Co-op Cycles  CTY e3.1 Electric Bike

I purchased this bike less than a week ago and am already on my second trip back to REI for repairs. On the very first ride, the hydraulic seat lever broke due to a screw not being properly tightened during assembly. That was resolved, but now I’ve encountered a second major issue—the bike won’t charge, either while connected directly to the frame or with the battery removed and plugged in separately. This bike was intended to help reduce my car usage, but ironically, I’ve been driving even more since purchasing it—back and forth trying to resolve issues that shouldn’t be happening on a brand-new product.

I bought this bike to replace my RadPower after the flaming battery scare. I’ll be honest, I don’t love it. My RadPower killed it on hills, has a throttle (under appreciated feature, that), and felt like a tank—I felt safer with the road rage-y drivers in Seattle. This does well on hills, but isn’t much faster than the Rad, considering it’s a class-3. It’ll hit 28 if I really, really push it…or I’m going downhill. And the shifter is horrible, doesn’t respond, lags, and generally disrupts my commute. The most annoying thing though is that it takes an age to charge and I have to charge twice as often. For a bike with a price tag nearly double the price, it’s underwhelming.

This bike simply “floats” along smooth surfaces. That may seem obvious but I mean it actually feels like you are floating on air…no resistance from the ground. And hitting speed bumps? What speed bumps?! Haha! With the full suspension it rolls right over any bumps. When I first took the bike out of the store to ride it around the block, I thought they left it on turbo because I was peddling with absolutely no effort. So clearly when the engine is engaged it is amazing. Having the “dropper” is so cool and really convenient b/c you can instantly adjust the seat as you ride to change the pressure on your wrists , making longer rides more apt to happen and more fun! Having the headlights come with the bike and already attached is a great help for the times you think you will be back before nighttime and don’t take your detachable lights and then don’t get home until after dark. And having the headlight run off the lithium batteries means you can leave it on all day and not worry about the lights batteries dying , a great safety feature. All in all I love this bike!

REI should be ashamed about selling this bike to their customers. I have had it for less than two months. Ridden it fewer than 10 times. The battery compartment has broken twice. I am taking it back to the store again to get it fixed. I would like to have an ebike that does not break all the time. It worked great on the test drive, but warning, take out and put back in the battery several times in front of the bike shop people. The battery design is terrible. I regret this purchase.

I'll start by saying that this is my first electric bike, so I am likely a bit more wowed by the coolness of it all than someone else whose had others. Before buying, I tried some cannondales and other coop-bikes but while I am an older (50) female and "should" have gone for a more cruiser type ebike, I grew up with BMX and mountain bike style bikes, so this sort of frame and set up feels more natural to me. I bought the bike to both commute to work, but also keep up with husband on trails. So far I love it. The motor is very powerful, smooth and pretty quiet. Since it is pedal assist, you can still work up a sweat, but you can do things that you may have not been able to do before. The full suspension is also new for me, and it is very kind on my broken tailbone. The dropper seat post is also super convenient, especially when stopping and dismounting. The rack is sturdy and quiet, and the integrated lights with internal cabling a gem. Why 4 instead of 5 stars - I am 5' 3.5" so I ordered both the Small and X-Small. The X-Small is rated for people 5'-5'3" and the Small 5'4" to 5'6". The standover height, however, is for much taller or leggier people. I kept the extra small and and if standing in front of the seat with flat shoes, I'm getting "intimate" with the bike. This is where the dropper seat post helps, so you're not dropping on the post from a higher position. The bike is also clumsy when you adjust the gears before the motor adjusts as well - take the motor a bit to adjust and you may end up pedaling like crazy until it settles. And yes, it is heavy like every other ebike, but taking out the battery makes picking it up to put in the car much easier. Finally, I really wish it was Class I. The crazy high speeds are not needed as this is not primarily a road bike - it is a mountain bike frame after all. With all the absurd regulations limiting class 3s, but letting class 2 throttle "scooters" on sidewalks, it would have been nicer to have it as a Class 1. (Color me bitter.) Overall, I am very satisfied with the purchase. I felt that the Co-op brand "threw in more" than pricier bikes from more well-known brands. My broken back is very appreciative of the full suspension, and my husband thrilled that we can do trails together again.

This might be the most poorly designed bicycle I have ever had or, for that matter, on the planet. It's like they built the large size and just shrank it down without thinking about spacing. HISTORY: My husband bought a Urtopia e-bike, and he wanted me to get one. So I took it for a spin, but it doesn't have any suspension like our mountain bikes (I'm spoiled.) and rattled me to the core! The CTY e3.1 was the only e-bike I could find with full suspension that was not a mountain bike. I am almost 70 and have been riding bicycles regularly since I was 5 years old (for enjoyment, exercise, and transportation). I am 5'5" and weigh 130. I have normal length arms and legs. According to the website, I bought a size small. CONS (design flaws): First, the seat was so close to the handlebars that when you dismounted you hit you know what on you know where. I had to buy a u-shaped seat attachment to move the seat back at least 4.5 inches (see photo). (That took hours to find on the internet. REI bike shop had no idea anything like that existed.) It could still go back another inch, but that's the only seat extender we could find. Second, the two holes where you are supposed to mount a water bottle are unusable for two reasons. Primarily, if you actually could mount a water bottle there, you would hit it every time you dismounted even with the seat moved back. Secondly, there is no room to put the bottle in the bottle holder anyway! (See photo) So, I had to buy a bag to put on the luggage rack to hold my water bottle. When I want a drink of water, I have to stop riding. Ridiculous! I even asked the REI bike technician what the holes were for. I knew, but I just wanted to see what they said. The confident reply was for a water bottle. So, I pulled a water bottle and holder off the shelf and asked just how that would work. Needless to say they were dumbfounded. Third, the handlebars were way too wide. I had to take it back two times to have them cut off a total of 2.5 inches on each side because they wouldn't cut off what I asked them to in the first place (cost me over $100). Plus, the second time I had them cut more off, they didn't even put the handlebars back on centered. They were about an inch too far to the right. My husband fixed it. Fourth, I also had to add a riser to the handlebars so that I wasn't hunched over riding. Fifth, there are four pedal-assist levels, but I can feel no discernible assist difference between ECO and TOUR and AUTO. TURBO rocks but eats up the battery. PROS: I like the cushion of full suspension, and it is a really cushy ride. Oh, it's a great color.

I bought this for use as a commuter. My ride is about ten miles, and it takes about forty minutes. I've had the bike about ten weeks, and ridden it to work about twenty times, round trip. It has 560 miles on the odometer. The bike is heavy, and could benefit with a "more bitey" front tire. I will inquire at REI. It really only works with the "OFF" môde going down hill; I have done a couple rides with long descents (3500 feet in ten miles) and found that môde useful. Note that was on gravel, and see "more bitey" above. By the way the ascent was done in TOUR or AUTO mode with no issues; it did eat up the battery in the 100 minute ascent, hence the use of OFF going down. NO known issue with the bike; the kickstand screws came loose; easily tightened with a 4 or 5 mm Allen. The rear rack is non-standard; even REI's panniers didn't fit. I ended up going back to the 1980s and using Eclipse panniers with the adapter plates from eBay. I have loaded the panniers with a spare battery shoes, food, but nothing close to the 300 pound weight limit — 250 pounds maybe — with only the usual effect on handling, like any loaded touring bike with tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food, &c. I also replaced the pedals with Shimano SPDs; with the stock pedals, the several shoes (like hiking boots, and sans cleats) which I had tried got rather loosened and sloppy after a few rides. The Bosch "Flow" app for android is okay (3½ stars). It lacks heart rate monitoring, and has no web/browser equivalent, and doesn't work with Garmin nor MapMyRide application. The owner's manual sucks. It doesn't really explain the Bosch motor control, has a few pages on "sag", and doesn't detail any repair issues, e.g., a flat tire (which I haven't had), lubrication (I have ridden in rain), or other such niceties like the suspension, drive, &c. Parts availability? Unknown. I sought a spare battery (found on eBay) but the associated frame plate (the green plastic underneath) nor the lock plate (screwed on the upper forward end of battery to engage clamp) were not as yet obtainable. Anyway REI needs to up its game on support. The people are friendly enough, but the parts? I gave it a five ★ anyway since it fits the purpose. I have ten months left to return it. And i really wish I could up the max speed from 28 mph to 34 .. it is needed in commuting with cars

I got this bike at the sale price, and it's a great value for a full suspension bike with a Bosch drive train. It did get the Bosch update so it is 85nm max torque, not 75nm like the specs say. I'm 5'9" and 180 lbs. and got a medium. It fits great, so the reviews saying it is a larger fit seem correct. Based on my research, the M-L bikes have a different rack than the XS-S bikes. My Ortlieb panniers fit great on this bike. I think the discrepancy between reviews might be because M-L have 29" tires while XS-S have 27.5" tires, so Co-op used different racks. It reaches 30 MPH on downhills quite easily, but pedaling I'm getting about 25-26 MPH on flats with decent effort. That's without suspension lockout, though. The groupset is surprisingly smooth, in my opinion. I think it's at least comparable to Shimano Deore. The Tektro brakes are also better than expected. Decent hard lever feel, just slightly worse than Shimano with the pull not being quite as smooth. A dropper post on a commuter bike isn't something that ever occurred to me; however, it makes sense and is more useful than I originally thought. You can slam it down at a stop light and be more comfortable. Since the bike has a rear suspension, you don't need a suspension seat post, either. Pretty cool. Before buying this, know that it is basically a mountain bike with city tires, fenders, and a rack. The handlebars are certainly mountain bike bars and not even close to feeling like a cruiser. You feel like your on an eMTB for the most part. For me, that's what I wanted. The ride is smooth due to the full air suspension, but the riding stance is more aggressive and might not be suited for someone wanting a typical city commuter.

I love the bike but the battery wont charge to 100%...it always charges to 96% and then it seems to discharge quickly. Just bought a few months ago and this is concerning.

Battery last a LOOONG time. Great for getting around. Makes me not want to drive.