Got a eZee Sprint 7 - it is fantastic

Hello,

This morning the nice delivery man from 50 Cycles dropped of my new Ezee Sprint 7, and after tightening, adjusting and getting used to it I took it for a trip through Hyde park to work.

It's absolutely fantastic, the power is great, not too much, not too little. I wish there was *slightly* more assisted top end (speed, not power) but other than that it's a revelation. I had the whole team at work have a go on it and they all seemed to be very impressed and amazed.

The build quality looks good, the bike itself is not too heavy (without the battery) and the ride is very comfortable. There are no rattles or jitters from the bike while riding and after adjusting the handlebars for the maximum sit-up-and-beg position it's a very stately feeling to waft quietly along. The front brake has some *slight* judder, but I've had that before on other bikes and it's barely noticeable.

I had a few odd starts where giving it too much electric throttle would make the motor (or controller) cut out. This meant I'd have to toggle the key to off then on again and it'd work normally until I did it again - I expect it's a "wearing-in" issue and will go away on it's own. Fingers crossed.

I'll post some pictures of it when I can and based on one short (3 mile) ride I'd recommend it to anybody; young or old. It really is amazing, and I can now empathise with the enthusiasm on this site.

Edited February 6, 200719 yr by zammo

Nigel

Well done

zammo people dont know what their missing electric bikes are great fun wellcome to the CLUB

Most hills will never be a problem again:D thats Brill;) Hope you will have many happy years on your ezee sprint.NIGEL.

about cut-out

So... the cutting-out when applying power from standstill continues and happened four times on the way home... I *think* it's an overload issue. I apply the throttle, I get some traction from the motor and then it cuts out. The red light on the key/controller goes out.

I turn the key to off then on again, apply the throttle (slower this time) and it goes without a problem. Helping the motor with some pedalling from a standing start also stops it happening.

Since the red light on the key/controller box goes out I am assuming it's a thermal/current overload protection kicking in.

I am optimistic that it will 'wear' itself in and stop doing it as the circuit gets used to having current down it. So my three questions are:

• Has anybody else experienced this?

• Do you think this might this cure itself on its own?

• If it doesn't get better, what are my options on getting it fixed?

Update The next day

It's doing it consistently now. To be clear: whenever I pull away without pedalling and open the throttle over half, it cuts out.

I can prevent it happening by e a s i n g the throttle on slowly and letting the bike get up to speed before opening the throttle over half. I noticed that when cut out the controller light blinks in the following way:

I'll call Jim at 50 Cycles now.

Edited February 7, 200719 yr by zammo

So... the cutting-out when applying power from standstill continues and happened four times on the way home... I *think* it's an overload issue. I apply the throttle, I get some traction from the motor and then it cuts out. The red light on the key/controller goes out.

 

I turn the key to off then on again, apply the throttle (slower this time) and it goes without a problem. Helping the motor with some pedalling from a standing start also stops it happening.

 

Since the red light on the key/controller box goes out I am assuming it's a thermal/current overload protection kicking in.

 

I am optimistic that it will 'wear' itself in and stop doing it as the circuit gets used to having current down it. So my three questions are:

 

• Has anybody else experienced this?

• Do you think this might this cure itself on its own?

• If it doesn't get better, what are my options on getting it fixed?

Hi Zammo, the person to ask is 50cycles very own mechanic, Jim, on 01509 266 165.

thanks

Tim,

Thanks - I thought I'd ask here first in case the issue was a non-problem and would go away within a day or so.

I'll call Jim tomorrow if it happens tomorrow.

Edited February 6, 200719 yr by zammo

Hi, I'd be interested in the reply as I have also experienced cut out on the Sprint, so has my husband. It seems to be when going up a steep hill, or when approaching a junction on e-bike, breaking at junction and then setting off almost immediately, it seems to cut out, but does resolve without having to turn the key, i.e. after waiting a few seconds. It is very disconcerting, I too am hoping it will settle down.

regards

Jeanette

This can happen when the current drain is at it's maximum, corresponding to about 8 to 9 mph on a Sprint, when using the Li-ion battery. It's caused by the voltage dropping below the protection point for the battery, so can be more common when the weather is cold, lowering battery efficiency.

A steep climb and pulling away on the motor are both points of high current drain as in Jeanette's case, tiring the battery enough to drop the voltage. As Zammo remarks, helping by pedalling reduces it's occurrence since that shares the load and reduces the current the motor drains, so dropping the voltage less. The eZee motors are very powerful, but of course that means they can make high demands on the battery at times.

I get the same on the Torq in similar conditions, although the higher motor gearing on that means it occurs at about 12 mph and have found that having clean battery connections is important, since extra resistance at that point can impede the current transfer.

Although the NiMh batteries have somewhat lower efficiency, they compensate by not suffering this type of voltage drop cutout, so I use an NiMh for difficult conditions like steep hill runs in cold winter weather.

Edited February 6, 200719 yr by flecc

Oh dear..

I've been very close to buying a Torq but some of the comments in this forum suggest that more development is in order. Motors cutting out, lithium batteries self igniting ('they shouldn't be charged indoors'!!), and rapid dwindling of battery reserves. Would I be better cycling to work 2 days a week, and using a Honda moped 3 days a week to reduce my 'carbon footprint' with some reliability?? Someone convince me otherwise...please!

Jason

Don't worry Jason!

The torq is a great bike and I wouldn't be without mine.

The Torq, like all eZee bikes uses a Magnesium based Li-ion battery which is completely safe. The older cobalt based ones are those guilty of self ignition in some cases, and eZee have refused to use them. I keep and charge two eZee Li-ions indoors in perfect safety.

There's no motor cut-out, the Li-ion battery can be momentarily stopped by a safety cutout in high stress conditions, but this is normally only suffered in very hilly areas as where I live. If you think that's likely to be the case in your area, 50cycles can supply the bike with an NiMh battery instead which completely eliminates any chance of that.

In areas where the hills are moderate, hundreds of owners have never experienced a cutout and don't understand the talk about it by the very few who are affected.

Regarding the Honda moped, I gave up my Honda CB500R for e-bikes and don't miss the hassle of MOTs, tax, insurance, speed limits and endless laws one bit. E-biking is real freedom.

Edited February 6, 200719 yr by flecc

I've been very close to buying a Torq but some of the comments in this forum suggest that more development is in order. Motors cutting out, lithium batteries self igniting ('they shouldn't be charged indoors'!!), and rapid dwindling of battery reserves. Would I be better cycling to work 2 days a week, and using a Honda moped 3 days a week to reduce my 'carbon footprint' with some reliability?? Someone convince me otherwise...please!

 

Jason

Jason, I'd go ahead with your purchase and not worry too much.

I'm more than happy with the Bike and the issue will probably be resolved.

It's easy to get the wrong impression with notice boards sometimes as people [like me] go there to ask questions when things aren't right. Of course, I imagine that the 99.9% of the time when the bike is running well and it'll be a joy to have an electric bike I'll be out riding it instead of posting in the forums :-)

I would guess that an electric bike will reduce your carbon footprint much more than a scooter: there's no such thing as 'green' petrol but you can sign up for green electricity and know that your powered cycling won't weigh on your conscience. Also, the speeds you'll get from the bike are comparable to a scooter anyway (in the city at least) and you'll be much fitter, without the hassle of tax, insurance and so on.

Hi Jason,

I feel confident that you would be very happy purchasing a Torq. I've had mine for 7 months or so now and have covered more than two thousand miles on it without a single problem. The battery has been fine and has never let me down or cut out on me.

I'm sure you would quickly discount the Honda moped option

I've been very close to buying a Torq but some of the comments in this forum suggest that more development is in order. Motors cutting out, lithium batteries self igniting ('they shouldn't be charged indoors'!!), and rapid dwindling of battery reserves. Would I be better cycling to work 2 days a week, and using a Honda moped 3 days a week to reduce my 'carbon footprint' with some reliability?? Someone convince me otherwise...please!

 

Jason

update 2

A short update.

I spoke to Jim the technician at 50 Cycles. After describing the blink pattern (blink X 8, pause 5 seconds, repeat) of the red LED under the keyhole, Jim seemed to infer that is was a motor problem.

Happily 50 Cycles will be swapping the bike for another one, though unfortunately not until next week (and sadly that means taking another day off work to wait in for the delivery). Urgh.

Still. Nice of them to offer a replacement (I'd only done about 10 miles in all) and fingers crossed that the swap goes smoothly and the replacement is problem-free.

Ok Ok

I get the message. I'll give you a full report on my experience with the Torq after my first ride...

Jason

I get the message. I'll give you a full report on my experience with the Torq after my first ride...

 

Jason

Yes, please do. The Torq was very tempting for a lot of reasons, no least the speed, but I realised I'm more comfortable on the riding style of the sit-up-and-beg Sprint than the more 'racing' styled Torq. I'm glad I chose the Sprint in the end (as long as the next one works).

PS: as you mentioned going green, here's something (unrelated to cycling) that opened my eyes on how environmentally UNfriendly bottled water is:

Edited February 7, 200719 yr by zammo

Yes, please do. The Torq was very tempting for a lot of reasons, no least the speed, but I realised I'm more comfortable on the riding style of the sit-up-and-beg Sprint than the more 'racing' styled Torq. I'm glad I chose the Sprint in the end (as long as the next one works).

 

PS: as you mentioned going green, here's something (unrelated to cycling) that opened my eyes on how environmentally UNfriendly bottled water is:

The cost of Exotic Bottled Water

Why stop at one? Buy a Torq too and have the equivalent of a Lotus in the garage for weekends

Why stop at one? Buy a Torq too and have the equivalent of a Lotus in the garage for weekends

I wish that I had both the money *and* the garage

I wish that I had both the money *and* the garage

You'll just have to cut out the luxuries like food and paying bills.

update 3

Tim from 50 Cycles came round this evening and picked up the bike. I was sad to see it go really, even with it's motor/controller fault.

Yesterday I thought about just "living with it" the way it was; as long as I _e a s e d_ the throttle on it wouldn't cut out all the time. Then I remembered that when it *did* cut out it was always at the most dangerous bits of the journeys: traffic lights, crossings, junctions, overtaking - whenever I needed a quick speed-up really.

So it's back to 50 Cycles (who have been very good about it so far) and hopefully not too late next week I will get a replacement.

Mick.

This e-mail is from ken from eZee bikes reguarding the cutting out of the sprint motors. Unfortunatley we got this the e-mail the day after I spoke to mick reguarding his concerns with his sprint. I will check out your bike when it comes back to us and I will test it's replacement before we send it back to you to make sure that it is just the cut out coming in.

Anyone who knows a little about electric motor will know there is a very high amps draw when a motor starts even with zero load in the works, not to mention that our little 250 watt needs to pull a guy 80 kgs ? + bike 30 kgs total 110 kgs from start.

We already have 20 amps overload protection with 36V that is the highest , nobody has higher, and you know very well that our software programe in the controller try to make the best of the situation to accelerate slowly for the sake of safety.

If those people sit on it and pull a full throttle to race ahead causing a very high amps draw

the overload protection MUST come in.

You just need to take it a bit more gently when setting off and you won't have a problem.

Cheers Jim

This e-mail is from ken from eZee bikes regarding the cutting out of the sprint motors. Unfortunately we got this the e-mail the day after I spoke to mick regarding his concerns with his sprint. I will check out your bike when it comes back to us and I will test it's replacement before we send it back to you to make sure that it is just the cut out coming in.

 

Anyone who knows a little about electric motor will know there is a very high amps draw when a motor starts even with zero load in the works, not to mention that our little 250 watt needs to pull a guy 80 kgs ? + bike 30 kgs total 110 kgs from start.

 

We already have 20 amps overload protection with 36V that is the highest , nobody has higher, and you know very well that our software programe in the controller try to make the best of the situation to accelerate slowly for the sake of safety.

 

If those people sit on it and pull a full throttle to race ahead causing a very high amps draw the overload protection MUST come in.

 

You just need to take it a bit more gently when setting off and you won't have a problem.

 

Cheers Jim

I agree with you in principle; the motor has to do a *lot* of work when pulling away from a standstill and the powerful motor and battery mean that there's a high current flowing which needs to be monitored to protect the motor/battery/wires/controller.

But if I were to show you it happening I think you'd agree that there's something not quite right:

From a stand-still I turn the throttle gently up to about half way and it cuts out (I do not whack open the throttle all the way in one go). I have enough of a physics background (and mechanical+electrical sympathy) to know what the system is trying to do when I set off from a stand-still.

The other reasons why I think it's a fault and not designed to work that way:

• I'm only 70Kg so I assume below the average weight used to calculate tolerances for load
  
• The cut-out happens *after* the motor actually does some work and moves the bike a few feet
  
• It does not happen due to high load at any other time (hills for example) only when starting from a standstill
  

I completely understand that if I were carrying a bag of cement on the back, at a standstill, pulling on both brakes, with my feet on the ground and holding the throttle open all the way holding the bike back (so the motor is fighting me+inertia+brakes) then something has got to give. But that's not what is happening at all.

Hopefully now that Tim at the London branch has the bike you can experience (and verify) the problem for yourselves.

Edited February 10, 200719 yr by zammo

it's back

The bike is back (I think it's a different one) and it works perfectly.

After Tim from 50cycles kindly brought round the charger and battery (which had not been returned with the bike) I went for a blast around the parks and it works perfectly:

• the take-off is much smoother and less 'notchy' than the original (in retrospect the 'notchyness' may have been connected with the fault that made it cut out)
  
• no cut outs at all, even at full open from stand-still
  
• nice power delivery all the way up to the top
  
• nicely sprung ride
  

I'm very happy with it.

Thanks to 50 cycles for sorting out the problem so graciously. I promised some pictures and will take some as soon as it stops raining :-)

Glad to hear that you are back on two wheels again zammo and that the cut-out problem you had (which I hope didn't "dampen" too much the enjoyment of the first ebike experience) seems happily resolved, though I admit I'm a little envious as I'm not yet motorised and do feel I'm missing all the fun to be had on electric bikes but hopefully it won't be long now:)

Still, as you say, its not exactly fair-weather cyclist conditions at the moment, so that eases the wait oh well, back to planning, & tinkering with my still non-motorised bike for now...

Stuart.

coops,

Good luck, if you go electric you won't regret it. I'm quite physically lazy and would not be cycling *at all* were it not for the electric assist. That way I get some fresh air, 'some' excercise and it's a far more pleasant way to travel.

The upright position of the Sprint is a joy - I have cycled quite a lot in Italy around an island and i loved the non-macho/non-competitive sit-up-and beg easy gliding of the bikes rather than racing about bum-in-the-air (to each their own). I think that's what I was looking for in a bike and the Sprint definitely has that stately feel.