Electric Bikes - Izip Trailz Enlightened Hybrid Electric Bike

I bought this bike 1 month ago and am not having the best of luck with it. The first thing that happened is the second day I rode it I got a flat on the back tire. I was close to the bike shop so I took it there for them to fix. When taking off the back wheel, the mechanic noticed the back right axle where you remove the outside bolt, the thread on the axle was stripped. Then told me the hole was in the tube and not the tire. He told me it looked like there was something rough on the inside metal of the wheel that caused it.
I called Currie and they are going to send me another wheel. It's coming from China so it might take awhile.
After getting the tire fixed, I rode my bike and the power assist stopped working. Called Currie, it's a bad controller. Got the controller today, they send me the wrong one. Now I have to wait some more.
The bike is spending more time idle than used because of these problems. I like the bike WHEN it is working.
I wonder if all Currie bikes are this bad quality

A great deal of prebuilt electric bikes are of questionable quality, hardly just an isolated incident. At the very least though, it sounds like you're getting support which is good to hear. Some companies make life miserable for their clients (read victims), stringing them around for a long time after the truth about their new vehicle comes to light.

There are actually a lot of people out there who have had bad experiences with their entry into the EV world, I was one of them too, but also had help from the dealer so things smoothed out in the end.

Hope your Izip works out for you though!

my currie ezip got that back flat tire the first day i rode it,i checked the rim and discovered it is the way rim is made it has a split at the join and no weld, that pinches the tire so i ran tape around the rim and that fixed it,boy what a job it is to fix a back flat on these currie setups and curry give you virtually no info on how to remove the motor and back wheel,it really is a two man job.

Yes, luckily the man at the bike shop figured it out how to take off that back wheel. I watched him so I could see how it was done. As far as instructions how to do it, there are none.
Finding out where the controller was located and what it looked like was also a learning experience for me.
So far the tech people have had no problems sending me replacement parts. But a month in and having these problems is making me wonder what else will go wrong.
I also have a ElecTrec electric bicycle which has given me no problems as of yet. But so far this Izip has me wondering how far I can ride and have it leaving me stranded.

Maybe...this is all the more reason to go with a kit to convert a normal bike than to buy a complete budget setup.

But it was on Living with Ed with Ed Begley JR ;)
Not sure why but that kinda turned me off to the whole thing. You would think a purpose built electric bike would be better then a conversions. In THEORY that is true with full size Electric vehicles also but in practice you usually get a really corners cut weird orphaned vehicle with unique parts that if something goes wrong you wait forever to get fixed, if the company is still around.

Maybe...this is all the more reason to go with a kit to convert a normal bike than to buy a complete budget setup.
So far from my experience, you are probably right.

But it was on Living with Ed with Ed Begley JR ;)

Yea, I'd challenge Ed Begley to a race with my Izip if I was able to ride it but I can't because it don't have a controller and rear wheel on it yet and it's a month old!
I bet if Ed was reading this, he can work out an exchange this lemon for a 2008 model but will he? noooooooooo
I'm not listening to Ed Begley Jr. anymore

So far from my experience, you are probably right.

This is the big conclusion that a lot of people have reached. The thing is, when you get a conversion kit you're getting the knowledge that the kit is what it is, people have tested these thoroughly. For the most part, Wilderness Energy, Heinzmann, BionX, and Crystalyte are all built anywhere from solid/reliable to "rolling masterpiece", and some provide different options for building *your* bike, not someone's idea of one. There are also non-hub motors that work great, like etek or stokemonkey.

On the other hand, when you're getting a prebuilt kit, there are far more of these out there than there are kits themselves with nowhere near the same level of user-end testing and experience, and you don't always know the whole of the componentry. A great deal of them are underpowered, poorly designed, poorly built, or just plain not fun to ride.

The worst part is, that for the price of a lot of these ones you can go out and build your own e-bike for the same money with a lot more meat on it. Well, not meat, although I guess if you wanted to ride the steakmobile it would be possible. How much power does it take to sizzle a 19oz sirloin?

i to get allot of problems with mine. bent rear axles 2 so far. a month after i got it the rims at the weld
whent bad. i have replaced all the parts but the currie motor. i worked 10 years in a bike store so repairs
are cheap for me. if i didnt fix bikes i would have kicked it to the curb. allready :)

apart from no weld on the join in rim my bike has been running fine,i didnt know alot about ebikes when i bought it but am learning,i am thinking about changing my motor soon as 200 watts aint too great but i do like the currie type setup,i think once i put a 750 watt motor and go get me some new lithium batteries this thing here will fly up hills.am considering the super bmc 750 watt motor brushless.i have looked a quiet a few setups and they all have advantages and disavatanges.i was gunna try hubs but decided they were just too heavy.anyone else seen a rim join with no weld before?

750 watts is a lot on an ebike and will eat up your batteries faster than a digital camera. If you want decent range you may want to look at something in between. Pedaling can help you fly also and keep the spare tire around the waist in check :)

mmm ok so i need to go abit lower to keep my range.who sells a good currie,or lashout type motor?

Some of the guys over on the endless-sphere forum have upped the voltage to the Currie with good results . Maybe worth a visit and browse.

UPDATE: This an update on how things are going with my IZIP. Rehashing of what problems I had, one day I was out riding and the pedal assist just stopped working. Called Currie tech support and the man said the problem is the controller so they sent me another one. I received the correct controller for my IZIP yesterday and put it on my bike. Still don't work. Oh well. I will call Currie today and see what they say.
In case you wondering what the controller looked like. I attached a picture.

that sucks it looks like its a sealed unit.

Yea, I called Tech support today and I'm going to be sending the bike back to them. They are either going to fix all of what needs to be fixed or send me a new bike.

sounds like you got the lemon of the batch,my controler is a sealed one too but my ezip still runs ok just still very slow and lacks power,am in the process of doing some mods,these bikes would have been awsome with a 450 watt 36 volt motor.had a look all over the net and currie spares are very rare,i may even put another motor on mine and make up a new bracket.i am defiantley gunna up the voltage 24 volts aint great.i can run faster.

Yea, this Izip is fun to ride when it worked. I do think I've got a lemon of the bunch. Their 2008 bikes are coming with Lithium-ion batteries

were my rims lemons with no weld around the joins?i aint seen that before either lol,must be a new chinese way of doing rims is it?i am looking now to buy a fast scooter now i found out a little more about these things i new basically nothing when i bought the ezip i do know anything around 200 watts and 24 volts is just too bloody slow to be practical ,we do got hills and fast traffic about we need to deal with

Search function is your freind.

Pinned rims are fine:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=177700

Mike, pinned rims normally serve pretty well, the difference in performance between the different designs are pretty small as long as the quality remains a constant. Welded is a little smoother and a little stronger, but its not a night/day case. Something like a poorly done seam, or poorly tightened spokes however, totally different story: these sorts of things can cause tons of problems, was the wheel properly set up?

Blippo, it sounds good that they're going to try and do some honor towards your purchase though. There are people who end up buying these units, find out that they're no good, but then *also* find out that there's no help to be had.

Abneycat, yea, so far they have been good that way

did u buy this at walmart..Im interested to know as I am "eyeballing" the Workman e-trike there..really hard to find info on walmart e-bikes..I have bought enuff stuff from them to know the quality isnt the priority on most of thier goods..but then they take returns..but not on something like an e-bike I would bet

I didn't get my bike from Walmart. I bought it from Amazon.com.