EziCaddy Ezi5

[Blofeld]

Those of you who read GM will probably be aware that I’ve recently taken delivery of a new Electric Trolley. My ailing Motocaddy S1 has been put out to pasture and replaced by an EziCaddy Ezi5 complete with Lithium battery.

EziCaddy are a relatively new company but the people behind the name have many years’ experience in the electric trolley business. EziCaddy currently have a range of two trolleys…the Ezi3 and the Ezi5. The fundamental differences between them are that the Ezi5 has a multifunction digital display that allows you to monitor battery status, provides various yardage travelled information, has a clock, speedometer, security pin function and a USB port for charging your GPS device.

Both models also feature an Automatic Distance Control function where you can send your trolley off towards the next tee for a predetermined distance. In the Ezi3 you can set this at 15, 30 or 45 seconds (the distance travelled depending upon the speed setting you use). The Ezi5 implementation is a bit more upmarket and allows you to set distances in 5 yards increments up to…..well….I don’t know how far up to….haven’t explored the limits of this feature but seeing as the display is a 2 digit display then I’d guess 95 yards!!!

The Ezi5 also has a Competition Mode where you can turn off all the distance related measurement information. This mode also disables the ADF feature.

The basic price of the two trolleys, with standard lead battery is £249 and £299 respectively. A lithium battery attracts an upcharge of £150. Two colour choices are available… White or Black, each has the option of grey or orange trim. EziCaddy also supply a dedicated cart bag free of charge (limited time offer). These trolleys are only available to purchase directly from the manufacturer, via website or phone. This is done (claimed) to reduce costs such as dealer margins etc. etc. EziCaddy offer a 28 day return and money back policy in the event of you being unhappy with the trolley and their trolleys are backed up by a two year warranty.

The most obvious competitor product that this trolley is aimed at (from both a functionality point of view and styling) is the Motocaddy S1 and S3. Despite the oval framed S-shape and the digital display being uncannily similar to the Motocaddy product (along with web descriptions such as “whisper quiet” motor) the manufacturers say that it is a completely uniquely designed product that shares no common parts.

For comparison the S1 and S3 digital trolleys have a standard price of £299 and £399 respectively and the Lithium battery option attracts a £200 uplift.

I purchased my trolley at around 2pm in the afternoon, I receive a dispatch notice roughly 1 hour later and the next morning the couriers’ website (DPD) provided me with a 1 hour delivery window. The trolley was delivered smack bang in the middle of this window.

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[Blofeld]

Unpacking the box revealed 4 components….the main trolley frame, the front wheel assembly, the battery and the battery charger….along with an instruction manual and spanner. The only other tool you need is a large pozidrive screwdriver. The instructions are simple and straightforward but some of the accompanying pictures are small and any associated text within the pictures is so small it’s nigh on unreadable. The same images on the downloadable manuals on the website are clear and readable…but in printed form they are next to useless. However…as I’ve said the main text instructions are clear and simple enough.

The front wheel assembly attaches to the main frame by means of two solid bolts. The front wheel is also collapsible to help fit it into smaller boots if necessary.

The main trolley opens out in a single action and confidently locks into place, feeling nice and solid. A release lever provides an equally quick unlocking mechanism. When folded down the handle locks into the main battery tray…this does mean though that the battery cannot be left in place when the trolley is folded.

The handle is also height adjustable and the 9cm range of adjustment should be enough to provide a comfortable handle height for all but the tallest or shortest of people.

Adjustment is easy but can only be done when the trolley is in its folded state…so it’s a bit of a trial and error process until you get it right. The front wheel has a dedicated tracking adjustment mechanism…simply flick a lever, adjust a screw, flick the lever and you’re done. Simple and effective.

The lithium battery itself is light (2kg or so) and compact and has a built in moulded handle….unfortunately the handle doesn’t have much clearance space between it and the battery body so those with fat fingers will find that they are forced to pick up the battery in their fingertips….not much of a problem with the light Lithium battery but could be an issue with the 8kg standard battery. The battery simply sits straight in the battery tray and all connections are automatically made by fixed Torberry connectors located on the underside of the battery mating up with their female counterparts in the battery tray. The battery locks in place to prevent it from falling out. A release lever unlocks the battery (and doubles up as the release to unlock the handle from the tray after transportation) for removal.

Bags are secured by means of a silicone rubber strap at the bottom and a “dual bungee” strap at the top which also has a couple of “moveable arms” to grab your bag. The lower strap could be a bit tighter but the upper strap grips well.

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[Blofeld]

In operation the trolley is reasonably quiet – a low whirr from the motor not to be unexpected. However mine is also accompanied by a high pitched whine….like a dentist’s drill but at a low volume…its just there enough to be irritating….I’m hoping this is something that will diminish with time as the trolley beds itself in.

The tracking adjustment is effective and a tendency to pull to the lft was soon alleviated…..letting the trolley free wheel down a couple of test hills showed that following adjustment it held its line well.

The speed “volume” control is light in operation and not easily to finely adjust whilst the trolley is running along bumpy ground…although the display shows incremental “speed” settings in discrete steps (1,2,3…) I’m not sure if the speed changes are themselves incremental or if they are more analogous in operation…i.e. you can finely adjust the speed within each speed “setting”.

The digital display is bright and clear and should be easily viewable in bright sunlight. I found the ever changing “distance travelled” setting to be distracting so changed the distance readout to “lifetime” which is displayed in miles…hence rarely changes.

The trolley itself is light and well balanced and very easy to steer and the handles that are part moulded plastic and part rubber are nice and comfortable. The roughly textured wheels are a bit of a waste as mud tends to cling in the gaps and cleaning takes a bit longer than it should.

Battery lifetime is as yet unknown…the Lithium battery is only rated for 18 holes but the guys at EziCaddy told me it should do 36 on a reasonably flat course. Indeed after 18 holes only 1 of the six battery indication bars had disappeared.

The automatic distance function is excellent and easy to use, requiring a 3 second puss of the main control button followed by a turn of the same button to set the required distance, one more click and away she goes.

So far I’m very impressed with this trolley that is well built, well specified with some useful features and priced very sensibly indeed. I think it will sell truckloads and (unless it suffers a serious repeated mechanical failure early in its life, like Motocaddy’s axle failures in early S1’s, that aren’t dealt with swiftly and efficiently by the manufacturer) will eat significantly into the sales of pricier models.

[hotbaws]

No pictures of the unboxing ceremony and trolley ?

[Blofeld]

No pictures of the unboxing ceremony and trolley ?

Picture attached. (mine has grey bits where the picture is orange)

Now imagine it folded up inside a cardboard box.

Now imagine opening the box.

 

[MGL]

So how are you doing in the 'Hero to Hacker' race then, which is why I guess everyone is doing product reviews all of a sudden.

[Blofeld]

So how are you doing in the 'Hero to Hacker' race then, which is why I guess everyone is doing product reviews all of a sudden.

mid/high 30's!!!!

you only get points if you do a review in the formal review section....not if you post an in depth text review!!!

so you can review a packet of tees and get 500 H2H points or make a multi page post and get 50pts.

hence why the forum is largely full of shite.

but thats not for discussion here!!!!