Blog

Adding an e-assist kit to your bike can extend your range and reduce effort needed to get up hills or carry passengers and cargo. Many of our cargobike customers have decided that an e-assist kit is essential for getting their growing families around the city and up Capitol Hill. Our shop is equipped to install and service a variety of different electric motor systems. Recently, we have been using the Lunacycle mid-drive kits to add power to Yubas, Workcycles, and regular bikes. This system is powerful enough to handle fully loaded longtails and Bakfiets.

Mid-drive power

The mid-drive motor for this electric bicycle conversion is the heart of the operation. We use the 750 watt and 1000 watt versions in most builds. This provides enough power to get a fully loaded cargo bike up to 20mph and maintain that speed.

Starting the build

We start out with a regular bike, in this photo, a Yuba Mundo. The first step is to pull the crankset and bottom bracket and replace with the motor unit.

Battery mount

The battery tray is installed directly onto the water bottle mounts for a secure platform.

Cabling to the display

Cables run from the electric motor to the speed sensor and to the brake sensors. These components all get wired into a harness that passes through the display/control unit.

Once we get all the cables set up, we’re ready to pull the battery off the charger and test the drive motor. A few tests of shifting and braking and the newly electrified bike is ready for the street.

We can walk you through the build process if you’re considering making a conversion to electric motor assist. A typical build with motor, controls, battery, and installation will run around $1500.

Is it worth it? Our first Yuba electric motor assist installation customer said her face hurt from grinning on her school run.

We think that’s a pretty good endorsement.