To Peak or not to Peak that is the question:

S

steamroller

New Member
Aloha All, I have been enjoying all the posts and the collective wisdom of the group. I am close to purchasing an ebike, but wanted to get further guidance before I take the plunge. I live in Honolulu and commute about thirty miles a day on a GT titanium road bike. It takes me an hour and 5 minutes to get to work and about an hour and 15 minutes to get home. I ride clipped into the pedals and go as fast as I can usually averaging about 14-15 miles per hour roundtrip. I am 6 feet tall, weigh about 220 pounds. I usually cruise about 17-21 miles per hour on the flats, traffic allowing. There are two large hills on the ride, going from sea level to about 850 feet in a mile. The rest of the ride is relatively flat, but goes through the center of town. I have ridden an easy motion race, easy motion cross and and the 2014 peak. All were great bikes. I have ruled out the cross as too slow, and the race as too similar to my current road bike. I am currently torn between the Izip peak, the Izip dash or putting a falco 500 watt motor on my road bike. I anticipate pedaling all the way to work and using only pedal assist. My goal is to cut down my commute time. I would appreciate any thoughts on which set up, bike might better meet my needs.
 
I rode the Peak and was not impressed........at least not in comparison to Kahlkoff's speed impulse 2 or Bosch's mid-drives. If you want an impressive rear hub motor you should wait until October and ride the Nitro line from Easy Motion.
 
And if you want a new Neo Carbon for $1200 off of list and with upgrades, simply PM me. I bought one about 40 days ago and am selling it. It is a fantastic bike (I am 5'11" and 240lbs) and it yanks very well and gets me 30-35 miles under all conditions as it comes with an upgraded 12V battery. There are pics of it under the Easy Motion section.
 
While I'm learning more about the Falco line, and there are some key points with their tech, a BionX D 500 may be a better fit for a road bike conversion due to the width and weight. Man that 850' climb is going to eat some juice, you may be a two battery guy. I'm climbing half that on a similar 30 mile ride and getting home with about 3 miles to spare (2014 Dash), second battery should be here today.

86's Neo Carbon is a tempting pick up too, I think he must mean 12 AH battery. It would be 'going all in', but hey sounds like you are committed to ebike commuting, so maybe jump to the head of the class. Good luck choosing. -S
 
ooops 12A battery. Thanks for the catch. I love the carbon to death..........something about a geared rear hub and carbon fiber that is supremely satisfying. I am a little nuts about trying new stuff and have done this with motorcycles as well. I have a long list of friends who line up to buy the motor bikes I buy.
 
steamroller said:
I am currently torn between the Izip peak, the Izip dash or putting a falco 500 watt motor on my road bike. I anticipate pedaling all the way to work and using only pedal assist. My goal is to cut down my commute time. I would appreciate any thoughts on which set up, bike might better meet my needs.
Click to expand...
I'm a bit biased as we have been blessed to own both and am admittedly stuck in '2014' technology..but the Dash seems more suited (between the two) for an hour plus ride one way due to the tire design alone. We changed the stockers to Schwalbe Marathon Plus from day one and run at least 60 psi front/back so to me (even heavier than you)...it really moves along.
I keep harping on it and maybe things have changed drastically with the 2015 (significant) price increases from Currie but we went (relatively) inexpensive and got 2 bikes with the same battery. This would obviously give you a backup battery and ride should you not feel like fixing the other right away.
Do some research on here and see if you can't get one heck of a deal on both of them shipped to your door.
It's been done before and for a lot less than you might think.
 
I agree with DashRiprock. For your intended ride the Dash is the right solution. Look for a deal on a Large 2014 Dash and you will never look back. It is fast, dead quiet and a smooth ride. I put a riser on the handle bars for a more upright riding position, a better saddle and a thud buster. Currie stands behind their products.
 
Aloha, thanks for all of the great advice. I decided to go with the 2015 Dash and placed the order today. It should arrive at my local electric bike shop in three to four weeks. Ralph, can you tell me what size riser you used for the handle bars. DashRiprock, I also wanted to know if the schwalbe marathon tires size 700 x 38 mm would work with this bike. Again, thanks for all of your help. I will keep you posted after the bike arrives.
 
steamroller said:
DashRiprock, I also wanted to know if the schwalbe marathon tires size 700 x 38 mm would work with this bike.
Click to expand...
I went with the 45's as I believe they were closer to the OEM size if not exactly that. I'm not enough of an enthusiast to tell you what happens when one strays from there.
I may be wrong but I believe that these tires have a blue 'wear indicator' as well. For some reason (probably from here) I seem to have a lot of confidence in these tires not letting me down.
 
Aloha, I've just spent the last 3 days commuting to work and back on the 2015 Dash. It's an impressive looking bike!. On day one I rode in to work on PAS 1 and took off 20 minutes off of my normal 65 minute ride. I was able to keep speeds around 20 miles per hour easily and had a good workout. I also rode home on PAS 1 and ran out of juice two blocks from home, total distance 30 miles with a couple of good sized hills (back side of Diamond Head).
On day 2 I played around with different settings and accomplished similar times for riding. I used my second charger at work. The ride home took close to an hour where it normally takes 75-80 minutes on my road bike. This is largely dependent on traffic conditions which are not present during my morning ride (6 a.m.).
On day three I rode in on PAS 2, arrived in 40 minutes and came home in about an hour. I used the second charger at work again.

My initial observations are:
1. Wow!, great bike, fast in all PAS modes, ridiculously fast in PAS 4. I normally try to travel between 20-25 mph in accordance with local speed limits.
2. The bike has helped me meet my goal of cutting my commute time from 2 hours 20 minutes to under two hours.
3. The bike is heavy, and is a load to carry up the 5 steps when I arrive at work.
4. The seat is relatively comfortable.
5. I bought the large bike, it fits me fairly well. Hand fatigue and pain are less of an issue than on my road bike and the bike is more comfortable for my back.
6. I think I could probably eek out a few more mph or greater range with narrower tires (35-38mm), but will continue with current ones for now.
7. I will likely place pedals that have clips on one side and are flat on the other to ride with more spinning motion rather that pushing on pedals and this might help with range.
8. I brought my bike to the LBS to pick up slimed tubes and they remarked that electric bikes are the future. I agree, especially for commuting.
9. The bike works well, appears to have good components. The brakes are already a little mushy and I will adjust them today.

THANKS TO ALL FOR ADVICE, AND ESPECIALLY TO COURT FOR THIS GREAT WEBSITE.
 
Aloha All, Just wanted to post my 2500 mile update on the dash. the bike is still going strong. I use it 4-5 days a week for my 30 mile commute. I have two chargers and recharge the bike at work. I upgraded to a serfas saddle which was a little more comfortable than the stock saddle. The shimano stock brakes were replaced by Avid bb7's which work much better, are easier to adjust and the pads seem to be lasting longer. The stock shimano brakes initially seemed underwhelming, but I later felt that they were just not up to the task of stopping the bike effectively and adjusting them every few days was a pain. I replaced the stock tires with 38 mm specialized 100 psi tires which are comfortable and seem to have less rolling resistance. In retrospect, I probably should have purchased a medium size bike as I just clear the top tube when standing on the ground. My inseam is 32 inches. Overall, the bike continues to be more comfortable than my titanium road bike and the commute is faster and easier. The only down side is that my conditioning has decreased from not working as hard on the daily ride to and from work. I usually ride in PAS 1 and 2 and use bursts of PAS 4 to get through lights before they change. Generally I am riding at 23 mph on flat ground with PAS 1, and 25 or so with PAS 2. I had my first flat yesterday from a nail on the road that punctured my rear tire. It took me about 20 minutes to change the tube and get back to riding. This was the first time I tried to remove the wheel and everything worked fine afterwards. The Dash is a great commuting bike which is holding up to some rough streets and is a blast to ride!
 
stevenast said:
Wider tires do have less rolling resistance after all...
Click to expand...
Since when? More contact equals more resistance but higher inflations of narrow tires probably account for the faster capabilities more than contact area. I went from 45 to 38 cm on my Dash and indeed eeked out a few mph. The width and nobbies of my current ride make it a slow descender, too much air moving around. -S
 
well the higher you inflate the tires the less the rolling resistance so if you make them rock hard you can compensate for their narrowness
 
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