Grant Holle wrote:(Xtracycle no longer makes the Freeradical kits, which is unfortunate).
It's not unfortunate, it was a poor design that hung on too long through sheer popularity. Any first year engineering student would hopefully grasp multiple reasons for that assertion. I broke 3 of them, after the first, no warranty support, no surprise. Always cracks right behind or in front of the dropouts, where there is no strength in the design. If you come by one used, you should have it modified immediately along the lines of this photo:
https://goo.gl/images/fZ4hkC Weight-bearing members need triangles...
On the bright side, I can tell you from 3x experience, they never fail catastrophically. I even rode the 10 year old a couple blocks home the last time, even though it was even more like riding a wiggly fish than ever!
My two cents on the actual ebike thing, if you at all can, build your own. Em3ev.com and Luna Cycles and California E-bike all have stellar reputations for their kits, I have 3 of them, a front-hub, a rear-hub and a mid-drive. Quite fond of the triangle battery packs, they put that weight right in the center of the bike. above the pedals, nice balance.
I would no longer recommend a mid-drive motor, the wear on the drivetrain is insane! You will want to buy chains & cassettes in bulk. They are a somewhat better choice for a light mountain bike with low gears than a city commuter/cargo with speed gears. MMV.
I also like the rear hub motor for a cargo bike specifically, as they use huge 13G spokes (on the Em3EV version at least), and I have ruined several normal rear wheels with regular spokes on our cargo rig from carrying big loads with kids.
Summer
