Cargo Bikes

nice shade of pink there - is it rattlecanned? if so which one?

I see lots of hub motors using almost radial spoking - seems mad to me. Could someone please just point me to where I can find out why it's THE accepted way ?? Thanks in advance.

https://ebikes.ca/learn/wheel-build.html

Yeah it's rattle canned, two shades of pink over white powder coated bullit. Have a couple of cans left, will dig out and let you know the colour tomorrow

Always slightly confused by the Alex press kits. So you had to choose a battery separately? How were you sure of compatibility? Bike looks rad

AIUI the power ratings given in Watts arent that reliable. Ie the bosch motor will peak much higher than 250… torque ratings are where you wanna look really.

Yeah, chose a battery separately.

Just need to make sure voltage and type of connectors are the same. Easy enough to change over the connectors though, i've just done this so both ebikes can switch batteries.

Molotow #047 Mauve hell

Can anyone recommend a good place to rent a cargo bike? I need to move flat... only going round the corner and can't face a van - would rather do multiple trips on my own!

Not yet, heard of one R+M packster or load been retrofitted with this after they gave up with constantly wearing out/explosion of envilio.

Higher end, yes I mean that customers think a nice I9 clicky hub is what you want, but in reality you can barely get the larger gauge cargo/sapim e strong spokes through the holes (or tolerance isn't ideal so its gonna be an issue), flanges aren't strong enough, hell barrel of the hub probably isn't enough. Same issue for Tandems, so many running around on normal hubs then come a croppa due to over load/torsion/time. Same for tyres, often see folk swap out stock burly tyres for some nice tan walls. Great until you ride 2 miles with only 50 psi in them and sidewalls get shredded.

Where are you based?

PSA. RADWAGONS.

Probably the king of the budget longtails? They have issued a sort of recall for tyre issue and rim tape issue. The rim tape is just a strip of rubber with no adhesive and its not very wide so easily disturbed allowing tube to explode into spoke holes. Easy to replace with something adhesive and of quality.
Tyres they don't have a solution for yet and will be a few months. There is a few scooter/small MC tyres that will fit. Done two this week with 'Pirelli Demon'. They do go on with normal tyre levers, no car/MC tyre shop machine required just some hard work and maybe a bit of tyre bead grease. Existing tubes in Radwagon's are OK to put inside these tyres.

Pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wheels on the radwagon, the spokes are branded and approx 12g, rim is unbranded and pinned, but looks sturdy enough for the job. Better than some bikes costing about a grand more!
Brakes on radwagon's are cheap cable jobs though. Would strongly suggest replacing with tektro e bike hydraulics (£55 an end) for a massive upgrade in performance/reduction in faff/constant adjustment.

Riding Radwagon, GSD mk1, GSD mk2, benno boost and kona back to back. Kona is the worst for sure! Flops around like a cheap farm gate with more than 30 kg on the back (1 kid!!).
Would rate the radwagon 'cage' and quality of seat pads actually above that of Tern, quality of the fixings and welds are certainly better. Tern uses a basic foam pad on the mk1 that deteriorates in UV and use after about a year noticably vs new. Radwagon also use furniture foam in a vinyl cover but feels much more substantial. Benno uses an expanded rubber /hollow injection mould and hold up to UV + use very well (R+M do it the same way).
Stiffness of frame and size of rear load area both larger/stiffer than the GSD mk1, similar to mk2 in terms of stiffness. Radwagon has the largest rear load area. Benno around 5cm less. Both Terns around 12-15cm less.

Biggest issue/negative is the hub motor, detuned for UK market @ 250w rated, its basically useless on a hill start, gives no assistance until your already moving. Hand throttle/walk assist button is a must for it to even start moving. With 80kg of man meat + 60 kg of kids (below total weight limit) a hill start on a moderate hill is a daunting prospect. Have heard of folk reverting them to the US spec, not for the high speed but to try and get it moving from zero more easily. Still not as good as any Bosch/Brose/Shimano mid drive though. Would say its an issue that affects ALL direct drive hub motor bikes though.
Once moving above walking pace, works great. Not as fancy as those above, but works just fine, and for £2300-2800 (inc brake upgrade at your LBS would also change the factory 7s freewheel for a branded one, they are pretty crappy) defo king of the budget long tails IMO.

South east London - Deptford to New Cross!

Appreciated thanks

You can borrow my mini max! PM me if you like

There's a cargo bike rental scheme in East Dulwich somewhere. I've not used it, only seen a flyer for it.

Good to hear your thoughts on this. I'd like to get an electric longtail at some point. Currently between HSD and Radrunner for me due to length constraints (1.75m max). HSD looks better out of those to me, although much more expensive obviously. Only one kid so HSD would be adequate capacity-wise.

I mean for 1 kid you dont really need a long tail, just a seat. But the Short hauls are pretty nice looking

True, it would be having the option of 1 kid+ stuff that appeals (shopping trips) and the option of getting further afield with less effort.

RemiDemi or R+M Tinker are both worth a look too. Both are regular bike length but offer better kid carrying capacity/lower down = easier to deal with. I think both as well will fit in a regular bike locker with the kid seat left in place. A normal hybrid will not, have to remove kid seat each time.

Just wanted to update my cargo build with some pictures, please comment away if you want.
It's a bafang750w , what do you recommend for the loose and unused cables to protect against the water? Any pointers for overall elements protection would be appreciated!!
Thx

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Thinking of doing the same for my omnium. Did you use the chain ring that came with the bfang motor, or did you find an aftermarket one?

for now i have the 42.... i am just "finishing" the build so i am not sure about the chainring or the cassette, still have to true the wheel and many other things...
i saw somewhere the lekkie rings are used with bafangs
https://lekkie.tech/product-category/chain-rings/
but maybe just any correct bcd ring will do, dont know if lekkie are narrow wide or if that even matters
sorry could not help you much

Those of you who've added a motor to your cargo bikes, or who just know about this kind of thing, how much does the motor compensate for gearing range?

Basically I've got a Kona Ute and am considering adding a mid-motor (leaning towards Tongsheng, but maybe Bafang). At the moment it has 26/36t chainrings. With a motor I'd obviously go down to a single ring up front and lose some of the range.

I don't use the bike for very heavy duty stuff, mainly hauling my six year old daughter around. But I definitely need the 26t to get up some of the steeper local hills at the moment.

I'm assuming that at a minimum I'll need to replace the stock chainring with something lower like a 32 or 34, but would I need to go even lower to make up for losing the 26t at the front?

Or is the motor likely to give me enough oomph to get up those hills in a higher gear?

you will be fine with 40t front with 32-36 cog at the back