eggnoggbubble

Hi,

I was going to add an electrical assist to my mundo, but now I'm thinking to buy a haul-a-day to replace my mundo I love my mundo, but here are the reasons to replace:
- it's very BIG and wide and heavy
- very hard to carry
- I don't tend to carry anything a haul-a-day couldn't manage (2 kids + beach gear)
- it's so big my wife refuses to ride it - but she likes the look of the haul-a-day
- the haul-a-day is dissassemblable so can be carried in a car occasionally

I'm thinking I want electric assist because it's San Francisco hilly and 1,000% humidity where I live (okinawa) - electric assist will get me up hills with kids without turning it into a workout, and to work without needing to shower when I arrive.

The options as I see it are the BionX hub-drive set Bike Friday supply, or DIYing a Bafang mid-drive, which I suspect will provide more climbing power. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Also, it rains a lot here so I want waterproof bags not the open slings for luggage carrying on the back. I might well just use the go-getters from my yuba but they will hang too low to be compatible with the haul-a-day side loaders - does anyone know of any alternatives that will work?

thanks for any thoughts!

fietsbob

Mid Drive Motors are the key to hill climbing Torque..

LBS, here, installs lectric cycles motors in threaded BB frames .. Hunters , MTB, are the primary buyers .

Electric Bike Kits - Lectric Cycles

the 1000w motor is very powerful ,

of course more watts draws down the battery faster. [solution = bigger amp/Hr batteries ]

Crew @ Bike Friday can probably ship the HaulADay with such a Motor Installed

In Oregon and Boxed to be ready to ride .. Talk to them..





./.

fietsbob

Perhaps You can find a way to use some of Ortlieb's Rack pack bags?

they use a roll closure along their length, rather than the Typical Dry Bag you stuff your things into the ends.

eggnoggbubble

thanks for the replies!

I asked but BF said they don't do the bafang mid-drives, though they have heard of customers fitting them and being happy. I'm not too techie but I have friends who are and have said they are pretty sure we can DIY it by buying a bafang kit.

Those rack packs look interesting, definitely waterproof and big enough, not sure they wouldn't be a bit of a weird shape (sticking out a bt much) but they might work, I'll have a think, thanks for the suggestion.

pampera

Nice move, if I could choose again I'd go for this combo instead of the Velonom. Not available when I bought, I'm afraid.
I live in a very hilly and step area (Madrid and towns around) and electrical assist users said that more is better, they aim to install the most powerful assistance they can afford and often they spend twice, first for the cheap electrical assistance and second chance, the powerful one.
Let us know your experience please.

eggnoggbubble

hey, thanks for the advice, I was on the fence a bit about the 750 or the 1000 since this will be a smaller bike, but if more is better then I guess I'm getting the 1000....

I'll be sure to come back and report on the experience, tho it may be a little while - BF takes 6-8 weeks from ordering to ship, and I have to organize the budget first! I may actually get the bike first and plan to add the electric in a little while to spread costs out a bit.

mel2012

If you're on Facebook, once you've ordered the bike you should join the Haul-a-Day users group. There are at least two users in the group that have a Bafang mid-drive. We have a front hub motor on ours which is more than adequate for where we live, but we don't have any hills


You can fit two sets of Ortlieb Classic Backrollers on the rear of the Haul-a-Day (so four panniers total), which provides good waterproof cargo storage unless you have something really big.

eggnoggbubble

thanks, I'll check out the facebook group and ask about the bafang!

badmother

Some more to read aboyt the bike: Lovely Bicycle!: Search results for haul a day

I wish I needed one..

Did you look into the E- bike forum here?: Electric Bikes - Bike Forums

Remember motors and batterys are heavy so the more assist you add the more you depend on assist to haul it all around and your wife may refuse to ride that one too.. You`ll depend on the charging options when riding it.

Maybe try it first and see what you think about it "naked".

eggnoggbubble

That's a good point. I probably will try it naked first (the bike, that is....hopefully that's obvious ) just so I have a valid basis for comparison. And I will keep an eye on weight. Tho I do think the HAD is just much smaller and less intimidating, my wife is actually fully on board with this purchase with a view to being able to ride it herself so I think she'll be ok even with extra weight from a motor. And the hills really are pretty big round here, the worst is a 92m climb over 750m = 12% (!!)), a struggle on the mundo even without kids (impossible with kids) and the humidity is around 1,000% most days so I'm pretty sure we want an assist.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the size of motor i want to get?　I'll be buying from this site Kit Including Battery since I live in Japan and they have a good reputation over at endless sphere. Options seem to be 500W, 750W or 1000W

Ridefreemc

Using the mid-drive you may be limited in the size of the chainring (not sure). The 20" wheels plus the fact that you can ride up to 20 mph means you'll need a very large front chainring and an 11 in the rear. Otherwise, you'll spin out below 20 mph. My Big Dummy has very high gears and works great, but the Xtracycle is a little lower and spins out earlier.

Edit - I see there is an adapter available for up to a 56 tooth ring. Might be enough, but still want to be aware of that.

linberl

Your wife is going to love the smaller wheels! The lower center of gravity makes it easier to handle and more confidence-inducing. But be prepared, she may want her own regular Bike Friday shortly thereafter ;-)

eggnoggbubble

update - bike has arrived and we've been riding it around, my wife is pretty happy on it even with two kids, so it's a big success, For solo missions it's great too, a LOT lighter than the mundo (which i love, but it is heavy....). The bafang is on a pause, probably try to get started on that in spring.