We’ve moved! The Yuba Bicycles blog can now can be found at:

http://whatabikecando.com/

Travis N. recently sent in this video of his family vacation in Yosemite this fall. He found the Mundo v4 to be the perfect way to get around with kids on the valley floor.

Dear Yuba,
Our adventures with our Yuba Mundo begin in Yosemite in October. But first, I need to go back a few months. In August, our family moved to a new city where we hope to be able to walk and bike to more of our daily activities. For many months, I had been looking at options for transporting 2 kids plus gear by bike (our kids are 6 and 4.5). I decided upon a Yuba Mundo, and I was planning a custom build. But, as the dust settled from our move, and with a trip to Yosemite planned for October, I ran out of time to order parts and assemble a custom bike. I decided it was best to have a bike to bring to Yosemite, and I picked up a stock Yuba Mundo v4 from iCargoBike a week before we left.

I am so glad that I did! Our Yuba Mundo, and bikes in general, proved to be a wonderful way to experience Yosemite Valley. Riding on the bike trails was breathtaking, with beautiful tree canopies and majestic granite walls surrounding us. The convenience of riding a bike to trail heads that had remote or no parking was great. Likewise for the general store in Yosemite Village. We carried sweaters, water, and snacks in a reusable shopping bag attached to the bike. We also managed to carry 2 boxes of firewood back from the market. The best part was we were smiling the entire time.

Thanks,
Travis N.

• Where:                Marin Country Mart Near the Farmer’s Market
• When:                  Saturday, November 12.  Registration starts at 1PM.  Ride starts at 2PM.
• After-Party:      5PM at the Marin Brewing Company, Larkspur
• Register:            Let us know you’re going at the Marin county Bicycle Coalition web site here
• Facebook:         Cranksgiving Marin

My favorite part of bicycling is that it makes me feel connected to the community.  When you ride a bike, you don’t ride through a community, you ride in it.  You feel this ethos when you are with other cyclists. It’s a community.  So as thanksgiving approaches, it only makes sense that cyclists would reach out to do something for the community around them.  Yuba Bicycles is proud to be sponsoring this event to benefit the community food bank this year.  Please join us.

Cranksgiving is a charitable event that happens every year all across America.  It has become a new tradition that cyclists can be proud of.  Cranksgiving Marin is our local cycling community coming together to help the less fortunate by collecting food for the Marin County Food Bank.   It’s a fun way to use our bicycles for a great cause.  We’ll ride to different grocery stores to collect all the food on our shopping list on a scenic tour through six marin county communities.

Riders will receive a “manifest” before the ride that they will use as a shopping list to purchase items from various grocery stores along the route.  Bagging rights go to the rider or team that completes first and the rider/team that collects the most.  In the end, the community wins.   All food is donated to the Marin county Food Bank who efficiently redistributes food to those in need.

The event is free, but you need to bring enough money to purchase the items on the manifest.  We recommend asking people you know to help by donating to your cause.  Remember to bring your biggest panniers and strongest bike if you plan to collect a lot of food.  And don’t forget your lock, too.

Celebrate with us at the After-Party hosted by Rock The Bike at the Marin County Brewing company starting at 5:00 when the winners of each category will be announced.   Any donation for the music at the after party will be gladly accepted.

UTILITY, COMMUNITY, PARTY!

Yuba Bicycles’ Four Year Anniversary Party
Sausalito, CA

We are celebrating another great year for Utility Bikes all over the world and want all of our friends to come join us!  Have some fun, ride the latest from Yuba, talk to other cargo bike people from around the bay.

MUSIC, DRINKS, FOOD

WHEN:       Friday, November 4th

WHERE:    YUBA World Headquarters – 2350 Marinship Way #SW5, Sausalito, CA 94965.

WHO:         Everyone’s welcome!

Wow!  PedalFest Jack London Square was awesome!  Great weather, great music (thanks, Rock The Bike), lots of Great Bikes.  Thanks to eveyone who came by the Yuba Booth and especially those who snagged a great deal on a Mundo.  Thanks, East bay Bicycle Coalition for all your work putting this together and especially thanks to Mike Stangl for coordinating the whole thing.  Great job!

Hey Yubanisters!  Dying to get out and enjoy this beautiful Bay Area Indian Summer weather with the kids?  We have a great idea.  Pile the kids onto the Mundo and head to the Jack London Square PedalFest – a celebration of all things bicycling.

Don’t yet have a Mundo?!  Yuba is making a special offer on Yuba Mundos at the show to support the East bay Bicycle Coalition.  Come see us at the Yuba tent to get a great deal on a brand new Mundo version 4.0 and support the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.

Rock the Bike will be there with their “Pedal Powered Stage” – a stage powered by bicyclists riding Mundos.  It’s so cool!  Come by the Yuba Booth and see how fun and easy it is to carry one or two kids on the Yuba Mundo to go shopping for groceries or go for an outing in the park.   We’ll have all the Mundos and Accessories there.   There’ll be activities for the kids and lots of cool bike stuff to see.

We want to see your custom Yuba.  If you’re been waiting to get your Mundo, now’s the time.

If you’re tired of feeling stuck in your car, save your money, take out a loan or sell a bunch of your useless stuff on eBay and buy the electric assist Yuba Mundo.  In the last two weeks I have commuted at least 250 miles on my bike hauling my children to swimming lessons and summer art camp and then off to my  job and back home.

The ability to get up hills without a complete melt down has been great considering it has been 100 + degrees and if you know Iowa, it ain’t like Arizona – no dry heat.  It’s moist and it sticks although I’m still peddling I’m not pouring  with sweat so I don’t need a shower as I would if I had no assist.  It has transformed my life and I am looking forward to all the rides I get to have.  It’s so wonderful how the trips around the town open up into little mini adventures without the dread of the hills.

The only obstacle is trying to stay off the streets that are too busy.  They are not so bad when I’m by myself but it’s not so good when I have the kids on the bike.  So if you’re thinking about getting one don’t delay it is a real treat!

Daniel Koenig,

DesMoines, IA

The Great Yuba Tour of America (aka The Change Your Mobility Tour) continues to the Pacific Northwest!  We want you to join us in Seattle for a utility bike tour though town on Thursday, August 11th.  Where should we start? Where should we go?  You tell us!  Check out our latest route map and see if we’ll be in your neighborhood.  Wanna test ride a Mundo?  Wanna get a sweet deal on a demo Yuba?  Drop us a line!  For the full Yuba Tour, see our latest “Change your Mobility Tour” Map here!

Seattle Bicycle Club outing, Seattle, 1947

“Bicycles have been popular in the Seattle area since their introduction in the 1890s.  In this photo, taken in 1947, members of the Seattle Bicycle Club cycle along an unidentified Seattle road.”  University of Washington Libraries via Flickr.

The Cascade Bicycle Club is a great resource for information about bicycling in Seattle.

View YUBA Change Your Mobility Tour – Summer ’11 in a larger map

Voltage, Power, Speed - Screen 1

The Cycle Analyst (made by Grin Technology in Canada) is the unit that can be seen on the handle bar of the elMundo Electric Cargo Bike. The Cycle Analyst is the bicycle onboard computer; it is connected to the battery, the controller and the odometer. With the Cycle Analyst the e-bike rider can then have a sense for:
• the speed in km/h or miles/ hour.
• the power used by the e-bike in Watts.
• the electric potential in Volt.
• the current in Ampere.
• the electric charge in Amp/hour.

Prior to using the Cycle Analyst and in order to really take full advantage of it,  it is essential to learn:
º to read the screen and the data provided.
º to reset the unit after having charged the battery.
º to parameter the CA properly, this includes (wheel size, shunt resistance, unit…).

The complete Cycle Analyst manual can be downloaded here.

A) How to parameter the CA?

Hold-on left button to set-up

The first thing to do when receiving/ installing the Cycle Analyst is to set it up properly. If this is not done prior to riding the bike, all data read on the Cycle Analyst unit might be wrong.

Step 1: Hold the left button for 2 seconds and then toggle on the right button to the various screen.

Step 2: Set the essential parameters:
• wheelsize (2065mm for the elMundo)
• unit (km/h or m/h)
• RShunt (specific to each controller)
• number of poles (see manual for details -> should be 1)

selecting proper wheelsize

RS Shunt setting

B) What’s on the screen and what it means?

The Cycle Analyst shows multiple screens:
# 1 the V,W,A,Ah screen.
# 2 the V,W,A, Km/h screen.
# 3 the Total W/hrs used by the bike over time.
# 4 min, max Amp screen
# 5 the screen resuming the # of cycles

The screen 1& 2 are the most important one. You will see Voltage (V),  the Power(W), Current (A) used and most importantly the consumption of current per hour (Ah). This last indication is critical since it displays how much current is left in the battery. In the picture on the left it reads 2.814Ah, assuming that the elMundo Electric Cargo Bike is using a 37V 10Ah battery, it means that there’s 7.186 Amp to be drawn from the battery. In other words when the reading gets close to 8.5 A/h, you will be running out of battery soon! So charge it! But every time your recharged the battery (fully) you need to reset the cycle analyst to 0! In order to this hold the right button for 1 second.

* if you had a 14Ah battery, the battery would run out close to 13-14Ah

Voltage, Power, Current - Screen 1

Voltage, Power, Current

Total Watt/ hrs used - Screen 3

Amp min- max and voltage - screen 4

Number of cycles- screen 5

For more information contact us

Saving money is a big part of the reason people buy a Yuba Mundo.  But buying a bicycle not only saves the individual money, it saves the community money.   Please read this great article by Nancy Folbre which captures the reason that the “Pedal Revolution” will transform every city in America – it makes economic sense.  Please take the time to click on the links within the text that lead you to several other excellent articles.

Drew's StokeMonkey Mundo

Want the stability and handling of the Yuba Mundo and the power of the StokeMonkey? The eBike Store of Portland is now shipping Mundos equipped with StokeMonkey electric motor kits. Want to build  your own? The eBike store is also manufacturing and shipping the StokeMonkey Adapter Kit designed specifically for the Mundo.

Yuba Bicycles already offers an electric-assist version of the Mundo called elMundo as well as an electric upgrade kit for the Mundo. ElMundo is a front-hub motor system based on the eZee electric motor kit. The StokeMonkey Mundo is an alternative for riders that prefer the additional hill-climbing power of the popular, mid-drive StokeMonkey electric motor system.

StokeMonkey Adapter for the Yuba Mundo

Yuba Bicycles’ mission has always been to get people to use their bikes for everyday errands instead of their cars. Electric-assist systems enable the Mundo to go further distances in steeper terrains. The result is people will use their bicycles to make trips that they would normally make in their car, turning car-trips into bike-trips. Yuba is jazzed that they can offer riders multiple electric-assist solutions depending on their preferences. Whichever system you use, adding electric-assist perfectly complements the Mundo’s load-carrying capabilities and confidence-inspiring handling characteristics, enabling riders to comfortably go further, faster. Whether you are carrying groceries, children, a cooler full of beers or all of the above, the Mundo is “What a Bicycle Can Do!”

Prices and Availability

You can order your StokeMonkey Mundo at the eBike Store in Portland at 201 North Alberta Street, Portland, OR 97217 or order online at ebikestore.com. The elMundo sells for $2,597 and is shipping today. ElMundo electric power kit for the Mundo sells for $1,350. ElMundo is available at select Yuba Dealers Worldwide (see dealer map at www.yubaride.com/dealers) or on their on-line store (yubaride.com/yubashop).