Feeling shamed by my not being hands on with my Beta at the minute I thought I'd share a smaller, simpler fun project of mine that I have actually done myself
With the arrival of a baby last June I was looking at nursery / local transport for the future, and a friend of mine happened to be selling his cargo bike.. opportunity!
Bike arrivesI put it to use around Christmas to convey me to some Christmas parties and see how it rides, to which the answer was - lovely, but it's heavy and it's pretty hilly on most routes I'd want to do- wouldn't it be nice if it had some more oomph.
500W of TSDZ2 motor provides pedal assisted extra oomph added along with a drivetrain refresh - new chain, cassette, chainring, gear cable inners + outers. A learning experience with a rivnut tool to add extra mounts to the downtube for the batteryHmm. Google says these things will overheat on big hills because the air gap between the motor and housing acts as an insulator preventing it from losing heat.. ok, lets add some thermal cooling pads between the motor and housing to allow heat transfer, making the housing a giant heat sinkAll fitted and working, add seat, test fit cargo - looking good!Now just need the missus to pop out for a test ride up and down the road with the precious cargo - guidance says best to wait till they are a year old but hey.. she looks about the right size and what's 5 months between friends