eZip eTransportation

[haywardkw]

@usclawyer

I bought the Currie eZip Skyline eBike about a month ago, and it was awful. I had to return it. And the Skyline is supposedly the more premium bicycle compared to the Trailz, which is the entry level bike.

Bottom line: the design suffers from two fundamental flaws:

First, the bicycle is itself of poor quality. The frame is heavy steel. The gears and derailers are the cheapest available Shemano components. There is no front differential or derailer - only a back one, limiting the range. The wheels are cheap and essentially treadless. So most of the benefits of having electric assist are eaten up in the drag of an inferior, heavy bicycle.

Second, the electric motor is very limited in what it can do because it does not take advantage of the gearing. The motor acts on the rear hub by a chain, which means that it only operates at one speed. So when you are going up a steep hill, it has insufficient leverage to really help you get up the hill and it heats up. When you are going fast (15 mph+), it can’t keep up and push you at all (and in fact will slow you down if you engage it).

As a result, every time I came to the hill on which I live, the motor would give up and overheat 1/3 of the way up the hill and was left peddling an extremely heavy bicycle that wouldn’t shift or stay in one gear. It was dangerous and exhausting. On the flip side, when I was going on the flat, I too quickly outpaced the ability of the motor, and so was left essentially unassisted again.

I returned the bicycle. If you want a decent electric bicyle, I suggest you look elsewhere.

OK first of all to not have to be licensed or registered… ALL electric bikes must go 20mph or less by federal law… or legally they become motor vehicles.

Hence the motor and gear set up. No electric bike made even the $5K ones have a gear transmission on the motor .... all are single speed chain and most of the more expensive are in hub direct drive. 

The lower end Curries for sure are the electric assist class bike and certainly not for San Francisco terrain. But for mostly flat places they are great and very cost effective.