Thinking about a 2018 Dash - thoughts?

[sd_tom]

We rented a E3 Zuma in Oregon a few weeks ago, my first ebike experience. Actually, my wife got the E3 Zuma and I got a Vida, and my brother got a Raleigh Venture (both these have the Bosch Active). We were touring around, going up hills and I thought "ok, this is cool but it's not great on hills".. all while my wife had a grin from ear to ear. So we got to a stopping point and I was griping and my wife was teasing me.. so we switched bikes. Wow, the Zuma with 48v and TranzX was so much more powerful! Anyways, this bike got me hooked and and have been doing internet searching since then on what the appropriate commuter for me is, trying to stay under 3k. We have now ridden a bunch of bikes.. lots of Bosch (including CX), Brose mid-drives available but not one of them felt as strong as the Zuma. Some of this i imagine is also the lack of torque sensors in reality. It seems like you pay more to have the bike be more subtle with it's power application, which is totally lost me.

Anyways, have struggled to find anything as fun up hills as that Zuma was. Locally it is very hard to find anything with TranzX motor, or even 48v for that matter. I've found a couple of candidates:
- Pedego City Commuter - $3k, hub but seems strong on hills, may rent one to take on my commute as a test run.
- FLX Blade - $4k, but 1000 watt 48-v mid-drive .. basically a moped, fun but the $ and the frame being a bit too big for me (I'm short) has it off list. It was a fun drive though!
- Juiced CrossCurrent - $2500.. they are local to me, just very inconvenient to get over there 9-5 ; also hub drive.. have not ridden yet. seems more about speed than torque though / i have hills to climb
- Blitrix Juggernaut HD - $3000 .. will have to buy on reputation alone, and more fat bike but could be fun.

I almost missed it at first but the iZIP Dash / Raleigh Cadent is the same motor/battery as the Zuma in a better package for commuting. Not much in the way of modern reviews.. and Nobody has one locally (Redux/Moda seem to be carried). One local shop is supposed to be getting a Cadent in this week (probably in response to me bugging them). Like that in 2018 editions can at a normal thumb throttle (boost button retired in 2017). Seems like a great deal for $2200

Anyways, I see a lot of posts in this tread going up to 2016, seems like a lot of issues. And then relative silence.. did people just stop buying them or are they better now / not much to talk about? Wondering if anyone has tried a late model one and if they feel some of the issues have been resolved. Would people at this point recommend me keep looking rather than going with a Dash/Cadent given all the past problems?

 

[Agiyo]

I have a 2018 E3 Dash with about 500 Portland, Oregon street miles on it. I like it very much indeed, no issues at all and it is a hoot to ride. The only modifications I've felt necessary have been auxiliary lights front and rear, for daytime visibility. The stock lights run off the bike's battery, are triggered by darkness, and are steady. They're great at night, but I do think having daytime lights is safer.

I also added the thumb throttle available from IZIP. The stock handlebar controls made me think about where to put it. I'd thought I would place it just inside the right grip, but with the shifter there, it finally went just inside the left grip. Works fine there, though so far I use it less than I expected.

The short travel front fork does all the suspending I've needed, mainly softening the impact of riding off a curb or over a sharp speed bump. Fenders do a great job, brakes are excellent.

Range depends on boost level. First decent trip I made, I used #4 boost and thought I'd run out of battery on the way home. I did not know that if I'd simply set a lower boost level, there was plenty of juice left. (I am a complete newbie to ebikes) The same trip from a western suburb into downtown Portland and back the next week, I stayed in lower boost and the computer showed something like 35 miles' range left when I got home. The outfit seems so efficient, I wish for a larger capacity battery to make substantial trips feasible.

It pays to read the manual before venturing out!

 

[BrianL]

I have a 2018 E3 Dash with about 500 Portland, Oregon street miles on it. I like it very much indeed, no issues at all and it is a hoot to ride. The only modifications I've felt necessary have been auxiliary lights front and rear, for daytime visibility. The stock lights run off the bike's battery, are triggered by darkness, and are steady. They're great at night, but I do think having daytime lights is safer.

I also added the thumb throttle available from IZIP. The stock handlebar controls made me think about where to put it. I'd thought I would place it just inside the right grip, but with the shifter there, it finally went just inside the left grip. Works fine there, though so far I use it less than I expected.

The short travel front fork does all the suspending I've needed, mainly softening the impact of riding off a curb or over a sharp speed bump. Fenders do a great job, brakes are excellent.

Range depends on boost level. First decent trip I made, I used #4 boost and thought I'd run out of battery on the way home. I did not know that if I'd simply set a lower boost level, there was plenty of juice left. (I am a complete newbie to ebikes) The same trip from a western suburb into downtown Portland and back the next week, I stayed in lower boost and the computer showed something like 35 miles' range left when I got home. The outfit seems so efficient, I wish for a larger capacity battery to make substantial trips feasible.

It pays to read the manual before venturing out!

Hi, I just bought a 2018 Raleigh Cadent, which is supposed to be an IZIP E3 Dash with Raleigh branding. I was curious about options for buying a backup or replacement battery if necessary. It looks like the options are extremely limited. Have you checked into the battery replacement issue?