soloyosh Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 I took the plunge and decided on a Kuberg Trail E for my 5 year old. He's been rding an XR50 for almost a year but I couldnt get him to stand up on the pegs (or sometimes use the pegs at all). I figured a trials type bike would be ideal for teaching this so the XR50 went on Craigslist and the search began for an Oset. As I searched I found that the Oset's commanded a hefty resale premium and I'd have to drive to get it or ship the bike. At $900US, unless the Oset was local I was almost better off buying new. I broadened my search to include the Kuberg and the Gas Gas E bike. Thats when I found that the Kuberg was available on Amazon. I already had an Amazon Prime account so I got free 2-day shipping and the bike was discounted about 30% off of MSRP. I went to the store and purchased $1200 in Amazon gift cards. Buying the cards gets me points that gets me cheaper gas. Then came home and placed my order. It actually showed up in 1 day. The box was a bit battered but a quick inventory found that everything there was damage free. It included all the tools necessary to put it together. The setup instructions only talk about bolting on the handlebars. I found the steer stem torque to be way too tight making the steering notchy. I adjusted this and got the bars bolted on. The front wheel was not installed and no mention was made in the setup of doing this. It seemed pretty straight forward however so I went to mount it up. I could not get the pads spread enough in the caliper to get the rotor in there. I even released the cable, no dice. Having not dealt with mountain bike disc brakes before I resorted to my motorcycle experience and removed the caliper from the fork leg. The caliper screws had lock washers on them and removing them caused some of the white paint to flake off the founting lugs. The axle had a shim, washer and nut on the caliper side and a washer and nut on the right side. I soon found that the shim needs to be between the hub and the left fork leg to prevent the disc screws from hitting the fork leg. Wheel in and spinning freely I turned my attention to the caliper. I found that the fixed side of the caliper had an adjuster on it locked by a set screw. I loosened this up figuring I could adjust it once it was on the fork leg. Once bolted up I found that even with the inside pad removed, the brake was dragging. Further investigation found the the caliper body on the fixed side was dragging on the rotor. It appears that this is a simple matter of shimming the caliper over a bit and I would be golden. However, I decided to stop here and drop a line to the Kuberg folks and see what they had to say. I figured this would be a good opportunity to get an idea of their customer service campared to Oset's very positive reputation in this regard. Stay tuned! Cheers Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htrdoug Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) Picture of caliper? Most calipers nowadays bolt to an adapter that then bolts to the "international standard" tabs on the fork,the calipers adjust laterally on said adapter via oval mounting holes.There are proper shims for adjusting the older style calipers available from bike shops,but if that is the style caliper I would immediately buy a Avid BB7 caliper which will function much better than any other cable actuated caliper,that's what the trials bicycle guys use.Using Avid levers would also allow leverage and reach adjustment too. BTW,Your son will stand when he's ready,the electric power might make him more willing,but don't rush him. I'm waiting until my grandson is ready before buying him a bike,he's not quite the personality yet even though he's 6.(His dad wants him to play hockey,but we're waiting on that too) Edited January 4, 2013 by htrdoug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soloyosh Posted February 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 So I got an email from the CEO (yes the actual CEO) of the company as a result of my contact through the website. He explained how the brake is adjusted and he also gave me the contact information for the US rep for Kuberg. I got home from work and the US rep, Kelly, actually called me. He asked if I had any other issues and I relayed the fact that after adjusting the brake, I discovered that: 1. The keys were missing 2. A relay under the bodywork had broken off of its mounting tab. Kelly apologized. He said that it appeared that the bike I got from Amazon may have been returned. Amazon is supposed to send the returns back to make sure that everything is copacetic. It appears they just restocked this one and sent it to me. He advised me on how to bypass the key temporarily and said that if I attached the relay securely I should be good for the time being. He also said he was going to send replacement keys and a relay. I charged the bike overnight per the instructions (12 hours for the first 5 charges). My youngest son ended up riding it for about 2 hours the first day. I had the speed turned down. This is accomplished via a potentiometer near the charging port under the seat. He wanted to ride it longer but, he'd just come back from Grandmas and had some leftover Christmas presents to open. Video: Here's some photos of the Trial E. It carries 3 12V 14Ah batteries. You can see the motor controller up near the key switch. This is the charge indicator near the right grip. My 8 year old liked riding it so much that he wants to unload his XR70. Now hes got one of his own. This is the Cross version. It is functionally the same as the Trial E. The frame is a bit different and of course it has a seat making it a bit taller. My 5 year old cannot touch on this. One thing of note: Keying the Trial E on results in an immediate illumination of the charge indicator on the handlebar. The Cross has a delay of about 2 seconds. It has some extra circuitry under the seat, namely a heat shrinked circuit board. This may be the cause for the delay. Its not an issue, just a difference. Now that they both have electric bikes it has been great to see how much riding they can get in. Whether its around the cones in the cul de sac or flat-tracking around a baseball diamond at the school down the street, riding has become an almost daily thing for them. This past weekend I took them to an area on the north end of town that is frequented by other kids and their quads/dirt bikes. I'll post up photos and commentary shortly. Stay tuned... Cheers Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awdrocks Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 Very nice. Are those 16'' wheels? The bike some get pretty long run time with the 14ah. What size motor and what is the controllers output? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soloyosh Posted February 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 Very nice. Are those 16'' wheels? The bike some get pretty long run time with the 14ah. What size motor and what is the controllers output? 16" wheels? No. They are 16" tires (or tyres). The bicycle tires used on the Kuberg and to my understanding, the Oset are measured based on the OD of the tire rather than the rim. They do run quite a long time. I haven't measured the exact duration but I plan to on this next charge. According to Kuberg it is a 750W motor. I am not sure of the specs on the controller. Cheers Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awdrocks Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 Yes I meant the diameter of the tire. You are correct OSET does measure the diameter of the tire, I think the bicycle industry does that in general. Congrats on the bikes and the kids riding. These E bikes def get them going early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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