Yes it's certainly getting cold, even here in Florida. Glad you're liking the Wired.

I'm glad it was a simple fix for you!

I'm really happy with the fit-and-finish, and performance of the Wired Cruiser.

Stay tuned for future videos ;-)

My opinion, and those expressed by other viewers, is that indeed this is an unbiased review. And yes, to draw attention to the two items that were ordered but not delivered, I highlighted those with red boxes.

@@WilliamBennerJr Please don't misunderstand me. I appreciate knowing about how e-cells treated you. I was just about to order their AWD Monstar and now I'm not sure it's a good move. I'm doubtful. I've seen CEO David in other videos and if he wore a plaid sportscoat and loud tie I'd swear he was a 1960's used car salesman. It appears that 26" wheels wouldn't fit that bike's 16" frame (not enough clearance) but David didn't know that and gave you bad information. Either way, he lied. I've had a similar buying experience with a (supposedly) reputable store. It's not fun. Anyway, I just meant that your e-cells seat is close to the rear rack because of your seat post; the e-cells controller will run cooler being mounted outside; if you take the bottle cage off the e-cells it'll have more step-through room; rock shox are good quality and you just need to set it for your weight with about 20% compression; how the shock lever is balanced can give it more leverage and more rear wheel travel; if 1 fender screw fits one side of the fork without falling out, the other side should also fit. You know, things like that. The E-cells website doesn't show options when ordering now and it's just not professionally done. The way you were cheated is something everyone should be made aware of and I appreciate knowing about it. I hope it works out for you.

@@garyderoy Thanks for the clarification and other comments. Regarding your point about the seat post, yes that does scoot the seat back a bit. Good observation! And I'm not sure it's a situation where David Cleveland didn't know. In email number 3 he correctly stated that "Zig Zags are 4x26 inch". The problem is, this shouldn't have been a selectable option on the website at the time of order, because it wasn't applicable to that bike. It was a problem with the website. But that shouldn't all of the sudden become my problem. They had several opportunities to catch it, during the early order process and just before delivery. During phone call number 6 they admitted it was their fault and they should have caught it. Shortly after that, on November 4, David Cleveland promised to get back to me "the next day" but simply didn't, despite several follow-ups from me, which were confirmed by their people. I'm not sure why they're taking that approach to customers. At no point in my numerous communications with them did I ever raise my voice or act unreasonable. I'd just like a partial refund for the options that were not included.

@@garyderoy By the way, Wired has this "Preditor" model which appears to me to be superior to their Monstar. Have you looked at that one?

@WilliamBennerJr yes. My choice was between the Predator and Monstar. There's no tax or delivery on the Monstar so it's $400 or $500 cheaper, probably, but price isn't really an issue for me. I just don't want to throw it away. I'm a retired engineer and architect. The Monstar design looks a little better to me and there have been a couple frame (stress) issues with Predator, especially around the rear rack. The problem is David Cleveland. I've seen reports of him being a hot head. Most people are happy with Wired customer service, but some people reported being mistreated or dismissed with the wobble issue. I'm happy with my Ariel Rider Kepler for most of my riding. It's stable and hits 41 mph. But there are times now that I'll want dual batteries and AWD. I wish Ariel Rider would make that bike and it looks like they will. I just don't know when.

There is no dispute per se. During phone call number 6, which took place October 30, they admitted that they didn't ship what was ordered, and that there were several opportunities to correct this before the bike was shipped. On November 4, David Cleveland sent me an email stating he would contact me "tomorrow" to resolve this. Since then, no communication despite several follow-ups from me -- the receipt of which were confirmed. Based on the comments from other KZbinrs, and also their behavior on BBB, they seem to believe if they just "go silent", that customers will just go away.

@@WilliamBennerJr Thats too bad, but it does sound like theyre hoping you give up. They likely dont have the items to correct this, as clued by the major reduction of options on wbpg, so they are just ghosting you. Its too bad they dont know their customer base better, as we are all quite reasonable in not expecting perfection always, but ignoring us is no bueno, regardless of product! Im glad you chose to not wait for Ecells to go ahead and get the Wired. That would make it worse for your sanity and even more infuriating imo! Its really too bad (Im aware Ive said that 3 times in this short post, but it fits), because Ecells used to have exemplary reputation, but mainly when they were selling the dual motor beasts (with the corresponding beastly price tags, higher profit margin). I still hope they make it right, maybe when stock comes in, but they should never ghost people. As you stated importantly in your video, supporting customer service matters significantly! I accept that I may have to deal with some minor issues from shipping but c'mon Ecells or any other outfit ignoring customer issues! Thanks for the reply!

@@WilliamBennerJrThat’s exactly what David has done to me about the broken rack for the triple crown 3000 !! He just goes silent and hopes you’ll go away !! Then gets mad when you insist he keeps his promise !!!

I think your assessment above is spot on. The problem customers face is that the hype works! Before dealing with Ecells directly and before purchasing the Wired, I believed Ecells was the better company. I wasn't aware that Ecells was making a big deal of the wobble. After all, Citizen Cycle showed how this can happen to any bike, based on weight distribution. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaG9g613rLOorc0

@@WilliamBennerJr Very true. Hype does work. I understand why your pov on Ecells was good, before your issues. I had the same pov for a time, months ago, before Freedom 24+ had released. They did/do have a good rep, and well earned until the competition bug hit him, then the issues started imo. I have a slightly different perspective of the Wobble issue because Im coming to a period a month or two before Citizen did that wobble video. I think the 24+ Wired had just started to ship to people (the Freedom, the Cruiser still hadnt) thus the Wobble issue starting to be talked about (not by Ecells yet, as I think this is when the idea came to him that this could boost their sales?) and there absolutely was a wobble, and it was pretty bad... BUT at higher speed with no hands. Mine had it, still has it. I have the Hellbender, I just dont find the wobble (more of a shimmy) to be bad enough to mess with! I think Citizen video was great and it put the wobble issue into perspective for people, and confirmed that Ecells was misleading people on its severity. I believe that Citizen made that video in response to the embellishment by Ecells and his posse of youtubers, although he never named them or anyone outright. I may be slightly embellishing how bad this actually was myself, but its how I rememeber it! I remember being in the same shoes as you, but it was maybe a few months before Wired started shipping Freedom 24+ and I was comparing the 2 products (Wired vs 5star) thinking 'oh wow, ecells has free shipping, they have options beside color, THE TORQUE SENSOR, and theyve been in business for 5 yrs' (which is 3+ yrs longer than wired at that time). Wired had a few youtubers do reviews I think but it didnt seem like they were paid (maybe Citizen, idk?) but then all the youtubers, started reviewing 5 stars and doing it in a light that felt like they were denigrating the Freedom for no reason (but very low key at it) which eventually it all came to me that I think Ecells is paying these guys? I could be wrong, but Im not alone in thinking this! So I still had an even mind for Wired/Ecells but then I found a few posts about Ecells going after Wired for people getting hurt (which never happened, as far as I could find), then I heard about a DC being very loud and harsh to people who were criticizing his product, and I saw more of this going forward, and all these dots that I didnt even realize I was seeing, all started to connect. It all clicked when I realized many of these death wobble videos were from the same several youtubers, that were/are very much acting like Ecells pushers. All this was further confirmed for me when more recently I went back to see a few of those videos and I couldnt find them, almost like they were never there. Same for those harsh comments from DC, poof, gone. Im sure youve seen some videos by StayConnectedwithEVs. He was the biggest perpetrator imo. Like I said, Im ok with marketing hype and all that, but misleading people is another thing and they kept it going long after the wobble issue was solved with the Hellbender, they were still fearmongering about the deadly death wobble. Im just not ok with that level of deceit, even though its part of everyday life these days, in many diff respects. Ill tell you, it reminds me alot of our current media landscape where an outlet or an online show can say whatever they 'believe' and tell it as fact, regardless of sides or what is actually real, all without any accountability, but the part thats missing is the ability/effort of the people to see through it by way of research, but were all so busy and short on time unfortunately. I still thoroughly believe the company Ecells makes solid bikes, and the employees are great, I think when the owner isnt being an obstructionist, they are probably good at customer support too, or they used to be. Its really just Ecells owner DC that went down the 'competition rabbithole' a bit too far, and mayve taken the company with him, maybe passed a point of no return? I can understand how that type of competition might take over a person, for a short time, but he kept it going for so long and it was all a matter of timing because Ecells was always a month or so behind Wired, when so all DC was trying to do was cause enough doubt so people would come to Ecells, and it worked but not to a detrimental effect for Wired (who never respond of acknowledge any of the drama, they just keep making bikes! Thats why Im a Wired guy but I wasnt when all that drama was occurring. It was seeing the 'dirty' tactics that helped me make the choice and made it easy, not to mention Im close enough to Chicago to drive over and pick it up saving me $250+ and the worry of a lazy ass delivery driver rolling my bike end over end, which I have seen in person before. Thats kindve messed up huh. Anyway, WOWZERS, Im sorry this turned into a longgg reply. I just wanted to explain a bit (or alot a bit it seems🤦‍♂) but there is no need for a reply unless you really want to. It was really nice to see a comparison video like this which will help some people for sure so good on you. I really think (and hope) that Ecells will eventually sort out your issue, but itll be awhile. Id definitely send them an email weekly, just so they cant 'forget' about you! Enjoy your bikes. Theyre both nice! Have a good rding season!

@@Whoadayson Thanks for your comments and additional background information. I generally agree on all points.

Yes, that bike looks like a real beast!

Im sure your aware, but just in case, be careful on that front wheel when accelerating in turns. Itll wash out that front wheel then all the rest goes with it, you included! It might be wise to lower the fronts output til you got the feel. Have fun burning rubber

@@Whoadayson Thanks for the warning. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.

As stated in the description text, this was just my experience on that particular day. I do plan on going back and repeating this test during the calmer months and have the hopes that someone familiar with Yaesu will join me. I have made a public plea here on KZbin but so far nobody has reached out to engage me in this endeavor.

So far that’s true!

Is there a new one with main battery that is integrated more like the cruiser?

@@WilliamBennerJr Got mine in July 2024 plus

Interesting. Must be that they positively responded to a complaint. That’s what I’ve seen in their case whereas Ecells has not responded at all to any recent complaint.

Thanks for the comments. As I’ve said, some people have experienced good customer service and others bad. My observation is that they keep happy people happy, but instead of trying to make unhappy people happy, they ignore those customers…

Scam-Cells is a garbage company if they don’t take care of customers, don’t get orders correct and or accept responsibility when it goes wrong. This Dave guy sounds like a tool and hopefully will be out of business soon with crap like not refunding options that weren’t delivered. All these bikes are made in China, so what matters is the guy and company reselling them to consumers. Enough said.

Yes if sprockets were the same, but in this case the sprockets are clearly different too.

@@WilliamBennerJr No im saying the same sprockets on the ecells 24 vs 26 in wheels. If you had gotten what you ordered, you would be able to pedal farther into the high speed range. I bet it would make about a 15% difference.

@ yes indeed. I thought the same thing. In any event, since the 26 doesn’t exist for this bike, Ecells is really doing customers a disservice with this small of front sprocket.

@@WilliamBennerJr Wow, I never even noticed the step star specs say 24'' tires. Just looking at the pictures you can tell 26'' would not fit. The back tire would rub the controller for sure. Even if the rack/fenders were different to fit the bigger wheel, the wheel would still hit the controller. This seems like the issue of shitty sales people just straight up lying to hit their numbers.

Hindsight is always better than foresight. I must say that didn’t occur to me until recently. Based on Christian notes on both their website and also in the signature of David Cleveland’s emails to me, plus the claim of “unparalleled customer service” on their website, I simply believed they’d do right by the customer. Maybe that’s meant only as a distraction… In the end they can not win in court…

@@WilliamBennerJr Yeah I hear you. But its not like the bike just came with the wrong tires, thats a fairly simple $250 mistake that any bike shop should be able to correct for you. They sent you the wrong bike.

@@eagle94haslandedagreed, and this was the subject of the first 10 or so emails and first 4 phone calls.

Thanks for the kudos! Glad you found the video helpful!

Wow that is fast! Faster than was the case for any of my Specialized bikes!

Hold on when you ride it😂

Holy smokes, alot of us were 3mo plus waiting. Nice for you! That dwell time was the worst, especially so because the 'est delivery date' was always way too early and ever changing as it came and went. Enjoy! and like someone said, HOLD ON, esp in PAS 5.

The Freedom is still in the box and stuck in my Durango. We are dealing with a winter storm, including ice and snow.

@@rayyoung2785 Well, glad it's not stuck in shipping!

Glad it was helpful.

I include link for both Wired and Ecells in my video. Both have complaints, but Wired has worked to respond to their complaints but Ecells apparently takes the tact of just ignoring them.

Yes indeed that was my approach as well. In Florida I don't have a situation where there is such low noise that a weak signal could be heard even if one were present. Moreover, if there is a very weak signal, the chances of you communicating at 100 watts is also low. So this wasn't a priority for me. Instead, dealing with noise and especially things that happen during storms was important. This was the yardstick I used to make my final decision.

Thanks for the kudos.

Wow. Sorry to hear that!

I spent 30 minutes with each radio at Ham Radio Outlet, and after spending 30 minutes, I then decided to take the short snippets with the iPhone. Indeed I did record a segment where I tried both DNR on and off, and it made very little difference, so I left that segment out of the final version that made it to KZbin. In the description to the video I did mention that I tried DNR on and off.

Thanks for the comment! I’ve only driven it a few times. I will put a tie wrap on it.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry about the derailer but at least the guard was in place to take the impact. Ecells ships without this installed. And yes, from what I’ve seen Wired does indeed reply to customers and work toward a resolution when one is needed.

Hehe. Not my intention to purchase two bikes ;-) Had Ecells delivered what I actually ordered, that’s the bike I would have used, and likely this video wouldn’t exist! I’ll donate the Ecells to a needy family at the church where I play drums. I’m quite happy with the Wired though.

It was indeed surprising. Trying to stay positive, I’m sure it’s possible to have a worse experience ;-)

My impression is that if you never have an issue with Ecells, then they won’t give you any problems. But if you raise any concerns, that’s when the poor service begins. That’s what it seems like, hearing from some others here on KZbin and reading the BBB complaints. They seem to be happy with happy customers, but not wiling to try to make the unhappy customers happy.

@@WilliamBennerJr You are correct sir. It's like waking on egg shells around them. The office personnel is fine. It's the owner you have to watch for. However, That does not negate the fact that I actually enjoy the bike Very much.

@@ishgumi44yes, I’ve never had a problem getting staff on the phone. They seem conscientious and say they’ll pass the concerns onto David Cleveland. I did receive an email from him stating he’d get back to me November 4, but nothing since then. Their office staff did confirm receipt of my follow ups…

Will do. And thanks for the kind words.

Indeed. Sorry to hear that anyone else got caught in the crossfire… At first I thought it was only me, but in speaking with their folks on the phone, I got the impression that they were dealing with many unhappy customers… I guess this is why the website went from offering many options to very nearly zero…

You're right...at first they showed all kinds of available options for the Step Star which were all bull$hit. Their website had all kinds of errors in it and you couldn't get a straight answer about the bike, basically because they started promoting it before they even knew what the finished product would be. I had to keep contacting them to correct their website, which they finally did, but it took forever....just like it took forever (almost a year) to start delivering Step Stars from the time they first put them on the website.

Not sure about your conclusion here. I’m a world renowned engineer. Look me up on LinkedIn. Also, I think it was Citizen Cycle who did a lot of tests in this area - on many bikes from many brands- I think including some without the shock. In my case, I have the shock absorbing seat post so I am considering removing and bypassing the center shock altogether.

@@WilliamBennerJr Check out the work done by Leonard Zinn in regards to wobble and bike frame geometry. In a general sense these wobbles are caused by frame flex, it's just worse on this particular style, mainly due to the rear shock linkage. It's why they keep adding reinforcements to those linkages. To stiffen them up.

@@somewhat.random​​⁠see this video, where he tests several bikes with no shock. As an engineer involved with structural issues every day (see my book and read some of my patents) I doubt the wobble is related to frame flex. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaG9g613rLOorc0si=AglyxHdbb-Qrcuap

Agreed on no tactile indication that it’s plugged and it’s a good idea to make sure, but this is also true of the strange 3-pin plug Ecells uses as well.

Not sure, but I’m also not sure it matters. I’ve got a lot of E-bikes and none of the others have this. I don’t see much benefit here. Nevertheless this bike was delivered December 23 so it could simply be their latest version.

Wow that’s weird. I guess the culprits could only be the kick stand itself, or that the suspension has suddenly “grown” the height of the bike when unloaded. I can’t think of anything else…

Yes it makes a huge difference - at least with the Kinekt. For my riding, I am considering removing and bypassing the center shock with a fixed linkage. (Easy for me - my company has a machine shop…)

Every e cells dual battery bike has a defective rear battery mount kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6DCn3WpnZ53a6Msi=nOZdal0rx0wkLyFk I think you probably are an e cell troll projecting. Cleveland is literally the worst and treats his customers like crap.

This KZbin system isn't great for completely understanding or communicating well, so I'm not able to understand what's happening with your rear battery. If it's not locking into place, then I'd investigate the locking mechanism. It should be possible to retain it using a hack (tie wraps, bungies, or even tape...) I found a few videos where people were talking about the battery becoming disengaged (not to the point of sliding out, but disconnecting) on Ecells. Regarding your comment about the childish responses from Wired, I think you picked a good word here. In reading their responses to complaints on Better Business Bureau, yes childish is a good description. But my impression is -- at least they respond! And it seems the problem eventually gets resolved, albeit with a few unfortunate hard feelings... And regarding the wobble, my own intuition is that if the angle of the front fork was swept more forward (less vertical), the whole bike would be more stable and it wouldn't wobble, even with the additional weight on the back. I'm a world-renowned engineer. My intuition is often right, but this is not my field of study so I could be wrong about this. In any event, adding damping solves this problem. The initial response from Wired was to tighten the heck out of the front fork. This adds friction, not damping. It will work, but makes the riding experience somewhat unpleasant. So I'm glad Wired took it upon themselves to add this damping thing to the steering wheel. I've seen customers add this in a far less elegant way. It should be possible for you to order this damping thing from a bike supplier. Sorry that yours didn't come with it, but that's a common problem with being an early adopter...

Earlier today, while looking for evidence of "torque or cadence sensor" on the Ecells website to respond to one of the comments (website claims cadence by the way), I noticed that the Ecells website also claims that they use Samsung cells. Certainly in the case of my Ecells Step Star delivered in October, they weren't Samsung cells... So I'm not sure if this is another issue of "website under construction" or if Ecells recently switched to Samsung. The UL rating is certainly comforting.

Yes I figured that the dual motor is particularly handy for hills and trail riding. In my case, it’s exclusively street riding.

Agreed on all points.

@@WilliamBennerJr also, you can take the rings off the grips on the ecells and swap them around so the screws are facing downward. I did this by accident once..i suspect it was a mistake in assembly

@ interesting. I will check it out.

Yes indeed, in the comment section of certain KZbin videos, I've seen claims that concerned citizens were really competitors.

That guy on the website you mentioned is a loud mouthed buffoon. He didn't really know much about the Step Star bike he was slobbering praise all over. He was comparing it to a Velotric Discover which is not even in the same category of bikes. He was telling people that it was a 26" bike and not available in a 24" size until I pointed out that he should read the sidewall of the tires on his own bike in the video which clearly showed 24". It was visible 5 seconds into the start of his video. That dude was trying too hard to be an Ecells Fanboy!

@@mellowjammer Interesting. Thanks for the comments.

Yes, others have posted something similar. I wouldn't say I was ever mad, just surprised that they said the reason why they didn't deliver what I ordered was because of their website... Since then I've been reasonable -- only want them to give me a refund for the options they didn't deliver and I'll just donate this to the church. But despite many phone calls and emails, they've gone silent, implicitly refusing to issue the partial refund.

@@WilliamBennerJr time to contact your credit card company and just charge back the whole purchase. Then you can donate it to the church 🥰

@@BeautyBeastRC Order placed July 20, so it was quite some time between then and now. Nevertheless I am also exploring this, but only for what they actually owe.

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for the comments. My Specialized and Momentum bikes both have 26 inch, and feel about the same as the Wired in terms of stand-over height and leg extension.

Just FYI: frame size is defined by the measurement of the seat tube from the center of the crank axle to the top of the seat tube.

@@mellowjammer Thanks for the info. I will check it out.

Predator looks amazing, but is too much bike for me ;-)

The wired predator was considerable until Onyx motorbikes started back up their business and now has begun selling an Onyx RCR LTD for only $4300! Trust me when I say, that although they are not two-wheel drive, those motors will blow your socks off! My 60v onyx cty2 tops out at 54 mph, so I can't even imagine how fast the RCR would be with its 72v motor that maxes out at 20 KW!!!

@@jcolt84 Yes but at that point can it still be called a bicycle? In my case, I really wanted something that looks like a bike. The Wired Cruiser is at the edge.

Have you been in contact with them? Are they still promising delivery? If they’ve gone silent with you as they have with me and others, you might want to contact your credit card company and request a partial refund.

@@WilliamBennerJr I have not as of yet. I have so many ebike projects going on that it's not on a high priority. I'll give them a call after New Years day. Another ebike company offered an upgraded controller for their bike in early August, saying delivery at the end of September, still don't have it. QC delays, fulfillment delays, I cancelled that order this morning.

AHA I agree. The cruiser looks really nice and "integrated".

Thanks for the kudos on the review. As I see it, the real winner is the consumer. The competition between these two companies has led to very good products with incredible prices. My specialized was much more expensive than either of these.

I will try to add my own and see if I can get it into a place where it’s handy but not in the way.

I know there is some wires running under there. So be careful I would think standing straight up on end right behind the stem. Making out of the way.

@@kademiller1093 Thanks for the note. I'll remove the battery and take a close look in that vicinity before breaking out the drill ;-)

@@WilliamBennerJr The best review on both of bikes. A great and fair review. Thank you

@ Thanks for the kind words.

There have been 23 emails and 6 phone calls. During some of them, a return was proposed, but due to their wanting me to pay the return freight, I decided to just donate this one to my Church. The youth minister will find a local family who could really use it. I will take a look at the grips when I get back home. What you have seen is as it was delivered.

Regarding 26 inch, by around telephone call number 4 and email number 8, it became obvious that they were not able to provide this. They blamed it on their website being "under construction" and offering options that they could not deliver, but showed no empathy that I was caught in the crossfire. Regarding torque sensor, although I ordered this special, I believe that their bikes normally have a cadence sensor. Do you see a place on their website where it claims these bikes now ship with a torque sensor as standard equipment? (Not that statements on the website necessarily reflect what customers actually receive...)

@WilliamBennerJr I've only seen step through versions with 24" and torque sensors.. version 1 with single batteries and normal forks and headlight. Version 2 is upgraded fork, headlight and dual batteries if ordered with dual battery. But still all are torque sensors. I never saw V Speedster tires on 24 inch bikes as an option. No. Rightfully you should have gotten the second battery at least. Looks like you have version one bike

New version with dual batteries is $2,799 with dual batteries. Look at the picture . Not your light or forks. Anyway, they owe you a battery if you paid for it.

@@JohnBabcock-qy1cs Indeed. This was the focus of phone calls 5 and 6, and emails up to number 20...

@@JohnBabcock-qy1cs On their website, it says "Cadence-based system". ecells.com/product/ecells-step-star/