Cozy Tech is a series dedicated to showcasing some of the cool stuff I use every day. In this post I want to highlight a integral part of my daily commute: the Juiced Bikes u350/u500 electric bike. I mention both models because both the u350 and u500 use the exact same step-over frame. The only difference between the two is down to things such as the wattage on the motor, the transmission, as well as small things like fenders and higher quality braking mechanisms. I use the u500 version. As with all electric bikes in the US, it has a top speed of 20 miles per hour, though you can go much faster than that with some pedaling. It has a twist throttle to start the motor and reacts as soon as you twist it. It is also a very smooth and steady ride as it slowly gets up to top speed. It also has a cruise control function On the back of its large cargo rack houses the battery, which you can upgrade from 15ah all the way up to a whopping 32ah, which can get you close to 100 miles on a single charge. I opted for the 23ah version as the 32ah version was too steep of a price to afford. I like that the motor is placed on the front tire as it allows for the bike to have even weight distribution while carrying the almost 70-pound frame. But the killer feature for me is the support. Juiced Bikes has some of the best support I have ever dealt with from any company including Amazon. They are very responsive and they will help you with any issue with the bike that you come across. Even before I purchased the bike they helped me with figuring out the pros and cons of buying whichever bike. They even gave me a discount when I bought the 23ah battery, which they did not have to do since I was already buying the bike but it really sweetened the deal. All in all it is a great bike and if you can bear the price (the u350 starts at 1500, with the u500 starting at 2,000) it is well worth the investment.
**UPDATE**
8 Months later.
I have used this bike for the last 8 months now and it is still the best investment I have made. It doesn't look as clean anymore, but it still holds up. The modular nature of the bike has become the killer feature for me. Even though the bike is waterproof, I seemed to have gotten water in one of the connectors and since then the cruise control has stopped functioning. In addition, the bike would randomly not throttle or throttle when I wouldn't want it to. After some diagnosing, I found that one of the connections in the battery indicator had water damage, which caused the issue. Normally, this would mean I would have to now go and attempt to get it fixed at a bike shop which would involve quite a bit of work (in New York, it’s incredibly hard to find someone that will service your bike if it is electric). But since every part of the bike is a series of interconnected cables that disconnect from each other, all I had to do is disconnect the cable that goes to the battery indicator and Viola! Working bike. Yes, I don't know how much power I have left in my battery and I can’t use cruise control, but I have a functional bike until it is time to replace that connector, which is as simple as getting new cables for that section of the bike. Very cozy.