priu

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get a few questions answered about a recumbent I'm interested in... the sun EZ-1 AX. I'm seriously considering getting a modified electric one from ecospeed.net (have an upright Th!nk bike Fun, and a pretty cheap, standard mountain bike). I plan on using it as my shorter-distance commuter, as I was doing with my uprights before the cold hit.

How is this bike for beginners [to recumbents]?

As far as transporting one goes... I can fit my mountain bike (w/ the front wheel off and the rear seat down) in my Prius hatchback... but can I do the same for an EZ-1 AX? (this is key!) Do the seats come off easily? How about the front wheel?

Anyone have any experience with ecospeed?

Thank you very much!

Tom Bombadil

I've given one a test ride, and did a little research on it in the past. It's a nice little bent, several pounds lighter than the SX version. The SX is aimed at the recreational, intro rider. But a lot of bent owners have one for riding around the neighborhood. The AX is nicer, with better components. It has gotten good reviews and usually holds a lot of resale value. I found it very easy to ride and it was a nice climber.

Haven't tried taking off wheels or seats, so I can't comment there.

priu

Thank you for the info!

priu

Just thought I'd give an update for any who were curious - or if somebody ever wanted the info...

I got a used EZ1-SX recumbent... the previous owner modified it w/ a 20" front wheel, a full fairing, and few other mods. With both rear seats folded, the fairing and 20" front wheel (w/ quick release - not sure about the standard 16") taken off, it fits into the Prius (spaceship looking one, dunno about the older "Classic" model).

I'm in the process of researching electric kits... so far it's looking like ecospeed (ecospeed.net) vs a crystalite phoenix racer 4840 (electricrider.com). I will update when I get it installed and run it around! I'm sure some would be interested in hearing how it runs and whatnot.

Before I get the sarcastic comments... I live in a VERY hilly area - and getting an electric bike will get me to places that I would normally take a car and not my main bike (very low end canondale mountainbike). Plus I love my car and won't push it - and so I'm looking for something more environmentally concscious that's a total blast to ride to take away stress from school.

From what I've heard so far, either of these kits will make this thing a frickin' speed demon!

priu

Theoretically speaking... w/ the 600W ecospeed the recumbent will hit 25 mph w/ no pedalling... and 27-28 mph on the crystalite w/ no pedalling. The crystalite is a hub motor... it's cheaper and has a higher top speed than the ecospeed... but the SLA kit is A LOT heavier (but they are getting lithium powered kits soon - which should cut the weight down to 20 lbs). The advantage of the ecospeed is weight (by far), and a system that's geared w/ the bike... the disadvantage being cost... and it would it be about 6 weeks till I get it. There's a 750W motor - and I can't begin to fathom how ridiculously fast that thing would be.