ICEY - Next Level Frozen Drinks

 Well, this is one overdue, VERY overdue but now the weather is getting more summer, it feels like now is the time to finally review this of the second crowdfunded project I've ever invested in and actually the second that's ever been fulfilled since the 3rd turns out it was a scam. . So we finally get to have a look at ICEY and see what it can do, this might not cover the long time use of this of the advert for it, but it can see what the instructions say for 1 hour of use. Costing me $45 aka £32.29 back in Jan 2021. Things will see how they go in the end. 

The Packaging. 

This was actually in a very basic box of orange and white, which gives the tone of the logo and also represents the summer and the orange might represent that. But not much imaging or other notes to make of. Even the small print was not very much shown, but crowdfunded items are a bit like that really.

The front of the box 

the Top of the box 

One of the sides of the box 

The left side of the box 

The right side of the box 

the bottom of the box 

Which gives it the tone for a small approach or minimal advertising.  When it comes to inside the box, it's very basic, with the Foam and the box. Then it shows the contents of what is to be done such as the icey itself and the manual. 

The Contents: Icey

So this is a look at the machine, which is a glass jar with a plastic top and the silicone in blue as well as how it looks with the plastic blades. the Batter compartment is always the nice part but has a tricky section to it since it can easily fall inside the holes for the battery, which yes it takes 2 AA but at the same time, especially as it does not come with batteries but it also seems like it can be hard for them to place inside. 

The Icey with the glass and the machine itself 

A look at it from the other side with the max line  

The blades and the silicone 

A look at the battery compartment when closed 

The top of the icey with the button 

Removing the Battery cap

The battery cap

The holes for use of AA battery

The Silicone can be a bit of a struggle to put on and make sure it's nice and tight.  which is the vital part to make sure it does not leak when in the jar. 

The contents: The Manual

Actually, this has its good clear stance for how ther documentation is presented, since it is a small manual but it is clearly typed out in a nice format with not too much small text and some nice diagrams and also has the modern logo design for the front and the back. 

The front of the manual 

Contents and the disclaimer 

The safety instructions are very clear and some interesting points made for sure 

The more the safety section 

How to use icey for the first time 

The back of the manual 

The Preparation: 

The Batteries to fit and operate: 

So this actually is the maybe hardest bit of setting it up to get the batteries in as well as seeing how it spins. The battery flap is the hard one to fit inside and eventually, the batteries were in as well as the flap so it was ready to spin. 

The batteries in the ICEY

The Jar is to be rinsed and drink made. 

So this is the easy part, to make sure it can be ready to drink from. As the instruction says, to rinse the jar out since its still from the packaging from the shipment from china back in 2021 which can indicate virus risk. So we end up getting it rinses in the tap and then it was a drink made of 

• PEach Sparkling Water 
• Green Apple Gfuel
• Raspberry Vitamin C tablet 
• Lemonade Diet

Which was then made and ready for the ICEY to be attempted to be firmly placed on it. Then it was a bit of a push for the icey to be capped in and ready to go....in the freezer

The Drink ready

Ready for the Freezer

The Preparations: Freeze

Wel,l it was then pressed to turn on and then placed in the freeze for the next hour while I went for a dogwalk, which gives about 1 hour or so to see how cool it gets, it was placed upright so it had less chance of leaking. 

The freezer with ICEY is shown in there 

The Preparation: Time to check on it, 

So exactly 1 hour later, it was time to see if it was made to slush or if it just kept cool, but it ended up very cold and chilled but not frozen. So it will need a longer time for it to happen. 

The End result 

On the table ready for a glass 

The Taste Test: 

Well it was then time to pop it from Icey to the glass and it did not leak, so that's a bonus, it's a special glass that does not crack when frozen apparently. So for the hour, it was safe at least, and then when poured in and it was nice and chilled, like no rush for it.  I think it will need to be a fair few hours for the ice to freeze and then it will feel like a better slush maker.

The Conclusion: 

So let's be honest, this is one of these niche possible ideas and actually, it is done in a better way than some of the Slush puppies makers. The delay for it imported can take its time, but once it's out of kickstarted/Indiegogo stage, shipments will be easier for it to be there. All in all 

omracer's Rating: 7/10

The good points: 

• A simple way to make cold drinks
• An interesting concept
• Easy to create your own drinks
• Battery-powered 
• Clear instructions 

The Bad Points: 

• Hard to source yourself, 
• Can be expensive since of the concept
• The battery connector can be hard to fit 
• The Silicone gets loose

And that sorts that, another crowdfunded project reviewers and it was overdue but ideal for the summer weeks and days ahead in all honest, sure things might end up getting out of control, some good and some big scary changes but some reviews I'll try to keep going with then over the time. 

omracer 

eLife Patriot 36V E-Bike

 This was a surprise and well this needed a review of something that changes some of my ways to get around, I'll be honest to say I was not expecting this and no this is NOT a sponsored item but it was from Idealworld of all things for £999.99 + £19.99 Postage, It was a gift from family due to inheritance on all things, But here is the review (post only) 

UPDATED August 2022 regarding Battery has failed completely 

UPDATED JULY 2023: The Bike has reached the end of its life

The Packaging, 

Now, I had a glimpse of what it was, since it was very much a surprise so the assembly and insides did not get shown to me, but the box was big and it was a normal cardboard box with the E-life written on it. But there was some meaning to this but it was generic in terms.

The box of the bike 

Then it came with the bike to be built up which makes it nice and easy to build since it also included the tools and the manual of it. It makes it useful for those that did not build or have the tools for them either. 

The tools such as a screwdriver, Allen key, spanner and even more keys for the battery 

But then it was time to have a look at the bike itself, 

The Bike itself, 

Now it actually has some good looks with a nice dark metallic look and the colour scheme with the orange too, but it really makes it nice and modern too. The handlebars are nice and styled with the yellow rubber bits too.

The Bike itself

The front of the bike with the handlebars 

There were a lot of good things such as the front of the bike also had the Shimano gears and the control panel on the left-hand side actually which shows the options such as the power meter for the e-bike, the gears have a bit of a weird way to angle it. 

The Handlebars of them 

Then it comes to the battery and the single gear section too So it's a bit easier to use and it's covered nicely so it had less chance of rusting in the future as far as it seems to. Plus the motor is on the back wheel as well. Which makes it worth it to see if go quite far. 

The chain and gears on the back 

The Chain in the middle 

The chain and gears on the side of the bike

The other side of the back motor.

Now this shows more of how the battery comes out, it is a big battery and does add a fair bit of weight to the bike as well, but that is the best part is that it does detach which especially makes it useful for other parts too. Like especially in the weather, it does make it quite risky to leave the battery in there in the heat too.  Especially for the time of it, the weather is always varying too. The keys are included for the help with removing the key, and you can check the battery's status separately via the button on it, Blue is high, green is medium, and Red is low, so it all adds up to make it easy to check. 

The Battery showing the key 

The key in the hole to unlock the battery 

showing it does sort of pop out for the most part 

The light on the bike 

The little charging port of the battery

This now leads to the charger, which is a modern-looking brick in its own right, Which is a powerful way to get it to charge up. It uses the Cloverleaf connection so its works out easier to replace if the cable too. 

The charger itself 

The cloverleaf cable at the end of it 

Then we have the tyres and the brakes, now this part of it, is not disk brakes and actually they are later on to show the side of the bike that seems not as good. 

The Tyres and the brakes, it was hydraulics

A better look at the hydraulic brakes

And the look at the other side of the brakes

Now it comes to the other part which is unique, the pedals and the part that even flips out as its own stand, it kicks out so nicely too.  It makes it easier for when it needs to be parked for that few minutes, it also applies the brakes for some reason as well. 

The Pedal and the kickstand 

Now it then leads to setting it up with things from the old bike. 

The transfer: 

Now, this is not too hard but still important, but luckily it was not too hard to get the mudguard and LED lights moved from one to the other as well. Since those were just to be screwed on and also strapped on, so not anything complex, the Pole for the Bike Seat was thicker too. 

The LED Light and the mudguard as well as the red reflective light that was already with the bike 

That and it was also time to finally get the bike lock to work, which actually was worth it when i used oil to make sure it was easier to unlock and not for the issue of having it stolen, so now both locks are there, one long cable one and one strong one, so that can help with it, it also does not affect steering when i expected it would do too. 

Both locks on, even if this way is the not correct way to put it on 

But then it was time to prepare for the cycling of seeing how it does to see how it performs when its time to do a cycle too. 

The Testing: 

Well there are various settings for the e-Bike, the right-hand side is the 1,6 Shimano gears and the left-hand side is the panel, Which there are 3 stages of speed, 0 is no speed/assist at all. This also shows the power status on the battery but it reads out in a different way or is not as accurate in some way of things. 

The settings when it's off

The settings when turned on but level 0

The settings on level 1 

The settings on level 2

The settings on the highest level for the settings

Then it was time to just pedal and get some energy then it was time to cycle to my usual visit. 

The Testing and performance 

Now, this was where the performance was really kicking into the best part and those hills are the best way to prove it can help me, which it did like it was really pushing the times quicker due to the level 3 assist on the hills too, Especially up brentor. So this really shows the improvement of performance, normally the same route to work is showing an improvement of nearly 20 minutes.

The fit details with the e-bike 

The similar route to the normal bike

Now there were a few things I've noticed when riding it, which were not minor and not all negative and all. 

• You can hear when the motor is kicking in with a whine
• Setting 1 does not show you or feel any g force when option 2 and 3 do, 
• Hills do feel less intense but only when you are on a higher gear. 
• The gear system does not move down as easy without a click.
• The bike does feel A LOT heavier when lifting it with the battery inside, 
• The steering can be quite heavy as well. 
• The battery did last more than a whole day, but the percentage did not make sense due to it jumping up and down in different ways. 
• The battery cover is the black so it can absorb heat. 
• The seat high is easily changed 

UPDATE: 

So it been a year and to be fair this has not been feeling the 8/10 this once was since of the various issues over the past few months which have caused it to really underperform or even as I type this, become a normal bike. 

• The battery had to be shaken to be given a charge until end of July 22 and pretty much now refuses to charge, checked the inside since the warranty ended and no sign of disconnection from what I saw. But it was to shake it to even get the charge light to appear 
• The battery would cut out on even 2 bars of charge according to the power 
• Auto cycle mode NEVER worked even with the manual mentioning it 
• The locking system for the battery did not work so even at one point it popped out when being on a downhill from Down road back when the potholes were a meme on Tavi FB groups
•  The Charger tip decided to break when the issue of the battery not charging started back in Late October 2021 and having to wiggle it to charge before the shaking made it work 

UPDATE JULY 2023: 

Well things have been a miss and thigns really have been worse, I moved in sepetember 2022 (which has made life a misery in most cases) but the bike has been affected quite badly with at least 

• Batteyr that was replaced in OCtober 2022 only lasts 15 miles as of June 2023 
• LEft pedal decided to give out in January 2023
• Crank and left pedel spoke decided to give out in Feburary 2023 day after the review of the UGREEN Bike mount
• The crank got replaced March 2023
• The Shifter got replaced June 2023 
• The Crank bearing has now broken/loose back in July 2023 
• 
  

So this is looking like the end of the bike, its been some memories and distances travelled but its had its show. 

The station with the bike 

The bpedal back in Janaury 

Before the Bike phone mount fitting 

The use of the phone mount 

The Bike on the train 

The bike when it was going to deal with a very long day 

It goes a fair distance with or without battery. 

Conclusion: 

So the bike arrived, it does its purpose and it does make it actually really good. The performance of the legs makes it easier to work and means longer distances I can do in a better time. So maybe it means vlogs might be easier too. Sure there are small teething problems which will have time to fix. But all in all. 

omracer's Rating: 8/10 Back in July 2021

omracer's Rating: 4/10 August 2022 - Rating is the Same 

The Good Points July 2021: 

• The bike is an electric one
• Can help save many minutes off my Journey's? 
• The battery does detach
• Easy to Adjust the seat height
• Shimano gears
•  The Control panel for the electric side , is easy to use 
• Hills are less intense

The Bad Points: July 2021 

• The steering can be heavy, 
• The bike is heavier with the battery inside it
• Braking can be a bit of a hard squeeze when using it
• Quite high for the value, other E-bikes have been between £600 - £899  in some cases 

The Good Points August 2022:

• Can be lightweight to cycle on some situations. 
• The Leg is useful for parking
• Standard parts like Vbrakes and also Shimano Gears due to them being banged off from a Stone knocked from the other side of the A386 via a van back in June 2022

The bad Points August 2022: 

• Battery No longer works, Not even to charge
• Brake pads have had to be replaced twice in the past 6 - 8 months 
• The greasy or rubbing from brake pads massive stains fingers
• Idealworld are ***** to get hold of and even the second supplier is put on hold for 10 minutes for each of the 3 attempts to call, so if you don't like emailing, you are going to be out of luck. 

And there we are, enjoy that review of this bike which would be useful for a lot of journeys and endeavours for the future too, maybe even for another vlog for a day out or even when needing it for work. The future will see it through and well keep your eyes peeled.