Currie does have ebikes with hub motors

S

starrunner

New Member
I think they've been using hub motors for a couple years now, but yesterday, someone in chat posted a link to an I-zip Enlightened Urban Cruiser sold online at Walmart.com. Another user insulted me beyond belief when I simply said that the motor on the bike in the link was a hub motor. They claimed Currie bikes don't have hub motors. Walmart's description was very lacking so I posted another link to the bike on another site that gave more details and it did say it was a hub motor. I was told the description had to be wrong. I just said the bike (the I-zip) in the link's pic had a hub motor but I was still met with very degrading insults. So the bottom line is that Currie indeed does use hub motors on some bikes and their website even goes into great details on them, has complete assembly manuals and more. But I was told descriptions are often wrong. I can't imagine why a major company like Currie would show all those pics of a hub motor and give all those details if it didn't really exist. They do have lithium-ion batteries but don't appear to have any more range than the Ezips or Izip Trailz with SLA batteries. The bikes are way too expensive to not have better range, so the Ezip is still the best buy. You could buy 3 ezips or Trailz bikes for the price of an I-zip Enlightened.
I-Zip on currietech.com
I-Zip on walmart.com
 

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I'm sorry if someone insulted you. That is not how this forum is supposed to work. A discussion can be held without it getting out of hand.

I personally had no idea that Currie made a hub motor. I am surprised but not shocked. I have a hub motor from a chinese seller on ebay, and several of the currie motors 3 600 watt ones and one 500 watt. I find the brushed motors superior in every way, except looks.

The hub motor's biggest advantage, in my opinion, is that it would appeal to the novice for it's lack of tackyness more than anything else. In performance I don't find mine as good as a brushed motor with a friction drive of the same wattage.
 
It was actually in chat and not on the forum. They behave much differently there and I've seen this guy throw tantrums several times. I was just giving factual information with valid links, wasn't trying to dominate anything. Oh well.
The Currie hub motors are somewhat smaller than the Crystalytes etc. so in some pictures, you can't even tell the bike has a motor at all. I noticed they use them mostly, if not exclusively, on the bikes that have the batteries inside the frame's front downtube. I wonder what kind of chore it is replacing those batteries. I guess I won't be finding out anytime soon since those bikes are way overpriced considering their range is no better than their cheaper bikes.
 
If I went with the currie bike from walmart which I could afford, I would still have to change the battery system and motor. I think they are under powered and the battery system just looks way too top heavy. It is also a ten ah I think which i would not like.

I am about to replace a 12 ah system with one using double 7ah to achieve 14ahs. Somehow the doubled up batteries seem to be far superior in performance to the only slightly smaller 12ah system.

I think you can buy a 400 watt motor that will fit the curry ebike chain driven at tnc and then run 36watts through it. You might have to change the controller but it should work. Still I prefer my rhino friction drive. Just taste I guess. I have never put a thino on a bike with gears. I might just have to do that one day. It wouldn't be hard. The reason I never have is that I usually can get a good gear ration with a chain ring change and I don't pedal a great deal. It might be worth the build to test how much range I can get by pedaling more. A set of gears would be good for that I expect.
 
deacon said:
If I went with the currie bike from walmart which I could afford, I would still have to change the battery system and motor. I think they are under powered and the battery system just looks way too top heavy. It is also a ten ah I think which i would not like.

I am about to replace a 12 ah system with one using double 7ah to achieve 14ahs. Somehow the doubled up batteries seem to be far superior in performance to the only slightly smaller 12ah system.

I think you can buy a 400 watt motor that will fit the curry ebike chain driven at tnc and then run 36watts through it. You might have to change the controller but it should work. Still I prefer my rhino friction drive. Just taste I guess. I have never put a thino on a bike with gears. I might just have to do that one day. It wouldn't be hard. The reason I never have is that I usually can get a good gear ration with a chain ring change and I don't pedal a great deal. It might be worth the build to test how much range I can get by pedaling more. A set of gears would be good for that I expect.
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You mean you're going to wire the 7ah batteries in parallel? That's the only way to double the amps otherwise if you wire in series, you'll still have only 7ah. Or at least, that's my understanding on batteries.
 
Yes two batteries parallel then two sets of two wired in series.. 24v 14ah 4 batteries in all
 
Deacon why do you prefer brush motors over brushless? It would seem the brushless would be superior with no brushes to wear out, just curious.
 
bandito said:
Deacon why do you prefer brush motors over brushless? It would seem the brushless would be superior with no brushes to wear out, just curious.
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I have never worn out the brushes in a motor yet. I think in a scooter motor you would have to run it for a long time to wear the brushes out. If I ever had to replace one I might feel differently. I have read about sensors that go bad in a brushless motor and I burned up a controller. I had to go all over the world to find a brushless controller and it was four times more expensive than a brushed one would have been.

From what I see the brush motor is less expensive to buy. I think it might also be a little stronger running based on my 350 brushed and brushless motor comparison. That wasn't scientific the brushless is a hub and the brushed was on a rhino friction drive.

I guess it really is a distrust of new things lol....
 
Im not an electrical expert by any means but back in the day Ive changed many brushes on car starters and alternators with the rebuild kits you could buy. It was cheaper to fix it than to replace it with a rebuilt. Now I just buy a rebuilt or new depending on warranty and price. I snagged my thumbs many times with those killer springs holding the brushes on starters trying to set the brushes through that tiny access port at the end of a starter lol.
 
I never rebuilt a starter but i have seen it done. I think if these little scooter motor brushes last as long as a starter motor, replacing them for under fifty bucks is a deal. The last few 600watt motors i bought were well under 50... Those darn hub motor of the same size are about 300 to 600 hundred dollars.

In the case of the rhino drive I can pull that motor and replace it with one like it in an hour. I just don't have the money to replace hub motors and I sure don't have the patience to take them apart and replace hall sensors. they seem to go bad now and then. I don't even know where one would buy them.

The other thing that is going bad on me lately is the darn throttles. They are hall effect as well as the brushless motor. The old wire pots are not used as throttle but I understand a 5k ohm would work. I have never tried it but I might someday.
 
I was in the middle of the imfamous flame throwin...the other guy owns one of these and if there was pies being thrown they was goin both directions. The word lie was used more than once which is pretty strong for a nice chat eh? Just as a side note the other guy (Robert) drove over an hour to take me out to lunch and refused to even let me pay for fuel or food...this subject barely was mentioned by ME...apparently one of you two grown men got over it LOL
 
Well I got no dog in the fight, but I did learn something about Currie bikes. Learning is always a good thing. Nobody will ever know too much.
 
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