eZip Trailz Commuter Low Step

I'm on probably my 8th round of research into ebikes since I've finally decided to sell my Ninja 250 and use the proceeds for a starter ebike. I saw your review and you seem pretty impressed with this model. On the surface, it seems ideal - I live in a small New England city with a few big hills. But it's all relative considering I'm from Chicago, which is a very big city and has only one "hill" that everyone finds when they're first learning how to drive a manual transmission . I would probably ride as alternative transportation - work (I own a shop) and errands that are within 2 or 3 miles.

I like the fact that the eZip is both PAS and TAG and it seems pretty sturdy. But like anything, the price worries me in comparison to other bikes of the same style. Then again, they seem to be up for more heavy duty use and longer trips. I guess what I'm asking is if discounters are selling this bike, am I going to have to worry that it will overheat on a 30º incline for 2 blocks? (as a small business owner, of course I've found a local dealer).

Thanks!

30 degree incline is black diamond ski slope, but 30% is plausible. It takes an e bike with motorcycle power to get up even a few blocks of that steep a hill, or a 50 mph run on it.

No way around it? Most 48v e bikes can do a brief bit of 15%, with the rider pedaling as hard as possible in the low gear once the motor stalls out.

Not sure about the financial situation, but I'd say keep the 250 if at all possible. Even if you have to mothball it for a year or two. Its about the cheapest transportation known to man, except for the insurance and title, depending on your record and the state.

My e bike costs commuting 30 miles round trip to work ran about 25 to 30 cents per mile, depending on which battery was in use at the moment. Being old enough to insure for 10 bucks a month, my cost per mile riding a used 400cc scooter were about 12 cents.

But your transportation needs are very low miles, then you can save a lot by not paying insurance and registration. I ran enough miles for bike tires alone to start adding up, and then I punished batteries with the longer trips. Batteries was what cost so much.

And, 2-3 miles, even with some steep hills you might have to walk it up, Thats getting into territory where you keep the ninja, but only ride it on weekends. Pedal a mt bike with very very low gearing for the town stuff. You can now retrofit old but goodie mountain bikes with huge rear gears, for about 75 bucks. Those low gears make pedaling up 15% almost easy.

Later on, as funds are scrounged up, you can pretty cheaply convert a 7 speed beach cruiser to ride around town.

I just hate to see you sell off the ninja, unless its time to do it before expensive repairs are needed. Or like I was, I HAD to sell the motorcycle and not ride one for 30 years, to survive. I was gonna die.

I think the eZip bikes aren't starter bikes. They're ender bikes. Like department store pedal bicycles, they are so cheaply made and hastily assembled as to discourage riding them, and extinguish further interest in riding.

If you want to dabble in e-bikes at a low entry cost, get a good used bike and a motor kit, and roll your own.

Wow, I can’t remember when the last time I posted anything here. But to the point my wife and I both had EZip Trailz (the old ones with load motors and lead batteries). I’m guess they were purchased maybe 10 or 12 years ago. They were as heavy an ebike as you will find. They both ran 100% perfect. In fact I just sold my wife’s EZip 2 weeks ago and it is going strong for its new owner. As for mine….several years ago I tires of the noisy motor and replaced it with a Bafang mid-drive 750w. My rear wheel still has the old left hand free wheel sprocket on it.

To the point for the amount your planing on riding if you can get one cheap I’d go for it. The hill your talking about is going to be a problem with any ebike at any price. I new have 2 750w mid-drive Bafangs and I’m not sure how they would do on that steep and long of a hill.

I also used the old noisy EZip motors to build my own version of a mid-drive. I had a few versions. One version was with twin motors with one 48v high amp controller. The second was the same twin motor setup but with one motor running at a time at the full 48v and switch electrically between them to keep them cool. This bike was just retired 2 weeks ago when I sold my wife’s EZip.

30 degrees is 58 percent grade. Stairs have around a 65 percent grade. If that's the case, the bike needs a geared hub motor and a Cycle Analyst V3, set the cruise control when walking next to the bike and let the bike power itself and help you walk next to it, at about 0.5 mph.

The steepest streets in the world have a grade between 34 to 37 percent. 37 percent grade is about 20 degrees, that's really steep when you try to climb it.

People naturally see a climb as much steeper than it is on paper in an accurate side view diagram.

Peddle assist and throttle usually do not integrate well together, Bafang's Ultra mid drive is the only one I've ridden that did and it uses a torque sensor PAS.

In most cases it's better to not have PAS and just use throttle and pedaling. Cadence PAS is just wrong, because it's counter intuitive. Throttle is right because it works like your motorcycle, scooter, car, truck, boat and plane. Especially good for climbing and general riding is the cruise control on a Cycle Analyst Version 3, CA V3, after it engages you only have to concentrate on pedal power, shifting to maintain cadence and pedal torque. Well, a heart monitor is a good thing to keep beats per minute, bpm, where you want them at this point in your physical warm up cycle.

Geared hub motors have poor heat rejection, because they don't have a good thermal pathway to remove motor heat. This probably won't be a problem for a two block long climb, a two mile long climb would be a different matter. On the other hand, because they have gear reduction, actually climbing works well for geared hub motors, as long as it's a short climb.

Dog Man Dan is the resident expert on brutal climbs with ebikes. Yep, keep the MC, ebikes don't do the same thing, it's better to have both.

A bike with front suspension forks, a hard tail but with suspension seat post and a rear hub motor is an excellent combination. Mid battery, a CA V3, throttle, cruise control, and some way to carry stuff are big plus features. Bikes made to carry the battery behind the seat tube have long rear triangles, long tails, and have the best ride of hard tail bikes. Pedals forward frames make stopped easier to handle because feet to ground is more secure, especially stopped on a steep climb. Full Suspension works good with a rear hub motor but foot contact when stopped is reduced. Direct drive hubs have less power off the line but have better heat rejection on a long climb, because motor heat has a better path out to the surroundings.

Are you sure it's a 30% incline? The steepest paved road around here that I can think of is right by the coast in White Rock. It's in the mid 20's and it is insanely steep in practice. Like forget about it in winter, no matter how many wheel drive you have.

Mind you, here isn't there, but that seems absurdly steep. Especially for New England. A light dusting would be absolute carnage. (Unless we're talking offroad in which case all bets are off)

eZip Trailz Commuter Low Step... isn't that circa 2015.
Is eZip still in business ?