eZee Quando or HCL 707

[jerryt]

I finally realize that my brain won’t wrap around all this electrical 2 wheel locomotion stuff and I would be smarter to buy a ready made electric bike or scooter.

What I want is proven reliability, simplicity and craftsmanship; I’m not interested in blazing speed or testing new products.

In particular, I’m looking for honest opinions regarding the eZee Quando folding bike and the HCL 707 scooter. These appeal to me for being small, portable and fun to ride.

The on-line ads say they’re good but I’ve found only a few real life articles and I can’t find anything on this site.

Thanx 4 your help

 

[CGameProgrammer]

Don't buy anything nobody has heard of. Given your requirements, I think perhaps a Goped ESR-750 may be best. It's a 19-mph stand-up (with optional seat) scooter with a range of around 8 miles (there's an extended-range version that goes 12 miles too). It folds up and weighs 50 lbs so you can carry it. You wouldn't want to carry it over any distance but it's portable enough to bring on buses, in car trunks, indoors, etc.

There's a lot of information on it and Goped has been in business for decades, producing gas scooters.

It climbs hills very well too. But I'm sure hills will reduce range even more.

 

[jerryt]

Thanx for you opinion

In particular, I’m looking for honest opinions regarding the eZee Quando folding bike and the HCL 707 scooter

Back on topic, heres some specs on the eZee Quando. A bike that many people have heard of.
Any opinions of which (optional) battery is better.

Electric drive system:
Maximum Speed: 15.6 mph
Range: 20 miles
Weight : 51 lbs including battery
Motor: Brushless Servo motor, peak 500 watt at a continous rating of 250 watts with planetary gears.
Control: Overload protection 16 amps, low voltage protection : 31.5 V
Battery: 36V 10 Ah lithium ion complete with battery management circuit, or 36V 9Ah NiMH battery
Charger: Automatic Smart charger, maximum charge time 5.5 hours
Bike specifications:
Frame : Folding electric bike, Al alloy 7005 T6, CNC folding mechanism
Tires : Kenda 20â€￾ x 2.125â€￾
Rim : Weinmann Al alloy twin wall CNC
Spokes: 13g stainless steel
Brakes: Tektro V-brakes front, Shimano Roller brakes rear
Brake lever: Tektro with electric cut off on braking
Rear Hub : Motor with single speed freewheel
Front fork: Al alloy
Handle bar: Al alloy
Head stem: folding head stem, CNC folding mechanis
Mudguard : Polycarbonate plastics, stainless steel support
Chainwheel : Al alloy chainwheel and guard 52 T and Al alloy crank 150 mm
Chain : KMD RB 51Z corrosion resistant chain
Stand : Al alloy central kick stand.
Rear carrier: : Al alloy
Saddle : Velo 2018S
Seat post: Al alloy
WARRANTY
Frame: For 5 years (60 months) as long as the original purchaser owns the bike.
Batteries: One year (12 months) from purchase
All other components: One year (12 months) from purchase.
eZee bike electric bikes further warrants that any repair or replacement parts supplied will be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase.

 

[fechter]

The HCF 707 (assuming that's what you were looking at) is a pretty good little scooter with a proven track record. It's not a speedster and the lead-acid batteries are not as good as nimh or lithiums.

The 707 has been susccessfully run at 36v by several people, which increses the speed to around 20mph.

I am not familiar with the eZee Quando.

 

[NickF23]

Ezee have a good reputation here in the UK with some of the staff answering questions on their bikes on the UK pedelec forum (http://www.pedelecs.co.uk). There's quite a lot of info on the quando in the archives.

Bare in mind it is a single pedal gear bike with a top speed of 15mph. Might also be worth looking a the ezee forza/forte which are pretty new, faster and have more gears. If you get a chance I'd recommend the nimh battery over the lithium maganese as some people have reported substantial calendar degradation, though a 12 month battery warranty is good thing.

 

[jerryt]

The HCF 707 (assuming that's what you were looking at)

My bad Fechter. Thanks for the correction and for the info on the scoot

I'd recommend the nimh battery over the lithium maganese

Thank you for the link and the heads up Nick. The single speed is ok for my flat territory but I'll certainly look at the Forza/Forte. According to the retailer, the Nickels won't be available on the west coast until the next shipment.

 

[jerryt]

The UK link from Nick is very helpful and shed more light on the Li battery. Heres what the top Quando expert said:

"On the battery choice, I have had trouble with lithium battery exhaustion on sustained climbs in my hilly area causing protection cut out operation with both Torq and Quando, so I always use the NiMh battery on my routes that have long hills. It's not the steepness of climbs but how long they go on that causes the problem, so with that lengthy climb of yours, NiMh is what I'd choose, since that won't cut out. The Liv comes with that anyway.

It's not that the Li-ion batteries are faulty, just their different characteristics. They start at a slightly higher voltage of nominally 37 volts, but drop that sharply under heavy load. The slightly lower voltage NiMh at 36 volts don't drop voltage so sharply under load, so don't get down to the protection cut out point of 32 volts as easily. In an area without very long hills I'd go for Li-ion, but not for where I am. The performance differences are small, and very small in hilly areas."

 

[RobNYC]

I have a Quando fo 3 months now. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Anything else you need to know?

 

[jerryt]

Thanx Rob,
I totally forgot about this post but I bought a Quando in Jan 08. Its been a good bike.

 

[RobNYC]

i didn't realize your post was from last year.

My battery is only warranteed for 6 mos. How about yours? How is the battery/bike holding up?

 

[jerryt]

Same here on warranty on NiMh batt. I returned the first battery due to a case that was cracked but promptly replaced. I also installed a Mircycle mirror and rear panniers for my grocery runs.

Almost immediately, I broke the center stand which was primarily my fault but I believe is a poor welding fault. I removed the stand completely and installed a rear kick-stand which is excellent.

edit: Also the chain guard is a little flexy and will sometimes touch the chain causing a little chatter. Not a big deal and I believe I can prolly heat the plastic and bend it out a little.

OW, the bike is great and i'm really sold on the Bafang motor. It's very torquey and quiet. Just a low growl.

I'm a clydesdale and only get 12-15 mile range on this battery and I usually charge the batt 2 or 3 times per week. I haven't noticed any degradation in power or range yet but when I do, I'll probably order a Lithium replacement battery if and when Sanyo gets their act together.

 

[RobNYC]

I had the same problem with the chainguard. It took me quite a while to discover that you can turn the black joint where the guard attaches to the rear fork and rotate the whole chain guard away from the chain.

 

[jerryt]

Thanx for the tip RobNYC. Works like a charm.