FAQ

Unfortunately e-bikes have been getting some bad press due to thermal runaway events recently.  In the majority of these cases the bicycles in question caught on fire for one of these reasons:  1) Damage to the battery container 2) Inaccurate controller settings 3) Inaccurate Charger safety settings resulting in overcharge. 4) In general cheaper products with little or no quality control and/or mismatched batteries with motors/controllers. 5) using a charger not meant for that battery.

A brand new Lithium battery on a bike is perfectly safe and in fact they can be shipped relatively easily new. (except by air)  Once the bike is ridden over time with shocks and drops, etc one can damage the battery.  Read our manual to see what will break your warranty in terms of proper bike usage.  If you ride normally and not in the range of extremes follow the proper servicing and charging protocols you are going to have a safe battery for many years – perhaps a decade or more!

Our bikes are manufactured with these International standards:

EN-14764-2005

EN15194 – 2009

This is a unique feature of our Tandem that you are not going to find many other places.  Most Tandems have cranks that are synched or tied together with the chain. Meaning that the Captain needs to tell the Stoker  pedal right up or pedal left up each time starting a bike.  They also need to communicate when they are starting momentum.  If they don’t the stoker will receive Shin bruises.

With our independent crank system the Stoker and Captain can start pedaling any place and any time they want.  The Stoker can contribute or rest any time they want as well.

Due to the way we engineered our bike for frame integrity, there is a limitation on the length of seat post protruding from the seat post on top of the battery.  We want to protect the battery from mishaps so we make our Captain height at 5’7 so the seat will not to be lowered too near the battery.

However, your local bike shop can handily cut the bike seat post shaft down so that it can be lowered farther.  Keep in mind, once this is done you have limited the height allowance for that seat post for any other rider.

We have spare seat posts we can sell you at cost plus shipping if needed.

As Lithium Ion batteries are a relatively new technology conclusive statistics are not as yet readily available on battery life.  It is worth noting however that some batteries made a decade ago with decade old technology are still powering e-bikes!

We warranty our batteries for 2 years with proper care and maintenance.  This by no means indicates you are going to need to buy a new battery in two years however!  The battery is the single most expensive component on your e-bike and we want you to get many years of use for your investment.

Ways that you can diminish your battery life is by consistently running your battery to its lowest output point and then charging it up.  If you do this on a regular basis your battery life will diminish.

The best practice is to charge your battery every time it gets to no less than 30% output and as soon as it is fully charged (usually 3.5 hours) unplug it!

 

 

Not inside your house!  Charge your battery in a covered area or garage.  For extra caution the best is to remove the battery from the bike and charge it on the cement floor by itself with no combustible materials near it.

Do not charge in temperatures below freezing or above 122F/50C

After a full charge (3.5 hours usually) unplug the charger.

NEVER leave a charger plugged into your battery overnight!  If you must, purchase a timer for your outlet so that the charger will no longer get energy supply after 4 hours.

We also recommend keeping a fire extinguisher and bucket in the garage or place where you are charging in case of a thermal runaway.  Highly unlikely but better safe than sorry.  The extinguisher is to be used initially but then water must be dumped on the battery to get it cooled down, that’s why you should have a bucket handy.

There are a number of differences from ordinary bike ownership to consider when buying a Tandem.   The bike is very long so will require more space in storage.  You will need to get special rack to carry the bike on your car.  We recommend the upright type and we have a link for that in our accessories section.

You will need to discuss with your riding partner who is to be the captain and who is to be the stoker.  Captain being the front rider and controlling the steering, starting, throttle and brake.  The stoker is simply enjoying the ride and helping the captain pedal.

There is a lot of fun communication going on as you ride!  You will be enjoying the same sights and sounds together and have time to catch up on all that is going on in your lives.  The Captain will learn to forewarn the stoker about changes he is planning in the ride like “stop pedalling” when getting ready to stop “going to use the throttle” when they see an approaching hill or just getting tired.  We are sure over time the two of you will come up with your own special verbage! 🙂

Most bike dealerships can repair a Tandem bike and are versed on some systems that are different such as eccentric type bottom brackets, longer chains and longer cable systems.  No worries there.

More and more dealerships are joining the Call2Recycle program and if your favorite shop is not we will help you find one.  There are special handling and shipping procedures that they have been trained in to safely get your battery to the recycling plant.  DO NOT place your battery is the garbage!  At TandemEZ we pay for the disposal of the batteries we sell on our bikes through the Call2Recycle progam.

Assuming normal use conditions:

Frames and Fork – 1 Year

Electrical components – 2 years with proper care and maintenance.

All other components – 7 months

Two answers for this one.  Rainy weather for a time is fine but storms and blowing water is not.  It is best not to allow the battery or controller box to be completely soaked in water.  While they do have some weather resistance they are not waterproof.