Hey Rodx...I just got mine this summer, as well. I was able to get the men's online. Didn't know you could take off the decals. Where did you get that neat looking bag on the back? Looks like a good fit.

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Dick's sporting goods. $25 on a sale.

My turn to write a review on this EZip beloved by many but me.

I would have to say that the bike as a whole is a disappointment. It's heavy; it lacks a 3-speed crankset; it lacks disc brakes; the grips were far too short, and the brake lever was far too long, etc. But I must admit the electric motor alone was well worth the money.

Here's a picture of how it looks now:


I just had to do it, after contemplating for an hour, I knew I liked my old mountain bike a lot better, so here it is now:



Double legged kickstand, a must-have for heavier electric bike conversion:



Longer grips, end handles and shorter brake levers are more comfortable and easy to control:



Here's how my whole handlebar looks now:



Front derailleur shifting is now controlled by a thumb shifter:



Front disc brakes:





There's a lot more modification to be made to this bike. First thing would be removing the rear rack which is costing me 5 pounds of extra weight. I will be using a 24V NiMH battery pack made from 20 D cells at 7Ah. More details in the future...

hey tmsboys, your Ezip has been zapped of its E.. LOL! Great pics and nice job on swapping parts.

I have one question for you. Why did you move the shift assembly to your existing bike when you already have the thumb shift assembly? Seems like it is just taking up space that could be used for something else on the handlebar.

Hey How2, My original bike had grip shifters on both sides, not thumb shifters. Plus the grip shifter layout matches the throttle on the other side so it will look like it belong. I had to add the thumb shifter to get my front derailleur to work.

geez that handlbar looks a 747 cockpit!!!!!

Hi Tmsboys,

That's amazing what you've done. How hard was it to switch everything over to your old mountain bike? Did you run into any problems? I'm curious to know what the old mountain bike may weigh and how fast the bike is on a flat level pavement now that it's electric. Also, for reference, what's your body weight? Thanks and great job. I may have a friend that may follow in you foot steps.

__________________
Richie
E-Zip 2008 Mountain Customized Cruiser
Go Green-Go Solar

First, let me say, I really like the concept of this bike!!!

But the design and implementation leaves a little bit to be desired...

When driving the bike on bumpy trails or rough roads, the battery terminal
connections fracture. The connections are in the grey plastic housing which the battery plugs in to.

I've driven the bike 25 miles and have had all of the ring terminals fracture
mulitple times... leaving you with no power.

I tried upgrading to yellow style (thicker metal) ring terminals but they fractured also...

The fix, is to cut a larger (square) opening in the aluminum battery support so the battery wires to the controller can move up and down freely when the male battery contact probes (spring loaded) are push down and released.

This (cut-out) can easily be accomplished (both sides of the battery holders) using a drill and a diamond wheel cutter (Dremel (tm) style tool ). The metal is aluminum and cuts fairly easily.

Protect your chain and gearing from metal flakes or used compressed air to do the final clean up.

The present design is (obviously) poor, as the opening is too small and is offset from the exit point of the wires. Therefore, the battery terminal wires bind and the weak ring terminals flex which will eventually fracture.

Well, anyway the bike was inexpensive and I still think it is a great value if you like tinkering... like I do!

I just checked the ring terminals after going on a 8 mile bumpy ride and everything looks OK!!!

I will provide more "field debug" information as required.

Dr Z.

Hi Dr Z and Welcome to EcoForumz!

I must say that in the time I've been researching this bike and owned it, I have never heard of the battery terminal cracking problem you describe from anyone before. Are you saying the actual metal cracks?

Can you snap a few pics of your modification? Thanks.

The bike is still going but it runs out of power a lot faster than it did when I first started riding it.

I did a comprehensive battery load test and the (Made in China) Gell Cells performed perfectly!!!

So why the total power loss after about a 5 mile bumpy ride?

A simple inspection of the battery terminals inside of the battery case showed the black electrical ring terminal connection screw was (very loose).

Not slightly loose but so loose as it took 1 1/2 turns of a phillips head screw driver to tighten it!

SO I removed both phillips screws (Red and Black wire connections) (Applied BLUE lock tight) and retightened ... Viola!

So at 122 miles I've had more electrical trouble with this bike than my 1972 Ford Pinto.

The bicycle concept is good but watch out... bugs are lurking!!!!!




Dr Z.

LOL.. a 1972 Ford Pinto was my high school party car.. LOL! Even the Pinto had better shock absorption than the Ezip.. lol.. but yes.. the screws on bicycles do need tightening in the same way a car needs its oil changed. Having screws loose when it comes from the factory though, is not helpful.

I've ordered a couple of 24V 20ah sealed lead acid batteries to extend the range of my bike. I'm not quite willing to add 36v batteries as I'm not sure how long the motor will last with that kind of load. But I'm thinking of building a small trailer to pull behind the bike to hold the batteries. Does anyone have any suggestions for a small wagon like trailer that could also haul some groceries and packages in addition to the batteries.

In the 1970's, I remember that in the small town I lived in, there was an old retired engineer who was in his 70's or 80's who built an electric bicycle by taking some wagon wheels and making a low to the ground platform trailer that held the batteries and a 24v or 36v heavy electric motor on it. The whole contraption "pushed" the bike and I always used to be amused watching him ride around town on it. It was quite a spectacle in those days, so am thinking of doing something like this for extra batteries as I'm not willing to spend the money I'd need to for Lifepo4 batteries until they come down in price.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a trailer? I'm thinking of just pulling an old wagon. I used to sell boiled peanuts in South Carolina when I was a child, (boiled them in the backyard) and hauled them into town on a wagon. This was in South Carolina during the 1960's when I was about 9 years old. We lived on old 301, a town where the "yankees" passed through on their way to Florida. I only sold to the locals, but a buddy of mine had a better sales system. We weren't poor, just entrepreneurial. He went to the Howard Johnson's and hung out there and wore ragged clothes and sold the tourists the peanuts for a dime, but would get one and five dollar tips. Tricky guy smarter than me. If you're about 50 like me and your parents took you to Florida on highway 301 (before there were interstates), you might have seen one of us in town. But the wagon served me well for peanuts.

Any suggestions other than a radio flyer modded with an appropriate hitch? <center>Welcome to RedWagons.com:<br>The premier Radio Flyer specialists.</center>

Incidentally, these are the batteries I ordered. TR18-24***TEMPEST SEALED LEAD-ACID AGM BATTERY (TR18-12N2) They're out of stock, but are 18ah and not 20 as I previously stated, but seem like a good buy for the money. I may need some help on hooking them up, but I doubt that.

But does anyone know of any better bargains for batteries out there. I plan some long rides.

Hi Buck,

Can you tell me what brand and model batteries you decided on? I'm kicking around two different model 12 volt 20Ah batteries that have impressed me enough I'd want them for my E-Zip to wire in series for 24 volts. I haven't purchased either yet because I'm not happy about the price.

As for a trailer; the only advice I can give is if you build one yourself make sure the axles are well secured and have sealed bearings and appropriate tires. I'm glad to see you've passed on the Radio Flyer wagon. I wouldn't want to expose a kids wagon like that to 15 mph or more speeds on a regular basis without modifying the axles and tires.

I'm considering adding two of my small 12 volt 10 watt solar panels wired in series onto my Ezip. If I come up with a strong enough mount, it would make for a nice experiment anyway.

__________________
Richie
E-Zip 2008 Mountain Customized Cruiser
Go Green-Go Solar

Those batteries aren't bad. I'd like to see the manufacturers spec sheet before buying them. The specs will show just how well they'd perform over the long run on a high amp discharge application such as an electric bike.

If you purchase from that company, and the Tempest battery is out of stock, they'll substitute it for something else. Just be aware of that.

__________________
Richie
E-Zip 2008 Mountain Customized Cruiser
Go Green-Go Solar

No, I don't think they'll substitute a different battery. They're backordered till September and they aren't sending them until they get them back in stock. I think they're used for old folks scooter runabouts that you see at many retirement communities so I'm inclined to think they're going to be OK. But you may end up being right about the substitution. I'll just have wait to see.

I opted not to go for these, but they are 22ah 24 v batteries but were almost $50.00 more each in price. I think they're specifically made to fit into the scooters and runabouts. TR22-24***TEMPEST SEALED LEAD-ACID AGM BATTERY (TR22-12N2)

But if you want more ah and possibly even better specs, this is an option

Inciedentally, here are some specs on the batteries. I'm inclined to think the 1000 recharge cycles is bunk. Not a whole lot of info on them, but they do appear to have somewhat bullet proof constuction.

Tempest Features - Replacement Batteries - www.batteryspec.com

I don't know anything about the company, I just found these using google.

Here's the manufacturer's website which should have the whole story on these. I haven't delved that far into it. Tempest SLA Batteries - Company Info - UPS, SLA, GEL, ALARM, Wheelchair, Scooter, Batteries

Hey Buck,

Judging by the weight of those batteries, I'd say they have nice thick lead plates designed for some high amp discharge rates and deep cycle very well. I think they'd make a great choice of battery for the E-Zip. But I think they are out of line with a price of $109.00 each. In fact, I think the ad can be misleading because at the top of the page they title it with a single battery. Just below that, they show it as a kit. Not reading it very carefully you could reasonably think you're purchasing the kit which is two batteries for the $109.00 price.

Also, that first post showing the TR18-24 TEMPEST SEALED LEAD-ACID AGM BATTERY (TR18-12N2). If you look towards the middle of the page, they have this, "If the Tempest brand is not available, an equivalent battery will be shipped. The Tempest warranty will apply"

__________________
Richie
E-Zip 2008 Mountain Customized Cruiser
Go Green-Go Solar

Thanks for the tip. Since they're still on backorder, I wrote them and told them that if the Tempest battery wasn't available, to cancel my order. Since I am still waiting on my ebike, I'm not in a hurry and will have to design a suitable cart and make it from scratch for the batteries and groceries etc. that I may use the cart for. I may try to find a used wagon of some type at a yard sale and get bearing wheels and add an axle (or two) and a suitable hitch for the batteries. Or whatever I can scrounge up. Hopefully the bike won't have trouble pulling a load with only 24 volts of power. But since most of the weight will be on the cart axle, I suspect that it won't have a problem. But we'll see in time. Oh well, off to the flea market and yard sales tomorrow.