Have a look at this e-bike, won't you?

[bluegoatwoods]

Here it is;

www.cozybikes.com


It looks like a lotta bike for the buck.

Anyone familiar with these?

 

[MikeFairbanks]

Not going to be a positive experience in my opinion. That thing isn't a bike. It just has pedals. I smell a bad deal.

The website says "Sale today."

Something tells me it will say that again tomorrow and the next day. Then there's a price, but "today" it's a better price.

And the site is probably china.

 

[richirich1113]

It is a nice looking little bike. I wouldnt go with the Sla batteries though and the 1000w option would probably be a better thing. It did say the wherehouse is in Connecticut. So it would seem that is at least shipped from the USA.

At this point it would prabably be anybody's guess to really how good it is.

 

[amberwolf]

I would not bet on getting any support when it breaks, or spare parts. Not fast, anyway. Nor would I expect them to know anything about the product itself, given the seemingly random other products they also carry (which are probably also very cheaply-made-and-bought items that can be resold for much higher prices for great profits). From the left side of that same page:

Electric Bicycle
Log Splitters
Electric Tricycle
Low Temperature Freezers
Electric Rolling Cigarette Machine
Infrared Quartz Heater
Perineal Ice Pads
Electric Cigarettes & Cigars & Pipes
Car Air Purifier
Air&Water Ozonator, Purifier

Note that the actual company site itself is Omegastores.com.

 

[ddk]

although not familiar with the bikes I know someone who has their offered trike. It's normally marketed as an EW-88 and uses standard dropouts for the rear wheels with one wheel driven via a jackshaft.

I love how the marketing lingo from most sellers webpages describes the EW-88 as an EW-54, which likely had handling issues with a rear hub motor mounted on the wheel opposite the pedal-powered wheel; therefor no longer produced

Reviews on the company omegastores actually providing goods as ordered seems iffy
- omegastores used to show up as an amazon-sponsored store ...somewhat telling

 

[dogman dan]

I've seen worse. Bet on near zero cs, or cs from a guy who knows nothing. They may point at china if you have a problem.

The main issue is how bikes like this are seen. In some localities, cops or just local walkers and joggers may take severe objection to your use of bikes that look like mopeds on sidewalks or multi use bike paths. Cops may want to see you have a licence to drive it on the street, etc.

I know, the law likely says you can, but that's no help if everybody around you thinks you can't. It may be a lot easier to find an ebike styled more bike like.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Yup, I had a few of the same suspicions. Their performance claims seem a bit hard to believe as well. But unless they're complete garbage I could probably nurse one along.

But it wouldn't be for me, anyway. It's my wife that I'm thinking of. It has the "style" that she would like. And, poor thing, she's not very able to ride a 26 in bike. She's just too short. I gotta admit that even with the seat lowered all the way she looks pretty awkward up there. Plus she's awful hard on machinery. Getting her this bike would certainly be a roll of the dice. But the money at risk is fairly low, too.

Also one of my daughters is able to handle a bike. It might work for her.

For that matter, I was watching the e-zip for perhaps a year before I took the plunge. My hesitation was because I had a hard time believing that it could possibly be any good at such a low price. But it turned out to be pretty high quality for a low end product.

So ya never know.......

 

[Brentis]

I don't like being negative, but, run from that piece o' shite.
I have seen this same crap china bike here in Ontario for $600 new.
Much less used.
$2200+ they say is retail asking is outrageous.
Even $850+ is too much

Never trust a source like this to offer any after sale customer service.

Don't waste your money.

 

[USAEBIKECO]

The motor looks the same as golden motor.

Good ebikes really dont use SLA anymore.

 

[Lock]

The company also offers perineal ice packs... they're cool.

 

[dogman dan]

Get it only if you are a good ebike troubleshooter.

This is the problem as I see it. These bikes try to have everything on them. I dig it, it is nice to have turn signals and headlights etc. But concequently they have nightmare wiring harnesses. Cruicial circuits like power on to the controller may go through three extra connections, several switches, something in the dashboard, and so on. If the connectors and switches were motorcycle quality that would be fine. But they aren't. So the typical problem is a bad contact buried deep inside that cute handlebar dash, or worse, way inside the main fairing. Fairly quick, these cheaper creations tend to start hitting a bump and shutting down. Or controllers are smothered in the fairing and overheat. It's like the whole bike is built as cheap as your sla charger, which cannot be carried around without falling apart and shorting.

Now, if you can troubleshoot an ebike, then you have no real reason not to go buy a decent step through bike for the wife, and put Methods wife kit motor on it. 15 mph top speed on 36v, perfect for the slower riders and a very reliable kit. Run it on a 36v 15 ah pingbattery. Not that much more money for a truly reliable setup.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Get it only if you are a good ebike troubleshooter.

This is the problem as I see it. These bikes try to have everything on them. I dig it, it is nice to have turn signals and headlights etc. But concequently they have nightmare wiring harnesses. Cruicial circuits like power on to the controller may go through three extra connections, several switches, something in the dashboard, and so on. If the connectors and switches were motorcycle quality that would be fine. But they aren't. So the typical problem is a bad contact buried deep inside that cute handlebar dash, or worse, way inside the main fairing. Fairly quick, these cheaper creations tend to start hitting a bump and shutting down. Or controllers are smothered in the fairing and overheat. It's like the whole bike is built as cheap as your sla charger, which cannot be carried around without falling apart and shorting.

Now, if you can troubleshoot an ebike, then you have no real reason not to go buy a decent step through bike for the wife, and put Methods wife kit motor on it. 15 mph top speed on 36v, perfect for the slower riders and a very reliable kit. Run it on a 36v 15 ah pingbattery. Not that much more money for a truly reliable setup.

Thanks, dogman. This makes sense. A very likely weakness, it would stand to reason.

I don't recognize the Methods kit. I'll try to google it.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Get it only if you are a good ebike troubleshooter.

This is the problem as I see it. These bikes try to have everything on them. I dig it, it is nice to have turn signals and headlights etc. But concequently they have nightmare wiring harnesses. Cruicial circuits like power on to the controller may go through three extra connections, several switches, something in the dashboard, and so on. If the connectors and switches were motorcycle quality that would be fine. But they aren't. So the typical problem is a bad contact buried deep inside that cute handlebar dash, or worse, way inside the main fairing. Fairly quick, these cheaper creations tend to start hitting a bump and shutting down. Or controllers are smothered in the fairing and overheat. It's like the whole bike is built as cheap as your sla charger, which cannot be carried around without falling apart and shorting.

Now, if you can troubleshoot an ebike, then you have no real reason not to go buy a decent step through bike for the wife, and put Methods wife kit motor on it. 15 mph top speed on 36v, perfect for the slower riders and a very reliable kit. Run it on a 36v 15 ah pingbattery. Not that much more money for a truly reliable setup.

Thanks, dogman. This makes sense. A very likely weakness, it would stand to reason.

I don't recognize the Methods kit. I'll try to google it.

Just look in the forsale section of Endless Sphere, and search "wife kit" no need to google it.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Oh and +1 to what D-man has said, and I would also agree all who have mentioned the "scooter" factor.

This thing looks too much like a vehicle that is prohibited to be used on bike paths, so it would attract too much negative attention IMHO to be worth it.

I sort of tried to create a similar set-up with a home-built fairing, and experienced the very things D-man mentioned, in my case it was forgetting not to run the main power for my Magic Shine headlight (I had originally intended to run it through a solenoid switch) and fried those little tiny wires and connectors, and it was like a episode of "The Brady Bunch" but instead of being in the lemon car in the driveway with the horn just coming on for no reason, my light melted the leads together and had my VERY loud horn on the E-Bike blasting at 5am on a sleepy little country road when I was on my way to Newburg (23 mile trip from my house to my brothers).

I half expected someone in over-alls and a shot-gun to come out in front of their house to see who had waked them up! :lol:

 

[ecowheelz]

Cheap Chinese import. We've fixed a couple of these e-bikes in our shop when the customers couldn't get support...

As dogman mentioned, unless you're good at troubleshooting e-bikes and fixing problems yourself... I would avoid this like the plague...

 

[Ykick]

It's ironic that if you know enough to keep one of these "specials" running you might as well build something starting with a quality platform. People go looking for turn-key solutions and wind up needing to fix 'em with nowhere to turn.

I think the eBike market is best compared to the musical instrument world. Back before Guitar Center and Harmony Central you had to find a local "guy" to mod/repair guitars and tube amplifier. Sometimes, those guys even built em from scratch or kits, much like this cottage industry's developing.

If the folks selling you an eBike don't have a workshop with bikes in various states of repair and/or completion how in the hell do you think you'll get yours serviced WHEN needed?

Shoppers are whoo'd by cheap prices and incredible sales claims. They just don't get the "value" of a well designed, crafted and supported eBike. Total catch 22 - you can't fully understand until you do it but you really can't do it until you understand...

 

[bluegoatwoods]

While I admire those who do their own engineering, I don't have the time or the inclination. Whether it's an e-bike, a pedal bike, or almost anything else, I want to buy something that's halfway to what I want. I'll handle it from there. But I won't be starting from scratch.

 

[shock]

If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Ever heard the phrase " broke like a Chinese motorcycle"

I bought a cheap china 150cc scooter and completely stripped it down and rebuilt it from the frame up because I knew what I was getting into. As others stated, the wiring harnesses are so poor that you literally need to completely remove it and redo the thing with proper solider and heat shrink.

Honestly I think it would be less effort to find a mtn bike and put methods kit on it, rather than start messing with this. That seller probably bought a shipping container full of them for $200 a pop.

 

[ddk]

but you CAN find pretty decent bikes at relatively inexpensive prices.
Re-evaluating my Emoto Trike
cost- ~$1300
came with decently welded aluminum frame
Cro-Mo front fork (recently discovered this- EMoto marketeers claimed it was of aluminum)
aotoma/mxus sensorless geared front hub motor
PAS
throttle
A 9.something A/H lithium battery with built-in BMS, fuse and battery switch (brain-dead simple to recharge)
no lights or turn signals BUT has 4-led read-out of the battery's BMS integrated with a display of the controllers' trouble-shooting leds
uses low-end (yet of decent quality) shimano gears and cranks
what appears to be a standard rear axle/trike assembly (the original one was steel- the replacement part I recently received uses aluminum tubes)
simple to use

-and is considerably less expensive than the trike I'm building
I would have to conclude that Emoto doesn't sell complete junk- except I only own the trike,,, not their other bikes
You can purchase said bikes at various retailers, including Menard's (saw one in a bike shop today)
Emoto's products seem reasonably priced for what they are. (as are Ezip/Izips)

-but they aren't sold by omegastores (a + imho)

 

[dogman dan]

Yes you can. But it just didn't look like this one was it.

The better offerings have tended to be either more expensive, or simpler. Blows my mind how the designers and manufacturers in china think. How much more expensive could it be, to simply make a better wiring harness. Pretty much that's the entire problem, switches that break in 100 cycles, and lousy crimps on super shoddy connectors. One good bump, something disconnects.

 

[Ykick]

I think there's probably too many cooks in the kitchen. Western marketeers, businessmen and importers probably push hard for "bells & whistles" and low prices for these products. Chinese designers/engineers don't wish to be rude so they attempt to comply with requests but must cut corners to do so. By the time these products reach our shores and 250lbs people attempt to use them it's just a mess.

Most folks would probably be better off finding a local craftsman to conjure/assemble what they need much like quality musical instrument supplies, modifications and repairs. Otherwise, it's one size fits all and too many damn cooks spoiling the soup!

 

[miro13car]

dogman,
It DOES cost more to do better harness, every harness would have connector, what connector do you choose?
Automotive type like Delphi /with multiply rubber seals inside and lock preventing disconnect/ cost money, 5 times more minimum than cheap POC.
Mulitistrand RATED /Chinese use non-rated wires/ cost money also.
And who assembly those harnesses, Chinese migrants for minimum low, low wages from villages who bearly know how to solder.
There is Some reading about China manufaturing on Google
I don't know what it means "loose connector" , I never seen one on my Tidal Force or Eplus bikes just as I never seen one loose connector on my Honda.
It is either plugged with click or unplug , there is no such thing as loose.
It is just basic economics - those bikes must be cheap for dealer to make profit and cannot use automotive quality harnesses.

 

[ddk]

et al
It's my opinion the quality of the Chinese-manufactured E-bikes continues improving with every new year

I particularly like the wiring harness on the Emoto
very clean, point-to point wiring with the only connections being for the battery (which is one of the best designs I've seen/used) and one for the motor at the wheel, facilitating easy removal of the front wheel for fixing flats (works as advertised- fixed two flats on the road- no problems) (except with a county not cleaning their roads often enough)
I've never had a connector 'issue' with big bounces/potholes but then again, I've only ridden it every nice day (and some not-so-nice days) since getting it road-worthy mid-November 2011 -some days recharging the battery more than twice.
I considered the contact area of the EMoto's motor connector as being too small, but in hindsight I know that contacts that size are rated for carrying up to 16 amps, which is above the current-limited controller's output
The Ampedbikes geared-hub motor I very recently received (not yet installed) uses the same connector- only it's a sensored motor; i.e having more connections
*knocks on wood*
E-zips and I zips are also well made- although I can state with certainty they are not terribly waterproof.
note: My second Ezip had battery-connector problems -eventually fixed with a warranty-covered replacement part

Actually I almost purchased the EW-88 tricycle which uses a similar dashboard/lights wiring harness setup (from omegastores- free shipping and all that is enticing)
-These dashboards can be sourced through BMS Battery.
GM motors etc... all the same stuff found on many low-cost ebikes and what's supplied in DIY kits

Only three things kept me from choosing that make:
-marketeering speek... marketeering makes ridiculous/ludicrous statements
-only one pedal gear... lol wat? not where I live!
-researching omegastore showed it to be an importer shop with no repair stock or technical support personnel (unlike what their marketeering speek sez)

I know not everyone is willing to use the same search tools or bother investigating the company providing the products they choose on price alone
-but I do

and some people come into forums about what products they have an interest in expecting better insights from those products users.
-can't find any ebike forum supporting the average low-end Chineese-made ebike, yet I've met many happy users of said products (and very few, very unhappy users with most complaints being of the 'underpowered' type)
(HAHA they actually 'believed' the marketeering speek)

 

[Garrick_s]

Don't like kicking dead horses, but I have the chance to pick up two of these (said to be in new condition - have not viewed them yet).
for $650.00 (for both). They do need new batteries (another $140).
And if I get get them for $600 cash + $140 for new batteries = $740 for two of these...

I can fix anything that could go wrong on these.
But with the baskets and back cases, extra side stands and all the crap they throw on these things, I'm having a hard time passing these up.

Great for throwing in the trailer for camping and letting the kids whomp around on.

Heck maybe they'll take $500 cash?

Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[ddk]

i'd buy'em
the motor/parts alone covers (most) the of your monies spent.