the rear rack's load-bearing capacity is to use a slightly longer bolt with a washer that locks on the other end.

Thanks Ravi, I will give this a try. However I think the plastic fenders are just not up to supporting much load Did you guys test ride the samurai with bags on? Just frustrated with this issue as I’m riding on paved city streets and it’s a constant problem. Can’t see how the rack could be useful at all on any mixed surface riding and one of the major reasons for getting an e-bike is to carry gear! If anyone knows of another rack that could be more securely fitted to the bike please let me know thx

 

[Markus77]

What is your commute like and what kind of range are you seeing? My commute would be 32 mile r/t with ~1000' elevation gain over around 2.5 miles on the return trip, it's why I'm considering an e-bike. Looking at your pictures I'm assuming you have a single battery. I'm more interested in this than the Photon as I'm kind of fixating on a Rohloff. I do have to say I find the rack issue to be a bit bothersome. In my mind a down and dirty thing to try would be aluminum or steel fenders to make the upper mount more rigid but some sort of rack stays or double lower mounting points would be an ideal solution but of course that will require a frame revision.

My round trip is 33km. I basically leave the bike in “Tour” level assist and just shift with the enviolo to suit my cadence (Avg 72 rpm) this gives me an average speed of 24km/h. I’m 170lbs and I estimate with bags etc another 35 - 40lbs. I charge the bike at work usually up to 90%, ride home, ride back to work and usually have around 30% charge left. I don’t have much elevation change, but wind can be a factor. I have a single 500w battery. Hope this helps give you an idea of range. Also thanks for the suggestions regarding the rack. I‘m hoping to look into things this summer and come up with a better solution - love everything about this bike except the rack design If I find a solution I’ll post it here for others

 

[edthesped]

My round trip is 33km. I basically leave the bike in “Tour” level assist and just shift with the enviolo to suit my cadence (Avg 72 rpm) this gives me an average speed of 24km/h. I’m 170lbs and I estimate with bags etc another 35 - 40lbs. I charge the bike at work usually up to 90%, ride home, ride back to work and usually have around 30% charge left. I don’t have much elevation change, but wind can be a factor. I have a single 500w battery. Hope this helps give you an idea of range. Also thanks for the suggestions regarding the rack. I‘m hoping to look into things this summer and come up with a better solution - love everything about this bike except the rack design If I find a solution I’ll post it here for others

Yeah, the rack issue is a biggie for me. I carry my laptop in one pannier and clothes in the other so a reliable rack is important. As much as I want to pull the trigger the rear rack has me a bit wary. For non commutes I prefer a regular bike but that last few miles on the commute has been kicking my butt this season and the thought of not being sweaty when I get to work is appealing as well. The wife has an e-bike with a belt drive and an 8 speed shimano I absolutely love the belt drive but find the range of the shimano to be lacking.

 

[edthesped]

For some reason I'm fixating on this, probably because this bike is in the top 3 of my short list... Anyway, why not make an adapter to go on the top tube nub thingy, don't know the technical term, that the fender bolts to, see green arrow in image, then mount using traditional rack stays. I opted for bolts vs socket heads due to likely clearance issues for tightening. Hopefully what I'm showing makes sense as I did this very quickly.

Edit: or could use a piece of rolled steel or aluminum between the fender to frame and fender to rack mounting points. The adapter would allow for rack customization which I'd prefer as I like two tier racks but that's just me.

 

[edthesped]

Thanks Ravi, I will give this a try. However I think the plastic fenders are just not up to supporting much load Did you guys test ride the samurai with bags on? Just frustrated with this issue as I’m riding on paved city streets and it’s a constant problem. Can’t see how the rack could be useful at all on any mixed surface riding and one of the major reasons for getting an e-bike is to carry gear! If anyone knows of another rack that could be more securely fitted to the bike please let me know thx

Band idea... Personal preference would be an adapter.

 

[Markus77]

For some reason I'm fixating on this, probably because this bike is in the top 3 of my short list... Anyway, why not make an adapter to go on the top tube nub thingy, don't know the technical term, that the fender bolts to, see green arrow in image, then mount using traditional rack stays. I opted for bolts vs socket heads due to likely clearance issues for tightening. Hopefully what I'm showing makes sense as I did this very quickly.

Edit: or could use a piece of rolled steel or aluminum between the fender to frame and fender to rack mounting points. The adapter would allow for rack customization which I'd prefer as I like two tier racks but that's just me.

This looks like a great idea! I think something like this could solve it - I’ll have to try and look into how to make something similar to this. Thanks for your help on this!!

 

[scottsdalecommuter]

Appreciate hearing your first hand experience and congrats on the new bike, looks great! This bike is definitely on my short list for my next e-bike whenever that will be (love that it has front shocks and a belt drive, really the only two things my current bike is missing for commutes). Sorry to hear about the rear rack situation, hopefully you can get that dialed in.

 

[Markus77]

Hey everyone, just thought I’d quickly post what I came up with to address the rear rack issue. I don’t think it’s as nice looking as some of the ideas posted above, but it is quite easy and seems to be quite sturdy. Unfortunately, I haven’t really had a chance to properly test it as I’m on holiday right now and not commuting. But I did put my bags on and ride around the neighbourhood for a little bit and it was great. Even over some rough pavement and potholes that I intentionally went over in a way to try and loosen things up, it was fine - I couldn’t move the rack with my hand and I couldn’t detect any squeaking sounds that were driving me up the wall before. I’ll see how it holds up over time, and if there are problems I’ll post them here. Otherwise you can assume that it’s working fine. I ordered an “Orlieb rack three mounting struts” for $20 off their website. I attached these to the seat post (had to replace the quick release handle with a regular bolt and nut) and then had to drill two holes into the rear rack to attach the other ends. This is really no big deal. The rack is just aluminum and any hand drill will work fine. I’ve attached some pictures so you can get a sense of it, but I would say anybody would be able to use the same system and not have to worry about the difficulty of installation.

 

[edthesped]

Hey everyone, just thought I’d quickly post what I came up with to address the rear rack issue. I don’t think it’s as nice looking as some of the ideas posted above, but it is quite easy and seems to be quite sturdy. Unfortunately, I haven’t really had a chance to properly test it as I’m on holiday right now and not commuting. But I did put my bags on and ride around the neighbourhood for a little bit and it was great. Even over some rough pavement and potholes that I intentionally went over in a way to try and loosen things up, it was fine - I couldn’t move the rack with my hand and I couldn’t detect any squeaking sounds that were driving me up the wall before. I’ll see how it holds up over time, and if there are problems I’ll post them here. Otherwise you can assume that it’s working fine. I ordered an “Orlieb rack three mounting struts” for $20 off their website. I attached these to the seat post (had to replace the quick release handle with a regular bolt and nut) and then had to drill two holes into the rear rack to attach the other ends. This is really no big deal. The rack is just aluminum and any hand drill will work fine. I’ve attached some pictures so you can get a sense of it, but I would say anybody would be able to use the same system and not have to worry about the difficulty of installation.

Looks good enough for sure and that should hold quite well. If I end up purchasing a Zen I'll try to work up a mount based on what I posted above as I have a machine shop at my disposal. At this point I'm still on the fence between sticking with the pedal bike, a Zen or a Photon Ultimate. I'm leaning toward holding off as the kids gifted me a mountain bike for my birthday so sans e-bike I'm up to four different styles of bicycles in the basement and I'm not sure the wife would tolerate a fifth even though she's the one that started me down the e-bike route.

On a side note, I did spend some time looking at other bikes with the same fender mounting system as the Zen and the ones I looked at all used aluminum fenders and felt quite sturdy.