Struggling with cargo bike on rural school run

[sheepishangel]

Hi folks, I am struggling with my cargo bike since moving into rural Gloucestershire in September, and just hoping for some advice/encouragement.

We have one car (which my husband often needs for site trips for his work), one electric cargo bike (Winther Kangaroo Luxe) and two kids aged 4.5 and 1.5 years.

The school run is 5 miles each way (so 20 miles a day) along narrow country roads. Contrary to some people's dire predictions, the local drivers have all been really polite, and at top speed on the e-bike it only takes 20 minutes each way. I really enjoy the fresh air and the sense of getting to know the countryside, and the kids seem to enjoy the ride too. So I really want to make it work if I can!

The problem has been that the bike just keeps conking out. We've had multiple punctures due to lots of hedge trimmings on the lanes. After getting the first one dealt with professionally for £60 including delivery of the bike, at least I've now learnt to fix a puncture myself without having to remove the wheel, and discovered Gaadi double-ended inner tubes for when I finally do need a new inner tube. But at the bike's annual mechanical service, we had lots of stuff replaced (new chainset, new brakes, Schwalbe Marathon tyres) and now its battery/motor has died. I'm looking at nearly £400 just to get the bike to and from Oxford for a service (and they can't tell me how much it's going to be to sort out the motor) because no one local seems willing to look at a Bafang hub motor.

When the bike is away somewhere for repairs/service, the school run is really tricky. Sometimes, 2-3 days a week, I can have the car. But when I can't, the bus service is not much good (bus to school arrives either 45 minutes before the school gate opens, or 15 minutes after registration closes). I've asked a few other parents for lifts for my 4yo, but I feel bad asking for 3 days there and back in a week. Especially as it's not easy to repay the favour, because I can't take an extra child (let alone two) on the cargo bike. This time I was wondering about hiring a car for a week while the bike's away, but that looks like a minimum of £210 for the week.

I feel like I'm haemorrhaging money on this bike. I keep telling myself it's still cheaper than running a second car, but it's just feeling like a real struggle at the moment. Does anyone have any tips? Encouragement? Experiences?

[mattheus]

I've just linked to this on the "E-bike" forum/board.

Good luck!

Moderator note - removed as I had moved the thread.

[slowster]

Welcome to the forum. I have moved your thread from Family Cycling to the Electrically assisted pedal cycles's board, because I think more people will see your thead here who are able to advise you.

[mjr]

I'm surprised there's no-one in Gloucs to fix Bafang, but I've not looked.

Have you discovered puncture repair sealant canisters, such as Zefal's?

[Richard Fairhurst]

Really sorry to hear that. I did the cargo e-bike school run for a while, also on country lanes (we're on the Oxfordshire side of the Cotswolds) but more like three miles each way. We loved it but it sounds like you've had rotten luck.

On the punctures - choose Marathon Plus rather than vanilla Marathons, and don't ride too close to the verge. Replacing brake pads frequently is part and parcel of riding an e-bike on gritty country lanes I'm afraid, but it's pretty easy to do yourself, arguably easier than fixing a puncture. It's worth getting a Park Tool "chain scrubber" and using it every now and then, particularly in the winter.

Like mjr I'm a bit surprised there's no one locally who can look at the motor - though Gloucestershire's a big county and I guess Oxford might be nearer than (say) Cinderford! Presumably you're hiring a van or something to get the bike there?

Junior's old school now sometimes has three Terns rocking up in the morning, each with happy kids having been carried 3-5 miles on country lanes, so it is definitely doable. The Tern range (GSD/HSD) are fabulous and have a good dealer network. They use Bosch motors, which are very much a known quantity. They're not cheap, but they are pretty robust. It might be that the Kangaroo would fare better in an urban context, and you could sell it on to a city-dweller to get a bit of money to put towards a GSD - certainly I've seen the Kangaroo style of bike around Oxford pretty frequently. If by any chance the bike shop you're visiting in Oxford is Warlands, ask them for a second opinion and whether they may even want to sell yours on - I'd trust them more than pretty much any other bike shop I know.

[stodd]

It's worth posting on the Pedelecs site.
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/forums ... ussion.59/
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/forums ... cussion.2/

Give as much information about the bike as you can, and in particular details of the fault.
'now its battery/motor has died' isn't enough. People on the forum will ask questions to help you get at what the fault really is. If you are lucky there is somebody moderately local who will be willing to have a look.

One easy thing to check is that all the connections are really secure. In particular there is probably one on the cable from the motor about a metre or so from the motor. Make sure it is pushed in really firmly; right up to the indicator lines if there are any.

An issue with a Bafang hub motor should be fairly easy to fix, and relatively cheap (relative to fixing anything with a Bosch or similar motor).

I agree with the Marathon Plus comment

Good luck with fixing this.

[rjb]

Motor faults can sometimes be cleared with a Battery Management system reset .

https://youtu.be/BohusvCWp2M?si=ha37cnrd-PeDUmqC

I reset the BMS on my middrive motor by wheeling the bike in reverse for a minute which turns the motor into a generator and back feeds the battery at its output terminals. leave the battery power switch and controller on.

A simple task before having to investigate further.

[Redvee]

Give Rob at Really Useful Bikes a bell, he's down in Yate on the outskirts of Bristol, closer than Oxford you don't say where in Gloucestershire you are. It seems you've at that crossroads where you have to decide wether it's worth spending more money on your current bike of buying a new one.

https://www.reallyusefulbikes.com/

[UpWrong]

Hub drives are usually reliable. The cadence sensor is usually the weak point and should be easy and cheap to reposition or replace.

[simonineaston]

Oh gosh what a sorry tale... sorry to hear your woes. Certainly agree that it's p*******e season Yesterday at the market garden where I work, we all had flats, including the barrow we use to take all the produce over to the yard, to load the delivery truck!
I have sympathy for your predicament - when my back tyre went down, I was able to turn around, walk home and switch to my second bike. It's not that easy if you have little ones along and are several miles from home. Wouldn't it be great if there were reliable e-bike mechanics who travelled out to folks suffering breakdown. There are such mobile mechanics for cars and vans of course.

[[XAP]Bob]

Oh gosh what a sorry tale... sorry to hear your woes. Certainly agree that it's p*******e season Yesterday at the market garden where I work, we all had flats, including the barrow we use to take all the produce over to the yard, to load the delivery truck!
I have sympathy for your predicament - when my back tyre went down, I was able to turn around, walk home and switch to my second bike. It's not that easy if you have little ones along and are several miles from home. Wouldn't it be great if there were reliable e-bike mechanics who travelled out to folks suffering breakdown. There are such mobile mechanics for cars and vans of course.

We have had at least one locally... I don't know if he's still running.
But some breakdown cover is personal, rather than by car IIRC, I wonder what they'd say...