Recently I got hold of a new e-bike drive system to test out on my cargo and kid carrying Surly Big Dummy.

The motivation is that for myself and many out there using cargo/sports utes, we sometimes have big loads strapped to our bikes, and in a place like Chapel Hill, big hills to climb with them.

That taxes the standard electric bike hub motor system. Some can handle it, but constantly pushing their limits may ultimately lead to failure.  ( the same can be said for one’s legs – which is why I use a an electric assist on my cargo bike).

One solution to this problem has been the Stokemonkey.  Instead of a hub motor, it uses the bike’s existing drivetrain – and gears.  So, when you’re climbing a hill with it and you shift into a lower gear to give your legs a break, you’re giving the motor a break too.  This increases overall system efficiency, and motor/battery system longevity.

But there have been two limitations to the Stokemonkey: limited supply (it is produced in small batches by our supplier in Portland, Or), and it only fits on Xtracycle-style cargo bikes.

A few brave designers have tried to crack this same nut with a system that doesn’t require an Xtracycle style frame.

The first was the Cyclone.  I don’t have any experience with that system, but have heard certain things that have put me off from trying it – mainly that the installation is very involved.

Now comes the Electric Mountain Drive from the folks at Ecospeed (also from Oregon!).

The Electric Mountain Drive system

It is another electric assist system that uses the bike’s own drivetrain, benefiting from the gearing on the bike to reduce motor strain and increase climbing ability.

I’ve been using it for about two weeks now, so this review is only preliminary.

Here are some benefits of the system:

• Because it uses the bike’s drivetrain, it can handle steep hills without strain (if I shift into the right gear)
• It mounted to the frame in a relatively straightforward manner
• It uses a standard electric bike brushless motor controller, so when the first one died (a note on that later), I was able to swap in an Infineon controller we had in the shop
• Using only a 36 Volt battery with a controller consuming 20 amps, the bike can achieve powered speeds of up to 25mph+ (depending on headwind and hills).  Most of the hub motors I’ve tested – even the high speed ones – can’t do this on only 36V 20A system.  For me those would top out around 22mph on the flats, pulling maximum amps.
• Its installation wasn’t too difficult, and the instructions were very detailed.

For certain kinds of applications such as steep hills to climb on a cargo bike without a spot to put a Stokemonkey, this appears to be THE solution.

But it does have a few drawbacks to be aware of:

• It is somewhat noisy.  It is not louder than the cars on the road – but not a lot quieter, either.  I like to operate in “stealth” mode on my local bike path so as to not get any of the other users upset that I’m using electric assist.  It is hard to do with the EMD, unless I just entirely leave the electric off.  That’s fine… except for that I’m usually in a hurry (note: I never, ever use the electric assist to exceed 20 mph on the bike path, and I always slow down for other users – doing otherwise would not only be rude, but would likely land me in trouble).  Also, the way it mounts on the bike makes it more obvious that the bike has some kind of motor attached.
• I found the overall system efficiency to be disappointing – which means that I can’t travel as far on a single battery charge.  When I used the eZee hub motor, I typically got 18 watt hours per mile or better (at 36V).  That meant I could do a 20 mile roundtrip with my 10 amp hour battery.  With the EMD system, I’m getting at best 24 watt hours per mile, reducing the range to around 15 miles.  I think there are three factors causing this: a) It uses a chain/gear system with a oneway clutch that may loose energy; b) Some energy may be lost in my Nuvinci continuous variable transmission; c) it is easy to go too fast with the system, which always sucks down juice very fast (any speed over 20mph on an e-bike is usually quite inefficient).  I’ve tried to keep the speed low, and still had poor efficiency.  At some point, I’ll try it out on a bike with a regular rear transmission using cassette and derailleur, to see whether that makes any difference.
• The first controller fried within only 1/2 hour of operation.  It turns out that the motor and controller are made by BMC.  BMC makes decent motors… but their controllers have a not so good reputation for reliability (we won’t sell them anymore after a failure rate of over 50%).  We replaced it with an Infineon, which has worked well so far (an is in general a very reliable controller).  To their credit, Ecospeed did send us a new controller right away, and it is a different design.  But it is still made by BMC.  I think I’ll keep the Infineon for now.
• It requires a bike with a circular downtube – the tube from the handlebars down to the pedals (many bikes these days have ovalized downtubes).  And, once installed, it does protrude down a bit.

Another attribute I noted that is neither plus nor minus is that to optimally use this motor, I had to get in the habit of shifting the bike appropriately.  This requires letting off the throttle a bit, doing a rapid shift, then getting back on the throttle.  At first it was a bit clunky for me – but just like learning to drive with a clutch and gearshift, once I picked it up, it worked well.  I have come to enjoy the challenge of shifting properly through an acceleration cycle to get up to speed.

Bottom line: The EMD will be a perfect solution for people who have big/long hills to climb, and provides a worthwhile alternative to the Stokemonkey, especially if the latter isn’t available or if it won’t fit on your bike.

My assessment is that hub motors will be better for the person who has moderate hills, long distances, or is concerned about noise.  Since I fall in several of the latter categories, I’m likely to return back to a hub motor system at some point.

Finding an ebike or kit can be a challenge in today’s environment. Everyone claims their kits and bikes are great, but how do you really know? If you research ebike kits on popular forums, like endless-sphere or V is for Voltage, you’ll get a wide variety of opinions, often conflicting. These forums are great and have a lot of useful information, but trying to sort the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, can be a real challenge!

When I was researching electric kits, I know how much work it took and how difficult it was to know who to trust. That’s why I decided to have an open door policy on questions, and make sure we provided the best information and answers we could, not just representing one vendor or brand of ebike or kit. I’ve had people ask all kinds of questions, both people buying their first kits, as well as those buying a second or third kit. Here are 3 common mistakes or misconceptions I’ve found many people to have.

1. Putting a front motor on a suspension fork

This is usually a big mistake. Most suspension forks are made out of cast aluminum materials. The aluminum is strong, but not flexible, and can be brittle. A rotating front hub motor puts a lot of stress at the fork dropout – the little U shapes in the fork that hold the wheel to the fork. Under this kind of stress, the drop outs can crack and break, causing your wheel to no longer be attached to your bike. You can imagine the consequences of this, especially if it occurs at high speed. If you are thinking of converting a bike with front suspension forks, it is recommended to go with a rear wheel motor.

Fortunately, steel is a more flexible material and less likely to break under stress. So putting a front motor on a steel fork is perfectly acceptable. I recommended adding a torque arm to these forks, which translates some of the rotational force to the fork arm, and not just the drop-out. With a steel fork, torque arm, and proper installation, a front motor is often a great solution, and results in a bike with “all wheel drive”.

2. Assuming a pre-built electric bike is higher quality than an electric kit

Many people in the market for electric bikes often assume that a bike that is made as an electric bike at the factory will be superior to an electric conversion kit. While ebikes are great solutions for some people (which is why we carry them), for some people, an electric kit could be the best.

The main differences between ebikes and ebike kits are in performance and style. Ebikes have the advantage of being designed around the electric system, so often come with built-in battery compartments, and low-profile, stylish designs. The ebike kits, however, are not integrated into your bike, so batteries are often carried on a rear rack in a pannier or bag, which some people don’t like, and there is additional wiring to run along your frame. One exception is the Bionx kit, which is well designed to fit very cleanly and look great on bikes with a triangular frame.

Another main difference between ebikes and ebike kits is in performance. Because ebikes are sold as a complete unit, they are often powered on the low end to comply with any potential laws about bike speed, and also to protect the companies from a liability perspective. Most ebikes top out at 15-18mph and provide pedaling assistance on hills, but won’t be able to propel you and the bike uphill on their own. Many riders can achieve 15-18mph under their own power, so the electric assist only helps on hills. (Sometimes that is all we need!). Ebike kits, however, are often higher power. Many of them have a top speed of 20-30mph, and have more climbing power. These kits are better performing for the rider who is looking for speed or who is carrying a heavy load.

And lastly, for some of the less expensive pre-built ebikes, the non-electric bike components are often of low quality, just like you would have on inexpensive regular bikes. This might be fine for the user who only rides the bike occasionally, but if you’re planning on using the bike regularly, you don’t want to pay a lot of money for a bike, only to have it start breaking and having to have parts replaced after a year of use. If you are in the market for an ebike, make sure you check out the bike component quality as well as the electric system, and be prepared to pay a little more to get something quality. Or consider converting a quality non-electric bike  using a conversion kit.

3. Buying a kit that is overpowered

Because most people do not have a chance to ride an ebike or ebike kit before purchasing, I find that many people want to get the highest powered kit that is available. When you aren’t sure if you can get up that particular hill you have in mind (which might be steep or long), it is natural to want to get the most powerful kit to ensure you have enough oomph. However, in many cases, the most powerful kit is overkill and you end up spending too much money and carrying around more battery or motor weight that is necessary.

An illustration of this phenomenon is what we saw with our BMC motors. First, BMC had a V1 motor (a “400watt ” motor) which is internally geared and has great hill climbing ability. Compared to pedaling up a hill without a motor, the V1 makes it so you can pedal moderately, as you would on the flats, and still climb up the hill. This was great and many people were excited.

Then along came the V2 motor, which was even higher powered (“600W”). This motor is for people who want high speed or high torque applications. It’s main advantage is being able to handle more power. This was fabulous and everyone thought it was “top of the line” and the best motor for xyz. The high speed motor is capable of speeds over 30mph even (that’s FAST for  a bike). Everyone was happy until…

BMC comes out with the V3 motor, which is supposed to be a 1000W motor. Now everyone is asking about this motor – is it better than the V2? Is that what I need? The problem with these higher powered motors is that in order to take advantage of the extra power, you need a BIG battery. Because they tend to be battery hogs. And big batteries are pricey and can be heavy.  And most batteries simply don’t last as long when putting out the high currents needed by these high-power motors.

By all means, if you are looking for very high speed, carrying a cargo trailer with 500 lbs of gear, or climbing 30%+ grades, then go for a high powered motor that can handle these applications. But if you are commuting with yourself and a 20lb briefcase, then you might not need to fork out that extra dough. The standard eZee kit at 36V, for example, is an incredible performer, and will easily tackle just about any hill, even on loaded cargo bikes, and is relatively lightweight. If you compare it to riding your bike unassisted, you’ll be blown away by its performance. (If you compare it to a sports car, however…well then you might be disappointed. )

If you have a chance to ride an ebike or ebike kit before purchasing, that is by far the best way to get a feel for performance. If there is no store in your area carrying ebikes, check out some of those forums (endless sphere, V is for Voltage)  and see if there is an ebike enthusiast in your area that might offer a test ride.

You may have heard of an electric bike before and asked yourself, “what the heck?”

I must admit, it sounds like an odd contraption, adding an electric motor to a bike.

If you are like most people, when you first heard of it, you may have had a reaction of “I don’t need that, I wouldn’t get exercise.”  Or “it would be cheating.”  Or “people would think I’m wimping out.”

I had a reaction like that the first time I heard about them, way back in the early 90’s.  But then the idea wouldn’t leave my mind.  I eventually called up to order one, because I thought it would be nice to have a bit of extra help in my every day commute.  Plus I like trying bleeding edge contraptions.

And I was most surprised by one thing: how fun it was.  Once I was on the bike cruising around with a human-electric hybrid, I quickly lost the notion that it was an odd contraption.  I really liked it.

The thing I realized is that it was so fun that it encouraged me to bike more often.  I started biking lots of places instead of driving, because the bike had become so much more fun.  Especially in the hills.

Many people who come in the shop have the same reaction as my first one (and perhaps yours): what the heck?

But for those that overcome the reaction and try one out, they almost always come back from their first e-bike ride with a big smile on the face.  It is a transformational experience.

I don’t know what it is.  It is more than a decade later, and I still have trouble explaining why it is so fun.  It just is.

Maybe it is because I can readily cruise up the hills, even if I’m tired or it is hot outside.

Maybe it is because I feel like a much stronger biker (sort of like being bionic).

Like you may have, sometimes I’ve wondered whether I get enough exercise.  But I can spend months only riding the electric bike (no gym, no other exercise to speak of), then get on my road bike and ride very fast.  I seem to stay in good shape.

I know a lady who bought an e-bike kit to put on her bike, and enjoyed it so much that she rode every day, loosing 80 lbs.  She must have been getting some exercise.

It seems to encourage me and many others to ride their bikes so much more, that we get a lot more exercise than we would otherwise.

When you buy a car, do you look for the most spartan, uncomfortable car possible?  Or do you go for a car that will transport you around with plenty of power and in comfort?  If you are like me, you prefer having a bit of power and comfort.

But people are funny.  When it comes to buying bikes, I encounter many people who think they should buy a bike that forces them to work hard all the time.  Maybe that’s why a lot of those bikes sit in the garage unused.  If you have to work hard every time you get on the bike, you might not be so inclined to use it.

But if it is always fun to use, you might be more likely to use it.

That’s why I think electric bikes are great.

If you are someone who goes out and rides 50+ miles on your bike on the weekends for fun, you don’t need an electric bike.  But if you think that 10 miles is a long distance to go on a bike, then you may be the perfect candidate for an electric bike or hub motor kit.

Electric bikes

Electric bikes are made from the start to incorporate the electric features.  The main difference from a regular bike is that they usually have a spot for a built-in, lockable battery, like on this bike:

That’s the battery behind and under the seat.  Looking at this bike, you might not have even realized that it was electric.

You can control the power with a throttle on the handlebar.  If you just want to pedal, you can leave the throttle in the off position.  If you want full power, you just twist the throttle all the way.  If you want just a bit of power, you twist it a bit.  You can use any combination of pedaling and/or motor power that you want.

Electric hub motor kits

Electric hub motor kits are meant to be added onto your own bike.  They come in front wheel and rear wheel versions.  They are great if you already have a bike that you like, but want it to be electric.  The work just like a regular electric bike after installation, with the same kind of throttle activation.  You can still ride it just like your bike, or you can turbocharge your ride using the throttle.

With either the electric bike or the e-bike kit, when you get to your home or office, you just plug in the battery for a charge.  It only costs 1 to 2 cents to charge up, and usually takes about 3-4 hours.

Most of these can go around 20 miles per charge, though if you like to pedal a lot, you’ll probably get more than that.  If you’re really not into the pedaling thing all that much, then you might get just 17-20 miles.  That’s still a pretty good distance.

If you’d like to check out some of our offerings, you can have a look at our pre-made electric bikes in our online store.  Or if you are more interested in an electric bike conversion, have a look at our electric bike kits here.

Today I had to go into the doctor’s office for a diagnostic visit. No food, no drink, and all that. The appointment was mid-morning, located on the other side of town from my home. The car was really, really tempting – it is a cold and cloudy day in Chapel Hill. Last night I stayed up way too late doing some research. And I’ve caught some kind of cold from my kids. Overall, this combination doesn’t exactly lead to an optimistic outlook on life. I don’t know about you, but with me, when I don’t get enough sleep, everything seems more dramatic, and this morning I was feeling dramatic about things. The alarm rang, and I just lay there wishing I could go back to sleep. But, nope, the world called, and I had to drag my rear end out of bed, get showered, and get on my way.

All through getting ready, I debated about whether to take the car. The problem with taking the car is that I have no parking permit at work. One of those would cost me over $1,000 per year (seriously!). So I would have had to drive across town to the doctor and back, then park in a remote, expensive hourly parking lot far from my office.

I intentionally decided not to buy the parking permit, to force myself to ride the bike more. It is just too easy to get in the car some mornings if everything is so convenient. On mornings like today, I sometimes wonder about that decision.

But anyway, I decided the hassles of driving would have equaled the hassles of hopping on the bike when it was all added up, so I took the bike – my electric assist “Big Dummy” (who comes up with those names?).

The first 5 minutes or so on the bike I continued to be in a bit of a sour mood, and feeling a bit chilly. But then the blood started flowing. Pedaling was therapy. As I pedaled on I forgot about my woes, and started enjoying the sights and smells of the morning. It helped a lot to have my eZee electric assist this morning – that made all the difference, because I was able to fly across town in time to make my appointment. And I wasn’t in the mood for major exertion today. I did pedal, I always do, because I like to. But just the light pedaling was enough to warm up my body and my mood.

I got to the doctors office, and am sitting here writing this in the waiting room. I’m in a far better mood now, and very glad I biked. I wouldn’t have been so cheery if I’d driven. Driving almost never lifts my mood. It makes me wonder about the whole concept of convenience. Does comfort and convenience equal happiness? I think there’s a fine line. Certainly some comfort and convenience is good. But for me personally, if I have too much comfort and convenience in my life, it just ends up leading to a sort of numbness. Maybe that’s what Roger Waters was writing about in the song “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd. I thrive on challenges – at least small ones – and I think many people do.

This reminds me of a Cycle 9 customer named Rick. He’s a really fun guy. He’s a professor and doctor whose hobbies are sailing, flying and building airplanes, and now, electric bikes. Rick got interested in e-bikes back when Cycle 9 was operating out of a small rented warehouse space with dirt floors. We built him up a customized e-bike with a hub motor that can do some incredible speeds (I’m not going to mention them here, because I don’t want to get Rick in trouble with the local authorities). He really needs those speeds for his situation. He lives in a place with no good bike route to work. Around his neighborhood the biking is good. And around his university the biking is reasonable. But there’s a section in between where the only connector road is an almost 1-mile stretch of very busy highway, with a 45mph speed limit (meaning cars travel 55mph). Some bike advocates would say – well, just ride like a vehicle and occupy that lane. I’d say to them that one would be crazy to do that. Rick does it this way. At the one traffic light before this stretch of bad road, he waits for all the traffic to go through. Then he guns the throttle and flies down the road as fast as he can, to get past “the gauntlet” before the light cycles and lets the next group of cars through. It works, most of the time (I saw him alive and well last week!).

Rick clearly likes challenges. It might be the easier thing for him to drive everyday given the location of his home and work. But he chooses to bike. So do many other folks I know, an ever increasing number. I’m glad that I’m not the only one these days out there riding. And I’m glad for days like this that riding the bike puts me in a much better mood.

And by the way, the doctor’s test was fine.

Family life around our house has entered a new era with our newly electrified Madsen cargo bike! With 3 kids under 6 we’ve been searching for the solution to transport them, and the Madsen with it’s bench seats and social atmosphere is the new favorite. Only problem, house to town is a good 5-7 miles with hills up and down, and some days the old legs just aren’t up for that (see previous post ).

But the solution to this problem came with the installation of an eZee electric motor kit. The motor wheel replaces the 26″ front wheel, and controller and battery conveniently mount in the frame between the downtube and the bucket. A little creative engineering with some velcro straps and zipties and the lithium battery was mounted. The battery weight is suspended from the upper frame tube and the straps wrap around the lower tube to keep it from swinging. The little piece that keeps the super long Madsen chain aligned also doubles to keep the chain and battery separated. The eZee battery itself is in a nice plastic case with a switch, so is protected from the elements somewhat. Removal of the battery for charging involves undoing the straps, but once I got this system down, that became pretty trivial. I like the way the battery is low on the bike and not too obtrusive or taking up any of my bucket space. The wiring is also all conveniently kept together.

Mounting the motor wheel in the front fork was not too difficult until we got to setting up the disc brake. The eZee kit is disc brake compatible and comes with a rotor, however, the brake that is supplied with the Madsen was not compatible with the wider hub. No problem, a new brake (Avid BB7) was ordered up and installed. The 180mm rotor that came with the eZee kit paired with the new brake and only a few additional spacer washers were needed. Once the brake issues were worked out, it was just a matter of making sure the bolts were properly tightened. A tire change wasn’t even necessary because the kit comes with the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tire already installed (and puncture resistance is a good thing on these motor wheels!)

The eZee kit operates with a handlebar mounted throttle. This replaces the right grip, and since the Madsen has trigger shifters there were no compatibility issues there. An LED battery gage also goes on the handlebar to keep track of battery useage.

Once the kit was on the bike, we

flipped the switch on the battery and that baby came to life! The ride home was a breeze as those hills melted away under steady pedaling and electric assistance.

Last weekend, we tried out the new electric Madsen with not one, but TWO trips into town with everyone. First on Saturday morning, everyone loaded up for a trip to the Farmers Market, where we loaded up on greens, strawberries, and yummy treats from our awesome local growers. Then after a break at home for naptime and lunch, it was back downtown again for a kids festival put on by the local La Leche group. Music, hula hooping, and fire truck tours later, we took shelter at the shop from a sudden afternoon downpour, and then picked up tacos at the mobile taco truck on the way home. Kiddos were all tired and one even lay down for a nap on the way home! Overall a great day, no cars involved, and it wouldn’t have been very possible without electric asisst. I think the new Madsen is going to be seeing some light in the weeks to come.

-Elise