This is the best summary I could come up with:

Last year, my partner bought a 2015 Xtracycle Edge Runner 24D cargo bike, the only brand anyone cared about in my hipster circle in the late aughts and early teens.

Or it would’ve been if the large tripod bike repair stand hadn’t tipped over, comically knocking everything near it to the floor, including the table on which I’d put the master link for my chain, sending the two-piece part flying.

When I made someone else ride it, I discovered that the derailleur’s idler pulley — the tiny set of cogs that hangs down from the rest of the assembly — was being yanked forward and popping back.

In my case, the unexpected need for a new drivetrain and the labor to install it (my partner really wanted her bike back, and I didn’t have the opportunity, knowledge, or tools to do it in a timely manner) added more to the cost of conversion than I had hoped.

And if you find that you’re uncomfortable with doing the work yourself or, worse — screw something up — then you have to pay your local bike shop a steep (and well-earned) hourly rate to install it or fix your mistakes.

By the time you tally up all the conversion costs, you’re inching into the same price territory as a good pre-built e-bike option from the likes of Yuba or Rad Power.

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