bought one - ezip - "falling prices" but very inconsistent

I am now the owner of a new eZip. Spent 3 or 4 hours of driving to get it but hopefully I will have some fun with it.

As of today, Wal-mart has the mens version listed at $497 on line. I 'almost' was going to just order it but there were two stores and in slightly different directions that claimed to have one. So its saturday, its nice out I went for a drive. I picked the store to visit first in Effingham, IL 50 miles west of me. BIgger town that the other store so thought it would have the better deal.

I walked back to bikes and I see one mens bike. With a $268 sticker "AS IS" on it. Looked it over, It did not have a charger had been returned by a customer. Absolutely no way to verify whether the returning customer had fried anything. I cant believe they took it back without the charger or at least would put it on the floor w/o it. So forget that.

I decided to try store 2 in Olney, IL 38 miles from Effingham and basically southeast from there. I ended up driving a nice triangle

I walk into the Olney store. I swear for a smaller town they had twice as many of all kinds of bicycles. There were 3 womens eZips up high, 1 or 2 more womens eZips on the ground and I could only find one mens eZip on the ground. These were all new with the appropriate charger box strapped to the back.

PRICE: $250.00 sold. I ended up buying a queen size heavy blanket from the red tag aisle for $5 and some allen wrenches(didnt think to bring mine). I had regular wrenches in the car as I knew that if I got one I would need to disassemble it some to fit in the car.

I had a inverter with me so on the drive home I put the battery in the front seat with me and started it on its charging.

WHen I got home I reassembled the bike and took it for a short ride without the battery on it just to see how the gearing was in "man" mode. It is okay for what I intended. About sunset the battery had been on the charger for 6 hours and I wanted to at least see if the electronics would light up. Put the battery on the side it had been setup with. Seems like that side the contacts ma have a problem as bouncing on the white rock driveway it was obviously intermittent.

I swapped the battery to the other side and went for a short 1 mile ride. No problem with the battery breaking contact. Did a couple of short powered bursts just to see what it sounded like and how it did. Battery is back on the charger to get a full charge.

Now about my falling prices comment. It is nice to know that the big W has falling prices, but it is more than annoying that they cant make them fall consistently.

summary: 3 different wal-mart sources had 3 extremely different prices. Web at 497, Effingham a returned bike in unknown condition w/o a charger for 268(I called my wife while I was there and she told me to talk to the manager and offer them $100 but I wanted something that stood a chance of being functional without a bunch of work the first time out). and then the Wal-mart in the middle of nowhere with the best prices of 250 on all their eZips.

Sure makes me wonder who decides how to set the prices.

Next task get a front rack mounted to it so i can get a decent headlight as I ride at night more than I do in the daylight, a lot cooler.

Not sure what to think about the side that the battery didnt seem to seat properly, any other eZip owners out there experienced that one?

bob wd9eka
marshall, IL

zabac70 said:

Good luck with your new ride! Since you want to ride at night , get the LED lights , as much as you can (brake/rear lights also).

Click to expand...

I'll have to check out what is available. Been riding a Gitane my dad bought new in the early 70's and gave to me in the mid 80's. The Gitane is barely recognizable. He widened the frame out to fit 26" +2 inch balloon tires. So it sort of looks like a mountain bike with a really short wheel base and drop down racing bars.

I actually have two sets of head and tail lights on it run off a 6 volt gell cell. I was considering just moving the better set to the eZip along with the front rack. I've not looked at a bike supply catalog in years.

The one thing that became obvious on the short ride last night. "MUST HAVE TOE CLIPS" I have not seriously ridden a bike that was clipless since I was 13(36 years ago). It just feels wrong not having my feet secured.

bob
Marshall, IL

Well it impressed me today. My 13 year old son is an inch taller than me, weighs about the same as me a great swimmer but I cant get him to exercise regularly for upping his endurance. He rides but never any distance a few miles at best at a time.
Asked him if he wanted to take a ride to 'grandmas' 13 miles one way. He was game for it so we gooped up with sunscreen I threw extra water in my side bag on the Gitane.

I decided to let him ride the eZip since he would more likely need the assist. I had him leave the batteries off until we were about 3 miles from my Mom's when he was starting to get draggy. there are a couple of killer hills there. Short but steep. Maybe 300 to 400 feet of road and elevation change of about 80 feet.

He is a sharp kid, understands electronics and told him if he wasted the limited power for playing he would have to work harder to get home.. He used it to help up the big hill and beat me ending up being 150 feet in front of me.

rested for an hour or so before heading home. He ended up using up most of the battery on the return 13 mile trip sparingly using it on the hills. Told him after the last big hill before our place its about 3/4 mile home from that. Told him he could just motor it the distance from the hill if there was anything left. He ended up with an easy ride for the last section.

So I am impressed. THe bike let a kid not used to riding more than a mile or two able to ride 26 miles. We were both tired but I know he would not have been able to make it round trip without the assist.

I may be using the eZip more for a family riding partner that needs a little help going further than for myself. I hadnt planned it that way but after todays ride I might actually to take some company with me on some medium rides.

bob
Marshall, IL