Damn that’s way nicer than the sketchy thing I got off eBay
There’s a dashboard adapter on Amazon that would work but I’m not sure about the form factor
I felt the same way about mine and am glad it returned to me. I’ll put it back into service when Roli outgrows the bullitt. I wish I could get accessories for it.
I ran into the owner of a LBS at the farmers market the other day and he was complaining that Xtracycle fired all its dealers and went DTC. “They were a great company and now it might as well be an Avention.” were his thoughts. Turns out he has a Bullitt account so we’ll be seeing more of each other, I’m sure.
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I think they went DTC because it was the only way they could stay in business, sadly. That extra margin sure helps. in my experience they have been extremely pleasant and helpful with pre- and post- sales support. I can see why a bike dealer might be sore about it, though.
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i have a friend who used to work there. it sounds like they were always very close to going out of business, more so than your average bike shop
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They also got bought out by Priority right? At least there is some weird Priority/Xtracycle relationship going on.
Definitely strayed far from their roots for better or worse. Lack of documentation on the new stuff. They made some update to the Swoop and it now fits larger tires but unclear when this update was made or how to tell them apart or what is cross compatible. And the new Hopper is… Well… Eh.
They have the same PE investor as Priority and combined some of their operations. My cousin works for that PE firm and thinks they’re doing both companies a favor but also had no idea about the slip in quality that has come with their “efficiencies”.
Apparently they’re also involved with the new/old ownership of Kona. Interested to see how that plays out.
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What fool in PE saw bikes and said, “yeah that will make me money”?
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Also love my Free Radical and so glad I got another after foolishly selling my first one.
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I had a lot of fun with mine. Bought in late 2005 (fuck. Almost 20 years ago) and somehow got a screaming deal on dhl shipping to oz. built with one old shogun in Brisbane then rebuilt a few years later to a slightly newer and stiffer shogun. Eventually put a disc threadless fork on it with a Mutant stem and then sold it when i left Melbourne.
It is kinda crazy that if you saw a Free Radical on the streets 15-20 years ago you were like WOW what a crazy ass bike! And now there are all sorts of big-ass bikes out there (even if most of them are DTC e-bikes)
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I’ve told this before I think, but back in 1998 or so a “mountain film festival” came through Iowa State University and I went to watch it. There was a short film about these dudes who invented this bolt-on attachment to your bike and then you could carry so much cargo and they were going to revolutionize the world yadda yadda.
I was like “yeah right, that will NEVER catch on”, that thing is expensive and heavy and trailers are easy and you get to keep your normal bike for when you don’t want to carry cargo, etc.
25 years later and here we are.
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What’s the current state of mid-drive conversions?
The dither cries at me from the dark and I must heed its call
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I’ve had a TSDZ2 for like 3 years now? Got a couple thousand miles on it. Bought it from a company that doesn’t exist anymore but thankfully haven’t had any issues since I got the crank arms torqued on correctly.
It’s got a brass gear in it so it’s kinda loud. It’s on cargo/dad bike duty. I use it to make riding easier but not necessarily faster so hopefully it lasts longer.
I’m probably going to look at CYC motors if/when my tongsheng dies. The good/bad thing about the kits is that they are changing all the time so it’s hard to know what to recommend
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found photos!
final form (sans mutant). binning the shot elastomer fork and putting on a disc brake made it so much better. still had the rollamajig that shipped with the xtra FR kit.
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Needs a Clydesdale
CYC photon or Toseven DM-01 or DM-02. I’d do the Toseven myself if I was doing a mid drive conversion right now. My guess is the higher wattage DM-02 is still plenty for an urban cargo bike.
I’m generally happy with my choice of going with the Grin All Axle hub motor for my 20" cargo bike wheel but like you I got that itch…
No wait I have so many unfinished projects and piles of parts already.
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I’m kinda leaning towards the DM02, but idk what battery voltage I’m supposed to be looking for.
Also I know the brains of the system are in the little computer controller display but how swappable are they? I don’t want a big display, just something small.
the fun part of DIY is getting all of the stuff to work together.
the same component from different suppliers can have different plugs. some of the wires you are dealing with have 9 conductors so rewiring them can get not fun.
you want to deal with a source that has an established ecosystem so you can get all of the parts to work together. I bought a couple of cheap headlights that didn’t work with my system after wiring new plugs on them. had to go buy the light from grin to get it working.
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