What are you really getting ?

I visited Onbike Ltd our new distributor in UK in end 2009, and I was very suprised by what the competitors are offering at the same retail price as eZee.

I have requested Onbike to post the specifications / components on eZee Bikes in a more informative way, but of course not every person knows what the parts differences are, so if anyone is going to purchase one, maybe he or she should check this with the local bike shop for advise and see what the quality and value differences are. Or else visit Onbike and take a close look at the bikes there, and make test rides.

Attached is the table for Wisper and eZee.

Yours truly

Chief eZee Operator

Pedelec forum.pdf.zip

Thanks for the info, all very useful. They seem very similar to me which is what I'd expect from 2 bikes costing about the same. The most important things (to me at least) are the quality of the frame (weight in particular) but also geometry, the quality of the motor (efficiency and power) and the quality of the battery (lifetime).

This is why I fitted an eZee kit to my Specialized Epic mountain bike.

Many thanks for this extremely useful eZee information Wai Won, an example to all on how much better an e-bicycle's specification can be presented.

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I visited Onbike Ltd our new distributor in UK in end 2009, and I was very suprised by what the competitors are offering at the same retail price as eZee.

 

I have requested Onbike to post the specifications / components on eZee Bikes in a more informative way, but of course not every person knows what the parts differences are, so if anyone is going to purchase one, maybe he or she should check this with the local bike shop for advise and see what the quality and value differences are. Or else visit Onbike and take a close look at the bikes there, and make test rides.

 

Attached is the table for Wisper and eZee.

 

 

Yours truly

Chief eZee Operator

very interesting specifications...but what would a light weight 27 speed shimano deore non electric bike of similar specification cost in the UK ? ...remember import duty on an electric bike from China is much lower than a non electric bike

Yo chief,

thanks for posting on here. That is all the time what i was saying. Wisper offer shit parts for BIG Money which is totally inadequate to what Ezee is offering.

On the other hand Mr chief you gotta understand that Wisper has a network of dealers and you don't. Their bikes are most widely available and have more service points in the UK. You only have a On Bike which has two shops in the middle of goats pasture. So not really accessible to the public unless you travel 100 miles.

On the other habd becaus eyou don't use dealers you can fit a better quality parts to your bikes so God bless with you

as always best regards

Alex

Edited April 21, 201015 yr by alex_h

very interesting specifications...but what would a light weight 27 speed shimano deore non electric bike of similar specification cost in the UK ? ...remember import duty on an electric bike from China is much lower than a non electric bike

Mybe you should do a comparison on a better spec bike wisper have always been a bit low end for the money. £1450 seems expensive for either.

In fairness, scale of production seems to nave been ignored:

Normal bikes UK annual sales circa 2,000,000

e-bikes UK annual sales circa 20,000, that's just 1%

A producer like eZee simply cannot compete on costs with the large scale normal bike producers.

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Exactly what I have been saying in other posts Chief, £ for £ Ezee is quite simply better value for money than Wisper when you really examine what you are getting for your £!

Somthing that always puzzles me, is that despite Wispers popularity, they have never had a test or review by AtoB. Maybe the forthcoming Electric Bike Mag could do a head to head Wisper/Ezee comparison?

J:) hn

Exactly what I have been saying in other posts Chief, £ for £ Ezee is quite simply better value for money than Wisper when you really examine what you are getting for your £!

 

Somthing that always puzzles me, is that despite Wispers popularity, they have never had a test or review by AtoB. Maybe the forthcoming Electric Bike Mag could do a head to head Wisper/Ezee comparison?

 

I guess lack of battery + actual electrical problems for Wisper who have in their favour what appears to be a dedicated dealer service in place could be the answer to this.My Torq 1's electrical components were prone to water ingress/frequent cutting out/non running etc .This type of thing + the well detailed horror stories about Ezee battery problems /warranties not being honoured + customer problems with the original Ezee stockists in this country have knocked Ezee back in the U.K.

Having said this the Torq 1 is the best ebike I have owned -I have never had a battery problem despite thrashing the bike over 18000 miles derestricted [3rd battery purchased recently] ---a bit of waterproofing and Flecc soon solved the electrical problems.

Edited April 21, 201015 yr by Xcytronex

Yo chief,

 

On the other hand Mr chief you gotta understand that Wisper has a network of dealers and you don't. Their bikes are most widely available and have more service points in the UK. You only have a On Bike which has two shops in the middle of goats pasture. So not really accessible to the public unless you travel 100 miles.

 

On the other habd becaus eyou don't use dealers you can fit a better quality parts to your bikes so God bless with you

 

as always best regards

 

Alex

Yes taking the dealer layer out of the cake makes all the difference....but is it value for money.

Value for money

Thanks for the info, all very useful. They seem very similar to me which is what I'd expect from 2 bikes costing about the same. The most important things (to me at least) are the quality of the frame (weight in particular) but also geometry, the quality of the motor (efficiency and power) and the quality of the battery (lifetime).

This is why I fitted an eZee kit to my Specialized Epic mountain bike.

Bicycles have 2 wheels, and they are not all the same. Walmark or Tesco may have one at $100, the one that Lance Armstrong competes would be more than $10,000. That's where the cost of each and every part comes in to make the difference.

I can understand not everyone is in the bicycle business so such things are not so obvious.

Shimano mountain bike series starts with entry level - Tourney (made in China) , next is Altus, then Alivio and then Deore (made in Japan) at the top. Within Deore sub-series there are those that cost an arm and a leg. I don't know what the OTC retail prices are in UK, but just very basic information Tourney shifter, derailleur, sprocket cost adds to about US$10 and the same in Deore we use is about US$ 30.00 for mfrs like us. This is 3X more. There is a very big difference in performance between the Tourney and the Deore.

Devil is in the details. We replace all the steel screws, nuts, and bolts that comes with the many of the parts like the head stem, carrier, kick stand, etc and even the grub screw in the throttle with high quality stainless steel parts.

Value for money is what we provide. eZee as the manufacturer is located in Shanghai and we sell direct to Onbike which sells direct to the consumer. Wisper bikes are made by a company called Active (near Shanghai) , goes to Wisper and then to dealers or retailers then to consumer, each step have to take a cut.

Talk about development, we have frequent and direct access to numerous suppliers for the frame, bicycle parts, battery, chargers, etc, in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, some within an hr drive and others with 3 hrs flight. We have our own design and engineering team here.

We have all the options available in Shimano Alfine (since 2007), Nexus 8, Magura, Rohloff, and very soon the NuVinci. And other European products like Axa Defender locks, Pletscher carrier and kick stand.

eZee will have the ultimate Deluxe e-bike, hopefully but July 2010 we will have a FULL titanium Torq model - " eZ Torq T1" available made with superb craftmanships, with incredible options available for the discerning rider with deep pockets. It has been more than 3 years in the making.

Let Onbike know if you are interested, and keep a look out on our website eZee electric bicycles: index

Yours truly,

Chief eZee Operator

In fairness, scale of production seems to nave been ignored:

 

Normal bikes UK annual sales circa 2,000,000

 

e-bikes UK annual sales circa 20,000, that's just 1%

 

A producer like eZee simply cannot compete on costs with the large scale normal bike producers.

.

eZee sell all over the world not just the UK....the only non standard part on their bike is the frame, and that is also probable used by other manufacturers...so scale of production is not the big issue....the issue is scale of margin

eZee sell all over the world not just the UK....the only non standard part on their bike is the frame, and that is also probable used by other manufacturers...so scale of production is not the big issue....the issue is scale of margin

Wai Won has given one answer to this with his comments on the detailing, which involves higher labour/time costs. Hand built wheels also.

Normal bikes also sell all over the world, usually in more markets than the e-bikes.

.

 

eZee will have the ultimate Deluxe e-bike, hopefully but July 2010 we will have a FULL titanium Torq model - " eZ Torq T1" available made with superb craftmanships, with incredible options available for the discerning rider with deep pockets. It has been more than 3 years in the making.

 

Let Onbike know if you are interested, and keep a look out on our website eZee electric bicycles: index

 

 

Yours truly,

Chief eZee Operator

Now that sounds very tempting!

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ezee are fast becoming a premium quality outfit in the making.

Best of luck to you

As a side note, I have ridden a few wispers and can honestly say it was nothing to shout about (especially as they're at the `PREMIUM` end of the market)

Edited April 22, 201015 yr by Scatty

There seems to be a quite a few posters lining up to have a kick at the Wisper - which is fair enough, as I'm sure they're big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves.

All I would say is this - they have the goolies to stand by their battery with a 2 year warranty - my ex neighbour had the misfortune (his words) to own a Torq and had nothing but constant grief with battery problems (the dearest door stop he'd ever bought, he said) and electrical horror stories. When he tried to speak to dealers /Ezee about honouring battery warranty, everyone seemed to run for cover and disappear.

Now I accept all this happened a while back and has been well documented I believe, however, as xCytronex said, the customer problems from that time knocked Ezee's reputation back a bit in the UK.

Also, I'm all for these comparison tables because they do give you a good overview of several products but do me one favour - don't omit certain lines because your product might not look good against another e.g. dealer networks or battery warranty where Wisper may be better - we're not stupid, we can make an informed and balanced judgement by saying that Ezee may have better derailleurs and other components but Wisper have the back up if something goes wrong.

I should add that I have nothing whatsoever to do with Ezee or Wisper - neither of these bikes float my boat - I fancy something from the Emotion range myself

 

my ex neighbour had the misfortune (his words) to own a Torq and had nothing but constant grief with battery problems (the dearest door stop he'd ever bought, he said) and electrical horror stories.

For all that, the Torq 1 remains a legend in e-biking, quite unique. In this last week alone, two members have said it was the best e-bike they've owned despite the earlier battery issues, and we have many others who agree.

Support is certainly important, but the riding experience on a bike is very important with far more time spent riding than repairing. In that respect and despite it's faults, the Torq 1 had a very special quality with few equals.

.

Also, I'm all for these comparison tables because they do give you a good overview of several products but do me one favour - don't omit certain lines because your product might not look good against another e.g. dealer networks or battery warranty where Wisper may be better - we're not stupid, we can make an informed and balanced judgement by saying that Ezee may have better derailleurs and other components but Wisper have the back up if something goes wrong.

I'm with you on this Rab, comparison tables are useful but they need to be on a balanced set of criteria and not just cherry picking where one brand scores higher than another. But then again I guess that's marketing for you! I am sure Wisper could produce another comparison table showing number of dealers, batter warranty and range, etc, etc. It's interesting stuff all the same

For all that, the Torq 1 remains a legend in e-biking, quite unique. In this last week alone, two members have said it was the best e-bike they've owned despite the earlier battery issues, and we have many others who agree.

 

Support is certainly important, but the riding experience on a bike is very important with far more time spent riding than repairing. In that respect and despite it's faults, the Torq 1 had a very special quality with few equals.

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flecc

I totally agree that what counts is time in the saddle - whether my neighbour was just unlucky with his Torq I don't know - and I don't doubt that the Torq 1 has many devoted followers and is/was an excellent machine.

I'm not sure if he owned a Torq 1 or Torq 2 (if there was one) . . . . . was there a version called " a f*ck*ng Torq" because that how I remember him referring to his

 

I'm not sure if he owned a Torq 1 or Torq 2 (if there was one) . . . . . was there a version called " a f*ck*ng Torq" because that how I remember him referring to his

That's the one.

I had one and it's motor went in week two, but I dropped the wheels out, stuffed the bike into my hatchback and took a 320 mile round trip to Loughborough. Some might think a lot of trouble, but I was rewarded by "Chief eZee Power" himself fitting a new motor wheel that ran perfectly from then on. It did get through three of those early batteries in 16 months, but it was loads of fun destroying them.

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Support is certainly important, but the riding experience on a bike is very important with far more time spent riding than repairing. In that respect and despite it's faults, the Torq 1 had a very special quality with few equals.

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I agree that at the time the Torq was the bike to have, no questions. However that is no longer the case until the Titanium Torq comes along (please can you give a price guide - obviously if I have to ask I cannot afford it??).

The battery issues, the battery connectors and the poor wiring, leading to the bike conking out in the rain, ruined my time with the Torq. When a manufacturer gains a bad reputation it needs to do something about regaining some trust. The battery problems have been solved and as Ezee have absolute confidence in their products they should be matching their competitors guarantee - 2 years. I am not sure what they can do about the poor reputation about the electrical connectors, maybe Wai Won could explain how it has been improved - removing what looked like the numerous computer connectors would have been a start. Personally I think he should ship over a cytronex and see how they have done it as the wiring and connectors on that bike are fantastic.

Edited April 22, 201015 yr by HarryB

The issues with support and reliability were precisely why I got the Wisper instead of the Ezee - particularly as I don't own a car so transporting the bike to the other side of the country wasn't an option! Plus there was so much uncertainty about who the actual UK agents for Ezee were, who to contact in case of problems, warranties etc.

I used to ride a lot of unpowered bikes, and know the bike bits of the Ezee in comparison are slightly "better" (although I have heard elsewhere a 9 speed chain is thinner and more fragile) but that also pushes up the TCO of the bike when the time comes to eventually replace these drivetrain components...

I've seen multiple reports on here about how whilst Ezee faults were fixed, it took a long time for this to be resolved. Although Wisper had similar faults with earlier 905 SE models, all were not just resolved but there was full and frank dialogue on this forum about everything. If Mr Ching was indeed seeking out owners and replacing faulty components (which appears to be the case), why did the dealers all ignore or deny the problems as is alleged here (until Onbike came along?) Why did they not just take details and pass them on to Mr Ching?

IMO Wisper had two years to solve problems and did, whilst in those to years the perceiption of Ezee in the UK was allowed to slip. In fact, the perception I got was that Ezee had walked away from the UK market altogether!

Certainly not Mr Ching's fault (I know of the hardworking business culture from amongst Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia, my father was one!) but it will take a long while for these issues in the UK to be forgotten.

All the Ezee bikes are good bikes when running, but IMO reliability is important and more important is as quick response to issues when these bikes are being used as primary transport..

It was a very close call between Wisper and Ezee when I was considering my purchase, and in the end customer support was what made the sale.

Edited April 22, 201015 yr by Alex728

Classics are so often flawed-I guess this is part of the appeal and the Torq 1 is definitely a classic ebike.It's a hands on -no nonsense machine-a hard ride.But you know you are riding an electric bike-a great growling beast - not a purring pussy cat gently nudging you along . I've ridden a fair few motorbikes some quite powerful-but none with the elation I felt the day I derestricted my old Torq after riding it for a month or so with the motor capped --at last ebiking as it should be !!!!!!!! I would like to thank Mr Ching for this and the support and enthusiasm he has always provided .

Any pics of the T1 ? Have you had a hand in its design Tony ??

ezee are fast becoming a premium quality outfit in the making.

 

Best of luck to you

 

As a side note, I have ridden a few wispers and can honestly say it was nothing to shout about (especially as they're at the `PREMIUM` end of the market)

Hi Scatty,

Ezee have been a premium quality outfit for several years, only let down by poor UK distributors and a battery which wasn't up to the job.

That is all history now, they have a good distributor, good batteries and a good range of bikes too.

As for the their next offering, the titanium eZ Torq T1, I'm drooling already and haven't even seen it:eek:

J:) hn

My Torq 1 has now been going for over three years. In that time I have rebuilt the front wheel, changed the tyres, swapped out the front brake blocks and put in a new motor (my fault for ignoring the need to lubricate).

My initial battery was rubbish, but as soon as I alerted this fact to 'Chief eZee Power' he sent me a new one from China entirely free of charge with outstanding communication and some of the best customer service I have ever encountered. This was outside warranty, beyond the call of duty and my new battery is still going strong two years later.

I have ridden this bike every single day for more than three years, through driving rain, sleet, snow and sunshine. It has been utterly brilliant throughout.

Wai Won has been a credit to the industry and he, and his bikes, have my utmost respect.