Cargo Ebikes, Yuba eBoda Boda VS Radwagon

[ebiker4life]

I have been comparing cargo ebikes for over a year. Mainly for groceries, but I want one that has potential to carry an adult passenger on occasion, like mopeds or motorcycles can (I have no kids). I checked out the Pedego, but it's too heavy. Now I've been dead split between 2 ebikes for months, but I'm leaning towards the Yuba.

Here's my comparison, anyone own or tried either of these and have any opinions?

Radwagon 2018/2019
++Affordable, $1.8k, 1/2 price of yuba
+Throttle 20mph & PAS, Class 2
+Regen brakes, USB charger
-Crowded and heavy rear wheel
Score: 3

VS

Yuba E Boda Boda 2017
-Expensive $3.6k
+Hydraulic Brakes, safe, Class 1 PAS ~16mph
+High efficiency/max range 90mi.
+Clean looking
+Low weight, only 60lb
+Great rack load capacity, 220lb (i may want to carry a potential girlfriends around)
Score: 4

Note, Yuba emailed me info about the eBoda 6 months ago:
Me:

"For the Yuba Electric Boda Boda: Are the dropouts on the front fork thru-axle or slots? What is the max rider weight limit? Does it have electric shifting? Will there be a new model of the Boda-Boda ebike with the new STEPS e6100?"

Re:

"Thanks for writing in! The front wheel of the Yuba Electric Bod Boda is a 9 x 100 mm bolt on axle, and not a thru-axle.
The rider weight limit is a nuanced answer. The seat post limit is 250 lbs but that also depends on height because the post can bend over time if it's at it's minimum insertion point, whereas if it is inserted most of the way in to the seat post tube (accommodating a shorter rider), it's unlikely to ever bend.
The Electric Boda Boda is designed with price point in mind and electric shifting is both unnecessary, and quite expensive. However, you could add a Di2 system to the bike, if you like. You'll need to build a wheel with a freehub body to accommodate an 11/12 speed cassette.
No motor change has been announced.
Bike on!
Tony@Yuba"

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I would suggest you pick TERN GSD.
REI has them and REI is great with their service. They have shops in almost every major city.
Members get 10% back and if you use thier REI credit card, another 5% back, bringing the total to ~$3500, which is cheaper the Yuba.

https://www.rei.com/product/132683/tern-gsd-s10-folding-electric-bike

It can take another battery, has a range of accessories and is generally more powerful than the Shimano E6000 on the Yuba. Also, it has better components on the Yuba.
Rad is a basic bike, that is good for the money but Tern GSD for $3400 is a vastly better bike in every way.

Xtracycle edgerunner would be a good alternative for Yuba. They have one on sale: https://www.xtracycle.com/product/bosch-electric-edgerunner-8e/

 

[indianajo]

I converted a non-electric bodaboda with a $180 DD hubmotor and a $630 battery. See picture left. Making it a $2500 bike before the $200 bags and $80 double kickstand. Which accessories got me free freight, which would have been a lot California to Indiana. With the add on motor I have 21 speed manual drive which is useful for pedaling it myself on the steep grades around here. I only use the motor when headwind is over 12 mph or I'm attempting a trip over 25 miles. Pedaling yourself is something you can't do with a mid drive except for yamaha.
Radwagon & Xtracycle don't have the front cargo bosses welded in the frame which allow me to load cargo and the battery on the front. Which is important to balancing the bike IMHO, especially if you're going to try to carry a second person. Too little weight on the front wheel due to cargo baskets led to a lot of skids & falls on my mountain bike, which is why I bought the stretch frame cargo bike in the first place. The xtracycle edgerunner has a 20" rear wheel, which would be a rough ride around here even at 12 mph. Just like the yubabikes mondo. 20" rear wheel would be nice loading a child seats on it then riding around glass smooth San Francisco pavement. Our taxes are lower here, our pavement *****ier
The bodaboda came in the box perfect. No adjustment required, just bolting on the handlebar & seat. I have the manual disk brakes, which work fine on 14% grade at a gross load of 230 lb (60 lb supplies). I'm 170. My legs are rather short so the small bodaboda frame is what I bought. Other bikes are for bigger people. The lower step flanges on the bodaboda I think are unique, and especially suited to carrying a second person on a padded shelf. They do offer an accessory handgrip for a passenger as well as a padded shelf.
I prefer the drop frame of the bodaboda to the stepover frames of the radwagon & xtracycle. Starting about age 62 I started having trouble getting my foot over the bar of my mountain bike. I haven't been able to swing the leg over the seat since my mid-fifties. And hopping around trying to get your foot over something is a stupid idea at age 68. I tore two tendons in my shoulder & arm in a fall 2016 just bringing in the mail. I had been doing a pilates workout with a 5 lb hand weight, I don't know how else to toughen up.
As for the tern, on pavement around here 20" wheels would jar my teeth out at 12 mph, much less 25 an electric bike will go. Ternis so short the weeks load of groceries I buy would cube out. About $60 fills my 20" tall double bags. Tern has got mountain bike style handlebars which tend to make my hands go to sleep worse than the cruiser style ones on the bodaboda. Tern doesn't say what their seatpost-handlebar distance is, which is important to sizing a frame to fit your body. I like an 18" or 19" distance, since I am small and like to sit upright. Tall people need 21" or 22". Yubabikes has their whole frame dimension posted on their spec sheet which one can download and read with a pdf reader. . Bodaboda comes in 2 sizes frames.
Note bodaboda has non-standard seatpost diameter and front stem diameter. Meaning suspension seatpost is not an option. I did manage to fit a wider schwinn seat on it by using the mount rails instead of the 9/16" post adapter. Aftermarket suspension front fork won't install either without a custom turned sleeve.